AN IDEA: AWARDS, :] Options

[*Uronacid*]

Alright, this is the first real positive feedback I have had on this site.

Well, here it goes...

Intro

We have all these contests on CB, but none of them really mean anything or do anything. Most of them are to increase the amount of activity on the site, but do you ever really win anything? Do you really get anything more than just a pat on the back? No, you don't. You merely await next months contest, and pray to God you win the *blank* of the year award. Well, I have an idea that will bring new life to all these "contests".

The Idea

If you haven't noticed, everyone on this site has a "Member's Card". Your Member's Card displays a short bit of information about your profile (contact info, user name, homepage, etc... ), and is accessible via the bottom right hand corner of each and every post you make. I'm suggesting that they add an "Awards" or "Achievements" section to the "Member's Card" and "Profiles".

It would contain miniature medal icons that differ depending on the contest won. For example:

Blogger: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold Blogger "B" depending on the award won (Month/Year).

LiveJournal: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold LiveJournal "Pencil" depending on the award won (Month/Year).

Myspace: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold Myspace.com emblem depending on the award won (Month/Year).

Website: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold "WWW" depending on the award won (Month/Year).

Xanga: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold Xanga emblem (five squares) depending on the award won (Month/Year).

Design: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold Mouse and Paintbrush together depending on the award won.

Lounge: The icon might look like a mini silver or gold medal for member of the (month/year), and a mini silver or gold ribbon for staff member of the (month/year).

I'm sure you can think of many others, but I want to focus more on the idea itself. (although it's easy to think about it.. this is the fun part.)

This awards section might look something like this:
note: actual medals would look a lot better than this... I stole these off google images...

This would encourage people to contribute to the community in a positive way. Members would try harder to compete in contests so that they could win awards that would be permanently added to their profile.

It would also encourage people to move to more than one section of the forums. People would want to collect as many of these medals as they possibly could. They would move to other sections of the site looking for more competition.

I don't see any drawbacks to this Idea... please... I would like your input

Input

Holly: A feature that allows you to click on the medal to view the reason it's on the members profile/card.

Josh: You cannot have more than one or the same type of medal. That way the section doesn't become crowded. (Example: If you win member of the month twice you cannot have medal. If you win member of the year, your silver medal becomes gold.)

kayceeisms: There should be separate badges for each contest. We have plenty of good designers on CB to make new badges if need be. There should be a system that allows a mod to upload a new badge to be added to a users profile.

incoherent: This is a great idea, but it shouldn't be a substitute for physical prizes. They shouldn't put the idea of physical prizes away just because they implement this.

MiSSxMELON: I think there should be a sort of standard, or set way. Like recurring contests (weekly, monthly, etc.) that have medals that are familiar and recognized - not just one-time contests in which people may or may not remember what the medal was for. Although this would seemingly limit contests, it does not have to. Contests that are not recurring could just not offer medals. This way, there would be casual and formal competitions, in a sense.

[*I Shot JFK*]

It's a nice idea, and why not?

But I wouldn't get to enthusiastic about it, because i mean, yea, it's nice and all, but it isn't really anything... and to be frank, i didn't even know th emember cards existed until this topic was created, so it isn't going to be THAT high profile.

but i mean, there's no harm in it.

[*Uronacid*]

It's a nice idea, and why not?

But I wouldn't get to enthusiastic about it, because i mean, yea, it's nice and all, but it isn't really anything... and to be frank, i didn't even know th emember cards existed until this topic was created, so it isn't going to be THAT high profile.

but i mean, there's no harm in it.

I'm beginning to realize that you didn't know a lot of things existed until you became a staff member. Well, it would be better than nothing, and we could put it right here for you James... because you are special.... -_-

I like this idea, except I don't think we necessarily need to change the color of the 'badge', why can't we just add another one? I know the concern is that it might get too crowded, but seeing that our contests are extremely varied, I doubt one person can get so many. I also think that there should be a badge for every contest, including the Anime Otakus contest and any of the smaller ones; there's no need to include only the very large one. Perhaps having a little badge for the smaller ones will help make them more pouplar, anyway.

We might have to wait until CB4, but it sounds great to me.

I see what you mean, I think it would be, but I would suggest against this for two reasons:

1. new contests are being invented all the time. Staff cannot simply make new badges left and right... they would actually have to implement them into the website...

2. If one member won several "small-time" competitions then they will end up with a crowded and possibly ugly "award" display.