Given that
LoyceV's data have shown that the 1 merit restriction is working, I don't see why we wouldn't increase that limit to 10, at least on a trial basis.
I have suggested all along that signatures should only be available to members and above.
This. Making the signature requirement to the "member" rank would definitely significantly improve the quality of the posts here on bitcointalk, but at the same time I'm quite sure that the traffic will significantly drop. It's up to Theymos to look for the perfect line between quality and quantity.
It should actually be Members who earned 10 Merits and above... Not airdropped Merits. most of those with Airdropped merits still don't have any good content their posts.
While true, I don't think this is significant in the long run.