Lately, it’s been looking like this place is just for the high-ranking members, especially those in DT. Let’s be real, how do you explain someone sharing a random image and bagging 10 or 20 merits, while someone putting in the effort with solid posts gets nothing?
When you say bagging 10 or 20 merits, if you mean the Wall Observer thread, then I agree with you, that's bad and I still don't understand why does that happen but overall, why is your priority to get merits? If you put effort into your posts, put effort for the sake of benefiting others by giving them a good answers, don't put efforts for the sake of merits. Merit will come automatically, you have to get and give knowledge and have some fun with that.
It’s like Theymos isn’t paying attention to what’s happening. The forum is slowly losing its purpose. Is this what Satoshi had in mind? A space where newbies can’t grow unless they ‘farm’ merits? Meanwhile, the DT guys are just cycling merits among themselves and adding each other to their trust lists.
Satoshi is long gone, we have no idea what he actually had in mind with this forum or what he would think now. By the way, newbies can very well grow in this space, I started as a newbie.