> their rules were too difficult for me to follow in order to vote. I had to visit every day and do menial, non-useful things just to be able to vote or answer
Has it changed a few years ago? When I started 3 years ago, I could answer right from the start and I got the ability to vote quickly enough, after a pair of vote on an answer, without having to do menial tasks every day. Reputation can also be gained with edits, is that what you are talking about?
Answering questions doesn't help unless those answers get upvotes. As a newbie, your answers are less likely to get upvotes, especially if you're slower than the old timers.
It's true. For my part, I started (and continued to) answer on a tag with not a lot of questions and answers, so most/some of the time I'd write the only answer. Though I had a professional interest into the tag at the time, I didn't choose it because it was easy to write the single answer on a question.
And that's an example of the system working at its best. You were incented to answer questions nobody else could or would answer. In my experience it doesn't work out that way often.
Has it changed a few years ago? When I started 3 years ago, I could answer right from the start and I got the ability to vote quickly enough, after a pair of vote on an answer, without having to do menial tasks every day. Reputation can also be gained with edits, is that what you are talking about?