In addition to what others have written, my advice to you would be to stay out of forum drama (usually taking place in either the Reputation or Meta sections) until you establish yourself as a member. Otherwise people are going to think you're just trying to earn merits or increase your post count or whatever.
By the way, there's no real hierarchy aside from the various ranks, although I'm talking about regular members and not the moderators or Theymos. This forum (I think) is supposed to be a meritocracy, where people are judged based on the quality of their contribution to it. I'd say that's more or less true, because there aren't as many cliques as there used to be.
Oh, it helps if you have a thick skin and can shrug off vicious criticism/trolling/attacks without acting like a baby. Bitcointalk is one of the freest forums I've ever seen, so moderators aren't going to step in when someone calls you a bone-headed asshole. Not saying that's going to happen, but it could, so toughen up if you're not tough already.