Re: Was the forum better before without Merit or is it better now with Merit?
Members, reputable members. Was it better before back then when this forum was without merits or is it better or even much better now with merits? Please explain your answer so users like me can get an idea how it was and what you prefer. 
The forum was okay without merits but the spammers and accounts farmers took advantage of the forum's no merit system back then and farmed they used to farm many accounts so they can sell those low-effort ranked accounts for money.
The merit system almost eradicated those merit farmers and has improved the quality of posts to much higher levels. I would say that the merit system is the best system for the forum and it's implementation has improved the number of quality posters as well as helped those to rank up who contribute to the forum.