what is the actual aim of making the merit system very hard for users? This will scare some away and those who are not good at writing, it means they don't belong here?
The difference between ranks is mostly cosmetic: signatures, avatars, personal text. There's no limits to posts or anything, so why should newcomers be afraid of merit system? You can use this forum as newbie rank just as well as legendary rank. If it scares away shitposters who heard tales about how you can make money by posting on this forum, then it's a good thing no matter how you look at it, because if the quality of conversations is better, it would attract more users in the long run.