What's more important

TA badges suck because it's the same 10 badges and you have to do a ton to progress through the color background. Work does not equal the pay off. Xbox America badge are just horrible, and same problem I have with 360voice badges, you can loose them. The worst thing about the 360voice badges is they constantly change the requirements and revoke the badges. I personally can't stand having things I've earned being taken away from me.

I think the problem here for new members with the badges is how you just get a ton of notifications spamming your feed as you are being synced, which can easily take days. If you just get one notice when you are done syncing saying you earned "122 badges earned" then it wouldn't seem so silly.

I agree with the perception that we have too many badges here, but isn't it nice to be recognized for completing a certain task? Perhaps I could remove the badges for playing or completing a certain set of games, or at the very least make them much more challenging. A point system has also been brought up before, so that you're graded by difficulty of the badges you have versus the actual number of badges you have. There are ways we can improve the badge system to fit everyone's needs. What do you guys think?

I agree with the perception that we have too many badges here, but isn't it nice to be recognized for completing a certain task? Perhaps I could remove the badges for playing or completing a certain set of games, or at the very least make them much more challenging. A point system has also been brought up before, so that you're graded by difficulty of the badges you have versus the actual number of badges you have. There are ways we can improve the badge system to fit everyone's needs. What do you guys think?

Originally Posted by GTN Eric

So lets look at this: Is this to be an elitist site? Say, I'm not a gaming god and don't have a lot of money so the badges for playing certain games are easy to earn and it show I have progress on the site..its friendly, if you make badges to hard to get people may shy away as they see competition and don't want to be the low gamer on the totem pole.

Then say I'm a hardcore achievement hunter, who takes completions seriously, I get badges for all the games played and if shows I love to play.....now I have way more badges then Joe public but you see I have the same badges so were even, what sets me apart? But keeps me personable.

Change the badges, How about institute a tiring system like the Enthusiast I, II and III badges but make them one badge instead of three... Example: I get a badge for simply playing ANY Gears of War game.....now upgrade that badge when you complete games.. EXAMPLE 1 STAR badge for completing ANY Gears of war game... 2 star badge for completing ANY 2 Gears of War games.. And etc... Do this for any Series of games or any games at all.. So everyone gets a badge but the more serious players get an added benefit.

You can even go so far as to add a point system, where once given a badge they badge CAN NOT BE TAKEN AWAY! EXAMPLE: 1 Point for earning the Play ANY Gears of War game, now when that badge upgrades, (not a second badge) it will change to 2 point badge for completing any Gears of War game..3 points for another completion in the series and so on.. the badges can even change color or denote with a star of roman numeral.

This puts the badges both at a level playing field and challenging at the same time.

Edited for grammar... I did that on my WP and it cam out horribly.. but do you understand what I'm getting at. This would keep the badges already earned on the site and maybe even combine a few.

Thanks for the input. You know, a tiered badge system may work. It would also be the most difficult to implement. A points system would be fairly easy. I could even combine both ideas into a tiered point system or go as far as adding levels based on the points accumulated from badges. For example, badges would be converted into tiers like bronze, silver, gold, platinum, etc.. (based on difficulty). Each tier would award X number of points.

Thanks for the input. You know, a tiered badge system may work. It would also be the most difficult to implement. A points system would be fairly easy. I could even combine both ideas into a tiered point system or go as far as adding levels based on the points accumulated from badges. For example, badges would be converted into tiers like bronze, silver, gold, platinum, etc.. (based on difficulty). Each tier would award X number of points.

Originally Posted by GTN Eric

i tink this would appeal to more ppl as some1 said earlier that they got put off by so many badges imo the badges r a big part in why i enjoy this site to each his own i guess

No I clearly get where you are coming from, so why not offer a solution instead of just complaints? How about an option to turn off the badges on your profile? This would work under profile customization like I have suggested and apparently is in the works. Now whether or not that function is being supported for this planned profile customization I'm not sure, but if you were to suggest it you may earn a badge!

Originally Posted by B8TINGU

My solution is to have LESS badges. That is all.

Don't change them to something completely different. Don't throw them away. But holy hell, stop trying to add more everyday. And take a hard look at the ones there. Does there really need to be 250-300 available?

My solution is to have LESS badges. That is all.

Don't change them to something completely different. Don't throw them away. But holy hell, stop trying to add more everyday. And take a hard look at the ones there. Does there really need to be 250-300 available?

Originally Posted by futiles

Well if its popular then yes..the more people speak up the more information Eric has to help the site. Community and democracy is a beautiful thing....HOA's not so much though...lol.

Not to be rude, but besides badges and reading five threads a day, there isn't anything else to do here. Get rid of the badges, then I don't know what I'd do.

Not to be rude, but besides badges and reading five threads a day, there isn't anything else to do here. Get rid of the badges, then I don't know what I'd do.

Originally Posted by Kaens

That's not rude, its honest and that's why we need, but we need it in quantity..what drives the world, popularity, unless your independently wealthy...but really, it's like everything else, Las Vegas wasn't built in a day, but now look at it, same applies here, the more participation we get the better this site will be.

Dark Lord White has put up a community event, its a start. I even offered a prize.
Choatikiller runs monthly challenges

we just have to find our much and I believe badges are it.

360v has the challenge system and blogs and a watcher system that's hard to beat, but its still has its flaws.

Ta has gaming sessions.. Ratios and now they have blogs and followers.

I myself have some challenges/contest that I would love to run..that's what gets people to participate..but sometimes it takes funding or sponsorship to do stuff like that.

I don't want a cookie cutter site, I like the vast number of badges, they don't take up that much space on your profile. You don't like the notification clogs? Well honestly I have never gotten any notifications in my personal mail or here in my GTN mail, but they show up on my feed which is where they should show up. Sure it may be a bit much at first, but really what are feeds for then? Lol at face book, I get hundreds of feed items a day and can't keep up, but yet people still love Facebook.

The notification spam should've stopped. It's configured to hold off on sending badge notifications until after your achievements have been synced up. This should take care of that particular side of it.

Honestly, the badges are a big reason I like the site which makes it fun and different then many of the others sites I am part of. The system is fine as it is. This month alone 19 badges have been added to the site. That is not a lot when you consider half of them are tiered like Flash Mob, Polling Station, and Mr. Popularity. The site is crisp and nicely designed. I love how attentive Eric is with the site and the community. That also keeps me coming back, keep up the good work.

Now if getting bombarded with badge emails is the worst part of the site, that can be fixed and Eric is already addressing the issue. In a weeks time the site picks up some 20-40 new members. I know since I check, I friend them and welcome to the site. They may not be participating in the forums, but they are using the site.

Badges should not be bothering you. They spark activity on the site. If they are bothering you then turn them off in your feed and email notifications. Problem solved.

Nicely put Marv.. I didn't even realize you could turn them off in your feed.. Thumbs up to you!!

Thanks for the input Marv. That was an exceptional post. You can hide Badges from your activity feed using the Feed Options page, or hide Badges from your profile using the Profile Options page. (I need to work on making this easier to find)

Also, badges won't be going away anytime soon. I would like to consider some of the options discussed earlier. There are several things I can do to improve the badge system. What do you guys think about adding tiers (bronze, silver, gold, etc) to badges, or awarding points for each badge based on difficulty?

Thanks for the input Marv. That was an exceptional post. You can hide Badges from your activity feed using the Feed Options page, or hide Badges from your profile using the Profile Options page. (I need to work on making this easier to find)

Also, badges won't be going away anytime soon. I would like to consider some of the options discussed earlier. There are several things I can do to improve the badge system. What do you guys think about adding tiers (bronze, silver, gold, etc) to badges, or awarding points for each badge based on difficulty?

Originally Posted by GTN Eric

I think tiering and points would be super awesome! It make sense actually and adds to the challenge. Those of us who have badges keep them and now the point system would add a leveler to the playing field.. so you have 300 badges, well you get top badge gamer.. well I have completed more games that you so I only have 5th place in the badges with 230 but my badges are worth more on the site and I'm top point badge dude.. (yea I get carried away)

You can also still add other badges too.. like the one for having a thread reach over 1000 replies...(hint, hint) oh wait did some one mention that over in the feature request for badge ideas already?

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