Merit system worked for a while until it didn't.
I don't know the state of things before this system, but it is clear that it does not work at all. Almost all posts everywhere I go are junk, very few are non generic garbage.
I am all for ending the spam but let's face it, campaign managers can hire accounts with very low earned merits too if they wanted to and a person with low earned merits might be a person that produces better posts than the OG's of the forum.
While it is rare, it is possible and does occasionally happen.
They probably do that individual inspections on the accounts before they hire people for signature campaigns anyway. And If they don't, that's the problem we need to solve because this problem,
Who exactly do you refer to as we? I don't see how average members could do anything about the campaign manager's behavior. The administration or the default trust people could solve it easily.
actually has a real solution unlike the problem that is described in the title of this thread.
While I would not mind individual improvements such as the proposed in the OP, I agree with you. There is very bad merit farming and cycling in local sections that this would not do too much.