Oh, how I remember it so well.  Actmyname and I were feverishly tagging shitposters amidst a furor in Meta because we were so fed up with post quality due to signature campaign shitposters.  Then I came down with a bad case of the flu when Theymos implemented the system, and the whole thing was like a surreal dream.  

There's definitely much less discussion about merits in Meta, and that's nice to see, with the exception of the change in September of the 1-merit requirement for noobs to rank up to Juniors.  Bitcoin/Altcoin Discussion sections still remain messes, but the financial incentive to produce garbage posts has decreased drastically--lots of members have no chance in hell of making it past Jr. Member and they know it, and there aren't that many bitcoin-paying sig campaigns left as well.  

On the other hand, the new trust system changes are the new hot topic and probably will be for weeks to months.  We'll see how all of that goes and how long it'll take to die down.

Honestly, I don't get that either.  Giving merits to Theymos or Satoshi is just like wasting them, even if the posts are fantastic.  sMerits have a utility other than rewarding good posts (it allows people to rank up), and I think people either forget that or don't care.