Thanks for pointing that out, MagicSmoker, because it seems to be a continuation of the topic that I have already been discussing with BlastMechanism.. and surely, s/he/it seems to have a lot of views that are at minimum in tension with each other and surely some folks would have already written him off as being highly contradictory and perhaps compromised.
Currently, I am NOT sure, but I do find it quite problematic when members become overly defensive in their posts and then resort to what seems to be exaggerations in order to make their points. I understand that even older members can sometimes be guilty of the same (defensiveness and exaggerations) including yours truly, but frequently when older members are called out on their erroneous ways they can often engage in a kind of dialogue that at least tempers their behavior, even if they do not admit to the transgression (including yours truly).
I did give you a merit for pointing me out to that post and your thread, even though I don't agree with all of your points in your thread, it seems to be a good proposition to consider and for members to consider how much due diligence they believe is prudent prior to meriting newbies, especially those newbies with a relatively long history of nonsense posts.
I should really spend a bit of time in Meta... all the discussions I'm missing out on.
It doesn't feel that long ago for me, when I first joined (re-joined actually, first time I came only to browse and post a question, second time was over a year later in 2016, couldn't remember original account so made this account). It's pretty common I think for the early members of online communities (and older newer members like yours truly) can forget how it feels like to join a new community talking about what is still a very new technology for many.
I shudder when I look at my old posts. And worse, from chat logs in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Half my smerits I credit to posts I've found useful and educational. Half I divide to reward those I've found to be entertaining and generally, I do try to reward active members who do their best to contribute (in whatever form). That's probably very subjective for people.
I can appreciate that I had barely turned Hero when merits were implemented. My points gained since would only have made me a full member after 7/8 months. Assuming I continue at this rate, which really is doing no more/less than what I do, I'll rank up in 2020 and that's fine for me.