I used to know only admin know.
And I also used to think that only theymos know who is merit source. Maybe you have reference which would confirm that staff also can see them?
hilariousandco mentioned it on one of the sticky threads on this board:
What is a merit source?
There are a certain number of special Merit sources who receive additional amounts of merit to give away. The list is not publicly available but is know to Staff.
I do not think anyone will be able to get the full mark without the use of some topics.
I got 14/15
[SMH].
We need something similar before allowing Newbies to make their first post.