In world profile badges.

[Coffee Pancake]

A badge or award given to users (by LL) for meeting some criteria or participating in a special event (etc).

Badges are shown with a tiny graphic in the users profile and optionally come with a vanity title that could be shown in place of a group title. They would provide no additional benefit or perk aside from reputation ascribed to them by other users.

There would be some overlap with achievements,  obviously some people would decide to earn as many as possible (participation is a good thing), the intent isn't to make people grind out arbitrary goals that have no positive purpose relating to SL as a whole. Where possible, all badges should be achievable by all residents. Gaming some badges would be expected, the amount of social reputation a badge infers would no doubt reflect this.

Example badges could include (but not be limited to)

• Test Dummy - Participation in a Linden beta test / pile on.
• Performing, exhibiting or volunteering at a Linden event, such as SL birthdays. New badge every year for each of the roles.
• Explorer - Visit 500 regions.
• Bug Hunter - Report an accepted bug report on the JIRA
• Blogger - Users blog is featured by Strawberry on the SL blog.
• Forumite - Hit a certain post count on the forums.
• Good Citizen - A reverse badge everyone starts with and goes away if your account ever gets suspended. (controversial! 😂)
• Chatterbox - Say a million things in local chat.
• Fearless - Own a parcel of regular mainland for 6 months.
• Builder - Rez a few prims and link them together.
• Committed - Be a premium member for more than 2 years.
• Bellissarian - Have  the same Bellissaria Linden home for 6 months.
• Shopper - Buy something from the SLM that costs L$1 or more.
• Wizard - Use every LSL function in your own script at least once.
• Merchant - Sell something on the SLM.
• Summoned - Accept 1000 teleport offers.
• Ethereal - You logged in with the new mobile client, once.
• Barber - Bid a Linden bald.
• Contributor - Get a submitted feature into the official viewer.
• Barron - Become an estate manager.
• Zombie - Have your SL heath reduced to zero.
• etc etc etc .. the more the merrier !

Ideally badges should reward some action, shows or encourages participation in SL, or have subtle requirements - Eg Fearless would require a premium account.

Badges would come with a little fanfare in the viewer.

At heart they would be a bit of fun, and everyone would have the option to opt out of showing badges on their public profile.

[LittleMe Jewell]

I'm mixed on this.  I can see how it could be fun, working to get different badges.  By the same token, I can also see it as another way of creating a class system that gives the griefers & drama llamas more things to create havoc over.

 

[Sammy Huntsman]

In my honest opinion, I feel like we don't need all this. It would just overcomplicate things, that and I mean I don't want this to become like every other gaming platform out there. 

[Solar Legion]

Nope. Keep it as far away from Second Life as possible. The last thing we need is to become more attractive to rank and file Gaemerz.

[Rowan Amore]

53 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

A badge or award given to users (by LL) for meeting some criteria or participating in a special event (etc).

Badges are shown with a tiny graphic in the users profile and optionally come with a vanity title that could be shown in place of a group title. They would provide no additional benefit or perk aside from reputation ascribed to them by other users.

There would be some overlap with achievements,  obviously some people would decide to earn as many as possible (participation is a good thing), the intent isn't to make people grind out arbitrary goals that have no positive purpose relating to SL as a whole. Where possible, all badges should be achievable by all residents. Gaming some badges would be expected, the amount of social reputation a badge infers would no doubt reflect this.

Example badges could include (but not be limited to)

• Test Dummy - Participation in a Linden beta test / pile on.
• Performing, exhibiting or volunteering at a Linden event, such as SL birthdays. New badge every year for each of the roles.
• Explorer - Visit 500 regions.
• Bug Hunter - Report an accepted bug report on the JIRA
• Blogger - Users blog is featured by Strawberry on the SL blog.
• Forumite - Hit a certain post count on the forums.
• Good Citizen - A reverse badge everyone starts with and goes away if your account ever gets suspended. (controversial! 😂)
• Chatterbox - Say a million things in local chat.
• Fearless - Own a parcel of regular mainland for 6 months.
• Builder - Rez a few prims and link them together.
• Committed - Be a premium member for more than 2 years.
• Bellissarian - Have  the same Bellissaria Linden home for 6 months.
• Shopper - Buy something from the SLM that costs L$1 or more.
• Wizard - Use every LSL function in your own script at least once.
• Merchant - Sell something on the SLM.
• Summoned - Accept 1000 teleport offers.
• Ethereal - You logged in with the new mobile client, once.
• Barber - Bid a Linden bald.
• Contributor - Get a submitted feature into the official viewer.
• Barron - Become an estate manager.
• Zombie - Have your SL heath reduced to zero.
• etc etc etc .. the more the merrier !

Ideally badges should reward some action, shows or encourages participation in SL, or have subtle requirements - Eg Fearless would require a premium account.

Badges would come with a little fanfare in the viewer.

At heart they would be a bit of fun, and everyone would have the option to opt out of showing badges on their public profile.

Only for avatars under a certain age.   30 or 60 days would seem reasonable so some of those would need to go.

This seems too much like that inane Head Pats crap.

[Sammy Huntsman]

Just now, Rowan Amore said:

Only for avatars under a certain age.   30 or 60 days would seem reasonable so some of those would need to go.

This seems too much like that inane Head Pats crap.

To be honest, this just feels like a participation trophy for every normal thing you do. Like congratulations, you went shopping. Here is a badge. 

[Coffee Pancake]

28 minutes ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

In my honest opinion, I feel like we don't need all this. It would just overcomplicate things, that and I mean I don't want this to become like every other gaming platform out there. 

Two points.

The application of gamification alone does not make something a game. Achievable goals is the loud part of the idea. The quiet part is the journey a user would need to take to meet the achievement, the journey is the entire point. Take Summoned by way of example (Accept 1000 teleport offers), it's quite silly at face value and appears easily gamed. The journey requires a person have and maintain social relationships that favors bilateral inclusion - I invite you shopping today, you invite me to a thrash metal club tomorrow. There will of course be people who miss the journey and cheat it out, we can only hope they make a friend along the way, meanwhile we're involved, playing dress up and having fun.

Additions to SL have historically focused on throwing new shiny at a wall and seeing what we can do with it to amuse ourselves. Mesh was a roaring success, EEP not so much. This does nothing to address the more individual needs of SL users, (entirely optional) lateral complexity on the other hand, does.

 

1 minute ago, Solar Legion said:

Nope. Keep it as far away from Second Life as possible. The last thing we need is to become more attractive to rank and file Gaemerz.

Why do you care what "type" of people join SL or what they personally get out of it. Your bubble is fine .. there could even be a badge for it.

At the end of the day, platform survival depends on more people doing more things in world.

Personally, I have no idea why anyone sails boats in SL, but I'm not going to complain about the addition of water regions (that bring in no income and only add to SL's running costs) because it might appeal to Boaterz.

[Sammy Huntsman]

6 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

Nope. Keep it as far away from Second Life as possible. The last thing we need is to become more attractive to rank and file Gaemerz.

I just don't want SL to turn into an Xbox, Nintendo, Playstation or Steam or any other gaming platform out there. 

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

To be honest, this just feels like a participation trophy for every normal thing you do. Like congratulations, you went shopping. Here is a badge. 

Oh it is and why it might be ok for new people.  It might get them out doing and trying what SL has to offer.  After 30 or 60 days, it ends.  By then, they may have a better grasp on things.  Shopping, opening packages, creating LMs, etc.

[Sammy Huntsman]

@Coffee Pancakewhy do you want gamification in SL anyways? You have made multiple posts bringing this up. I just want to know the reason. I mean as an avid gamer, I find the whole achievement system stupid. I mean I feel more accomplished, when I beat a mission, than getting a ding on my xbox or nintendo, telling me I have gotten this achievement. I feel like achievements and badges was a bad idea in my opinion. Some people don't play the game for the game, but for how many badges or achievements they get. 

[Storii Darkheart]

I can see both sides of the argument tbh.

Some people need something to work towards when they're online, and something like achievements could help towards that. A passive accumulation for most people won't change anything. But for the people who log on and are bored but still want something to do, it could help with that.

I can also see that some people might just try to do things for achievements instead of for the experience, or it might attract more gamers. But having more people inworld who are active can't really hurt.

[Solar Legion]

Point Blank for you, Coffee? That is the exact same crowd that breezes right past Tutorials (and other entry help) and later complains about it being "too hard" (among variants) to understand. The crowd that endlessly complains when something does not look like the most recent Call of Honor games .... The list/litany of reasons have been covered every single time someone has lamented that Second Life has no appeal for these types.

What Second Life can be to each individual user is not relevant here. You are suggesting adding in a "feature" that has no point of any sort, not even a superficial one.

[Sid Nagy]

If you want me quickly out of SL, then those badges are a great idea.
That is high school stuff at best.
There is enough self importance and accompanying drama as it is in SL.
 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Sid Nagy

[Coffee Pancake]

6 minutes ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

@Coffee Pancakewhy do you want gamification in SL anyways? You have made multiple posts bringing this up. I just want to know the reason. I mean as an avid gamer, I find the whole achievement system stupid. I mean I feel more accomplished, when I beat a mission, than getting a ding on my xbox or nintendo, telling me I have gotten this achievement. I feel like achievements and badges was a bad idea in my opinion. Some people don't play the game for the game, but for how many badges or achievements they get. 

If gamification provides even a subtle motivation to participate in positive ways, it's worth having just for those who do appreciate it. Keeping in mind this isn't a simple achievement system that boils down to tracking time as most game systems present. If you get nothing at all from a ding, you've not lost anything either.

The only good use of base achievements I've seen in a game would be World of Warcraft (or other Blizzard titles). There is a huge amount of content and the achievement system provides an index of things the user can do. 

2 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

If you want me quickly out of SL, then those badges are a great idea.
That is so high school stuff.
There is enough self importance and accompanying drama as it is in SL.
 

...

[MoiraKathleen]

Actually, I don't think it's a bad idea. Some like the MP shopping one would be very easy, but some of the others would take some involvement and intention to get, which may be helpful for residents wondering what to do next or for those who might not thought of trying out or finding out about a particular aspect that could be done here.  Perhaps the one about building would get someone to a class at a building school, and they might find that they really enjoy that activity. 

Even if someone was doing them just to collect all the achievments, that's still a lot of different aspects of in-world activity that need to be done in order to collect them all, so I don't see an issue with that.   It may appeal to others besides just the gamer types.  It sounds to me like it could be fun.

 

[Coffee Pancake]

5 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

Point Blank for you, Coffee? That is the exact same crowd that breezes right past Tutorials (and other entry help) and later complains about it being "too hard" (among variants) to understand. The crowd that endlessly complains when something does not look like the most recent Call of Honor games .... The list/litany of reasons have been covered every single time someone has lamented that Second Life has no appeal for these types.

What Second Life can be to each individual user is not relevant here. You are suggesting adding in a "feature" that has no point of any sort, not even a superficial one.

Yet you feel strongly enough to protest at the very mention of it. It's not exactly the intended motivation, but I'll take it as win on the whole.

[Storii Darkheart]

Why is everyone so adamant that just because you wouldn't like an achievement system that nobody would? 

Profile badges that don't affect your involvement in Second Life would make you leave? THAT is such a High School statement.

[Sid Nagy]

"People without a minimum of 6 badges are not welcome in this club."

Just like people who aren't shaped or dressed like the cool kids ain't welcome now at some places.

[Coffee Pancake]

Just now, Sid Nagy said:

"People without a minimum of 6 badges are not welcome in this club."

Just like people who aren't shaped or dressed like the cool kids ain't welcome now at some places.

Which in of itself is usefully informative .. You wouldn't attend such a club and could consider it dodging a bullet. Win win.

[Storii Darkheart]

It's not like an account age verification thing. They could ban people without a certain amount of badges but that would be a waste of time and man power. 

 

Why can't y'all just let others have fun the way they want to? Some people like collecting. It gives a feeling of accomplishment. Don't like it, then don't participate. 🤷‍♂️

[Rowan Amore]

2 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

"People without a minimum of 6 badges are not welcome in this club."

Just like people who aren't shaped or dressed like the cool kids ain't welcome now at some places.

Keeping it for new people would make any of that meaningless.  Personally, I don't think most longtime users would even bother with it.  

[Solar Legion]

3 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Yet you feel strongly enough to protest at the very mention of it. It's not exactly the intended motivation, but I'll take it as win on the whole.

The point either went right over your head or you're seeing what you wish to see.

There is no point - whatsoever - to your proposal. Nothing added. Nothing that is of benefit to anyone outside of the Achievement Chasers in the Gaemerz crowds.

[Coffee Pancake]

1 minute ago, Rowan Amore said:

Keeping it for new people would make any of that meaningless.  Personally, I don't think most longtime users would even bother with it.  

That's a bit like King Philip saying on a recent interview that people over 40 don't settle down for a bit of minecraft. Some absolutely do and they make and contribute wonderful things,

[Claireschen Hesten]

I use a site that uses profile badges for various achievements and i really don't take any notice of what badges people have earned. i'm not all that bothered if i get a new badge for reaching such and such a level for likes/comments/deal popularity etc. if that site got rid of their badge system i doubt i'd even notice it had gone. if it makes SL more engaging for some people and encourages them to stick around i wouldn't be totally against it

[Storii Darkheart]

Just now, Solar Legion said:

There is no point - whatsoever - to your proposal. Nothing added. Nothing that is of benefit to anyone outside of the Achievement Chasers in the Gaemerz crowds.

I am not an achievement chaser or in the 'gaemerz crowds' but it would give me something to do on days I don't feel like doing anything else. What do you mean nothing added? Literally an entire system added.