I remember the time before the introduction of merit when we just wrote in the forum without burdening ourselves too much with others and what others think of us.
Now it's different, everyone is struggling to get merit and advance in the forum.
I am not sure if this is fair to the younger members since the older members received higher forum ranks much easier.
It is especially difficult to advance for young members who can't write in English and can only participate in the local part of the forum.