Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

1. Who has the opportunity to give merit?

Everyone receiving merits has the opportunity to become a merit-giver. Nevertheless, there are two types of people awarding merits:
- The one receiving them, for every merit you receive you also have 0.5 Smerits to send, so, every 2 received merits you have one to give away.
- Merit sources. Trusted people in here, selected by the administrator receive a number of merits every month, I think, so they can award the people.

Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

2. Are there any requirements for them?

I think this question is already been answered in my previous explanation.

Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

3. Is it possible to say with confidence that their choice is dictated by an objective assessment of posts?

Everyone has a different mind in their skulls. So... it depends a lot. I can just talk by myself: when I give someone a merit, I usually check her or his post history, in order to determinate how many merits I will give to the person. If the post I think is deserving merit is OK, but the member`s activity is pretty cool, well, I use to give more than a single merit. I also check always if the thread is plagiarized or not before meriting. If, on the contrary, the member`s post activity sucks in general, well, it is improbable for me giving merit to her/him.

Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

4. What are the evaluation criteria for the posts?

Again, this is difficult to determinate, for everyone has a different mind and different interests. I am truly interested in social issues, in history and about the forum itself as a social environment, so I use to award threads or quotes that make me think about my own selfish interests. It depends on the person but, in general, the most merited posts are those ones with a curious and creative mind behind.

Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

5. What other methods exist for gaining merit?

Nothing but the sane use of this muscle called the brain. The forum is a huge place, with a lot of people talking about many different things every time. I`m sure there`s a place for everyone in here, you just need to use common sense and to learn. Just be curious and honest.

Quote from: KalininaNatalya on August 15, 2018, 05:36:54 PM

Maybe this in the Russian section just need to make more clarity.

Probably. Local boards are quite "orphans" about the rules and the new protocols implemented in here. In my own local I`ve tried to explain how the merit system works for, of course, not everybody can read/speak English. If you find your local to be pretty "lost" about this matter, just try to inform yourself and to give this information to others in your own language. This is a great way to help the forum and other users to understand the system, and also a great way to get the people of the locals interested in this particular matter.