Reaching Legendary during the merit system is something that makes me feel satisfied and I am grateful that I succeeded, but the feeling will be very different from those who were already Legendary before the merit system. But if those users are contributors, then I believe the rewards they get today are much higher than their activity. Legendary is not the end, it's just the highest rank and every one of them should still care about post quality if they don't want to be called spammer or shitposter.
The Legendary Ranks had greater responsibilities than Jr. Member or rank above. Knowledge of the forums is more controlled by users who managed to rise to Legendary rank after the Merit system was introduced, they had to work hard to get some Merits until they reached the maximum amount for Up Rank. Unlike users who rank up to Legendary before we know Merit, they can Rank Up automatically when the amount of activity is sufficient.
Being in the Legendary rank is the dream of all forum users, anyone will try to reach the highest rank with maximum effort by improving the quality of their posts. True, Legendary is not an ending. There are still responsibilities that must be carried out on the forum by making contributions that can be taken advantage of for users who have just joined here.