There are people, who are just active on the forum and contributing the way that they can and not minding the payment, and their are still those, who get paid and still giving their best to the Community. Every person has different goals.
Absolutely, and it's always been that way as far as I can tell.
I'm currently not in a signature campaign (though I'm a member of Foxpup's merit cycling club, I don't have a post quota) and I spend a hell of a lot of time on the forum every day, whether it's reading through various threads trying to get some news, handing out merits, or just dropping some posts that interest me. I did not come here to earn money back in 2015, and I'm still not here to earn money. Sure, if there's a campaign that'll have me, why not get paid for doing what I'd be doing anyway? Right now there isn't, yet here I am, blabbing away as if I had a crazy character quota.
However, I still think that most newcomers to the forum have been enticed by the prospect of joining a campaign or bounty, which is why merits are still so important. But whatever; it's been that way for years.