Aran Cherubim
Resident Citizen
Are membership merits only awarded to those who've joined the Tower?
These two Merits are a little different from all the other merit badges, which are geared towards recognizing active service. Instead, this one recognizes that you have enjoyed our community so much that you have stayed around as a member for a long time, participating and enriching the experience of others. While the other Merits recognize those who have gone above and beyond in active service and, as such, recognize a small percentage of our membership, this merit recognizes those who liked us enough to stay and participate. Compared to the total number of current members, a fairly large percentage will have Golds. However, compared to the total number of people who have joined and left, the percentage is smaller.
The Silver Badge for Membership is for those who have been a member for at least two and a half (2.5) consecutive years (this means that if you joined and left the site completely after a year, you wouldn't get this; if you took a leave of absence and came back, you're fine). Once you hit five (5) consecutive years as a member, your Silver will upgrade to a Gold, which means that you will no longer have the Silver merit, but you will gain the Gold in its place. You will receive a Gold for every five (5) consecutive years as a member. As it talks about the site, rather than the Tower, the implication is that this is for any actual member, though it doesn't seem to be specfied