I think that we need to review the formula for raising the rank:
Rank = number of posts * time of arrival on the forum * merit * activati;
That Merit was not the main factor of raising the rank on the forum, because the shadow business for the sale of merit will be huge.
And the multiplayer will be an order of magnitude smaller.
Anyone abusing merit will be easily to identify especially if they are selling it to random accounts. Not to mention this should prevent people from farming hundreds of accounts and selling them.
The problem is that nobody will put merit to Newbie and Jr. Member because they will be able to give nothing in exchange
People will be newbies & Jr members for longer, which means as long as they keep on posting well thought out posts they should increase over time. I'm glad that the amount of merit needed is high.