... is it possible for people to rank up on here still? If i was to have signed up to here a couple of years ago i could easily have progressed through the ranks but with the strict rules imposed by the regime in charge i think it is virtually impossible to pass the rank of jr member.
It is possible to rise in a rank, even in the presence of a merit-system. You can look at this topic (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5024849.0) and see for yourself that if you write constructive and high-quality posts, you have every chance to climb the career ladder. It's not so difficult to rise to a member, given that you only need 100 merit for this. Yes, you`ll have to spend your time and work hard to improve the quality of your comments, but there is nothing unattainable if you set yourself a goal and confidently strive for it.
To gain enough merit without being a well known or already established user of the forum would take such a considerable effort that any user would also need a stroke a pure luck to even reach member rank now. The chances of being merited even a few times are very small let alone gaining hundreds of merits.
Raising in rank and getting merit has nothing to do with luck. It depends entirely on your abilities, knowledge and efforts. If you don`t do anything to learn, if you dont offer anything to the bitcointalk community, then no one will appreciate you with merit. Before you expect any rewards, you must show your own efforts. Bitcointalk members see your posts, read and analyze them, so don`t think that you go unnoticed. When you begin to contribute to the development of the forum, then you`ll receive merits.