You are correct up to some point. Although I am new, I felt like answering this question. According to me, these are just numbers and we are here to help. The traffic on this site might have decreased in the recent years, may be that’s why people are finding it difficult to cross 10k mark. This number somewhat signifies the time spent by a Jelly on Fluther since joining. The older the profile and the more active the profile, more will be the cumulative points (larve). It does not necessarily signify quality contribution to Fluther as even a new Jelly would bring some knowledge to share here. So, it should not matter whether the moderators lower the benchmark or not. These are just numbers. Don’t take them too seriously.