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A new Award System is now in place!

lol what

Descriptions for the badges- Please read them:
The badges are there to be awards for users who have organized tournaments, helped with the main site, followed the rules in the debate forum, etc.

I'm not addressing the merits of the different people who have posted on this topic, but I do have to point out one thing. The description for "Certified Debater" does not say it is for following the rules. It says it is for those who've proven to be core Debaters on the Debate Forum.

I have more points than the average user, yet people still attempt to start discussions with me when they disagree with a post I've made.
That isn't obvious just by looking at the green marker. Only when you move your mouse over it does a message display indicating a somewhat higher amount of rep. You may still have a point, but it is certainly true that these awards are more prominent.



And does anyone else find it intriguing and somewhat humorous that the three people who have questioned whether the Debate Forum mods will handle these awards in an unbiased manner are someone identifying as LDS, someone identifying as a Jehovah's Witness, and someone identifying as a Satanist?


Once again, I'm not addressing the relative merits of the arguments on either side, but it is interesting.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
And does anyone else find it intriguing and somewhat humorous that the three people who have questioned whether the Debate Forum mods will handle these awards in an unbiased manner are someone identifying as LDS, someone identifying as a Jehovah's Witness, and someone identifying as a Satanist?

You, sir, are now my favourite person. Ever.

Furthermore, reputation is completely ubiquitous. It doesn't say where you earned that reputation so absolutely no conclusion can be drawn from it. However, if you have, say, a competitive team rating badge, it's a fair assumption that you earned it in the competitive teambuilding section, so it means a lot more especially in that particular section. On top of that, it doesn't matter what the description says, what really matters is how people perceive it, and somehow I can't see people generally perceiving these as awards instead of some sort of status symbol.
 
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Rakansen

ラルフ
Wow, nice! One of the reasons why I don't venture in the trade forum is because I'm paranoid I'll get scammed, but this makes everything better!
 

Peter Quill

star-lord
It's interesting how you tell us "get that misconception out of your head" but offer no evidence as to how it's a misconception in the first place. I've seen no evidence to support you, and a lot of evidence that debate mods are indeed biased. So if you want me to "get that misconception out of my head", give me some proof.

Actually, I don't have to prove anything considering you nor anybody else can prove that I/the other debate staff give out the badges purely for being on one side of the argument or not. It's laughable that you come in here and tell me to prove how it's a misconception when you don't even know HOW I/THE OTHER DEBATE MODS EVEN DECIDE HOW TO DISTRIBUTE THE BADGE so get off your high horse. Wanna know what? We've had discussions for users that share ~our views~ and they didn't get the badge for a number of different factors. I do not need people coming in and crying about something that doesn't exist in the first place especially when they try and be informed without objectively being able to know the entire situation for what it is (And you can't because that's something only staff members can know and that's the truth of the matter)

Who has the debate badge? Mods/former mods of the section and another user who we thought isn't a problem user, one who makes well-supported posts and who doesn't consistently flame other users.

Indeed, I don't think Aura understood what I was saying. I understand perfectly the point that Moogles is trying to get across but I do not agree with it at all, and I won't accept "this is true because I say it's true" as any sort of backbone for a point.

Will you accept the fact that you literally have no foundation to make an argument on because you aren't aware of the judging factors surrounding the badge? Guess what, you're going to have to accept what I say is true because the truth of the matter is I have knowledge in the affair that you don't. Tough pill to swallow but you'll have to get used to it.

As for badges, I do not support these at all. Even if it's not your intention, a sort of superiority complex will arise from this. Badges represent status symbols. If I hold a badge, other people will take it that I know a lot in the area in which I earned that badge, which may be true. But what is wrong, in my eyes, is that if I were to ever get into a disagreement with a person who does not hold a badge, a lot of people would take my side simply because I hold the Serebii equivalent of a PHD. I don't support herd conformity and this is just the sort of thing that promotes such a mindset.

Badges being seen as a status symbol or something of honor was something that was discussed about with staff and we found that the benefits outweighed the risks. If it honestly does end up being some ~super huge big deal~ (Which I doubt it would because that's a worst case overreaction scenario imo) then we can remove it.
 
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DarumakkaImposter

Well-Known Member
Gonna have to agree with Moogles. Badges are just pixels lol. It's just the staff saying "keep up the good work," and let's the community know how to model their posts after. Seriously, one of the only downsides to badges is users fighting to get recognized, because then it just turns into a battle that they will most likely lose. Staff can tell the difference between someone wanting a badge for the ~notoriety~ and a hard working individual who deserves to be recognized.

Anyway, badges are given out entirely at the discretion of the staff. If they chose not to give out guidelines, then that's fine. Although I advocate it in order for users to see how to model their posts, it can also be a downfall of a forum if users take it too far, and they're trying to prevent that, so give them some slack.

Don't want to derail this, but it doesn't matter what religion you are. If you think someone is wrong because of their religious views, you probably need to take a break for a bit.

also what is rep and who gave it to me ?_? i have not been here in ages lmoa
 

Canada

Banned
I'm not addressing the merits of the different people who have posted on this topic, but I do have to point out one thing. The description for "Certified Debater" does not say it is for following the rules. It says it is for those who've proven to be core Debaters on the Debate Forum.
Okay maybe I was paraphrasing. Still though it probably relates to it considering the rules can also be taken as skills people need to exercise in order to be a successful debater online. If someone can't debate in that section without breaking rules there, that person is not a good debater lol.


That isn't obvious just by looking at the green marker. Only when you move your mouse over it does a message display indicating a somewhat higher amount of rep. You may still have a point, but it is certainly true that these awards are more prominent.
Whatever; it was just an example. The awards themselves still have nothing to do with whether many people will side with you on a discussion slightly related to the award, which is what Divine Retribution was going on about.



However, if you have, say, a competitive team rating badge, it's a fair assumption that you earned it in the competitive teambuilding section, so it means a lot more especially in that particular section.
That's a pretty bad example considering a reliable competitive team rater would most likely legitimately have a lot of knowledge about competitive battling.

On top of that, it doesn't matter what the description says, what really matters is how people perceive it, and somehow I can't see people generally perceiving these as awards instead of some sort of status symbol.
They can, you know, read the descriptions. Also, do you know people will perceive the badges as a status symbol? I doubt it; there's no proof. Simply saying "I can't see it" means nothing. This system just started out. None of us know how it will turn out.

If you're really having trouble believing people will perceive the badges as awards, maybe the fact that the word "awards" is written everywhere will help you.

[img139]http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a594/TheHangout7710/awards1_zpsa8c8f4ef.png~original[/img139]
[img139]http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a594/TheHangout7710/awards2_zpsfab4c9be.png~original[/img139]
[img139]http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a594/TheHangout7710/awards3_zpsf195b2c2.png~original[/img139]

Yeah, I think people will be smart enough to see them as awards, so I am still going to remain optimistic.
 
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Sohryu

Be a Man!
Is it just me, or misconception occurs almost, everywhere on this thread? For lord's sake, interpretating a text shouldn't be much harder if that's your language. That's a shame =/

Anyway, discussing this is quite irrelevant, considering it'll lead to nothing but forced agreement on the end, like it have happened with the old rep discussion. Wouldn't be better to leave this the way it is and trust MODs/ADMs on the end? Won't say they won't take sides, everyone does take sides, even if a bit, but that's not a sole reason to say "this won't go right". Besides, as said before, it's a freaking pixel. If you trust, let's say... That Moogles is a good debater because he has a badge, that's your problem, but it doesn't prove anything. And lemme clarify I am not saying Moogles isn't a good debater, I'm using that as an example.

DarumakkaImposter said:
Don't want to derail this, but it doesn't matter what religion you are. If you think someone is wrong because of their religious views, you probably need to take a break for a bit.

Oi? Where's someone is doing that? Is it just funny how three persons with an abyss of diference regarding their opinions, just happen to have the same opinion on that exact matter. I think you got that really wrong, mate.
 

Mr. Ribbles

Cubchoo Lover
Eh. Aside from the scammer thing (Which seems really helpful, by the way.), the badges seem like a way to boost your internet ego, so to speak. Kinda like reputation.

I haven't noticed anyone with any of them yet, but I don't dislike or nor like badges at the moment.

Oh and, Off topic but, has my little 'choo bear avatar gotten bigger to anyone? Or is it just me?

Edit: Definitely seems a bit bigger on some topics, but a bit smaller on some others. Huh.
 

altars

Legendary Collector
I'm not very active on here and don't know how to tell if a Pokemon is hacked so these badges are awesome! I like trading but hacked Pokemon-- not so much! I even made an effort to look through every Pokemon I have and make sure none of them are fake.

I am kinda wondering how you will know if a trade is going on on here for the trade badge. I'm sure there's a certain amount of activity on the trade boards too but can you really track trades for each person on here to make badge distribution fair?
 
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Hydrohs

安らかに眠ります、岩田さん。
Staff member
Super Mod
I'm not very active on here and don't know how to tell if a Pokemon is hacked so these badges are awesome! I like trading but hacked Pokemon-- not so much! I even made an effort to look through every Pokemon I have and make sure none of them are fake.

I am kinda wondering how you will know if a trade is going on on here for the trade badge. I'm sure there's a certain amount of activity on the trade boards too but can you really track trades for each person on here to make badge distribution fair?

Considering communication has to be done over the forums it's pretty easy to track.
 

altars

Legendary Collector
Most of my trades have been through PM. xD
 

Canada

Banned
Staff members can't see PM's. I guess if someone scams you through PM then you could always forward the messages to a staff member so the user gets the scammer badge.
 
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Cosmic Fury

Evil Overlord
I've just noticed this, as I've been out of town for a while. Great idea, and thanks for initiating this!
 

Peter Quill

star-lord
Staff members can't see PM's. I guess if someone scams you through PM then you could always forward the messages to a staff member so the user gets the scammer badge.

This is exactly what we ask people to do when they report scams.
 

Peter Quill

star-lord
Hey Guys! I just wanted to let you all know that we're changing the scammer badge from "multiple instances of scamming" to just one instance of scamming.

Since badges can be removed/added by any moderator at any time, we can monitor the activities of scammers better. If we feel that someone has done enough good trades since given the badge we can remove it - or if there was an accident we can remove it as well. This is just to further protect potential traders. :)
 

tomatohater

Golden Sun 4?
Hey Guys! I just wanted to let you all know that we're changing the scammer badge from "multiple instances of scamming" to just one instance of scamming.

Since badges can be removed/added by any moderator at any time, we can monitor the activities of scammers better. If we feel that someone has done enough good trades since given the badge we can remove it - or if there was an accident we can remove it as well. This is just to further protect potential traders. :)

I really prefer this! It means that you know from the off that someone has been a bit dodgy in the past, and you should probably be 100% sure that they aren't going to rip you off! I helps add to your safety, and I personally think this route is much better.
 

Naoto Shirogane

The Detective Prince
I am really happy with the scammer one. It is really useful for those who don't check the blacklist thread. Looking forward for new awards.
 

Canada

Banned
Hey, are there going to be more badges in the future or are these going to be the only ones?
 
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