[...]
Something like this:
So if someone posts something really useless or copy/pasta reply, he can get downvoted enough not to lose merit but to think about what's he posting next time. Like a small slap on the wrist.
Umm, I’m not sure if I’m reading everything right or not but the options that you suggested are more or less like other social platforms only. This is a discussion forum, not any platform where you like or dislike something. Merit system completely meant for increasing the post quality or at least motivate forum members to work on their basic posting habits.
No matter what how it looks today, if you are doing it right you get merited if not then you simply get argued or skipped. That’s but obvious because unless you don’t find right answer or discussion point why would you even merit someone?
“+” and “-“ would bring battle of pulling and pushing a member on its posts.
Merit is at most well thought process considering the nature of forum!