What are community badges?

[Peter_S.]

We have a variety of badges you can unlock throughout your journey in our community! You can keep track of which badges you have unlocked by visiting your profile page. Currently you can earn badges for posts, threads, solutions, Kudos and competitions - but there are more to come soon.

If you earned a badge it will be highlighted on your profile page and you will receive a notification via email. Badges you have not yet earned are faded so you can easily see what you need to accomplish to receive your next badge.

Happy badge hunting!
Your community team

[MK_Slinky]

Hmm, I don't think your notification system is working! I have all the above badges but I've never received a notification of these awards and I haven't a clue what they've been awarded for.

So what is the point of these badges? 

Are they like supermarket loyalty points for money off our shopping or are they a means to reward the efforts of forum members with free gifts?

If none of the above then surely it's just a worthless novelty exercise? 

Not wishing to throw scorn on the idea but personally I would rather see Sony investing some time in visiting these forums and assisting in problem solving, I think we would all appreciate that more than a pretty badge.

[Jonnie1266]

@MK_Slinky

LOL - Nice try Mr. Slinky, I agree it would be good for customer moral if Sony did participate within this forum. Who knows, they may indeed take a sneeky peek now and then ?

Watch out they do not remove some of your stripes for bullish behaviour

Regards

[MK_Slinky]

@Jonnie1266

Thanks for the Kudos 

On the contrary, you're confusing bullish behaviour with my speaking honestly!

There are a lot of unanswered questions here, I'm sure I'm not the only member who hasn't a clue what these badges are for. We already have Stars, Kudos points and Expert ratings, do we really need yet another system to confuse people?

I agree with having Experts, these are the most knowledgeable members who devote their time tirelessly without reward, personally I think they should be paid. As for the rest of us we earn stars for our contributions and hopefully one day we become experts ourselves.

Badges as well? 

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys

Firstly - Sony does NOT give out freebies according to the level of activity.  

Have a look at other forums, and you will see they are very similar.  Unfortunately we dont all agree about the badgers but there is theory behind why they can be useful.  

However, lets talk plainly and simply.  They are designed to encourage active participation on forums.  Some people like a 'reward' factor to have satisfaction - others simply dont care.  

More information can be found:

http://www.lithium.com/products-solutions/online-communities/badges

Cheers

[MK_Slinky]

As I said previously I don't mean to throw scorn on the idea, clearly if a white paper has been written about it must have some merits. Honestly speaking though I don't think the average visitor to these forums will be looking for anything more than advice. Of course those of us who visit regularly do so because we want to. 

I looked at the above link and I don't get it, all this talk of 'Gamification' (is that even a real word)? and EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION, EXTRINSIC REWARD vs. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION & INTRINSIC REWARD seems like a lot of hot air! Useful maybe but to whom?

At least the Star system doesn't need a degree to understand it. If I help someone on these forums it's either because I'm bored or have nothing better to do or I've experienced the same problem. Rewards don't enter into it.

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@Quinnicus wrote:

Hi Guys

Unfortunately we dont all agree about the badgers but there is theory behind why they can be useful.  

Cheers

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What have you got against badgers? LOL!! 

 Sorry for the BIG TEXT, the text editor has a bug tonight!!

[Drewde]

Hi @MK_Slinky

As Quinnicus has touched upon already, the badges are just a bit of fun to encourage new as well as regular users to interact with the community. I understand that this system might not appeal to all but it can easily be ignored as they are more “behind the scenes” rather than visible on posts like the other things you mentioned.

Although Sony support isn't visible, the forum is monitored and all community members suggestions and feedback is taken into consideration. The Experts escalate issues that are then looked into by Sony.

Thanks

[MK_Slinky]

Hi @Drewde

Many thanks for your reply and further explanation of the badges. Please do not take my questioning as criticism, I'm merely trying to understand what these badges are awarded for exactly?

Looking at the original image below.....

The average member might be confused as to what each badge means and when they might be awarded one. For instance on my own profile I notice that I do have all of the above badges and yet I have no idea why or when they were awarded. With that in mind how can members work to earning more badges if nobody explains how they are awarded. I don't see the fun element if the scheme is not explained.

Would it perhaps make better sense to post another image on the forum with a legend describing the meaning of each badge?

Hoping to hear from you soon...

Chris

[Anonymous]

Ahh, I see where you are coming from.

1. Go into your profile
2. Click on 'view all' under the badges
3. Click on the actual badge box that you want more information about and it will tell you.

Cheers

[MK_Slinky]

@Anonymous

Ah ha..., now I get it, finally the voice of reason, that makes more sense! Thanks for explaining it to me. 

Now I understand why a legend wasn't posted, that's one heck of a lot of badges to collect. It's a good job I don't have to ask my mum to sew them on my sleeves!! Dib Dob!