Originally Posted by
IBJoel
OK, so achievement badges have been popular in online gaming for 15+ years (and for 40 years if you want to count high score boards in arcade games). The average gamer is in their 30s and the average female gamer may even be in their mid-40s.
Likewise, "Flair" has been a staple of the world's largest forum community since as long as I can remember.
So your demeaning of badges as being for "cub scouts" is ageist in and of itself and simply out of touch. These badges in no way interfere with your ability to source information on the site. So you're free to carry on doing that.
I'm not demeaning badges. Have them if you want - just don't force them on posters.
They do interfere with the flyertalk experience because you see this nonsense everytime you read a post.
This isn't an online gaming site it's a travel enthusiasts site with many well informed posters helping each other navigate the intricacies of airlines/hotels/loyalty cards etc.
If posters have a need to see or show a badge why not put it in their personal profile instead of on the main site and leave the rest of the community out of it?