Indeed.  That is what this community does and isn't limited to merit.  If what you say is happening in this thread is true, then it is a very good example of how this forum is allowing scammers to make multiple accounts to abuse the system for their own benefit at the cost of generous members offering their time and resources to help others.  If you think people are willing to go far to earn a merit, imagine the kind of nonsense occurring to get multiple accounts into the DT network to inflate their trust ratings and punish those who stand up against them.

I didn't make this thread to cast assumptions about users or try to catch them making alt accounts.  I'm not foolish enough to think that's possible with the tools I have access to.  Certainly the alt account issue is something this forum's administration should be taking care of, especially given the way the trust network is setup and it's perceived importance among it's lower tier members.  I hope that if this is the turn this thread is taking, maybe it can show just how bad of a problem alt account abuse is, and why this decentralized forum policing system was doomed before it was launched as the alt account abuse problem wasn't taken care of and instead the abusers were empowered with the new system.  I also wonder why the infamous forum police around here are not tagging these members if they are abusing alt accounts to earn merit, as they certainly tag many users for less.  There are many here that claim their ability to tag abusers with negative trust is their contribution to the Bitcoin community, yet when I look at the accounts I supposedly shouldn't be giving merit too because they're abusers, I see no negative trust.