My thoughts on the site badges/post count and fame

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

NOTE: Read ALL of it, this doesn't JUST concern badges and post count.

 

I've always thought that the badges system in this site (and other sites that have the same feature) has been an up and down thing. I'll list a few pros and cons of post badges before going further:

 

PROS

 

-gives a sense of pride and achievement

-shows your activity and commitment for the forums

-can be a fun process discovering all the new badges and reaching them

 

CONS

 

-may be used as a bragging right in some situations

-can be abused, causing spam and lower quality posts for the sake of getting your post count and badge at a higher level

-just because you have a certain badge, you may be respected more or less

-your opinion may matter more or less based on your post count

 

Now, I'll evaluate on both.

 

For the pros of the badges, I can relate to them. In my first month or so of the forums, I was active as hell, posting a crap ton. I'll admit, a bit of the purpose was post whoring, but most of the time I loved to critique on art and also talk in general about the fandom. I also enjoyed the feeling of seeing a new badge under my avatar.

 

For the cons, this is a big part of this whole system. I'll explain each point.

 

---

 

"may be used as a bragging right in some situations"

 

Though most users on this forum aren't like this, it can happen where it crosses someone's mind after they reach a great post count milestone (1,000/2,000/3,000, etc.) and they say "omg look how many posts I got and look at my uber badge, goml". Now of course, this can't really go well, and can lead to the other cons.

 

---

 

"can be abused, causing spam and lower quality posts for the sake of getting your post count and badge at a higher level"

 

This is commonly known as post whoring. Basically, when some people see higher ranked (badge wise) forumers, they want to advance up to their level and get that Brony badge or whatever it may be. Then, of course, they frequently appear in the "Today's Top Posters" list, more for the fact that they want a higher post count rather than they love to post here. When people post whore, they generally want to make their posts as short as possible so they can post more, leading to a bigger badge and post count. Though not all short posts are low quality, with the combination of the mindset "I want a better badge" it can seriously hamper the quality of the post, which is a big problem when it comes to large discussions. That's why it's great that posts in Cloudsdale Coliseum don't count IMO.

 

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"just because you have a certain badge, you may be respected more or less"

 

This is a problem I've seen over various forums, including this one. Say, a Muffin-ranked user is posting around. He might not get as much attention, respect, or anything that falls into that category as much as, so say, a Brony-ranked user. Respect may be given purely on whether or not the higher ranked user is famous around the forum and has a higher post count, but I will get into that in a small while.

 

---

 

"your opinion may matter more or less based on your post count"

 

This branches off of the previous con. Some user with a low fame level and post count may post their opinion on a certain subject in any thread (Show Discussion, Forum Lounge, etc.) and not get as much recognition or feedback on their opinion as much as somebody with 1500+ posts. This doesn't happen TOO often, as I do see people praising the lower badge users for the intelligent ideas/theories that they post, but I do see it pop up time and again across various subforums.

 

---

 

Fame can also have a factor in the last two cons. If you are a forumer who is well known across the website and/or a staff member, you may get more brohoofs, recognition, whatever it may be for your posts, even if somebody with a lower post count said something along similar lines. That really bugs me because I give absolutely no respect for people just because of their fame, I need to know who they are and what they do and get to know them better before I can judge them. Basically, if my point isn't clear, more famous users could be given greater praise than a less known user purely based on the fact that they are famous.

 

 

Well, there's my rant on badges, I just kind of had to state my opinion on the matter. Now, some of these PROS and CONS may be obvious to some of you, but I wanted to go in depth on them and state my opinion. Having said all this, I still enjoy the badge system, regardless of the cons I feel it possesses. Feel free to post what you agree or disagree with me on.

 

TL;DR? Don't bother, I won't summarize this for you if you are too lazy to read it.

 

EDIT: I'll quote something Jokuc (though he did not fully agree with me, he did have a similar opinion on some points) said on the matter:

 

Oh yeah.. I have seen this alot. It kinda annoys me actually. But this rule does not apply to people with high posts, it's like something all staff get. I remember when somepony asked how to do something and I answered. Staff memeber answered 5 mins later with the same answer --> got 5+ brohoofs.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Scootabelle

[NavelColt 22,877]

Badges are not an issue, here. At least not a major one. Gonna state that flat out. I've been on forums where they are, and it's quite noticeable. People here do not give a shit about badges other than the occasional 'yay, ____ rank at last :3' statuses, which are harmless. While lower-ranked users may not get enough attention sometimes, just as much of that is attributed to the fact that they are simply not known at all yet, and people can't establish a connection and thus interest in their posts.

 

The badge system is not perfect, and it will never be, anywhere online. Nothing's perfect. Sometimes lower ranked people get judged. But for the most part, it works, and that's why it's worth having.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

The badge system is not perfect, and it will never be, anywhere online. Nothing's perfect. Sometimes lower ranked people get judged. But for the most part, it works, and that's why it's worth having.

I do like the badge system, yes, but I do think there are some decent faults in it that can hamper or enhance some people's experience on the site.

 

While lower-ranked users may not get enough attention sometimes, just as much of that is attributed to the fact that they are simply not known at all yet, and people can't establish a connection and thus interest in their posts.

 

 

That's one of the problems I'm trying to get at. Some not so well known count user may say something and get little recognition, while another well known user may say the same thing and be praised much higher. I do see what you mean how people might not have really connected with the lower user, but I do think it's a slight problem. Of course, if I had to chose whether or not badges stay or leave, I would keep them.

 

People here do not give a shit about badges other than the occasional 'yay, ____ rank at last :3' statuses, which are harmless.

 

 

I'm talking about seeing badges and automatically giving some sort of superior treatment to said user just because of their badge.

 

Example, if Feld0 posted something, and, like stated a hundred times before, a less known user says the same thing, Feld0 will get many more brohoofs whether or not he said it first just because he's Feld0.

[Jokuc 8,173]

Badges are not an issue, here. At least not a major one. Gonna state that flat out. I've been on forums where they are, and it's quite noticeable. People here do not give a shit about badges other than the occasional 'yay, ____ rank at last :3' statuses, which are harmless. While lower-ranked users may not get enough attention sometimes, just as much of that is attributed to the fact that they are simply not known at all yet, and people can't establish a connection and thus interest in their posts.

 

The badge system is not perfect, and it will never be, anywhere online. Nothing's perfect. Sometimes lower ranked people get judged. But for the most part, it works, and that's why it's worth having.

Haha it's funny I was writing the same thing. But when I read your post mine looked like garbage

 

But yeah. I think it works just fine. I mean really how big of an issue is it really that some people sometimes are seen as greater than somepony else..? If we didn't have the badges it'd be the same thing but with "I joined the forums before you, therefore I > U" But I dont see this much at all actually.

Example, if Feld0 posted something, and, like stated a hundred times before, a less known user says the same thing, Feld0 will get many more brohoofs whether or not he said it first just because he's Feld0.

Oh yeah.. I have seen this alot. It kinda annoys me actually. But this rule does not apply to people with high posts, it's like something all staff get. I remember when somepony asked how to do something and I answered. Staff memeber answered 5 mins later with the same answer --> got 5+ brohoofs.

[Champion RD92 8,655]

I haven't seen anyone bragging about their badge, but I will agree that people with higher badges tend to get more attention than people with muffin badges a lot of the time.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Champion RD92

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Oh yeah.. I have seen this alot. It kinda annoys me actually. But this rule does not apply to people with high posts, it's like something all staff get. I remember when somepony asked how to do something and I answered. Staff memeber answered 5 mins later with the same answer --> got 5+ brohoofs.

Which goes back to the whole badge thing. If you are a staff member, your posts automatically get 10 more brohoofs than anybody else, really. Status is everything. I agree, it's kind of annoying.

 

But I do still like the badge system, regardless of the cons I posted.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Scootabelle

[Fridge 382]

Sadly like with every system its not perfect and there is room for abuse.

 

Part of what I like about these forums is the character limit thats imposed, it stops people from just spamming and often means that people check their spelling etc. You get a much more clear and concise idea because they're forced to put what they want to say in 100 characters or more.

 

As for the badges thing, I'm pretty sure its not just me but I respond based on the merits of the post rather than the rank of the poster.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Fridge

[AegisReflector 886]

Why are badges becoming such a huge issue nowadays? I don't care if a member has 10,000 posts or 25 posts, if they make a good quality post that's informative, quirky, fun, etc., then that's all that matters to me. I haven't seen anybody feel superior with their post count or have bragged about their badges. It must be all in your minds.

 

EDIT: Yyyyeessssss, my goal of almost becoming a Pony is complete! I shall take over [Chaotic Discord]'s total posts soon enough! gahahahahahahaha

Edited December 2, 2012 by AegisReflector

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

While lower-ranked users may not get enough attention sometimes, just as much of that is attributed to the fact that they are simply not known at all yet, and people can't establish a connection and thus interest in their posts.

Pretty much my thoughts on the matter.When I "judge" someone, I don't actually judge them or their badge or signature or whatever, just the post content compared to what I know of them. Which of course means it's hard for me to make an opinion on someone who's new, or not very active in threads I look at.But seeing I'm very inactive myself, I wouldn't blame people for having the same issue with me. So I hope others like me won't feel ignored and get discouraged to post quality content.

But this rule does not apply to people with high posts, it's like something all staff get. I remember when somepony asked how to do something and I answered. Staff memeber answered 5 mins later with the same answer --> got 5+ brohoofs.

Staffers are different, you must suck up to respect them in order to be spared follow the rules. ;3loljkI've actually seen this happen, selective praise favoring "risky" people to be safe from them. Like people with "high" status (post count, activity and/or rank, popularity), to trolls who hate on various targets as a display of "force" (coughYAFcough), and to girls who tend to act all cutesy and flirty in some forums (NintenKingdom64). It's like a survival reflex, but like all reflexes, it can be controlled (even defeated) by a small conscious effort.(PS: both forums mentioned are now dead because of this and several other problems, just in case some of you are worried they might hear of this post and take offense) Edited December 2, 2012 by Feather Spiral

[Lost Profile 644]

I was dealing with a badg thing on MUforums a week ago...

 

Since its not a very active forum... The owner made an offer to the forum members to give an exclusive comic for free if they had 50 or more post...

 

3 noobs on the forums just started spamming the forum and after 4 hrs the owner took down the offer...

There was one good thing that came out of that... The forum hit most uses online that day... 9 members XD

 

 

Anyways... It's just a thing that's entertaining and kind of fun... But it's a fucking badg, who gives a shit?

[Motion Spark 7,807]

I see no problems with the badges, I see it like a game actually...but that doesn't make me post whore, I don't post for increasing my post count, in fact I don't care. But I have to admit that I'm a bit paranoid about having and mantaining my brohoof count noticeable higher than my post count.

and I know that many do as well. 

 

Which goes back to the whole badge thing. If you are a staff member, your posts automatically get 10 more brohoofs than anybody else, really. Status is everything. I agree, it's kind of annoying.

this is a very interesting subjects, and it bugs me a bit as well...Now, I won't say names, but I'll just say staff members. I'm going to avoid site related threads made by the staff, since these are informative, and useful threads for us users, of course these are going to have tons of brohoofs.

What I mean, is when a "staff member" writes a post that it's...let's say "lacking in good content" or just average to a certain thread, wether it is for a serious thread in general discussion or sugarcube corner, or a silly unfunny post made in forum lounge, they get tons and tons of brohoof, because is this cool mod guy! just when a muffin writes a post with quality, it doesn't get any attention for being new. This actually bugs me. :x      

[Batbrony 15,994]

Best way to get known on this site/get recognition?  Post consistently, but even more importantly, post good posts!!!  I cannot emphasize that enough; if you consistently post something that is clearly worth reading or taking a look at (i.e. the latter meaning art, fan fiction, music, etc.), people will begin to notice, and subsequently pay more attention to your posts.  Whenever I write a post, I never go in with a post whoring mindset; I want to write something that is worth some pony's time to take a look at and read.

 

While I agree with Scootabelle that these are problems that can and often do plague other forums, I also agree with Chaotic Discord that those problems are not issues on this site.  I have yet to encounter one person on this site flaunting their rank or trying to abuse any so-called authority they feel they deserve as a result of rank, whether they be moderators or just high-ranking posters.  Now granted, it's not perfect, and yes, muffins or cupcakes sometimes don't get that much recognition, but as CD said, that's because they simply haven't been around enough and have only 5-20 posts or so, so of course they aren't going to get that much recognition.  If you consistently post material that is worth reading or looking at, however, people will start paying attention to you and what you have to say.  Quality in one's posts is first and foremost everything on these forums if one wants recognition.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Batbrony

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,522]

Consider the following: say you're a gamer looking to buy a video game console. Will you look at Nintendo and OUYA as equally attractive companies to purchase one from?

Probably not. One company is over 130 years old and has a world-class track record of producing excellent hardware; the other launched in 2012 out of a crowdfunding project and has yet to actually get a single product into the mass market. OUYA raised a few million dollars on Kickstarter that impressed a lot of people, but Nintendo absorbed an $800 million loss last year while continuing to provide a living for tens of thousands of employees and pouring amazing amounts of cash into research, development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution alike - all at the same time.

It's really not that unusual or unexpected that people will pay more attention to the more established names in a field that have more history attached to them. Members of a diverse online community like MLP Forums do have to build up some reputation in order to get the attention of the majority of the community. Building reputation isn't something that any one factor is the "magic bullet" for, either - ten great posts are awesome, but you can't expect to become the talk of the town if those ten posts are all you've ever contributed here.

If we were going to remove all visible signs of "seniority", I think the community would lose much of its personality. The only surefire way to ensure all posts will be evaluated by other members based purely on their quality and their quality alone would be to completely anonymize the site - remove all usernames, all avatars, all badges, all post counters, all profiles - and reduce MLP Forums to a faceless repository of posts.
 

I see no problems with the badges, I see it like a game actually...but that doesn't make me post whore, I don't post for increasing my post count, in fact I don't care. But I have to admit that I'm a bit paranoid about having and mantaining my brohoof count noticeable higher than my post count.

and I know that many do as well.

 
The badge system was never intended to be anything more than a fun little game, so I'm glad to hear someone else sees it this way. With that said, MLP Forums isn't exactly a small forum anymore: with about three thousand posts being made here every day, it takes a lot more than five of them for existing community members to warm up to you. Even if we were to remove badges, brohoof counters, and post counters, I'm sure that new members will still get a bit less attention from others than the older, more established members.
 
 

this is a very interesting subjects, and it bugs me a bit as well...Now, I won't say names, but I'll just say staff members. I'm going to avoid site related threads made by the staff, since these are informative, and useful threads for us users, of course these are going to have tons of brohoofs.
What I mean, is when a "staff member" writes a post that it's...let's say "lacking in good content" or just average to a certain thread, wether it is for a serious thread in general discussion or sugarcube corner, or a silly unfunny post made in forum lounge, they get tons and tons of brohoof, because is this cool mod guy! just when a muffin writes a post with quality, it doesn't get any attention for being new. This actually bugs me. :x

It might sound really strange hearing this from a staff member - and the site owner, of all people - but the extra attention staff get purely by virtue of being staff bugs me, too.

 

To some degree, however, it is important that people pay attention to what staff have to say - you should definitely be taking it seriously when a staff member, for example, reprimands you for breaking a forum rule. You should also take it seriously when staff have news to share about the site and upcoming changes or features, because many announcements carry information on changes and additions to the community that can have far-reaching effects for a lot of people. More often than not, our announcements actually are ignored by a great many members, which results in a flood of confused status updates and support tickets whenever we implement a major feature, even when it is publicly announced right in the middle (or rather, at the top) of Canterlot Castle.

 

When staff members go about participating in the forums personally, "off of the job" so to speak, I have noticed them generally getting a good share of attention... while some of it is surely due to the badge they wear, I'm inclined to believe that the greatest reason people have a tendency to pay more attention to what staff have to post is exactly the same reason that they pay attention to the older community members who have a lot of posts attached to their accounts: these are generally members who have made valuable contributions to the community, and many of them.

 

Staff carry more responsibility than non-staff members, and are the liaisons and ambassadors of MLP Forums. Most staff have achieved some degree of "popularity," for lack of a better term, prior to their promotions. I don't want to get into naming any specific users, but we do need people to pay attention to staff members (it's in the job description, really), and people are often already accustomed to paying attention to many of the members we promote to staff positions. Those of you who have been around here for a while were probably well aware of our staff members long before they became such.

 

Of course, there are many more factors than reputation that go into our decisions to hire people to help us out, but it would be a lie if I claimed that it wasn't a meaningful factor that we take into account.

 

 

 

Going back to the example of popularity in the "real world" I opened with, consider some notable staff members out there: would people pay more attention to Barack Obama's opinion of best pony or Mr. Joe "The Civilian" Smith's opinion of best pony?

 

I'll leave you with that.

[Zoop 8,384]

It might sound really strange hearing this from a staff member - and the site owner, of all people - but the extra attention staff get purely by virtue of being staff bugs me, too.

 

 

This.

 

The near hero-worship that staff members got from a lot of folks in the old IP.Chat room was downright maddening and borderline offensive in just how unrelenting it was at times. 

 

Anyhow, as far as badges go, my thoughts more or less echo Feld0's - they're a fun little extra, and shouldn't be taken as anything more than that. That said, it doesn't take one thousand, five hundred, or even two hundred posts to get a reasonable reputation, in my opinion - there have been a number of occasions in the last couple months for example when I've been speaking to someone about something going on in the forum, and the conversation has drifted to the topic of how new member X, that joined a couple days ago, seems to be an amazingly cool person with very high quality posts, etc.

 

... and really, if I'm going to judge people by something silly and pointless, it's more likely to be their avatar than their badge. :V

 

(as a side note, I love writing announcement threads, because even if the thread itself is extremely bad news (see: chat is dead), or similar, I always get at least eleventy bazillion brohoofs for it)

[Motion Spark 7,807]

To some degree, however, it is important that people pay attention to what staff have to say - you should definitely be taking it seriously when a staff member, for example, reprimands you for breaking a forum rule

Believe me I'm paying for something I "did", I take very serioriously what the staff have to say and when I get punished for breaking a rule.

 

You should also take it seriously when staff have news to share about the site and upcoming changes or features, because many announcements carry information on changes and additions to the community that can have far-reaching effects for a lot of people. More often than not, our announcements actually are ignored by a great many members, which results in a flood of confused status updates and support tickets whenever we implement a major feature, even when it is publicly announced right in the middle (or rather, at the top) of Canterlot Castle.

 

I hear ya and it must be very annoying for the staff to receive redundant feedback from the users, that's why I always try to be informed with site changes and suggestions, and it's ok if those post receive 50 brohooves in 1 day, I'm Ok with that.

 

When staff members go about participating in the forums personally, "off of the job" so to speak, I have noticed them generally getting a good share of attention... while some of it is surely due to the badge they wear, I'm inclined to believe that the greatest reason people have a tendency to pay more attention to what staff have to post is exactly the same reason that they pay attention to the older community members who have a lot of posts attached to their accounts: these are generally members who have made valuable contributions to the community, and many of them

 

I agree also

That's why I separated it in 2 groups, like you say when they are "off of the job" and post like "regular users", I have found posts made by staff members that are pretty average for not saying another thing, and they get many brohoof because they are "staff", is not even their fault even, it's the people who brohoof their post without even reading the content just because of the username or staff badge, of course, we can't control something like this. I just feel like it's a tad unfair for some new users who wants to get more known. I repeat again, it's not their fault.

[Champion RD92 8,655]

 

Going back to the example of popularity in the "real world" I opened with, consider some notable staff members out there: would people pay more attention to Barack Obama's opinion of best pony or Mr. Joe "The Civilian" Smith's opinion of best pony?

 

I'll leave you with that.

 

Now I'm curious whom Barack Obama would choose as best pony...

 

Good point though. People pay much more attention to the opinions of those who are more well-known and respected.

[Fridge 382]

It seems that what a lot of people, mods included, are commenting on (I was going to say complaining about but I don't think thats the case) is that there is a degree of 'herd mentality' on the forums... this amuses me more than I care to admit.

 

Best way to get known on this site/get recognition? Post consistently, but even importantly, post good posts!!! I cannot emphasize that enough; if you consistently post something that is clearly worth reading or taking a look at (i.e. the latter meaning art, fan fiction, music, etc.), people will begin to notice, and subsequently pay more attention to your posts.

 

My sentiments exactly. Although I think I miss the mark occasionally (read often). The trick is working out what is worth posting, although usually I find reading the OP carefully and checking the responses already existing a good move.

[Arcanel 3,041]

I always celebrate when I get higher in the badge ranks, simply because of the "YAHOO!" kid in me. That's about it. Plus the fact you can at least be respected in other places. If for example the posts made in Cloudsdale Colosseum counted, A LOT of us would have achieved Brony status quite some time ago. But I like to think that I'm a known member within the General Chat Thread (my camp site ), and, if anything, maybe around Show Discussion parts, but I haven't been here long enough for that. As for the site's staff, I like to think they also get more brohoofs, simply, because we know them to be good people. Example, I see Scootacool around, and I think he's a gret guy. Same thing with Feld0 Zoop, with NewCalamity, with Chaotic Discord, with Jonke etc. I wouldn't brohoof a single thing by them should I know they are complete jerks (which I know they aren't ...or at least not to my knowledge  ), and even then, I rarely give out brohoofs anyway! (I'm not used to it i the same way of Facebook's Likes XD). Regardless, I think it's a nice system to have. Allows you to see which are members that have been quite active around here, and also gives you that "YAHOO! I LEVELED UP!" or "And now I get a higher status...NOW!....Oh...one post left yet for that...D'OH!" Whichever happens.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,653]

I hardly notice a person's badge, I look for their name first and if I don't really know who it is, I look at their name history. If I still don't know who it is, I look at their join date lol. Point is, badges are fun and if you've been around the block here, you know they don't equate to a member's value/wealth here. Name recognition and post quality do. 

 

That being said, still waiting for my Timelord badge. 

[kirbyboi 587]

I get what you mean, but here we're pretty cool about it. Very very rarely will you see somepony get more respect or brag about their badge. At least, in the time I've been here I've never seen it. 

 

For me, I could care less about what badge you have. As long as your a cool member to talk to, I'm fine. I personally love seeing which badge comes next when I reach the amount of posts I need to get it, but I don't really brag about it. Why would I brag about it, anyways? It's not really a problem around here. If your a muffin, great. You a brony rank? Great. Doesn't really matter to me, and I'm sure a lot of people would agree. 

 

So I don't mind the badges, I think it's super duper fun to have, because it encourages posting and makes it more fun. :3

[Jokuc 8,173]

I hardly notice a person's badge, I look for their name first and if I don't really know who it is, I look at their name history. If I still don't know who it is, I look at their join date lol. Point is, badges are fun and if you've been around the block here, you know they don't equate to a member's value/wealth here. Name recognition and post quality do. 

 

That being said, still waiting for my Timelord badge. 

 

Haha this! Exactly this. I don't look at badges. I mostly look at the username for people that I like or maybe make good posts. And if I don't know who they are after name-change I do like you

[Jokuc 8,173]

u see big post count means ur smarter than smaller post count ppl on the forum becaus youve been there longer and know about the forum more

 

So I have the 3rd highest post count on the forums. So to you, I am smarter than @Kyronea(and a bunch of other users, even some users who are quite new to the forums make posts with greater content than mine), who has made only 1/5 as much posts as I have?

 

Nonono.

Kyronea's posts are way better than mine. Well, in serious discussion topics that is.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Jokuc

[Marcato 2,143]

I don't know about other people around these forums, but personally, I could care less about my post count and brohoof count.

 

It's not really something that should have an impact on how you view yourself really. It may be a sense of achievement and encouragement, but you don't post and write well thought out responses for the sake of getting lots of brohooves. 

 

Ultimately I could live without them, it's just a fun little thing that gives some people a goal. Some of you may call me a kill joy but that's how I honestly feel. Trust me, there was a time when I tried far too hard to increase my post count and stalked my own profile page just to see how many posts I had after every day. 

 

I dismissed it as rather silly and have since not paid attention to it. 

Anyways, this is an excellent point all-in-all. Those that do care will naturally be upset when they see someone more popular or well known say exactly what they did, and get twice as many likes. In fact it's part of the reason I left facebook. The like system bugged me to no end. 

 

It's something that can't be helped really, in fact, it should give those people that aren't getting the points they deserve something to work to. Not saying you should try to be popular, but really if you like striving for goals and milestones, go for it.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Damn, some of you think I am suggesting that I want the badge system removed, which is far from what I am trying to get at all. I just wanted to point out simple pros and cons on the matter of the whole thing.

 

It might sound really strange hearing this from a staff member - and the site owner, of all people - but the extra attention staff get purely by virtue of being staff bugs me, too.
 
To some degree, however, it is important that people pay attention to what staff have to say - you should definitely be taking it seriously when a staff member, for example, reprimands you for breaking a forum rule. You should also take it seriously when staff have news to share about the site and upcoming changes or features, because many announcements carry information on changes and additions to the community that can have far-reaching effects for a lot of people. More often than not, our announcements actually are ignored by a great many members, which results in a flood of confused status updates and support tickets whenever we implement a major feature, even when it is publicly announced right in the middle (or rather, at the top) of Canterlot Castle.
 
When staff members go about participating in the forums personally, "off of the job" so to speak, I have noticed them generally getting a good share of attention... while some of it is surely due to the badge they wear, I'm inclined to believe that the greatest reason people have a tendency to pay more attention to what staff have to post is exactly the same reason that they pay attention to the older community members who have a lot of posts attached to their accounts: these are generally members who have made valuable contributions to the community, and many of them.
 
Staff carry more responsibility than non-staff members, and are the liaisons and ambassadors of MLP Forums. Most staff have achieved some degree of "popularity," for lack of a better term, prior to their promotions. I don't want to get into naming any specific users, but we do need people to pay attention to staff members (it's in the job description, really), and people are often already accustomed to paying attention to many of the members we promote to staff positions. Those of you who have been around here for a while were probably well aware of our staff members long before they became such.

 

Yes, of course. Certain things are a necessity to pay attention to if it is an official announcement and whatnot. However, like you said it bugs you, I find it irking if a staff member says something completely average and they are praised much more than they should just because they are staff.

 

And about users giving more of their attention towards well known members, it's a thing that goes on not only on forums, but basically everywhere else you can go. Say, a celebrity says they like xxx on a TV show. People make that the "talk of the town" and rave about it for a while. However, if some random civilian says the same thing on the same TV show, whether it be before or after the celebrity says it, nobody gives two shits about it. IMO, it's just an ongoing thing that can't be fixed, however, it can be improved, which in this forum I see it as less of a problem.

 

I agree also
That's why I separated it in 2 groups, like you say when they are "off of the job" and post like "regular users", I have found posts made by staff members that are pretty average for not saying another thing, and they get many brohoof because they are "staff", is not even their fault even, it's the people who brohoof their post without even reading the content just because of the username or staff badge, of course, we can't control something like this. I just feel like it's a tad unfair for some new users who wants to get more known. I repeat again, it's not their fault.

 

I generally agree with what Motion Spark said here, specifically the bolded part. He is correct, however, that we cannot control some users who do such things.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

The badge isn't the problem, it's the poster.

 

The badges are nothing; a visual of what is already known. Someone with a Brony badge or a Unicorn badge is obviously going to be regarded a little higher than a Muffin. Why? Not because the badge says so. It's because of what that badge's owner has done. Chances are, if you are a Pony or above, most people do (or should) know who you are. Before the badges, the main posters were still easily identifiable on the site. The badges are really just a little prize to look forward to.