An internet forum where people come to learn and share information on bitcoin is not just a personal forum for some users that have a good rank to suggest how difficult the forum will be.
I don't see how any newbie member can't learn or share information. What's stopping newbie members to be productive? They can't make topics, they can't write posts? Or you think someone would miraculously be better member if he is able to rank up easier?
I will say that this forum is easy if you have worked hard on it and it's part of you, But very difficult for freshers because of how old members treat them with merit.
Nonsense. There is an abundance of merit ready to be shared to newbies. Just check
The future of Bitcointalk: Low Ranking Top Merit earners in the past 30 days and you will see how many low level members can earn bunch of merit in a month, and you will be surprised.
You can't predict the exact reason why some people leave the forum. Most of them are not here to spam. I know how difficult it is to get to the top in this forum. That is one of the reasons people leave here, and most of them don't surf here enough to know that they is a sub-forum for their respective countries and continent that can welcome them and make them feel at home.
And how is that fault of merit system, that people don't take time to properly learn all forum features, boards, rules and regulations?