This.

This is solid proof that there are tons of newbies rank up and it suffers from members upward because of the merit requirement, but there are some members who have been reached Legendary rank from the new era newbie, which means that they proved that merit system isn't a barrier to rank up and they deserved of what they achieved because of their hard work.

So, now OP.
If you're willing to learn just do it your self and prove that you deserve to rank up. If you're here thinking how to rank up there's nothing happen to you, instead, focus first on learning and educating your self and then contribute of what you've learned. For sure someday, you might be proud of your self of what you achieved. I know you aren't motivated this but at least you have an idea.