Feedback on Discourse badges and BBS specific badges

I am just brainstorming, not looking for any specific result. There is a new weapon in the arsenal, wanted to make people aware of it.

Also, I think recognition badges can work in the BBS context sometimes, its a balancing act and really not my call, this would be up to @beschizza and the powers that be.

I definitely think that people who contribute a story to BB should get at least a badge for recognition, maybe even a bronze every time a story is accepted. For one it would allow users to easily navigate the stories user X or Y contributed. There are plenty of useful usages for the new system.

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Basically, Iā€™m up for experimenting. Do what feels right, test the generic stuff as well as BBS-specific concepts; adopt adapt improvise.

One thing that would make recognition badges easier to deal with, from our editorial side, would be making it possible for us to slurp a discourse OP back into wordpress, so it happens magically.

Say, editors have a little button that fires up a new wordpress post pre-populated with the originating discourse thread ID in the relevant custom field, and the OP text and author in a blockquote? Or maybe even promote the OP to a wordpress ā€œcontributorā€ and put them as the default author.

Buzzword badges? Banana, maker, DRM, handmade, ā€œlook at itā€?

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Iā€™d like to see something that actually encouraged, yā€™know, discourse. It might be hard to automate, but when someone does a good job disagreeing with another without resorting to name calling, or building on another personā€™s comment in a constructive way, it would be nice to reward that.

If itā€™s possible to track, maybe a person could earn a badge if they get a ā€œlikeā€ from someone they @mention? Maybe that would do the trick. Or that might just result in a lot of asskissing.

Also, people should get a badge for reading all the other comments before they post, so there are less repetitive comments.

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I think this is a general theme we should address. We already plan to have a badge for reading a long topic but adding a guard that only awards it if you do not respond prior to reading everything seems very sane (albeit technically nightmarish)

Weā€™ve had at least three people independently suggest a badge for reading all the comments. Hmm.

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A badge for reading the entirety of a long topic has been on the spec since Feb when we started the badge efforts.

@sam says this is one of the hardest to implement, unfortunately, but it is an important one, because Reading is Fundamental.

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I thought it funny that the three suggesters did not seem to have read all the comments since they did not refer to each other.

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Given the proximity to the previous post, Iā€™m pretty sure that at least one was done in jest:

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Maybe there can be a user-nominated badge for missing a really obvious jokeā€¦ :wink:

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That would have to be ā€œThe Wooosh.ā€

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Iā€™ve been here a while. Nope, not in the last several years at least. I recall a couple users being recruited at moderators, and moderators taking part in the commenting community, but no extra authority for anyone not actually employed (I assume the mods were compensated). I actually really LIKE that this isnā€™t a community run community.

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I like the idea. Would rather see the badges of encouragement. Even though Iā€™d love to see a ā€˜trollypantsā€™ badge, it wouldnā€™t help anything.

Joining, good faith debate, frustration tolerance, adding relevant links, and such are definitely what needs to be encouraged. I donā€™t know the metrics of the owners.

Might be nice to have add a ā€˜this adds somethingā€™ button next to the ā€˜i like thisā€™ button. Both are relevant, and it would clarify who adds something of value vs something awesome but fluffy.

Both could be encouraged. I like the evolution.

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ā€¦want that oneā€¦

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FWIW, I was asked to moderate a particular sub-section of a forum (not here, obviously) because it was on a subject I was significantly more qualified to supervise than the actual administrators. As you say, Iā€™m not paid in any way and have only the tiniest of authority. Itā€™s not something they do for every section, just a few that need specific expertise. Something like that could work here, I think. I agree with you, though, that we donā€™t want the inmates running the asylum.

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[quote=ā€œchgoliz, post:56, topic:36447ā€]
Itā€™s not something they do for every section, just a few that need specific expertise. Something like that could work here, I think.[/quote]

Oh boy. I pity whoever ends up becoming the BoingBoing game-master. ā€œRoll against mutation!ā€

Or the Lal (Dataā€™s daughter).

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The shame-badges are funny, and I think some of us would wear them withā€¦ well, something akin to prideā€¦ but a number of users would not.

Badges should be rewards, not scarlet letters.

Hrm. How about a big red letter A for users found engaging in sock-puppetry?

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I would like to institute a badge for everyone waiting on the new game as well.

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I apologize if this has already been suggested, but I would like to submit the notion of a badge for the ratio of :heart:s given to :heart:s received.

My personal experience does not equate to a broad study, but in general, I have observed that the most combative and argumentative posters typically receive far more :heart:s than they give.

This is not presented as fact, but for the community to consider.

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