revolverwolf:
The badges are awesome! If they sort out the minor bugs that seem to have sneaked under the radar they'll be even better. Perhaps you (admins) could give negative badges? Something to remind a person that they suck. Like "Forum troll" if they continue to be a troll or "Acheivement whore" if they beg for a badge?

No way. We're not going to reward bad behavior -- that would simply encourage others to follow suit. If we gave out badges for being banned, for example, suddenly everyone would be spouting profanity, posting links to porn, or posting "First!!!!1"

And then we'd have to change our name to SomethingAwful ohyeahIwentthere!

revolverwolf:
The badges seem to be a bit bugged at the moment...I'm sure it'll be sorted out though.

If you're using IE7, there seems to be a conflict between the tooltip code and the flash ads that are running. There's also a more general problem of the tooltips floating under the same flash ads. We're trying to get those worked out right now.

Other than that, everything seems to be peachy. Badges will be awarded once a day, and you'll get PMs when you get new ones :)

[Also, some art was uploaded. I used the wrong images. My bad.]

revolverwolf:
The badges are awesome! If they sort out the minor bugs that seem to have sneaked under the radar they'll be even better. Perhaps you (admins) could give negative badges? Something to remind a person that they suck. Like "Forum troll" if they continue to be a troll or "Acheivement whore" if they beg for a badge?

Whilst that's a nice idea...I think it's gonna cause the ASBO problem where people will work to be bad.

BTW, to anyone I've just befriended, it's not for the badge. I've got them all already. :)

Bling Cat:

mshcherbatskaya:
I feel like a Girl Scout, except I sucked as a Girl Scout. Although they are cool to have, I suspect they are also a symptom for me at least of being without a life.

Except that you get them for participating in social activities, albeit online.

Among my peer group/demographic, participating in social activities online kind of defines the not having of a life. Oh well, my general opinion of my peer group/demographic is that they are boring and kind of sucky.

Other suggestions:
Wasp to Honey: Joined to post on ZP
Not in the Know: Has posted a thread that asks where you can buy the Escapist in Print.
Anger Issues: Has posted a Rant
(picking up someone who I cant remembers idea) Brown-Noser: Has posted a thread with 'I love Yahtzee/ZP' in the title.

Susan Arendt:

And then we'd have to change our name to SomethingAwful ohyeahIwentthere!

LMAO. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks SA(not you ;) ) isn't the bastion of great minds and fair deals it's held up to be.

The_root_of_all_evil:

revolverwolf:
Perhaps you (admins) could give negative badges? Something to remind a person that they suck. Like "Forum troll" if they continue to be a troll or "Acheivement whore" if they beg for a badge?

Whilst that's a nice idea...I think it's gonna cause the ASBO problem where people will work to be bad.

Oh...good point. But who would do that here except a troll who would probably get banned anyway?

The_root_of_all_evil:

Susan Arendt:

And then we'd have to change our name to SomethingAwful ohyeahIwentthere!

LMAO. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks SA(not you ;) ) isn't the bastion of great minds and fair deals it's held up to be.

Well, the clue's in the name.

Johnn Johnston:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Susan Arendt:

And then we'd have to change our name to SomethingAwful ohyeahIwentthere!

LMAO. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks SA(not you ;) ) isn't the bastion of great minds and fair deals it's held up to be.

Well, the clue's in the name.

You'd be surprised the amount of people who hold up 4chan and SA as the only things bright and original on the web because they created LOLCATS.

Usually they just seem to be full of unemployed photoshoppers looking to shock.

I like very much. Achievements are a great little addition to most everything. It breaks down task into achievable little nuggets, their fun elements of discovery and reward.

And because they are not solely a function of how many posts you have (200 in a week is normal and stupid) they should add to the community.

mark_n_b:
And because they are not solely a function of how many posts you have (200 in a week is normal and stupid) they should add to the community.

We tried to pick ones that would encourage people to behave positively. Hence, no post count badges, or number of threads started, etc :)

Badge Bug: Descriptor appears underneath flash ads.

Edit: I apologize to the staff, I know you knew about it when I posted this thread, but I missed the posts in my quick read of the lengthy thread... it happens on the longer ones.

revolverwolf:
The badges are awesome! If they sort out the minor bugs that seem to have sneaked under the radar they'll be even better. Perhaps you (admins) could give negative badges? Something to remind a person that they suck. Like "Forum troll" if they continue to be a troll or "Acheivement whore" if they beg for a badge?

Why would you present a badge for "suck"?

The_root_of_all_evil:

Johnn Johnston:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Susan Arendt:

And then we'd have to change our name to SomethingAwful ohyeahIwentthere!

LMAO. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks SA(not you ;) ) isn't the bastion of great minds and fair deals it's held up to be.

Well, the clue's in the name.

You'd be surprised the amount of people who hold up 4chan and SA as the only things bright and original on the web because they created LOLCATS.

Usually they just seem to be full of unemployed photoshoppers looking to shock.

Who's Something Awful...?

Can badges be taken away?

Something Awful is a site that deliberately creates 'shock' 'art'. It's where the Goon Squad (EVE) originates. Basically, if you have a weak stomach, don't go there.

I don't see how badges could be taken away (as they're based on achievements, but I'd be careful nonetheless)

Badges can absolutely be taken away. Remember, not all badges will be awarded for automatic actions, like making friends or posting in a certain number of forums.

For example, anyone caught cheating (or is suspected of) in the GamerLympics will be stripped of their medals, which are badges.

We're not just going to yank stuff at random because we're bored, however. You'll have to do something pretty boneheaded to rate that kind of punishment. You likely know better.

TomNook:
Badges....WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BADGES!

Where is that quote from anyway? (the real one, not Ace Ventura or that Weird Al movie)

Alright! Badges! Let's get some more! Still no avatar, though.. can't seem to get mine to show up...

GoblinOnFire:

TomNook:
Badges....WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BADGES!

Where is that quote from anyway? (the real one, not Ace Ventura or that Weird Al movie)

An old Bogart movie, "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". Bogie and friends go to into the Sierra Madre mountains to mine gold in the Depression; the line quoted is by a Mexican "police officer" after being asked for his credentials before our intrepid miners let him and his "posse" into the camp.

-- Steve

What about having a "User of the week." every week the lovely staff/mods pick one user that has shone above the rest bases on there own unknown fields of judgement. Then give said user a badge for achieving this.

So if I understand correctly, the badges are shown on how recent they are, correct?

So why is creating a user profile more recent than creating a topic with more than 10,000 views?

GenHellspawn:
So if I understand correctly, the badges are shown on how recent they are, correct?

So why is creating a user profile more recent than creating a topic with more than 10,000 views?

At a guess, because the "topic" badge was turned on earlier today than the "profile" one. After all, the system's new; I doubt it can go back in time and track *when* the forum achievement happened... just when the new system awarded it.

-- Steve

Gigantor:
Fun, fun, fun. I don't really like the way it makes each post longer - it makes everything a less short and snappy than it was. But I do like collecting things.

I you don't want the clutter, you can disable the badges from appearing on forum posts in your forum options. You'll need to log out and back in for the change to take immediate effect though, otherwise it'll take a few.

the monopoly guy:
some of these badges are a little...unnecesary. Like adding friends and setting and avatar. It's the forum equivilent of "acid reflex"

Some are simple on purpose, to encourage people to do things. Like setting avatars, and filling out profile info - that kind of thing makes the forums and community a better place.

Virgil:
If you're using IE7, there seems to be a conflict between the tooltip code and the flash ads that are running. There's also a more general problem of the tooltips floating under the same flash ads. We're trying to get those worked out right now.

This has been fixed. It was the ads behaving badly.

GenHellspawn:
So if I understand correctly, the badges are shown on how recent they are, correct? So why is creating a user profile more recent than creating a topic with more than 10,000 views?

It's the order they were awarded in, not necessarily the order the conditions were met in. They were all awarded today. You'll probably be able to sort them and choose the four you want to display in the forums relatively soon.

I must admit I'm slightly amused by them. One more thing to show my greatness. Alright yeah, that was WAY out of character for me but someone had to do it. hehe Who got to pick out the avatars for them? Fun Fun.

^_^

Virgil:
You'll probably be able to sort them and choose the four you want to display in the forums relatively soon.

Can we do this yet? and if we can how? Ive looked all around the the profile options part of my profile, and I cant seem to find it. Because, you know its fun having both of the PM badges up there, but kinda unnecessary...

EDIT: Because I apparently cant read good, I missed a crucial word in that sentence. Whoops!

When I read this I thought it said "The Escapist: Now with badgers!" - so maybe for those who get lots of typos and are ridiculed by the grammar police can get a mark of shame called a "badge-r".

Larenxis:
This frightens me a little. I'm worried what people (and I) will do for the sake of badges. I agree with Pedro though, a reward for not getting banned or probated after a 1000 posts would be great.

Badge Whores. I think 2 people I didn't know added me as a friend this morning. I thought I was popular.

Anyway I have lots of them so I'm happy. All fun to get a reward for my obsessive posting.

This would take me back to my Boy Scout days if I was ever in the Boy Scouts, so it just reminds me of Psychonauts.

Which one's for Pyrokenesis, again?

OverlordSteve:

Which one's for Pyrokenesis, again?

Forum Inferno

The_root_of_all_evil:

OverlordSteve:

Which one's for Pyrokenesis, again?

Forum Inferno

That's for creating Popular Topics, isn't it? It's always for the thing you're worst at...

Not terribly sure how wise this is, but we'll see how it goes.

Thank you for the beer badge--the internet forum equivalent of the pub yelling "Norm!" and Sam curving a mug of frosty goodness down the bar to you.

Susan Arendt:

Only one badge per, yes, and if you want to see all of your badges, just check your profile. At the moment, only the four you've earned most recently show up in your forum post.

Lt. Sera:
Might be nice to have a 'show this badge' option, for those who have more then 4, so you can pick which ones show up.

We're working on it. But we wanted to let folks see how many different badges were up for grabs first.

Maybe since this runs off of the database and queries, maybe make the 4 most rare badges each person has the default as an interim solution? Also allows you to showcase the greatest number of different badges.

Gah! I only had to see the badges and now I have to collect 'em all.

Do system messages count towards the intouch badge?
Or messages from being befriended?

This will definitely get people begging for an annual "Escapist Forum Awards" event.

I call badge whore contest.