Make little prizes in the form of Achievement Unlocked style.

[Arcanel 3,041]

Now, I know that there's already the badges, but, maybe this could work too.

 

Here's the thing. Randomly I started making "achievements" after some jokes in the General Chat Thread.  However, I could make DOZENS of these things. And there are, back in a thread I myself created. But, taking out the ones that would probably not fit, I think that getting a small notification in the form of, for example:

 

"Achievement Unlocked.

 

Santa Claus:

Give out 1000 brohoofs."

 

or another:

 

"Achievement Unlocked.

 

The Equestrian Reader:

Make 300 posts in Pony Bulletin sub-section"

 

or even for bad ones Thanks to comments, I realized that giving "praise" to bad things is NOT a good idea. Ergo, here, have a funny achievement unlocked, which I totally agree with.

 

"Achievement Unlocked.

 

You Fool, You've Killed us All!

Incite an argument about who is the best pony.

 

and so on, could make for a fun thing to have in the forums. However, I don't know just how hard this would be to even applicate. I hope I presented the idea well, considering how silly I think myself I am for this one.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Arcanel

[Motion Spark 7,807]

Omg Arcy! I SO want something like this! you are so creative <3

really it should be implemented but I don't know how hard it would be to pull that off! but I suppoert this idea 100%

[Arcanel 3,041]

Omg Arcy! I SO want something like this! you are so creative <3

really it should be implemented but I don't know how hard it would be to pull that off! but I suppoert this idea 100%

You ain't seen nothing yet Sparky. But thanks for the support! When I said that I did dozens, I wasn't lying. If you check the thread I made with a similar theme of name...yeah, you'll see how far it went.

[Starshine 16,334]

Pretty sure someone already suggested things like this before.... Here ya go

http://mlpforums.com/topic/13709-proposal-forum-badges/

 

Not really sure what happened to the thread and the idea though. Achievements like this can provoke a spamfest for the sake of achievements.

[Arcanel 3,041]

Pretty sure someone already suggested things like this before.... Here ya go

http://mlpforums.com/topic/13709-proposal-forum-badges/

 

Not really sure what happened to the thread and the idea though. Achievements like this can provoke a spamfest for the sake of achievements.

Huh...I didn't know that. (Then again, it was a thread from April, 4 months before I even joined ). Regardless, that IS correct and I am aware of the fact that the major danger is the spamming palooza that could ensue. Plus, it was kinda fresh in my mind after Scootabelle's thread on the normal badges. However, I also wanna see the plus side. Despite the "achievement fever" that it might cause for people to go and spam everything like hell, I also wanna think that, because of this, people will go look to other threads that might have been left alone, therefore, expanding the opinions that could happen right then and there WITH quility posts happening as well. Maybe not as high a chance, but I'm also not discarding it at all.

 

Besides, this time, we could also put some of the achievements in secret, staying true to the fact there ARE secret "achievements" as far as In knnow, making it more interesting. And as a final plus...it is fun. But yeah, I understand, but if Feld0 gives the thumbs up and doesn't cause a total disaster or cluttering to the forum, I think it could be done.

 

Another thing though is if I should talk this with Ezynell, just in case he feels I'm stealing his idea. (although mine is a bit simpler, I think, as his involved making images and stuff like that, while mine are just notifications after reaching the certain's achievement objective).

Edited December 3, 2012 by Arcanel

[Sarajevo 124]

This sounds like an interesting feature really... I'd love to see how it all plays out, I'd love to get something like this implemented here

[NavelColt 22,881]

When I first stumbled on that thread, I thought it was a fantastic idea, and that certainly the staff could do something about it. I really love the idea of the notifications thing, because that way, the things are connected to your account, and could be accessed somewhere in your account. Whether they'd be viewable somewhere on your profile or not would be up to the admin's discretion. I do believe this can be done right, and it can be done wrong. But I really think the staff should talk about this and talk over the possibilities, because it's a fun idea that would spark a lot of attention if it was implemented, and worked fairly well.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

This was actually thought up on the mod board a few months ago... I don't know the status of it right now, but at the time I didn't like it because I personally felt as if it would cause problems amongst users because they have more "credentials" to show off.

 

Looking back at it, I think I was pretty silly and this would be a nice little hook to have, as long as it doesn't go overboard and make itself seem like a huge contest of the sort. It would work as a nice little side-game which you could just mess around with - for older members, perhaps it would be something to be a proud of all things considered.

[NavelColt 22,881]

This was actually thought up on the mod board a few months ago... I don't know the status of it right now, but at the time I didn't like it because I personally felt as if it would cause problems amongst users because they have more "credentials" to show off.

 

Looking back at it, I think I was pretty silly and this would be a nice little hook to have, as long as it doesn't go overboard and make itself seem like a huge contest of the sort. It would work as a nice little side-game which you could just mess around with - for older members, perhaps it would be something to be a proud of all things considered.

 

Personally, I think as long as we try and not promote the blatant achievements like brohoof counters and post milestones and things that more or less hold up a big-ass sign saying 'spam post the shit out of this joint so you can get me', then we should be fine. Most of these achievements should, at least in my mind, be the more creative ones that aren't just the 'have X amount of brohoofs/posts', and of which also aren't inherently competitive. For example (pulling from the thread):

 

Smart Poster:

Pass a great period of time without warning points.

There's a Stalker in Your Page :

Get 10 consecutive notifications from the same member.

Followed Daily Life Celebrity:

Possess 10 followers on your personal blog.

Muse of Media:

Create 10 topics that showcase your own works of art in Octavia's Hall.

Ascent to Olympus:

Become a member of the staff.

The Voice of Reason

Get quoted as the point of objection by a moderator in the final post before a thread is locked.

Thread Inferno

Have created 5 topics that reach Hot Topic status at the same time.

Trust from the Overlord:

Get a brohoof from Feld0.

 

I'm not saying 'don't' have any brohoof or post milestone achievements, but we all know what would most likely happen if we had a bunch of those. Spammity spamfest, to some extent. But this way, with more of them being unique achievements, they become less of a focus throughout your time posting here (in short, less competitive), and more of a fun surprise you get periodically, sometimes of which you may not have seen coming (in short, more like easter eggs in video games).

 

But I could be wrong; maybe that wouldn't change a thing, or, maybe not as many people would abuse those achievements as we think there are. A good discussion over it is needed. After all yet another thing to consider is how the system works, overall, too, like where and how it's displayed, if at all, and all the other parameters. Again, it can be done right, and it can be done wrong.

Edited December 3, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[Arcanel 3,041]

I've been giving Ezynell's thread a bit of a read...and I think I can concrete the main differences between his idea and mine.

 

First of all, his idea was slightly more complicated. Mine just involves making notifications for certain "objectives" that once implied in the system, that should be it, I think.

 

And second, my idea kind of involves less work for staff, as far as I can tell.

 

I'm not putting his idea down, AT ALL. Hell, had I been at the time, I would have completely supported it all the way through, but maybe with something simpler IS something Feld0 and co. can actually do without:

 

A ) Risking a potential "BOOM!" in the forum's society, as in going downhill.

B ) Not overworking the staff or at least, having much, much less work.

 

I didn't really mean for myself to take this seriously, to be honest. But given the fact a similar thing had been proposed, might as well get all facts straight to differentiate. This is all my thoughts though. But I hope the idea did get clarified enough. That's what's most important for me after all.

I'm not saying 'don't' have any brohoof or post milestone achievements, but we all know what would most likely happen if we had a bunch of those. Spammity spamfest, to some extent. But this way, with more of them being unique achievements, they become less of a focus throughout your time posting here (in short, less competitive), and more of a fun surprise you get periodically, sometimes of which you may not have seen coming (in short, more like easter eggs in video games).   But I could be wrong; maybe that wouldn't change a thing, or, maybe not as many people would abuse those achievements as we think there are. A good discussion over it is needed. After all yet another thing to consider is how the system works, overall, too, like where and how it's displayed, if at all, and all the other parameters. Again, it can be done right, and it can be done wrong.

I can agree with this. I wanted to add the "specific" brohoofs, simply, because the names for the achievements sound nice. However, I'd like to believe that most people here wouldn't abuse and spamfest the "situation" should it come out. I mean, if anything, the "giddiness" would come when about to get the achievement and MAY start going towards the spam definition, but that'd be it.

 

But like you said, it all depends on how it can be done and how it is accomplished.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Arcanel

[Shiki 5,855]

I both love and hate this idea. 

 

If it is implemented, I'm going to have a goal to work at while posting, and it'll be more fun.

 

However... if I don't get all of them, I'm going to tweak the buck out.

[Dr. Vojislav Seselj 691]

This is a great idea!

 

ALL HAIL ARCANEL

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Never give positive feedback (such as a badge) for negative behavior (such as warnings). Some people may [properly] go "heh heh, that's bad, I shouldn't get this badge. Now I have this mark of bad :(" but others will just think "EARN ALL THE BADGES" and act like miscreants because forum posting behavior has just become a game mechanic to them.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

As long as your not rewarding people for negative things it's a fine idea.  

[Jokuc 8,174]

At first I thought this was cool but.. naaah. I think it'd make the forums even more like a game.

Also, would this apply to things you've done before? Like "get a brohoof from Feld0". What if one already have gotten that 20+ times but is too lazy to wait to get a new one?

[Arcanel 3,041]

Never give positive feedback (such as a badge) for negative behavior (such as warnings). Some people may [properly] go "heh heh, that's bad, I shouldn't get this badge. Now I have this mark of bad :(" but others will just think "EARN ALL THE BADGES" and act like miscreants because forum posting behavior has just become a game mechanic to them.

...I feel like a fool for not considering this earlier. While it was something to have fun and such to go all "Aw, crap" it IS true that some people MIGHT take it in the, like you said "GET ALL THE BADGES WOOO!". I think I didn't initially consider it because I probably didn't want to think someone would think like that, as it is almost like almost insulting the probable majority of people who won't act like that. But it is something to have in regard yeah. Thanks for the opinion.

 

 

 

As long as your not rewarding people for negative things it's a fine idea.  

Considering I initially thought of this as a game, and never even initially made it so that it would get over here in the F&S part, I didn't really think of it, like I told Blue. But I guess that as funny as it could be taken it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I'm gonna change the one right there, right now.

 

 

 

At first I thought this was cool but.. naaah. I think it'd make the forums even more like a game.

Also, would this apply to things you've done before? Like "get a brohoof from Feld0". What if one already have gotten that 20+ times but is too lazy to wait to get a new one?

"Let's play a game..." Seriously though, I don't think it could twist that much the game factor. Already the badge thing is something that one would consider more...let's say incorporated, for lack of another word. Maybe this could add a bit more of "gaming" but I don't think enough to make it worse as a game for the forum itself. It's all on Feld0's word though.

 

And you're also asking a good question!...Hmmm...let's see...well, I guess it DOES have to apply to things done before. There are some things that definitely you ALREADY have and it's not like you could gain again. So yeah. ANy stat that has that already implements achieving the obejective, you'd already have, if this gets done.

 

Personally, I think as long as we try and not promote the blatant achievements like brohoof counters and post milestones and things that more or less hold up a big-ass sign saying 'spam post the shit out of this joint so you can get me', then we should be fine. Most of these achievements should, at least in my mind, be the more creative ones that aren't just the 'have X amount of brohoofs/posts', and of which also aren't inherently competitive. For example (pulling from the thread):

 

Smart Poster:

Pass a great period of time without warning points.

There's a Stalker in Your Page :

Get 10 consecutive notifications from the same member.

Followed Daily Life Celebrity:

Possess 10 followers on your personal blog.

Muse of Media:

Create 10 topics that showcase your own works of art in Octavia's Hall.

Ascent to Olympus:

Become a member of the staff.

The Voice of Reason

Get quoted as the point of objection by a moderator in the final post before a thread is locked.

Thread Inferno

Have created 5 topics that reach Hot Topic status at the same time.

Trust from the Overlord:

Get a brohoof from Feld0.

 

I'm not saying 'don't' have any brohoof or post milestone achievements, but we all know what would most likely happen if we had a bunch of those. Spammity spamfest, to some extent. But this way, with more of them being unique achievements, they become less of a focus throughout your time posting here (in short, less competitive), and more of a fun surprise you get periodically, sometimes of which you may not have seen coming (in short, more like easter eggs in video games).

 

But I could be wrong; maybe that wouldn't change a thing, or, maybe not as many people would abuse those achievements as we think there are. A good discussion over it is needed. After all yet another thing to consider is how the system works, overall, too, like where and how it's displayed, if at all, and all the other parameters. Again, it can be done right, and it can be done wrong.

You know, I had completely forgotten to respond to this! (For once I brohoofed, but did not respond ). Anyway, for the brohoof/post marks, like you said, we could narrow down the amount. This could mean that we have really, really low ones, but to "get the next level" after those, you'd have to some crazy posting/brohoofing, in which case, the reaction we'd want would be exactly as if playing a game and wathing the trophies list: "ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME?!" I could hear the screams in my mind. But I think that'd be the wisest idea, should this get included. That way, one wouldn't have to kill oneself to think of many creative ones asit¡s not that easy, AND lower the chance of "TO SPAM...I GO!"

[Vicke 3,189]

I have this odd feeling that i am the only one against this.

 

 

Even more useless threads would be created about how much they have achieved, and the same goes for blogs and status updates.

People would brohoof anything, they would quote anything... Lets just say, they would do what ever it takes to achieve the achivement.

 

For an example.

Lets say there is an achievement that says "Give away 10000 brohoofs"

People will brohoof random crap that doesn't even deserve to be displayed.

 

In other words. Make wise decisions when it comes to Achievements.

[Arcanel 3,041]

I have this odd feeling that i am the only one against this.

 

 

Even more useless threads would be created about how much they have achieved, and the same goes for blogs and status updates.

People would brohoof anything, they would quote anything... Lets just say, they would do what ever it takes to achieve the achivement.

 

For an example.

Lets say there is an achievement that says "Give away 10000 brohoofs"

People will brohoof random crap that doesn't even deserve to be displayed.

 

In other words. Make wise decisions when it comes to Achievements.

I can completely understand what you mean Vicke. But trust me, I'm not intending to have this idea make the biggest spamfest a forum ever saw, which is why I won't mind nor be sad in the slightest if Feld0 says no as a final word. No, please send me to the moon if it does become a spamfest. But there IS the fact we have considered just how much. Neither of us wants people to do spam fests galore. If there are brohoof/posts achivements, they will be made so that there are enough to make it SOMEWHAT noticeable, but not so many so as to have that more controled and make the chance of spam grow smaller.

 

Although I do think you're slightly overreacting saying that blogs and even threads will be creating, but I know how defensive you are over the spam side of both, which I also understand how you feel on that as well. There would probably be more status updates for sure, but I don't think it would go far enough that people would make blogs and even THREADS. And while I know those threads would be prolly dealt with, I'd rather the staff team not have more trouble than they may have now.

 

I say, that if we can at least narrow it down so that only status updates for the most part would be done on the "YAHOO I GOT X ACHIEVEMENTS!" and such types, I think that'd be the best possible if these gets implemented. Plus, I'd like to think there aren't enough people over in the forum to be so spammer just to get more "achievements" and such.

 

But I understand how you feel and thank you for voicing your concern. Since a similar idea had been proposed before but rejected, I want to make sure that everything goes well in this one if it DOES get in. I want this to be a fun idea, not one that will make spam in 4chan look like an ant.

[Neikos 968]

This is actually a bad idea for a content driven community. The only incentive for a user to post is to create content. ( We have a measure to limit that though. ) And the user's reward should be his peer's appreciation or his own. ( Should be both in the best case. )

 

Add achievements into the mix takes out the peer's and adds in the website. A tier, and just like with the character limit, chances are, it will work against what you want. Which is users posting. Why? Simply because posting for the sake of posting is fun, until you don't get any more rewards by the system.

 

 

"But what about the achievements that don't involve posts?"

 

 

Anything involving warning points is even worse. "Pass X amount of time without warning points."

 Really? That is like saying that staying out of prison is an achievement. ( Which it is not. ) 

 

 

Notification Achievements... It doesn't get better here: What is this for an idea? In the unlikely event that anyone has ever implemented something like that they would have probably seen two groups of people emerge, those who spam friends and those who don't. Now guess who it is going to encourage more.

 

 

Blogs: They shouldn't have achievements, for the same reason posts shouldn't either. They exist for content not for the action of 'creating content' ( that is why I cringe every time I see someone putting two pics in a blog post and say 'look! is so funny' )

 

 

tl;dr Adding a third factor to the incentive of posting is going to make the other two in-existant for the most cases. And since this forum does not only hold top quality content ( As in, people actually TRY to do something ) it will just exacerbate it. 

[Arcanel 3,041]

This is actually a bad idea for a content driven community. The only incentive for a user to post is to create content. ( We have a measure to limit that though. ) And the user's reward should be his peer's appreciation or his own. ( Should be both in the best case. )

 

Add achievements into the mix takes out the peer's and adds in the website. A tier, and just like with the character limit, chances are, it will work against what you want. Which is users posting. Why? Simply because posting for the sake of posting is fun, until you don't get any more rewards by the system.

 

 

"But what about the achievements that don't involve posts?"

 

 

Anything involving warning points is even worse. "Pass X amount of time without warning points."

 Really? That is like saying that staying out of prison is an achievement. ( Which it is not. ) 

 

 

Notification Achievements... It doesn't get better here: What is this for an idea? In the unlikely event that anyone has ever implemented something like that they would have probably seen two groups of people emerge, those who spam friends and those who don't. Now guess who it is going to encourage more.

 

 

Blogs: They shouldn't have achievements, for the same reason posts shouldn't either. They exist for content not for the action of 'creating content' ( that is why I cringe every time I see someone putting two pics in a blog post and say 'look! is so funny' )

 

 

tl;dr Adding a third factor to the incentive of posting is going to make the other two in-existant for the most cases. And since this forum does not only hold top quality content ( As in, people actually TRY to do something ) it will just exacerbate it. 

I think that you're giving people less credit than you should. You're almost assuming that the majority of people here would post just for fun until the achievements were done, which I believe to be rather unprobable, but please correct me if I'm misunderstanding you.

 

The main reason this is about, is to have a little fun extra. And like the IRL achievements in either XBOX, PS3 or whatever, they do reach an end. But, I'd rather think the person, who is would get giddy at getting all the achievements, will be something akin to "WOOO! I finally got all the achievements...ahhh...this feels great. Okay, let's keep on posting!" or similar. I'd rather not think that the fun of posting will be gone once achievements are reached. Plus, the badges implemented where little fun thing implemented in the forum long ago. Maybe a little extra that doesn't interfere with those wouldn't be bad at all.

 

As for the achievements involving warning points, I already said that I wouldn't make any that would involve getting warning points in itself, as that's like saying it's impossible to get all badges, and thanks to Blue, I did realize that there will be people who will try to get them all regardless of whatever. But how is passing a long time without warning points a bad thing? EVERYONE here should should follow the protip of not getting warning points on any case so as to make it a better forum AND not get suspended, but if randomly you got a notification saying the achievement that mentioned not warning points in a good time, it would be like "Huh?...Oh...never even realized that...nice!". The word stays on Feld0 on whether that should go or not, IF this gets implemented.I can understand your point of view though.

 

As for the notification, the whole thing in theory would be: You get an achievement, a notification appears, the achivement appears on the profile or somewhere where only YOURSELF could see it...and that would be it. Not even something fancy or anything like that.

 

And trust me, already adding blog or status updates achievements are a no go, because I know that would be too much already anyway.

 

However, I also want to try and see if this has a positive response to the question Feld0 would always ask whenever a suggestion comes up.

 

What good could it do for the forum?

 

Since the main reason this was even proposed was as something for fun, the "test" it would have to pass is whether the forumites would enjoy the idea of achievements AND not cause trouble to the staff. I believe the first is something a majority would wish, but I'm also aware that we have to minimize as much as possible the chance of spamming risk, so that the "installment" doesn't make the staff have to work any more, and is actually worth it in the end. Should the achievements be smart enough, I think it could be managed.

[Neikos 968]

I think that you're giving people less credit than you should. You're almost assuming that the majority of people here would post just for fun until the achievements were done, which I believe to be rather unprobable, but please correct me if I'm misunderstanding you.

 

The main reason this is about, is to have a little fun extra. And like the IRL achievements in either XBOX, PS3 or whatever, they do reach an end. But, I'd rather think the person, who is would get giddy at getting all the achievements, will be something akin to "WOOO! I finally got all the achievements...ahhh...this feels great. Okay, let's keep on posting!" or similar. I'd rather not think that the fun of posting will be gone once achievements are reached. Plus, the badges implemented where little fun thing implemented in the forum long ago. Maybe a little extra that doesn't interfere with those wouldn't be bad at all.

 

No, there will always be a handful of people making anything worse, check out what happened to the chat room. The largest part of the people on there were actually chatting normally, but as far as I remember about 10-20 users believed that being an idiot and spamming/ starting flame wars was a nice idea. While it still existed I was part of the moderation team and doing anything on there was pretty volatile as these people would start to bit- complain about any action taken. ( I would have taken a more radical approach, but that happened anyway. ) In the end we all just scrapped it and the chat got nuked. The lesson that should be learned is that there will always be a handful of people who do not care about any rule. If you give them an incentive it will just make it worse.

 

But I do agree that not everyone is spamming and most of the time the conversations are intelligent and at least somewhat developed. But sadly 'a bad apple spoils the bunch', and even if you don't do it consciously seeing more and more spammy replies makes you more desensitized against them, whether you believe it or not. 

 

As for the notification, the whole thing in theory would be: You get an achievement, a notification appears, the achivement appears on the profile or somewhere where only YOURSELF could see it...and that would be it. Not even something fancy or anything like that.

 

 

 

While I do agree that having 'achievements' for yourself where you can see whether you are a good poster or not can make you feel good and give you a sense of reward. But is it really needed?  I mean, why not give yourself a pat in the back sometimes? Everytime I get over > 1500 characters I believe that my post wasn't as stupid as I usually think. After all a discussion is as much about the other as it is about yourself.

 

I think a larger problem is that it can also be huge frustration for some. What I see often is people who write a huge post about their opinion, they explain it and actually argument but then the next one is a two liner saying 'lol that sucks' ( that's an example ) and it get's dozens of brohoofs and people answering to it, while the longer and often more thought out reply just gets ignored.

 

 

So what I think would be more fun is to force people to actually interact with each other rather than just passively giving their opinion. ( Aka, just posting for the sake of posting. And that is also my argument against the post limit in some sections where it hinders discussion, but that's another topic. )

[Arcanel 3,041]

No, there will always be a handful of people making anything worse, check out what happened to the chat room. The largest part of the people on there were actually chatting normally, but as far as I remember about 10-20 users believed that being an idiot and spamming/ starting flame wars was a nice idea. While it still existed I was part of the moderation team and doing anything on there was pretty volatile as these people would start to bit- complain about any action taken. ( I would have taken a more radical approach, but that happened anyway. ) In the end we all just scrapped it and the chat got nuked. The lesson that should be learned is that there will always be a handful of people who do not care about any rule. If you give them an incentive it will just make it worse.

 

But I do agree that not everyone is spamming and most of the time the conversations are intelligent and at least somewhat developed. But sadly 'a bad apple spoils the bunch', and even if you don't do it consciously seeing more and more spammy replies makes you more desensitized against them, whether you believe it or not. 

 

 

 

 

While I do agree that having 'achievements' for yourself where you can see whether you are a good poster or not can make you feel good and give you a sense of reward. But is it really needed?  I mean, why not give yourself a pat in the back sometimes? Everytime I get over > 1500 characters I believe that my post wasn't as stupid as I usually think. After all a discussion is as much about the other as it is about yourself.

 

I think a larger problem is that it can also be huge frustration for some. What I see often is people who write a huge post about their opinion, they explain it and actually argument but then the next one is a two liner saying 'lol that sucks' ( that's an example ) and it get's dozens of brohoofs and people answering to it, while the longer and often more thought out reply just gets ignored.

 

 

So what I think would be more fun is to force people to actually interact with each other rather than just passively giving their opinion. ( Aka, just posting for the sake of posting. And that is also my argument against the post limit in some sections where it hinders discussion, but that's another topic. )

(Sigh). I guess you could say both fortunately and unfortunately, but I am aware enough of the people don't exactly feel they are bound to something, whatever that may be. I am familiar with what happened to the chat room, so I know a little bit about that, even if I wasn't around that time. I don't know how many "bad apples" would happen should this be implemented. Call me optimistic if you wish, as I always look at the positive side more than anything when things like this happen.

 

Also, I think you're misunderstanding a bit the point of the achievements. I'm not having this to say that the more achievements, the better the poster. The same thing as the badges. Some people take them as "bases" so as who to trust more, if you wish, but I think that mainly they just show how active one poster is (and in the case of staff members, to have them easily recognized).

 

Trust me, when I say that I always feel good when I make a long, thoughtful post. Makes me feel that I've used my mind, whether I am wrong or right.

 

Finally, I didn't put this as means of "need". Rather as something fun to have. Something that was created in the spur of the moment, and that I wanted to know if, members agreed, staff felt it wouldn't do any harm, and most importantly, Feld0 gave an approval that it met the standard of "Not bad for the forum, could make it fun" simpler thought of it.

 

 

I guess it is my fault that I didn't see the...er...let's call it "deeper side" of it, considering I didn't really know (or maybe don't want to know) how really bad it actually get. Or even if it's not tat bad anyway, maybe make things slightly worse instead of...well...normal? I don't know if "fun" would mean better in this case, but I hope it would be what it meant.

 

I don't know how many times I said it, and I hate saying it again, but I'll let our good overlord decide the fate of this. I think I might have underestimated the long-term of it. Probably because I felt it more innocent, that it might have been in my mind.

[Neikos 968]

Also, I think you're misunderstanding a bit the point of the achievements. I'm not having this to say that the more achievements, the better the poster. The same thing as the badges. Some people take them as "bases" so as who to trust more, if you wish, but I think that mainly they just show how active one poster is (and in the case of staff members, to have them easily recognized).

 

 

If you base the quality of a post off Badges you're elitist and possibly condescending. I find them incredibly gimmicky, and besides you shouldn't need them to recognize a staff member. And I don't want to know how active an user is, why would I? Just because someone tends to write a lot doesn't make him a good poster, just a frequent poster. Which on it's own has no value. ( Or at all actually. )

 

Same for achievements ^^ They work in a game because they track your progress and great feats that are pre-determined. A forum is and should not be predetermined in such a way. So achievements are just gimmicks once again. ( Just like Badges. )

[Arcanel 3,041]

If you base the quality of a post off Badges you're elitist and possibly condescending. I find them incredibly gimmicky, and besides you shouldn't need them to recognize a staff member. And I don't want to know how active an user is, why would I? Just because someone tends to write a lot doesn't make him a good poster, just a frequent poster. Which on it's own has no value. ( Or at all actually. )

 

Same for achievements ^^ They work in a game because they track your progress and great feats that are pre-determined. A forum is and should not be predetermined in such a way. So achievements are just gimmicks once again. ( Just like Badges. )

I think I was guessing a little that you were somewhat against badges.  Regardless, everyone knows what is the forum's main objective. That's something everyone knows unless you don't know what a forum is about. As a matter of fact, this is my first forum and I still know.  Though for the record, I don't use badges as "recognition" poster or something like that, Feld0 ban me before doing so. I just think they look nice.

 

Regardless, any gimmick could go in so long as the three main things IMO are accomplished.

 

One, the members find it good/fun and enjoys it.

 

Two, the staff is not going to need to work more for it.

 

And three, it will not deter the function of the forum not will it cause it any inmediate or future harm.

 

I don't think Feld0 would have put the badges in the first place if all three hadn't been accomplished. And I leave to his judgement on whether the achievements accomplish all three. I believe the forum hasn't enough bad apples to throw it down whether by much or not, many people would go all "WEEE!", and it wouldn't overwork the staff. There's a reason even staff brohoofed it after all, even Feld0 himself. But then again, the moment I say I have more knowledge than FELD0, is the moment I need to take a deep breath, and promptly hit my head against the wall.

[3005 332]

The Wikia system has this, as do numerous other sites on the net, and I feel it's absolutely superfluous. To me, it seems like it'd just be a useless addition to the forums, which are kept devoid of a messy buildup of features. Badges are a much prettier method of congratulating users on their achievements.