I think we'll never return to the initial values of 5-10K per week if the forum staff does not add significantly more merit sources. Remember that these high values were only possible because of the "automatically-generated merits", above all those received by high ranks.

There are also merit sources receiving only 10 sMerits per month, which isn't exactly helping to solve the problem. I would propose at least 20 or 30 as a minimum, so they're encouraged to give out a merit every time they see a new merit-worthy post. I think the low value here is a security measure, a kind of "probation" period to prevent abuse by the new merit sources, but once they've shown no suspicious activity in a month or two they should be given a higher amount.