This post raised my curiosity, which is the reason for this thread.
Keep in mind that vas majority of legendary members became legendary before merit was introduced. And back then you only needed activity.
Nowadays its much harder to rank up due to merit requirements, and with good reason tbh
When I was a newbie, I was told that the majority of legendary members got their ranks before the merit system. I have become a legendary member and likewise many other persons, yet someone still believes that airdropped legendary members are still more than self-made legendary members.
Any data to compare both?
I also heard the same story, but to what use now? I think it happened around 2014/2015 or so, it's been a while and those who were opportune took the advantage. So, I always view it as "by the way," it's gone.
My little observation even stated otherwise, because I've seen accounts opened before 2015 having lesser status, which means that, contrary to what's widely perceived, all accounts may not enjoy the airdrop then, while many others might later be stripped of their drop/status due to activities that didn't deserve the status.
And it doesn't matter if more new accounts have built their way to the legendary status, the status must be attained. Those who are holding the airdropped legendary status also deserve it by sustaining it till now due to their valuable contribution to the forum.