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You might have noticed over the last few hours that some new content has appeared in the posts made by many of your fellow CoN members. It's all part of the new awards system we've added to the forums today, in which we're giving awards, much like gaming achievements, to all of our members who have been a part of making CoN great.

The awards right now fall into a few major categories:

• Winners of CoNtests and competitions on the site;
• Winners of CoN competitions, such as our yearly sporting competitions;
• People who have contributed significantly to the content of the site, either from working on a game section, or posting lots of fanart or news;
• Or just people who have been around forever...

You've probably seen systems like these before at other sites. The difference? Well, ours are much prettier! (And we're willing to take suggestions on new awards all the time.) So, if you got one or more awards and want to show them off, talk about the award system right here, right now. And if you don't have any awards yet, well, don't worry - we'll be giving more out all the time.

Oh, it is much prettier!

I hope I can win one in the future. I will try my hardest to contribute to the forum!

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A Magitek Elite knight! :P

Bringing back what crashed. A FFVI community!

I keep imagining the Xbox Live notification for achievements and the noise it makes.

At any rate, I think this is a really clever function. Whoever came up with the idea deserves a pat on the back. Hopefully this won't turn into people going crazy trying to earn awards for things; unless that means that they're willing to go crazy actually contributing to the site, in which case, you've officially turned into enablers, I hope you're proud of yourselves.



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Okay, but there was a goat!

hmm...seems pretty interesting. ill make sure to try and contribute more to satisfy the perfectionist in me

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I know in all reality I haven't been here all that long, but I still find it awesome to think how long I have been around and how much the site has progressed.

Now if only I could remember what the 2009 CoNtest was...

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I fear my heart and fear my soul
Life goes on, it surely will,
Without me and I wonder:
Will I ever see light again?

Life goes on...

This is a great addition. At first I thought the awards might be a bit too difficult to make an immediate impact but now I'm two minds. On the one hand it's good that a lot of effort is rewarded and it's also good to not have too many awards like on other forums, but on the other hand if you're pushing for more incentive for contributions then the quotas might be a little too out-of-reach. I mean, I enjoy posting news if I think anything is worth mentioning, if it actually helps the site in some way or if it's just fun to talk about. It'll take me about another year to make 50. I still can't decide whether that's a good thing or not, but I just thought I'd make my point.

As for the competition awards that's just what's needed to get more people into them. Brilliant.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Nice addition. Was trying to think of a way to improve 'em, and only thought of a gimme -- linking to applicable sections (if Joe McHelper helped on the FF1 section, clicking the icon takes 'em there). Also props for finding good contributions to hang yer hat on, and not stuff like "2000 posts," etc. -- the current ones are good goals to shoot for.

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

Quote (sweetdude @ 29th January 2010 05:15)

This is a great addition. At first I thought the awards might be a bit too difficult to make an immediate impact but now I'm two minds. On the one hand it's good that a lot of effort is rewarded and it's also good to not have too many awards like on other forums, but on the other hand if you're pushing for more incentive for contributions then the quotas might be a little too out-of-reach. I mean, I enjoy posting news if I think anything is worth mentioning, if it actually helps the site in some way or if it's just fun to talk about. It'll take me about another year to make 50. I still can't decide whether that's a good thing or not, but I just thought I'd make my point.

As for the competition awards that's just what's needed to get more people into them. Brilliant.

That's for the gold one. Notice how there are silver and bronze for the CoNtest ones?

I like my awards. They're shiny and golden. I kinda don't want to get anymore because they might ruin the theme.

This was a pleasant surprise. I had forgotten I won the Incognito contest. Wasn't that the bit with Chou and all the other 'trolls'? So long ago.

But yes, I think this is a great idea and will get more people involved in the CoNtests and some of the sport leagues, as well as encouraging site submissions and OC. Good stuff.

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This is a webcomic and gaming blog where I rant about nonsense. Enjoy.

I was a soldier, now I just play one in video games.

Quote (Dragon_Fire)

Whoever came up with the idea deserves a pat on the back.

Tiddles and footbigmike came to me with the idea, separately, about three days apart. I found a plugin to the forums that would do most of what we wanted, but I really ended up just about re-writing that plugin from scratch to meet our needs and to improve the security of the thing. Took about a month to get the code and the several hundred images all created and looking good.

Quote (Dragon_Fire)

in which case, you've officially turned into enablers, I hope you're proud of yourselves.

Nothing would be better than turning this into a new opportunity for people to get involved with the site. I mean, why would I have spent the time if it didn't help me a bit too? I'm totally selfish like that.

Quote (Sherick)

Now if only I could remember what the 2009 CoNtest was...

All of the awards you have are described on your profile page, or by mousing over the award as you see it in your posts.

Quote (sweetdude)

As for the competition awards that's just what's needed to get more people into them. Brilliant.

Another benefit I hope to see from these, I'd love to see twenty-five+ participants in World Cup in a couple months!

Quote (Shotgunnova)

Was trying to think of a way to improve 'em, and only thought of a gimme -- linking to applicable sections (if Joe McHelper helped on the FF1 section, clicking the icon takes 'em there).

That's not a bad idea - I might consider that as a future enhancement, thanks.



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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I think you need to hold a sprite contest, winner of the contest gets a special sprite award and a custom sprite. Just an idea though.

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Don't fear the reaper!
Wonderful system this "Democracy" is no mechanism to break a tie -Dinobot-
It's spelled Raymond Luxray Yatch but it's pronounced Throat Wobbler Mangrove.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
Sic Semper Tyrannis bush.

Quote (footbigmike @ 29th January 2010 12:55)

Quote (sweetdude @ 29th January 2010 05:15)

This is a great addition. At first I thought the awards might be a bit too difficult to make an immediate impact but now I'm two minds. On the one hand it's good that a lot of effort is rewarded and it's also good to not have too many awards like on other forums, but on the other hand if you're pushing for more incentive for contributions then the quotas might be a little too out-of-reach. I mean, I enjoy posting news if I think anything is worth mentioning, if it actually helps the site in some way or if it's just fun to talk about. It'll take me about another year to make 50. I still can't decide whether that's a good thing or not, but I just thought I'd make my point.

As for the competition awards that's just what's needed to get more people into them. Brilliant.

That's for the gold one. Notice how there are silver and bronze for the CoNtest ones?

Completely correct, I was wrong. In light of that I'm all in favour of this. Good work across the board.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Aside from being old, I'm also embarrassingly reminded of the abortion of a piece of fiction I came in second with because there were only 3 entries and the other one was quite possibly the only thing I could have ever hoped to beat.

Interestingly enough, that was my first piece of fiction ever, and now, 6 years later, here I am attempting the guise of a polymath writer. I like to think I've improved since then.

It's a cool feature though, and now we can know for sure who's pulling their weight around here.

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Quote

All of the awards you have are described on your profile page, or by mousing over the award as you see it in your posts.

I know that part, I simply don't remember which conest that was No spiffy name for that one. I know I look like an idiot cause that was just last year.

And no fanfic awards? I only have one, but still.

This post has been edited by Sherick on 30th January 2010 06:30

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I fear my heart and fear my soul
Life goes on, it surely will,
Without me and I wonder:
Will I ever see light again?

Life goes on...

I'm surprised I got an award at all. I strived hard for mediocrity on these forums.

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

Quote (Sherick @ 30th January 2010 01:29)

I know that part, I simply don't remember which conest that was No spiffy name for that one. I know I look like an idiot cause that was just last year.

And no fanfic awards? I only have one, but still.

I suppose you have a point, as it was the contest that you entered simply from participating in quizzes, rather than knowing right away what you were in for. Either way, that award's all you're gonna get, so enjoy.

There's nothing stopping us from fanfic awards, but we don't seem to get much traffic in that area these days. It wasn't worth the additional time beyond the contests at the moment, but if you want to revitalize that section with new, completed fiction or by bringing in new authors, by all means!

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I wouldnt mind doing a fan fiction, though my last one i wrote no one read so i gave up on it about mid way through. I have some ideas for fanfics though.

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Don't fear the reaper!
Wonderful system this "Democracy" is no mechanism to break a tie -Dinobot-
It's spelled Raymond Luxray Yatch but it's pronounced Throat Wobbler Mangrove.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
Sic Semper Tyrannis bush.

These are ace, good work.

Though my one complaint is that while I may not have contributed significantly to any section content, surely my mindless and generally unhelpful work on multiple game contents throughout the years have earned me some sort of half-deserved award.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

I likes it. Makes me feel a sense of... achievement... Or somesuch.

Either way, looks spiffy. I look forward to attempting to earn more.

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

Yay consolation prize!...

But more seriously at first I was worried that these sort of forum meta-gaming awards might lend themselves to making the site more spammy, until I realized that they're quite cleverly geared to do the quite the opposite. The only ones don't quite require a good full effort to actively improve the site are contest prizes and the one that requires patience to be able to appreciate anyway. Nice foresight, I think.

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Role reversal at its finest.

Very cool, I wasn't quite sure what they were at first. Damn, 5 years eh? Nice reminder for how long I've been frequenting the forum =)

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"The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved."
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Quote (MogMaster @ 29th January 2010 21:19)

Aside from being old, I'm also embarrassingly reminded of the abortion of a piece of fiction I came in second with because there were only 3 entries and the other one was quite possibly the only thing I could have ever hoped to beat.

Interestingly enough, that was my first piece of fiction ever, and now, 6 years later, here I am attempting the guise of a polymath writer. I like to think I've improved since then.

It's a cool feature though, and now we can know for sure who's pulling their weight around here.

Haha, I was the one who came in 3rd . Now that I look back, I can't really believe how bad at writing I was.

These medals are a great addition, R51. Can't believe I joined CoN more than 5 years ago..

This is a really cool edition to the forums, and provided a very nice piece of eye candy upon my first login in a long while. Kudos, CoN staff.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Because I'm terrible, I never got around to the automatic awarding of members who have been around more than five years. I just did a manual batch to catch everyone up between the beginning of February and right now.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?