I15 Badge Removal List

[Catwhoorg]

per Synapse

Greetings everyone,

I wanted to fill you all in on our plans for the Mission Architect badges and also our plans for future badges as well. We really didn't want the Mission Architect to be an environment that encourages farming for XP, Rewards or Badges, and we thought long and hard about the current Architect badge situation. Ultimately we'd like it to be a place where you go to play great player created content.

So, going forward—beginning with the Mission Architect badges—we've decided to move away from "count" badges that might encourage farming and/or aberrant game play. Instead, we'd like to encourage players to try all of our content by offering badges for completing 1 time accomplishments and achievements. What this means for the Mission Architect badges is that many of them are going to be removed in Issue 15. This is because they encouraged farming, because they encouraged aberrant behavior by doing one thing over and over again, they were unobtainable by a large portion of our players, or earning them was completely out of a player's hands and in the hands of other players.

I'd like to outline the Architect badge changes to show you precisely what will be happening in Issue 15. Below is a list of badges that are being removed:

      Adventurer
      Plugged In
      Escapist
      Hardcore Gamer
      Ticket Hound
      Ticket Fiend
      Ticket Master
      Golden Ticket
      Creator
      Story Teller
      Writer
      Bard
      Acclaimed
      Illustrious
      Renowned
      Living Legend
      The Chosen One
      Discerning
      Aficionado
      Maven
      Connoisseur
      Button Masher
      Impulsive
      Unpredictable
      Pressed the Red Button
      Virtual Victor
      Virtual Destroyer
      Virtual Warrior
      Virtual Soldier
      Virtual Slayer
      Virtual Button Masher
      Virtually Curious
      Virtually Erratic
      Evaluator
      Reviewer
      Judge
      Two Thumbs Up
      Windfall
      Bounty
      Premium
      Bonanza
      Jackpot
      Virtual Ticket Taker
      Virtual Ticket Hound
      Virtual Ticket Fiend
      Virtual Ticket Master
      Virtual Golden Ticket
      Activated
      Encouraged
      Motivated
      Galvanized
      Hall of Famer
      Builder
      Constructor
      Engineer
      Designer
      Master Builder
      Resolute
      Undaunted
      Virtuous
      Champion of Justice
      Evildoer
      Malefactor
      Nefarious
      Diabolical
      Show Off
      Hotshot
      Went the Extra Mile
      Overachiever
      Do Gooder
      Safekeeper
      Savior
      To The Rescue
      Virtual Do Gooder
      Virtual Guardian
      Virtual Savior
      Virtual Rescuer
      Decimator
      Obliterator
      Marauder
      Cataclysmic
      Virtual Decimation
      Virtual Obliteration
      Virtual Marauder
      Virtual Cataclysm
      Eliminator
      Liquidator
      Executioner
      Terminator



Below is a list of Architect badges that will remain:

      Thrill Seeker
      Gamer
      Ticket Taker
      Author
      Recognized
      Mission Engineer
      Early Bird
      Admiring
      Poor Impulse Control
      Virtually Impulsive
      Critic
      Customizer
      Bug Fixer
      Energized
      Among Friends
      Heroic
      Villainous
      Workaholic
      Virtual Victim
      Payoff
      Extractor
      Virtual Extractor
      Destructive
      Assassin



Now, as a player myself after reading this I would have a ton of questions: What does this mean for pre-I14 badges? What about future badges? Why did the Dev Choice and Hall of Famer badges go away?

I'd like to answer those questions now:

Q: What about non-Mission Architect badges?

A: We have no current plans to revisit old badges at this time, and I don't foresee us doing this really. All badges unrelated to the Mission Architect will remain unaffected by the changes outlined above.

Q: If I've already earned the Architect badges, will I get to keep them?

A: No. Only the badges listed above in the "badges that will remain" section will be kept.

Q: What can you tell me about future badges?

A: As I quickly mentioned above, our plans for future badges excludes many types of "count" badges. This means we will try to avoid badges that require repetitious tasks, aberrant play styles and give the illusion of "grindiness." There may be "count" badges in the future, but they won't be based on something you can grind at to achieve. An example would be a count badge for the number of badges you collect. That's all I can really say right now as I don't want to spoil any of the exciting badges that will go into future issues at this time.

Q: Why did the Dev Choice and Hall of Famer badges get removed?

A: We realize that a lot of players worked really hard for these badges and to create content worthy of these prestigious awards. However, we want badges to be something that everyone can obtain. We also want badges to be completely within a player's grasp, so no outside influence should affect earning these badges. The Hall of Famer badge and the Builder line of badges are a perfect example of why these badges are being removed. We saw a lot of griefing done by certain players against players who had highly rated missions that would prevent them from ever getting into Hall of Fame and earning this badge. We wanted having missions flagged Dev Choice or Hall of Fame to be coveted by authors, not by badgers. Thus these badges are also being removed.

Q: What can you tell me about the badges that remain?

A: These badges have all been modified so that they are granted for a first time accomplishment. For example: The first time you rescue a kidnapped NPC you'll earn the Extractor badge. The same goes for the other badges that will remain in Issue 15. They're much easier to earn, but they require a player to try every aspect of Mission Architect to earn them all.

Q: What about the Mission Engineer Accolade badge?

A: This badge had its required badges changed to the following:

      Thrill Seeker
      Gamer
      Ticket Taker
      Author
      Recognized
      Early Bird
      Customizer
      Bug Fixer



This means that this accolade will be significantly easier to get now, which means that a lot of players—that published and played Architect missions--will find themselves earning this accolade and find themselves with the really cool ability to edit and publish architect content from anywhere, including your Supergroup base by simply clicking a power icon.

Q: If I have some or all of the badges listed as badges that will remain, will I get to keep them?

A: Absolutely. You should not have to earn the remaining badges again.

I'd like to close by saying that to some of you this might appear be an extreme decision, but we want you to know that this was done to make the Mission Architect fulfill its designed purpose: to be a place where content creators could write to their hearts' content or for players who want to explore the endless content created by other players. We feel that these changes are a step closer to this goal. Also, don't be surprised if you see Architect badges in future issues as well as we make this feature even more robust than was available at launch.

Thanks for reading,
Synapse

Thats the majority of the MA badge being pulled.

[SaintNicster]

per Synapse

Thats the majority of the MA badge being pulled.

I'm torn.  I like that they're doing something about the badges, but I'm sad to see them go.  A lot of the the badge titles are nice little costume pieces, if anything.

The statement RE: count badges also concerns me, as I'm not sure what else they would be able to do.  I'm willing to wait this one out, though.

Not to mention 'fixing' this stuff here on CiT ;)  ;workworkwork

[SuckerPunch]

Finally. A lot of the count badges have always been retardedly high to the point of farming being the only legitimate way of obtaining them.

They created this problem on their own, and I'd like to believe they're not stupid or naive enough to not realize that adding badges in where you have to heal for 1 billion points or whatever is going to create the perceived need to farm for them.

[eabrace]

I agree with that.  I'm really not a fan of badges like Immortal that aren't even realistically farmable.

I didn't really consider these to be in that category though.  I've just been running AE content and rating people's arcs since I14 went live and I'm only just a couple hundred of custom spawns away from Terminator.

Ah well.  Such is life.  I'm sure my Warshade will appreciate the renewed interest in pushing him to 45.  :)

[Lady Arete]

A little sad to see them all go (over 80 of them).. and wonder on a few of these badges that have not been mentioned at all.
Around 10 of them (or abit less).
Relieved that the hardest ones are G O N E. Specially many of the test ones... (virtual killing i.ex).
To be honest I was shocked and perhaps a bit furious when I first saw it, but became calm quickly as the shock went away. We knew some would go, but that many...? ;)

Looking forward to see that new system they must be thinking of and a stop to all that powerlevelling that goes on in Atlas park.
Hopefully the MA will be used to what it originally was intended for; stories.

[SaintNicster]

I PM'd Synapse with the list of missing badges last night, and he got back with be today.  Architect X and Architect XXV are the only ones still staying in.

[Tyger]

I PM'd Synapse with the list of missing badges last night, and he got back with be today.  Architect X and Architect XXV are the only ones still staying in.

Since he's looking: how about asking him if he's gonna change 'Customiser' to an account-wide badge? Would keep the number of arc IDs down if we only needed to publish one arc to get it.

[Catharctic]

Since he's looking: how about asking him if he's gonna change 'Customiser' to an account-wide badge? Would keep the number of arc IDs down if we only needed to publish one arc to get it.

That one is a bit misleading. All you need to do is Republish on each character to get the badge. As long as the arc you are republishing has a custom boss, the character will get the badge.

[Shades29A]

bleh, i just had a great roadtrip!
and now i get tor read this...

meh, i'm gonna sit in a corner and cry :(

[Calea]

Well with this discussion I'm going to be removing the said removed badges from the low hanging fruit report on CIT. Its kinda pointless they are there now since its said there going to be removed. Not much we can do to change that fact that they are being removed but really now ask "What type of badges will replace whats been removed"

I agree with SP tho that the top tier count/cumulative badges were never the best badges they came out with. Badges like MoSTF (which i still haven't acquired) is a true badge of accomplishment. Its dam hard to get for some players. Lets just hope that i15 is something we can look forward to and not sulk over.