You'll have to agree with me that quite a substantial number ask just for the sake of it, and talking about stickies, there's one over there on the beginners board: "newbies read before posting", if they actually did, they wouldn't be asking afterall.

Even if one is giving let's say the said 1 merit every anniversary, that'll mean taking 10 years to get to member rank, 100 years to full member, 250 years to snr member, 500 years to hero member and a thousand to legendary. It actually shouldn't be this difficult.