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I think it's ok to make a thread like this, at least the OP has tried and collected a number of threads that according to the OP inspired it to be appreciated.
Maybe the OP can add a few things for example from a few threads that you mention which parts are inspiring, then newbies can learn about that.
I've been a sh*tposter before and although I changed, I don't feel the need of creating a thread to talk about users which inspired me. There's no need to talk about inspiration of earning higher ranks imo.
Sure, there are members you can learn a lot of stuff from like LoyceV, but creating threads just for this purpose really gives them a merit-beggar look.
Every time I visit the Beginners & Help board there's a new thread like this. The first few ones earned a ton of merit and I feel like, even if OP didn't intend to post it for that, he subconsciously wonders "what if..".
Come on, I don't think I've ever seen a top member of the forum come up with these kind of threads.. Just continue doing what you're doing, if you ranked up through earned merit then you deserve it.