One thing you guys have missed is that airdrop and bounty posts are no longer limited to those channels.

New airdrop/bounty requirements are often simply to show activity in BCT forums (excluding bounty and off topic).
So all that has happened is that the spam has moved from a designated area and spread out into other threads.

I personally think merit should be activity based and not arbitrarily held in the hands of the few who decide if a noob is worthy of joining their ranks.
Personally ranking is like grading in school. it's someone else's opinion of your worth or value. When you have character it is irrelevant.

I couldn't really care less what others think of me. I will still state my opinions and thoughts here regardless.
I'm here to participate and have a voice in the discussions that I find interesting.
If I can benefit from airdrops etc through having the signature, then great. I just find these arbitrary rule changes super annoying.

I make my posts and offer my voice to contribute to the conversation all the while being subject to unregulated mod censorship (having my posts deleted even though they were 100% on point and relevant to the conversation or channel) and demotion by these rule changes.

New contributors often feel like they are going backwards the more they do to try and be active. I went from junior member back to noob and lost my signature privileges and airdrop revenue that got me here contributing in the first place.

What's the choice to get it back? Beg for merit (that's the real spam)? Hope that someone with merit takes note of your post and benevolently gifts you a merit point (wishful thinking in a field of 1000's of weekly posts)?

All that will happen is the real value (new users) will be driven to the next best thing.
It might not happen right away, but if these types of rule changes and restrictions continue I believe that will be the first best choice for a new contributor. Find another forum where your voice will be allowed and you will be recognized fairly for your contributions.