Take bounty hunters as example, did you see any bounty hunters rank up or received merits many times?.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5319507.0
. I have check the thread but I think it's a group of people abusing merit as stated in the thread. I might have been wrong or I really am wrong about it but I do see many bounty hunters that are still newbies and the post history are full of bounty reports and authentication posts.