A few of us read the stickies...
Have merit threads turned up lately again? My guess is that a guide of that sort comes every 3-9 months out by some great user(s).
I wouldn't worry about getting merits. Is that really what you are looking for or is it a friendly community and great games?? The latter I hope? :)
Actually, both. Merits do reflect you are a good user. You can get around it (Sort of) by writing many good forum posts, but in some topics it doesn't help. Write good merits and loads of awesome forum posts will very likely result in a moderatorship (Unless you do some kind of unforgettable thing that puts you one inch from getting banned).
