What is the fine line between quality and quantity and how does it affect merit?
Most people are naturally lurkers I would think. Often a lurker has very little to say, but when they do have something to say it might be very valuable!
Is there a chance that some people are just posting to abuse the merit system without having anything useful to say?
Should people have an alternative way of being rewarded with merits besides posting?
How could this look like, and how would you design the system so it can't be abused?
Why would someone who is just lurking want merit? People don't even need an account to read posts.
If you want to participate in the forum and make valuable contributions, you will earn lots of merits, that is inevitable. There are dozens of generous merit sources around, and your posts will be rewarded accordingly