We all know the beginning stage is not easy as a newcomer needs to be patient. Atleast he or she should be getting no matter how little some reward for their resources in terms of time and materials.
I joined the forum and all I told some people around me about it, the next question is," how much have u earned", I was absolutely discourage as I remained mute till date.
Merit: I'm not sure why, but a lot of newbies these days are focused on how to obtain merits. It's normal to wonder how to get merits because everyone wants to move up the ranks and participate in activities on the forum. Getting merit is easy; all you need to do is first understand the forum. As students, you are aware that no matter how well you write an exam, you will not receive a good grade if you do not read and comprehend the material covered in class. Let's use this as an example of how to earn merits: you must be aware of the forum in order to contribute to posts or make insightful remarks in order to earn merits.
It is not necessary for you to pursue merit in this forum; instead, you should make sure that you are the one merit pursuing; your posts and your behaviour in the forum are the only ways to earn merit. Finally, as you have already mentioned, patience is the key to achieving your goals; many people have joined the forum only to leave because they lack the patience to stay here and did not see the forum as they had anticipated.