While I'm not opposed to a merit system, it will never happen. Job progression over the years has served to HOMOGENIZE the jobs, not to differentiate them. They want all jobs to have the same general abilities, the same capabilities, and, above all, the same desirability. The idea that a player would be rejected from a raid group because they don't have the proper merits is anathema to them.

An expansion or two from now, it wouldn't be surprising to me if every job has exactly the same ability rotations, stats, and gear. You could play optimally as a WHM, then switch to MNK, and with exactly the same button presses, play optimally as a MNK. Then, we will have achieved the Singularity. :P