Badges, the four little pictures found under everyones avatar, were first introduced back in August 2008 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.67760#608450] and have been a integral part of the Escapist experience. Almost everything is linked with Badges, contests, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.87333#1313285] demographic surveys, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.80577#1055167] film festivals, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/contests/register/filmfest_2008] ponies, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.105673#1707074] slogans [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.79722#1022610] and even our own posting guidelines [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.116826] involve badges in some shape or form. Anything and everything you could possibly do here on the Escapist is in some way linked to these badges, there is no getting away from them no matter how hard you try.
But do you care about them? Are they important to you and your time here on the Escapist. Do you consider them something worth striving toward, something that actually matters and represents impressive achievements or do you consider them as something to pretty up your information box? Do you even care about badges at all? Are you more inclined to take part in something if the reward is a pretty badge? Do you find yourself trying to be a better poster for badges? Is there any specific arrangement to your badges? Do you respect those with impressive badges or just not care?
There are millions of questions I could ask regarding those little squares under your name but if I were we would be here all night so let's just keep the discussion general.
Personally, I don't care much for badges. I actually have badges disabled so I can't see them although I think mine are still visible for everyone else, I'm not sure. In my opinion badges block up the screen too much and distract from the post. Back when Genre Wars was big I tried turning them on again, everyone had four hideous Genre War badges under their name, it stopped me from even bothering to keep them on. It's odd though, back when I had badges enabled I found myself looking at them first. I figured that wasn't a healthy posting habit and turned them off? Does anyone else feel the same way?
As it is I can't be bothered working toward getting some badges. I've actually got a specific layout to my badges so that they tell a little story, if nothing else. That doesn't mean I don't take part in something that has a badge as a reward, just that I don't go out of my way for that badge.
So Escapist, what are your thoughts on these things we call badges? Centre of your life, nothing to you or are they somewhere in the middle. Tell us your thoughts.
Also: Can I get a badge for saying badge so much? Seems only fair.
But do you care about them? Are they important to you and your time here on the Escapist. Do you consider them something worth striving toward, something that actually matters and represents impressive achievements or do you consider them as something to pretty up your information box? Do you even care about badges at all? Are you more inclined to take part in something if the reward is a pretty badge? Do you find yourself trying to be a better poster for badges? Is there any specific arrangement to your badges? Do you respect those with impressive badges or just not care?
There are millions of questions I could ask regarding those little squares under your name but if I were we would be here all night so let's just keep the discussion general.
Personally, I don't care much for badges. I actually have badges disabled so I can't see them although I think mine are still visible for everyone else, I'm not sure. In my opinion badges block up the screen too much and distract from the post. Back when Genre Wars was big I tried turning them on again, everyone had four hideous Genre War badges under their name, it stopped me from even bothering to keep them on. It's odd though, back when I had badges enabled I found myself looking at them first. I figured that wasn't a healthy posting habit and turned them off? Does anyone else feel the same way?
As it is I can't be bothered working toward getting some badges. I've actually got a specific layout to my badges so that they tell a little story, if nothing else. That doesn't mean I don't take part in something that has a badge as a reward, just that I don't go out of my way for that badge.
So Escapist, what are your thoughts on these things we call badges? Centre of your life, nothing to you or are they somewhere in the middle. Tell us your thoughts.
Also: Can I get a badge for saying badge so much? Seems only fair.
