I read a message about Merit one of the Legendary. You know what he said? During these three and a half months he received only 40 or 50 merits. And he's a very smart dude & understands all sorts of technologies. I'm for example not strong at all.
So he confirmed that it is very difficult to get Merit even for him. About small ranks there's nothing to say. To get a merit is not enough to write a good post. It is necessary that Source of the Merit notice it or a member of the forum with a high rank.