You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Thomas Estes — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:14:08 GMT

i like the diversity idea and i think it should be both used with artists and genres. and also, (might be more different) the games, i'm active duty military, and i fly alot, i like the games that are on zunes, and having badges possiably earn more games, i like the idea.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

SC410 — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:52:41 GMT

I think once you earn a badge you keep it. I also like the idea of a badge for artist diversity.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Tracy-Mark — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:26:40 GMT

"Should there be a maximum number of available badges? Or should we create badges as ideas occur to us, constantly expanding the ecosystem?"

I'd say create badges as ideas occur. Why limit yourself to you initial ideas? You never know when a good idea will hit.

"Should there be other rewards that go along with badges? Maybe we could get an artist to provide a special download to everyone who has earned a Gold Power Listener badge for that artist. Would that be cool?"

That would be very cool.

"Are we going to try to change users’ behavior, or just reflect it? If we try to change it, in what ways are appropriate to maintain a healthy community, and will users try to game the system to get a badge or reward?"

You are gonna get this regardless. I sure some people have already "gamed the system" to get the current badges.

Also a historic/lifetime type of badge would be cool. That would reflect your all-time faves while the 28 day badges would reflect your current, but passing interests.

Nowhereman has hit on a nice idea of secret quirky/funny badges, I like it.

And the idea of badges being shown in your Zune card is cool too.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

asurroca — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:51:02 GMT

Since a lot of us have dozens of badges, and with the 28-day rule, I think we need a page where we can look through our full history. We've got the data, let's analyze it in attractive ways. I'd love a Google Analytics-looking chart tracking my playcount, or by badge count, etc., for starters.

As Nowhereman mentioned, persistent/all-time badges to complement the current badges would be fantastic. Naturally, these should be considerably more challenging, say, 10,000 artist plays? 50,000?

How about superlatives? Like All-Time Greatest Fans list for each artist listing the 5 highest all-time playcounts? Most Consistent Fan badge for someone who consistently gets at least a Silver level for an artist every month for the past year or something? Stuff like that.

Also, I second the secret and quirky badge idea. That would make badges MUCH cooler and more interesting!

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Rice — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:22:20 GMT

I really liked the idea of badges, at first. But it wore off quickly. The idea of being getting recognition for listening to a specific band on the Zune started to alter my listening habits. I began playing Rilo Kiley non-stop just to keep the badge. Rilo Kiley-- really?

Maybe the badges should go away. Maybe there could be a monthly round-up of top listeners for for different categories-- A top listener of reggae; a top listener of j-pop; a top listener of soul. They don't even have to be on the very top, just within the top 10%. And in the round-up, you could do a quick interview or snapshot of stats.

Let's not give a gold star to someone for playing the same song over and over and over again. Instead, let's celebrate the music and the individuals who are bold enough to say "Hey World! I listen to Rhapsody and Puffy AmiYumi and Brazilian Girls through the awesomeness of my Zune!"

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Eddie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:05:54 GMT

I think that free download idea is pretty neat.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

RL — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:29:13 GMT

Currently I am ok with the badge system, but like a few others, I think something more permanent may need to be added. What may be needed is a "Lifetime" badge that will be persistent. Also, you might want to make the "lifetime" badge a single award. If you earn a new "lifetime" badge, you will either have to give up your current one to recieve it or lose the new one after 28 days. The only thing I am afraid of with the current system is that some people will make a "game" out of trying to be the #1 listener, etc. Badges should be handed out more like a recognition instead of an achievement. If you do anything like a "contest" or "reward" for the badges, make it a secret. For example, everyone that earned a bronze listener badge of a certain artist, secretly send them a download after the "promotion" period ended. Make it reward based instead of promotion based. Otherwise, I feel like the system will be cheapened and fake.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Alecwyn — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:51:23 GMT

I like the badge system, but would like to have lifelong badges, not just monthly.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Mark — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:01:33 GMT

Personally, I just wish there was a way to see your own zune card on your zune. That way you could look at what's on it and see what badges your have on your actual zune. I think it's kinda dumb you can only look at other peoples.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

James Miller — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:36:49 GMT

Definitely need to reward listening diversity. Temp badges are cool, but should build toward perm badges. Maybe special band/genre badges to identify what you listen to the most.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Antecedent — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:40:03 GMT

Cycling badges over 28 days is fine; it would be nice to have a historic view over say, a 12 month period or more. Looking at the number of plays some Zunetags have makes me wonder how many of those songs are actually being listened to; unfortunately there's no way to really gauge that without being too intrusive (watching for mouse movement or keyboard interaction for example).

A larger variety of badges, such as those Nowhereman mentioned, would be neat. Cross-genre badges, and "unpopular music" badges could be interesting; i.e., if a user has a thousand plays in a month and none of them are of songs on Zune played more than a hundred times? Conversely, a "trendy" badge could be awarded for those that stick to the music charts. Statistics for the win.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Andres Echevarria — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:27:59 GMT

I like the badges but I am one of those people that like diversity. From what I know of the badge play count levels it will be a LONG time before I earn a badge. I constantly listen to my Zune on shuffle which the current badge system does not reward.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Disordered — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:07:02 GMT

I too was disappointed to find my "badges" dropped off. There are some bands I love and listen to a lot but I try to keep things some what diverse. It would be nice to keep badges. Love the idea of special rewards for loyal listeners. I'd say my listening habits are much like a radio station. My newly purchased music gets played the most and older stuff gets churned up from time to time when I listen to my "rarely played" auto playlist.

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

Nowhereman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:59:19 GMT

I'd definitely *love* to see badges that reward breadth as well as depth.

I actually like the "badges die in 28 days" part of it, but it'd also be nice to have a separate set of "persistent" badges somehow.

One other thing i'd love to see is a set of quirky/funny badges. You can even make them a "secret" where people don't know about them until someone suddenly gets one. Stuff like "classical and death metal in the same 28 day period", "you're so indie 1/2 of your plays are from bands not in the AMG!" etc etc etc

re: You really do need some stinkin' badges, right?

NSILMike — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:30:03 GMT

Yes- forum posting badge thresholds are much too high, as we've already discussed in the forums. It's a good system, just needs tweaks. Perhaps the thresholds can start low for bronze and stay higher for silver and gold for now...and adapt later again if needed.