A newbie welcome message or link to a welcome thread upon sign-up explaining the basic rules and links to everything they need to know including the full forum rules, helpful guides and FAQs etc. No excuses for not knowing the rules then.
And/or add a link to the rules at the top of the forum next to Home, Help, etc. Make it red and blinking if that's what it takes to get noticed.
- what if merit--all merit--slowly deteriorates over time?
So satoshi becomes a newbie and so does anybody who takes a lengthy break from the forum? Not a good idea.