@Pavel Pashkovskiy@Patrick allow me to provide my two cents on this:
Self-declaration of how many drives one has done can never provide a real safe off-roading environment. We have noticed on multiple occasions where members declare they have driven for example +10 years offroad in the UAE, but upon joining we notice they don't possess even basic skills, and after some digging deeper they finally admit that this 10 years was more kind of camping and BBQ drives , Imagine taking someone like that on a higher level drive and getting into accidents and rollovers....
The same thing applies to drives done in another club. There is no common level with skillsets agreed across clubs in the UAE, so a Fewbie level with us could be a Newbie level in another club for example. Here at Carnity we use numbers as we have learned that for building a skillset or drive level it is a good healthy indicator. Of course, we do know that some people need more drives or other people need less drives to be ready for the next level, but every promotion you see passing by here has gone through a voting system amongst the marshals first and apart from the drive count we look at many other factors as well (see grading structure).
Setting up a convoy for example a Fewbie Plus level drive in our current grading structure ensures that the drive lead at all times can be sure that his joining members are up for that level, and there are no members who would be out of their comfort zone or would get themselves in dangerous scenarios or slow down the convoy excessively. Please take note that all of our drive leads thoroughly look at the number of drives each person has done in order to decide on the proper convoy position and to keep an extra close watch on whoever is new on that level.
The grading structure did not fall out of the sky in Carnity, it was built and tweaked numerous times thanks to the input of our members and leads to ensure maximum safety and enjoyment for everyone. There is no business aspect in that.
Allowing a marshal to invite members from a lower level onto his drive ? How would that work ? And how fair would that be towards others ?
"sometimes wish members were placed in the levels they belong based on their actual experience instead of having to do drives just for the sake of earning credits 😁"
Please define how we would gauge your "actual experience" safely? A trip lead who is leading the drive is looking 90% of the time in front of him and would not see someone in the middle of the convoy fishtailing or fighting gravity, unless one of the other senior or supporting members would notice that.
I would recommend you join to enjoy each drive, without counting as i have personally seen so many off-roaders rushing their drives to reach IM level as soon as possible, and then burning or fading out due to boredom. Driving in the desert is a fantastic hobby. Get to enjoy each drive, socialize, and don't focus too much on the numbers