"Please suggest a better way for any character to get edge points that is not open to subjective interpretation."

Hours played. Levels gained. Observation and exploration xp, but capped at very low maximums (such that almost everybody will hit the max by just going about their business, i.e. no need to grind).

I actually like the subjectively awarded points because I think the staff's subjective judgements are usually pretty good. That said, it leads to imm xp whoring, and some characters just have bad play times in terms of staff being online. So I'd set a very low maximum on this as well. Maybe 2000 xp (combined) for role xp, imm xp, and tatoo. Would need to juice the points-per-xp ratio for imm xp if you moved the cap so low.