cpa
Active Member
Nice reply, HDB.Really? That's so kind. My usual descriptors are generally much more unflattering.
I lost ownership of the process when we converted from the wiki to Excel so I'm not trying to put words into anyone's mouth, but I see incremental value in the expansion. It was that same incremental value that drove me to document when people hit different century marks. And I'm sure Cottonwood would never have imagined where the game has morphed to today. But just like there's spin-off versions of the classic game Monopoly, they all play the same even though they're geared to different demographics.
I see that here because we're all still out there charging at different sites. Do people get out there a bit earlier because they can grab a first? Probably. And that behavior change is due to the way the game mechanics have evolved by incorporating a database with a date function. We couldn't have done that in the wiki.
So in that respect, I'm not against the incorporation of new features that take advantage of the underlying game's building blocks. You still have to get out there and make the trips.
Do I need my own badge? I was clear when initially asked that I didn't want any special treatment. But sure, it is kind of neat and if it tickles anyone to visit our fine state then that's the great part.
I think we're in that weird middle ground where the game needs to evolve to an app to make it more functional and attractive to a wider audience. Because the novelty of what superchargers were 8 years ago has worn off and the people buying the cars aren't the early adopters that the road warriors on top of today's leaderboard are. But they can be. And they should be. That's what the car taught us.
I don't think any of today's admins are deaf to feedback. But honestly, if something's easy to do in today's environment, why not do it?
And your feedback inspired me even further - I like the geographic badges idea. Sovereign of the South, Wizard of the West, Mogul of the Midatlantic, King of the Northeast sound like great badges!
I believe that the ordinal rankings are perfectly fine. Cutoffs per hundred are great too. These are easily measured and progress easily made by anyone who merely has to scan a list. When we move away from ordinal achievement, we move into the arbitrary and capricious. That is what concerns me.
I don't think the analogy of Monopoly to this competition works. Monopoly is a board game, and the company wants to sell board games and make money. There is nothing to sell or to capitalize upon with the evolution of designer badges or other artifices to inspire competition. Perhaps it is my generation, or perhaps it is what I learned at my mother's knee, but I do not need any outside incentives to bolster my ego.
Regarding the admins being deaf to feedback: I am certain they read it. But I guess--emphasis on guess--that there are external factors that ultimately determine which way they decide upon things.
By the way, may I suggest that you keep your titles for geography consistent? Your first three are all alliterative, yet the King of the Northeast fails. I'd go with Nabob of the Northeast as a fine example of parallel construction.
BE,hey're like merit badges - an acknowledgement of a particular set of accomplishments. On Yelp (my preferred review site), there are badges for all kinds of fun things: Yelp Badges | Reno - Yelp
While not the primary point of the competition, I see badges as a fun little site project to collect or earn.
- Rookie: earned after a few check-ins
- Pro: earned after 50 check-ins
- Big Night: check into 7 or more restaurants or bars in one night
- Globetrotter: check into 3 different international airports
- Maverick: check into 3 businesses with low ratings (1-2 stars)
- Soused: check into 4 bars in the same night
- and a dozen or so more
First, I am not on Yelp, so these finer points are lost upon me. The few times I have sought out comments on Yelp, they appeared to be less than objective--perhaps made by shills or contrarians. So, I ignore it. Second, merit badges are clearly defined before one becomes a Scout, so a Scout can endeavor to attain one or all of them during his or her tenure in the Scouting organizations. To the contrary, we continue to add merit badges ex post facto.
Earning these badges on Yelp is automatic. You are already there, so it means that one only has to "check in" as they stagger down a couple of blocks to taste the nightlife and get a "Soused" badge. With our little game, there is no "automatic." One has to make a concerted effort, perhaps at great cost or inconvenience to achieve. HDB's fine inn is about a five or six day drive one way if I were to seek this out. At least to me, this is rather extreme (nigh on impossible with the way my life has unfolded) when someone who lives in Massachusetts can make it a day trip. Hence, these things appeared skewed to me. I mean, maybe we should have a badge for having lunch at Harris Ranch while Supercharging. Or circumnavigating the seven Bay Area toll bridges in the free directions while bagging at least X number of new spots.
Regardless, this has been an entertaining and somewhat enlightening discussion.