There are some forum members who have more than 1000 activities but not a single merit. Because they have never participated in any post or discussion outside the bounty thread. As a result there is no possibility of getting merit. There are also some who don't actually know that there are more forums boards outside Bounty where a lot of discussion takes place.
But newbies who participate in various discussions can definitely earn merit.
Such users usually join forums only after they are told by someone that they can earn money from those forums, and they have been given directions about what they need to do to earn money, and they keep following what has been told. So if someone has been told that they need to participate in bounties if they want to earn money, they will stay in that section right from the beginning and will stay there for as long as they stay in the forum.
Users who join the forum randomly or because of their interest towards cryptocurrencies wouldn't have that sort of a nature, they will be seen surfing around the forum, reading and maybe making posts where they feel they can, and those are the kinds of people who grow in the long run.