Blame the italics on saxguy ;)  Ever since his post, all future posts have been italics.

Anyway, if you click the badge, you'll see what it means as well as a list of what they all mean.

I think we do start over each year b/c i have 3 badges on my page (advisor 07, VIP 08, Advisor 09).

Saxguy said…

One question: how come VOTING on a review isn't incented? I would think it would, particularly since you are incenting receipt of votes. 

---

That's an excellent point and I agree with you completely. I would very much like to see an incentive for voting on reviews. I'd also like to see an incentive for reporting spam and otherwise abusive reviews.

--Bob (who reports a fair number of spam "reviews")

One last request from me!  The year is insanely small.  i had VIP 08 and had to really stare at it before I could tell the difference from 08 on one badge and 09 on the other... and I have good eyesight.

I can understand the concept of a badge each year, gives us incentive to work hard every year, but I just don't think they should ALL display on the profile as the profile will soon become overwhelmed by them.  If I'm hear for 20 years, I don't want 20 badges on my page.

I imagine they don't want people rating reviews willy-nilly just for points.  Although I could see earning 1 point for each comment you leave on a review.  I love getting comments and think they are great motivation to keep writing.

I love the new look and really enjoy being able to see how long each contributer has been writing on the site and which awards they have won.

I love the different colors and think that the points system will inspire some of us to write more.

Patty has a nice lead........

Saxguy said…

One question: how come VOTING on a review isn't incented? I would think it would, particularly since you are incenting receipt of votes.  

---

I was just about to ask the same question! I definitely agree. It's very clear that votes are lacking and this would be a GREAT incentive to get more people reading and voting! 

I would love to see some incentive for rating. It seems the ratings have dwindled down to almost nothing these days. Maybe an incentive to go and rate would help the numbers a little. If a badge prompts people to rate, more power to us all!

I love the whole thing but I do have to say garnering tons of points for playing games on the boards doesn't seem to me to be up with the other things we do for points. I agree that using the boards in discussions of VP related things and in different categories should be awarded points but games? I guess if it builds community, it's worth points.

Overall, fun fun fun.

Edit: Hey! Where's my CL badge? I'm one. Or was. *shaking in fear*

I'm actually having a lot of fun with these new badges and reading the leaderboard. Everyone loves competition and I think these new changes are going to bring great things! I agree with Patty ... fun fun fun!

Hmmm I rarely log in when I'm reading/rating reviews so I guess that part wouldn't really matter much to me...

Fardreamer said…

I don't know...I sort of like the "Advisor" title myself.  It makes me feel like one of those wise old gurus who live, supposedly, in the Himalayas and are sought out for the secret of life, the Universe, and everything!

---

I actually like the sound of it too but not so sure that I feel quite AS strongly as you with the whole Himalayas thing but yah, I agree! :) lol

Hi guys! Thank you so much for all the kudos and the feedback! We love to hear your opinions so keep them coming!

Also, I wanted to answer a couple of questions that have surfaced.

bkovacs, In order to see what the badges mean, simply click on it and it will lead you to the description. Yes, your status badge will be awarded to you on a yearly basis. So even though you would start fresh every year, you still get to keep all your awards in the trophy case! The italicized issue should be resolved soon- thank you sor sending that along.

Saxguy, For this phase we are only awarding receipt of votes. Will definitely put your suggestion on our wish list for future additons!

Hope this helps!

Meredith said…

We are blinging with our badges!

I'm compiling your feedback and will respond to any questions as soon as possible. As Jolie mentions above, we're still working out some kinks today so bear with us. Loving your insights so far!

Keep it coming :)

---

Er...Not that I am ungrateful or anything, but shouldn't my points mean that I, too, am a VIP?  As I understand it, members with 50K points or more are VIP members.

Gauri said…

bkovacs, In order to see what the badges mean, simply click on it and it will lead you to the description. Yes, your status badge will be awarded to you on a yearly basis. So even though you would start fresh every year, you still get to keep all your awards in the trophy case! The italicized issue should be resolved soon- thank you sor sending that along.

---

I clicked on the badge and found the text, and suggest that the explanations there are a little thin. It's okay for us insiders, who know what's going on. For newbies, it would be great if there were obvious links that lead to a more thorough explanation. Just a suggestion.

And just because I'm curious, what happens to the badges now next to our names on January 1? Does my current badge (Advisor 09) revert to "Publishers Circle"? Or does it become blank?

Can we choose which of our badges we have next to our names? I might prefer "Founding Member" to "Advisor."

I know... I'm a pest. I'll try to play better next time!

--Bob

Fardreamer said…

Er...Not that I am ungrateful or anything, but shouldn't my points mean that I, too, am a VIP?  As I understand it, members with 50K points or more are VIP members.

---

Alex, it's the number of points per year that earn you the badges. That also wasn't clear to me until I saw the recognition system rolled out today. In other words, you must earn 50,000 points in 2009 to earn a VIP badge.

I see the point in that, but it was a surprise to initially find that was the case.

--Bob

vivasuzi said…

I imagine they don't want people rating reviews willy-nilly just for points.  Although I could see earning 1 point for each comment you leave on a review.  I love getting comments and think they are great motivation to keep writing.

---

After reading what you wrote and thinking about it more in depth, I can see some people just voting to get points and not really reading or reaching out to the reviewer with any real sense of community.

I know it encourages people to write more when they see votes and comments. It's unfortunate that there are so many reviews out there worthy of votes that don't have any or only one or two. Would love to see some incentive to help encourage people to hit that helpful button!  

I think I musta misplaced my "Featured Reviewer" badge someplace. d;-)

I don't have my featured reviewer badge either, but I figure it will all shake out in the end.

I like the "staff" and "community liaison" badges especially. I had no idea who y'all were before now!

As far as us starting over every year... I can churn out reviews (obviously),but like Laurie says, the helpful votes thing is sketchy. I think that most non-VP'ers are not voting. So, an incentive for that would be cool. I like that you moved the "did you find this helpful" up higher to make it stand out more. Maybe that will work itself.

I think it's ok to get points for playing games on the discussion boards. It lets people know we are a community as well as informational. If they know more about us then maybe they'll make a friend and write more reviews!

Fardreamer... Your current Advisor status reflects the number of points you have earned in 2009. We break out status by year so you have to continue working to earn points. You can view your points by time period on your leaderboard. Go to your My Home page > click on Lifetime Points to visit your leaderboard. Then filter the "Time Period" from All Time to 2009 to see your point total.

DUISparky and Pitcherday - I'm still working to manually assign Featured Reviewer badges. They are coming soon! Sorry for the delay. Fortunately, there are A LOT of people who earned them so it' taking a little while :)

Is it me, or does the "ADVISOR" thing when it's directly under your icon/username when people go to a review remind you of the ADVISORY text on the CD's that have the parental advisory for explicit lyrics?

Maybe you did that especially for me, because face it, people need some kind of warning...

This is so cool! I ♥ the new look of Viewpoints. The badges are very colorful. I also really like the Badge that tells who works at Viewpoints.

Congrats to everyone @ Viewpoints for all your hard work.

Interesting concept.  I would like to see a badge that is reflective of your total points accumulated.  You could still have the yearly badges to show how much someone has contributed from year to year.

Also, I find the font for the year on the badges to be really small.  I have to squint to see if that's an '08 or an '09.

JazzSinger said…

Also, I find the font for the year on the badges to be really small.  I have to squint to see if that's an '08 or an '09.

---

I agree that the font on the year is very small. I think it would look better if the size of the badge name was reduced and the size of the year increased a tad.

pitcherday said…

Is it me, or does the "ADVISOR" thing when it's directly under your icon/username when people go to a review remind you of the ADVISORY text on the CD's that have the parental advisory for explicit lyrics?

---

LOL! Now that you mention it ..... it kind of does!

Oh. I understand now.  This new system is a bit confusing at times!

As for some of the others' observations...I like the concept of year by year badges but I share some of the concerns about the design issues, especially the size of the year number in each badge. Maybe Viewpoints can come up with a different system that will reflect past achievements while keeping "visual clutter" to a minimum?

LOL@ DUISparky, I think mine is misplaced with yours, Featured Review badge that is . . . be that as it may, I LOVE the new look of VP!!  Great Job! lol

So far I think this new system is super-cool! I'm #7 overall and #11 for the year.  LOVE IT!

It took me several visits to the site today to figure out why I had a VIP badge *and* two Advisor badges.  I eventually worked it out and like the idea of being able to earn a new status for each year.  I was kinda bored after I hit PC way back in the day...  This is new motivation to get writing!

DON'T TOUCH THE BADGE AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT!  I love the badges but I thought it was a little too easy to achieve the highest rank.  I'm there so should I be complaining?  It just seems that many put forth a lot more so I am humbled to be up there with the likes of Patty Therre.  Also, I was really working toward the PC for writer status.  IF we hit the 400 reviews will we still be given that badge or is that a thing of the past?  Just wondering what the V.I.P. members will strive for; except of course to vie for a position in the ranks.  Will anyone ever out talk me?

In all seriousness, the badges are pretty and add a lot of color to the site.  After the week I had this was the perfect time for me to appear on VP.  Colors of the rainbow lift the spirit and brighten the soul.

I believe the incentive will be that you have to work from scratch next year if you want to continue being vip year after year.