Apologizing won't help, actions speak louder than words.
As Orion said, merits are either won by winning contests or by writing meritorious game reviews. There used to be debate merits and comment merits but they are almost never given out these days.
I forgot to give a proper explanation. Why did you reiterate LEGEND_beast?
To put it properly, a merit is a reward you receive in recognition for winning a contest or writing a review deemed to be worthy. For a review to be worthy it must offer helpful insight, it should be well written and it should provide constructive criticism.