- for ranking up to Jr. Member you need just 1 merit; for Member you need only 10. Indeed, it seems so hard for a Newbie to earn 1 merit but it is not hard actually (explained below).
IIRC in the beginning there was only one section where newbies could post. Over time I think bitcointalk is generally relaxing restrictions and making it less difficult for new users to actively post, send messages and rank-up.
Newbies and Jr. members have restrictions placed upon them. Once they receive merit from more established members, they are given more relaxations as they rank up? It is good. It shouldn't be hard to rank up.
- activity allows to become Legendary in 2 years or 2 years and a few weeks. Literally speaking, in real world, legends are built in far more time, not just in 2 years.
Time runs faster on the internet. 2 years internet time is more than 5 years real time.