Tbh. I don't like this system too much, because it draws away my attention from the actual discussion. I don't care about ranks, I just don't want to think about it. Now everytime someone posts, you have to think about whether giving merit or not, and also looking if you received any merit.
The other thing that has been said many times I think ... it should not open a new tab. That is actually an incentive to NOT click the button, because it takes away my attention from the content completely. If it would just be a button that updates in place, like a "Like" button ... that would be ok. But I would also like to take back my like in case I accidentally clicked on it, instead of the quote button.
i actually prefer it opening in a new tab as i can just click back to the original tab and keep reading. otherwise i would have to break my train of thought right then because of needing to put a number in and click the send button. the new tab can just sit until im done reading, then do it.
a new tab also prevents accidentally sending merit with a mis-click of the button (whoopsie meant to click "quote".. yeah im sloppy when clicking). this way you can just cancel out of it.
i suppose a "one click one merit" button that updates in place could be put in with a timer that allows it to be taken back in case of an accidental click.. say 10 seconds to reverse it and then its locked in.
