Everything's implemented through codes. But there's nothing too complex about it considering that merit in the beginning was given based on rank. Indeed, lucky are those who arrived in the forum and had built up their rank much earlier. They didn't have a hard time ranking up. Ranking was as easy as making posts years ago. Now, new users will have to prove their worth before ranking up. To some, it's next to impossible to reach the highest rank. To some, it's almost effortless. While it may appear unfair, it makes the forum look good.