Originally Posted by SPN Lifer (Post 36569904)

Some FlyerTalkers are displaying 10, 20, 30 & 40 countries visited.

Once the 100 countries badge is available, perhaps that series of badges should be reprogrammed so that only the highest selected is displayed?

Originally Posted by tr3k (Post 36568996)

Hmm, wonder why countries end at 50. Where is the challenge? :)
All I can say is that these seem to add to the clutter in the desktop site version (but I am sure we'll all quickly adjust and learn to ignore them, much like the rest of the "flair").

Originally Posted by rockflyertalk (Post 36572261)

May I suggest that the badges can be viewed not on every post but by clicking on or hovering over a username. This keeps the badges and also keeps the threads/posts clutter (badge) free. :)

Originally Posted by rockflyertalk (Post 36572261)

May I suggest that the badges can be viewed not on every post but by clicking on or hovering over a username. This keeps the badges and also keeps the threads/posts clutter (badge) free. :)

Originally Posted by AviosTreasureHunter (Post 36571314)

How does FT know how many countries I have been to?
I have been to 117 but it shows as 40.
How has it worked this out?
​​​​

Originally Posted by DenverBrian (Post 36571474)

One issue on the desktop: Info on the left now has headings in regular type and the actual info in bold. Should probably be the other way around. Bolded type takes up a lot of space.

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 36571832)

Good point and I have already put in a tech ticket to fix

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 36570276)

My final reply is that this is simply an incredibly outdated point of view :)

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 36571148)

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 and you're free to carry on doing that.

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 36571148)

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 and you're free to carry on doing that.

Originally Posted by uanj (Post 36571917)

I am still confused what we are supposed to be communicating about hotel nights. And somewhat unclear on the overall purpose.

From a design POV, the badges are visually overwhelming on the PC site. The badges grab your eye and make the actual content less important. It's like we are now focusing on ourselves and not the (usually) valuable information and communication that we come to share among ourselves. While it can be seen as ageist to gamify the site with badges, it is also a bit ageist in the reverse direction to think that those who have traveled more, and are often older, are the ones who should be listened to more. This is nonsense. Badges are commonly used in competitive online games, we are here to share, inform and communicate, not compete.

IBJoel I appreciate your efforts and am not hating on the idea of badges. Just don't make it a competition. I say this as someone who has flown over 10 million actual, butt-in seat, miles. Does not make me better or more necessarily more knowledgeable, I come here for information just as others do.

Thank you for listening and your work, IBJoel. :)

Originally Posted by uanj (Post 36571917)

It's like we are now focusing on ourselves and not the (usually) valuable information and communication that we come to share among ourselves.

This is nonsense.

Badges are commonly used in competitive online games, we are here to share, inform and communicate, not compete.

Originally Posted by Fabo.sk (Post 36572745)

Dude you're running a bulletin board style discussion forum. The very concept of FT is "outdated".

Lean into your competitive advantage of this being a 20 year old kinda internet side full of old farts. If you try to make FT into a Reddit.... why would people not just go to Reddit?

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 36573005)

If we didn't change anything, why wouldn't they still just go to Reddit? If you make no attempt to cater to an audience, they're not just going to come to you.

There is a lot of "Why isn't FlyerTalk as vibrant and busy as it once was?" There are obviously a lot of outside factors to that, like the state of the industry. But there are internal factors that we can affect to draw them in. We are a business and we don't have a guaranteed "replacement generation" like other industries that skew older. If we don't make the effort, FlyerTalk can and will close at some point. I've seen 9 communities close since I joined the Travel team. They were all more niche interests than travelling, but make no mistake that 1. FlyerTalk is not immune to that and 2. Us doing things like this is proof of my commitment to keeping FT viable, healthy, and engaging.

Originally Posted by meijiem (Post 36572944)

I had an idea inspired by these reflections—

Could we have some badges that are not stats-based? Maybe based on potentially one-off accomplishments/events, like a round-the-world trip or a hangar tour, or on preferences, for example favorite continent, airplane type, always fly east.