73
votes

As the title suggests does anyone have ideas for additional badges for SO?

I liked the idea of 'hidden' ones that are triggered by odd, random criteria. Basically Easter eggs.

Also:

  • Member of all 3 stack overflow sites

Edit: Made it a community wiki so people can edit easier.

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  • 23
    I wonder if we could get Jeff to comment on the status of badge requests.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Jul 9, 2009 at 13:26
  • Locking ... I can not find anything here .. its ridiculous. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/58700/… If you have real badge suggestions please post them separately as feature requests. If you have less serious ones post them when its Friday in Iceland.
    – waffles
    Commented Jul 28, 2010 at 2:17

119 Answers 119

Reset to default
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199
votes

Based on suggestions in the comments from Jonik, Bill the Lizard, and Chris Lutz, I've updated the badge name and other details...

Sportsmanship: Awarded when you've given 100 upvotes to non-wiki competing answers (i.e. other user's answers to questions that you have also answered and earned at least one upvote for). This could be awarded multiple times, once for each successive set of 100 upvotes you give.


**NOTE:** Hurray! [This has now been implemented][1], although it can only be earned once.
27
  • 89
    now this is a good one
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 22:38
  • 10
    Only non-CW stuff should probably be counted for this (it's common to post an answer and still upvote lots of other ones in CW polls)
    – Jonik
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 9:08
  • 8
    Not sure about the name though (chacha.com/question/what-is-a-self&%2345%3B-defeatist). How about "Selfless", "Constructive", "Supportive", "Principled"... Hmm, or even "Fair Play", "Sportsmanship" :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportsmanship If negative badges were given, "Sore Loser" would be a nice one for some (opposite) situations.
    – Jonik
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 9:22
  • @Jonik: Good point about only counting non-CW upvotes. I was actually thinking the same thing but forgot to say it explicitly.
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 13:50
  • I like "Principled" and "Sportsmanship" or "Sportsmanlike". I also like "Evenhanded" or "Scrupulous".
    – womp
    Commented Jul 3, 2009 at 21:18
  • "Sportsmanship", definitely
    – user95071
    Commented Jul 5, 2009 at 3:14
  • This is definitely the best idea yet.
    – Zifre
    Commented Jul 8, 2009 at 14:50
  • 9
    Can we please not have "man" in the name of the badge. "Sporting" would get the point across without the sexism.
    – Richard Gadsden
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 17:42
  • 57
    @Richard: Well, that's the first time I've ever heard the word "Sportsmanship" referred to as sexist. Honestly, the political-correctness-has-gone-to-far side of me sees that as nitpicky, since I doubt women would really take offense to it any more than, say, the word "manhole"... it's more a language tradition than anything. However, if people were offended by it, I suppose "Good Sport" would be a suitable alternative.
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 18:00
  • 16
    This badge should also be able to be awarded multiple times to encourage continued sportsmanlike behavior.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 12:45
  • 1
    @Bill: Good idea. It could be awarded at 100-upvote intervals.
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 14:04
  • 17
    It has two flaws. First, it can encourage adding noise to SO by adding a useless (not downvote worthy but useless) answer to questions with good answers and upvoting them. Second, which is more important IMO, is that it'll discourage deleting noisy answers (e.g. dupe answer in a small time frame). The latter behavior is pretty common among high rep users and shouldn't be discouraged.
    – mmx
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 16:22
  • 7
    @Richard: How about a "PC Mad" badge for 10+ edits changing he to he/she or him to him/her etc :p
    – Draemon
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 21:41
  • 8
    @Mehrdad - To combat this, you could require that their answer be upvoted as well. So not only did they give a good answer, but they upvoted other people's good answers.
    – Super Long Names are Hilarious
    Commented Sep 9, 2009 at 4:44
  • 4
    Should have a lesser Badge for 10 upvotes to other ansers, so as to get new users upvoting more.
    – Ian Ringrose
    Commented Sep 11, 2009 at 10:42
88
votes

Great Voter — For voting 3000 times

Electorate — For voting 30000 times

The basic currency of the Stack Overflow is reputation earned by votes. To encourage the reputation system to function, we should encourage more upvoting by the silent majority. Currently there is only one badge called Civic Duty for voting 300 times. Why not expand this?

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  • 7
    +1 I totally agree. Voting is what drives the site, and there is little motivation once you pass 300, except for the good of the community. Also, perhaps a name like "Senator" or "Chancellor"? (Hey, how comes there's no "vote of no confidence"?)
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jul 10, 2009 at 21:06
  • 16
    Maybe make 30k -> 10k... it would take unrealistically long to get to 30k
    – John Rasch
    Commented Aug 4, 2009 at 18:41
  • I think Civic Duty is good enough for this purpose.
    – Anton Geraschenko
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 0:48
  • +1 for a good idea, -1 because I hate Regan and the phrase he originated ("silent majority").
    – Super Long Names are Hilarious
    Commented Sep 23, 2009 at 19:41
  • I like this idea... except 3k is a lot! Maybe 1k?
    – kanamekun
    Commented Oct 21, 2009 at 0:18
  • 7
    see new badge [Electorate] meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8376/…
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 7:38
  • @Jeff Atwood nice!
    – Eugene Yokota
    Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 18:18
84
votes

Some ideas (some serious, some not so):

  • Recursive Badge - Awarded for gaining the Recursive Badge
  • Poet Badge - Awarded for getting 3 upvotes on an answer given in the form of Haiku
  • Voyeur Badge - For those that like to watch. Viewed 1000 questions without participating in any manner (answering, commenting, voting, etc)
  • Communist Badge - Every question/answer given marked as community wiki
  • Capitalist Badge - Only answering questions with a bounty
  • Self-esteem Badge - Gold badge awarded to everyone, because everyone's a winner!
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  • 30
    +1 for self-esteem badge, made me laugh.
    – musicfreak
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 9:00
  • 57
    Answers in haiku / That's a little too obscure / Who's gonna do that?
    – Graeme Perrow
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 11:39
  • 9
    Well played Graeme Perrow / Your haiku is alluring / Challenge it I must!
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 16:36
  • 6
    I like the voyeur, communist & capitalist badges.
    – Scott G
    Commented Jul 4, 2009 at 13:04
  • 29
    I like the Recursive Badge because it so belongs on StackOverflow
    – Edosoft
    Commented Jul 9, 2009 at 20:08
  • 4
    Capitalist discourages users from answering other questions. Voyeur would be hard to track.
    – devinb
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 13:11
  • 3
    Sorry guys, Graeme is two syllables (sounds like Graham). I wrote this one a while ago: "Haiku can be tough / you have to count syllables / this one is wrong"
    – Graeme Perrow
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 12:47
  • 5
    Funny, I pronounce "Graham" like "gram". Oh well, I guess I deserve a "Haiku Facepalm" badge now. ;)
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jul 22, 2009 at 14:47
  • 35
    Composing haikus / is easy. Just stop at the / seventeenth syllab
    – Anton Geraschenko
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 0:36
  • 1
    @JohnFx: Being into regexes is like having a Dremel (rotary drive) tool - you see everything in terms of how you can apply your cool <s>toy</s>tool. Regexes cannot reliably count syllables.
    – Argalatyr
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 2:14
  • 2
    @Argalatyr - What can reliably count syllables? Apparently even us people who are intelligent enough to speak the language can't correctly count the syllables in Graeme's name.
    – Super Long Names are Hilarious
    Commented Sep 23, 2009 at 19:40
  • 12
    The genius of the Recursive badge is that it has no base case to terminate the recursion. Therefore, should anybody actually acquire the badge it would cause a... Stack Overflow. The concept is so meta that it blows my mind.
    – Dan Dyer
    Commented Dec 23, 2009 at 16:42
  • 1
    Commun- and Capitalist can easily be made to work: just count. Award Capitalist for N (won?) bounty answers. Communist for N question/answers made community wiki. And voyeur: N viewed questions. Maybe N per day for M days in a row? The possibilities are endless.
    – Jürgen A. Erhard
    Commented Jan 12, 2010 at 9:47
  • 2
    Oh, and the Recursive badge... I'd love to just see it in the list of badges, the obvious joke being that no-one will ever attain it.
    – Jürgen A. Erhard
    Commented Jan 12, 2010 at 9:48
  • 3
    Tautology Badge - You can only have this badge if you already have it
    – Earlz
    Commented Apr 13, 2010 at 22:23
84
votes

Noted - user profile viewed 1000 times

Prominent - user profile viewed 5000 times

Renowned - user profile viewed 20,000 times

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  • 4
    20K views? That's a long way down the road. Even Mr. Atwood only has 8K right now.
    – Mark C
    Commented Apr 14, 2010 at 15:12
  • 7
    He only shows up on SO about once a week. Most of the more prominent users are well over 10k. Anyway, the numbers aren't really the point.
    – womp
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 23:11
  • 1
    1k- Noted, 3k- Prominent, 5k- Renowned... the numbers aren't really the point. :)
    – Somnath Muluk
    Commented Nov 24, 2012 at 6:13
65
votes

Architect - awarded to a user who has an idea implemented.

I guess it would have to be a manually awarded badge - but highly prized.

6
  • I really like this idea as it encourages people to come up with good/unique ideas for improvement.
    – ahsteele
    Commented Jul 9, 2009 at 14:15
  • 8
    It also encourages people to suggest ideas in the first place; probably the same ones over and over as new users come in.
    – Kevin Montrose
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 2:30
  • In what context? Idea for the site, or idea for the answer? For the former, how can you implement an idea without access to the code, and for the latter, who decides if the idea was implemented - high-rep users?
    – nagul
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 9:15
  • It seems to me like it would be a meta badge. If your suggestion is implemented it would be awarded to you.
    – ahsteele
    Commented Aug 31, 2009 at 5:46
  • see: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/17985/…
    – akf
    Commented Sep 10, 2009 at 4:15
  • @nagul: I think it becomes a subjective badge actually - awarded to the person who proposed the idea. The idea should at least be given an upvote and selected as an answer. The OP should then provide an update in the text of their question showing some sort of snippet in how the idea was implemented. The architect of the idea then should be able to be nominated by the OP to gain the badge. Then it becomes a community vote, therefore subjective. That is just an idea on how the badge could be earned legitimately.
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 22:39
62
votes

Name suggested by Quinn Taylor: Smart Upstart/Underdog

You got an accepted answer where a rival answer was submitted by somebody with X times more reputation that you.

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  • 1
    This is somewhat dependent on Jon Skeet always being a prominent user, right? Not that it doesn't appear that way - just playing devil's advocate.
    – Jon Smock
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 12:55
  • It was more of a fun idea ;)
    – Damien
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 13:07
  • 4
    You could award it for when a rival answer was submitted by someone with a much higher reputation than your own.
    – Daniel James
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 19:20
  • 3
    And makes a lot of badges.
    – Ladybug Killer
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 9:04
  • 1
    Apple's WWDC has a traditional panel called "Stump the Experts". Maybe something like "Smart Upstart" or "Underdog"?
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 16:40
  • 5
    Nice, I like Underdog
    – Damien
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 17:53
  • 2
    I wouldn't just use a plain multiple - as it'd be too easy to get the badge when you've got a small reputation, so I might use 'x * reputation + c' or perhaps 'max(x * reputation, c)', and I'd make 'c' pretty large.
    – Daniel James
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 7:58
  • 4
    Needs to be called "Grasshopper"
    – user95071
    Commented Jul 5, 2009 at 3:12
  • 1
    I like the name "underdog" as well.
    – KyleFarris
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 13:39
  • 7
    (-1) On SO, everyone should be giving the best answer they can. We shouldn't be operating on a 'tier' system. You should answer a question when you think no one else has it right, their reputations should not matter.
    – devinb
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 13:10
  • 1
    @devinb I doubt people intentionally gives lousy answers on SO. This badge would be likely to incentivize users with less rep to post good answers in the hope of earning a badge for giving a better answer than a much more experienced/reputable user. I can't really see a downside to something like this...
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 19:12
  • 48
    Interesting idea: a badge that Jon Skeet can't get!
    – Graeme Perrow
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 12:49
  • 11
    Oh, he'll find a way...
    – Damien
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 13:55
  • 4
    @Graeme Perrow maybe that badge should be called beat-skeet?
    – sal
    Commented Jul 29, 2009 at 20:57
  • 3
    I would add a minimum score on the answer (e.g. 3) to prevent too easy gaming.
    – Georg Fritzsche
    Commented Jul 25, 2010 at 10:53
56
votes

Premium (paid) Badges

  1. These can be purchased via Pay Pal for $49.99
  2. Always appear first in the list of badges
  3. Shiny color (animated gif should do the trick)
  4. Only viewable by the recipient (that's the sweetest part)
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  • 94
    Should it be called the "My Precious" badge and be ring-shaped?
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 14:58
  • @Arnis L.: now that's ^ better!
    – a_m0d
    Commented Jul 9, 2009 at 4:17
  • That is a site support badge. haha
    – Troggy
    Commented Jul 23, 2009 at 19:06
  • 27
    Will there be an executive version of these badges for $149.99 with a gold border and mahogany background?
    – JohnFx
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 1:50
  • Makes sense if you can already buy/sponsor tags! ...cough... Adobe
    – alex
    Commented Oct 21, 2009 at 12:37
  • 1
    Call it "Franklin Mint"
    – Jay Bazuzi
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 6:57
  • @Jay are they still in business?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 8, 2010 at 19:45
  • 3
    or you could greasemonkey it in about 5 minutes.
    – Gordon Gustafson
    Commented Jul 31, 2010 at 2:41
  • 1
    As an alternative fo "My Precious" I propose to call this Ibadge "I am rich" - just to be more app oriented... Also please up the price to about $1000 ^_^
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 16:44
54
votes

Two serious ones:

Big Day -- capped out on rep in a given day

Quality Poster -- (pick your metrics but let's say) last twenty answers yielded 50 upvotes, at least 4 accepted answers, and no downvotes

I really believe in a Quality Poster badge. Would help distinguish professionals from rep-whores.

And how about

Curmudgeon -- last 100 votes, more down than up

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  • 15
    I like quality poster it promotes high quality answers.
    – Richard Stelling
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 12:42
  • 3
    Isn't the Big Day basically a Jon Skeet badge? I don't think he's ever failed to hit the cap. As a one-time-only bronze badge, it might be useful, though, since it would stop new users from asking "Why didn't I get rep from my last three upvotes?"
    – mmyers
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 17:32
  • @mmyers: not sure exactly what the metrics should be for Quality badge, but it should be hard to earn
    – user95071
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 18:02
  • Hard I can understand (and I'm in favor of), but there's no way to control downvotes. Those two downvotes were both on answers to ambiguously-worded questions; the downvoters apparently had a different interpretation than I did.
    – mmyers
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 19:20
  • @mmyers: unquestionably true. But most badges are earned on poster whim: Famous Question, Great Answer, Populist; anything that's vote- or view-based. This would just be the first that incorporated a down-vote factor.
    – user95071
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 14:40
  • 5
    +1 for Curmudgeon in some form. The name is too good. :-)
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 14:45
  • 1
    @John Pirie - for those badges you mentioned, "poster whim" aggregates over time though. Having a "no downvotes" criteria would really harm the Quality badge concept. I've seen people come into a question and downvote every single answer for no discernible reason. It also opens the potential badge earner to easy sabotage.
    – womp
    Commented Jul 4, 2009 at 5:30
  • @mmeyers: I don't think it's that hard to not get down votes. When I do get down votes, I usually anticipated it ahead of time. Of course, if you know you are going to get more down votes than up votes, you probably shouldn't post.
    – Zifre
    Commented Jul 8, 2009 at 14:56
  • wordweb - curmudgeon: "a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas". good one :).
    – bobobobo
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 14:54
  • 8
    Mortarboard is now implemented for Big Day.
    – Gnome
    Commented Apr 8, 2010 at 7:04
50
votes

There are several badges related to having an accepted answer (Scholar, Enlightened, Guru) but none that relate to achieving a certain threshold of accepted answers. For example, knowing somebody has had 10/50/100 answers accepted would increase my confidence that they know what they're talking about (not just throwing out lots of mildly helpful answers over time), and is yet another way to reward people who provide an excellent answer.

Here are a few name ideas such badges...

  • Aficionado
  • Master
  • Philosopher
  • Pundit
  • Sage
  • Savant

In speaking with the SO team about this earlier, they suggested that "there's a 'rich get richer' problem with this style of award." I can see how that can certainly happen, but I see it in a different way...

People who strive to provide good answers in less-popular tags (such as Cocoa and Objective-C, like I do) will likely never get enough votes/views/favorites to earn most of the popularity-related badges. In contrast, an "N accepted answers" badge can be earned through technical knowledge and helpfulness, without being tied to a popular technology. (Or posting a subjective/controversial/funny question/answer, whether intentionally or not.)

Of course, if knowledgeable people start answering every question just to "level up" on accepted answers, I can see how newer members can feel left out. However, I (like to) think most people aren't prone to abuse the system that way, and more good answers does benefit the community as a whole.

5
  • 9
    I totally agree with your reasoning regarding less-popular tags. For me, it's rare to find MATLAB answers with more than 10 votes, hence "Nice Answer" or "Enlightened" badges are hard to come by (I only have 1 of each for all the MATLAB answers I've given).
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 18:15
  • 2
    I hear what you're saying, but this badge would have massive side effect of badge inflation for all the popular topics. Big big downside.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 22:39
  • 2
    A scaling factor related to the number of questions in the category would help ease the inflation effect for popular categories
    – Gabriel Hurley
    Commented Oct 22, 2009 at 23:35
  • 3
    Must find others name for "Master", "Sage" and "Savant" badges because they are "Rank" for "Experts" on Experts-Exchange.
    – DavRob60
    Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 14:18
  • @Jeff How about awarding the badge for answers on questions with tags with under X questions in total? That would solve the problem right.
    – Jouke van der Maas
    Commented Aug 12, 2010 at 12:44
47
votes

Chart Topper - asked the most up-voted question (and/or answer) that week, it should be awarded multiple times.

2
  • 1
    I like this one as well!
    – Damien
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 10:56
  • 13
    Wiki questions excluded?
    – mmyers
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 17:29
45
votes

Frustration badge: 5+ answers accepted before hitting the daily rep limit.

Over-and-above badge: contributing significant extra content in an answer after it's already been accepted, but only if the answer then gets another 5 upvotes (to avoid just mindless padding).

7
  • lol at the first the second is kind of a self-beating populist - nice ;-p
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 9:57
  • 20
    I like the "over & above" idea.
    – Joel Coehoorn Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 12:54
  • 7
    Or for getting a 300-point bounty first thing in the morning ;-p
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 11:31
  • @Marc: Yes indeed :)
    – Jon Skeet
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 11:34
  • @Marc/Jon... who defines "morning?"
    – Rob Allen
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 20:06
  • 1
    @Rob: UTC, of course. Even if I were residing elsewhere, the day would still start when the rep cap ticked over :)
    – Jon Skeet
    Commented Jul 13, 2009 at 20:11
  • 6
    Frustration badge is now moot with the new rep calc algorithm.
    – Jon Seigel
    Commented Apr 14, 2010 at 13:51
43
votes

Bounty Hunter — Given the first time your answer is accepted for a bountied question. Generally they're harder to answer anyway. (Or as @Alconja suggested with Capitalist, for answering only bountied questions, something like that.)

Edit: Just found this related MSO question, and of course the idea originated from Jon Skeet. How could I expect otherwise? ;-)

41
votes

Badger—awarded when someone continually requests new badges on Meta.

9
  • 26
    And can be awarded multiple times... Badger Badger Badger!
    – alex
    Commented Oct 21, 2009 at 12:39
  • 1
    hahaha, I like this one.
    – Troggy
    Commented Oct 22, 2009 at 22:35
  • 1
    +1 hahaha!!! loved it. don't have enough rep to upvote you
    – Amsakanna
    Commented Mar 22, 2010 at 11:36
  • 1
    @Veer: did you link your account with whatever site you came from?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 8, 2010 at 19:50
  • 1
    @veer: You should link it -- the reason I ask is that when I linked my account here on meta with my SO account, I got a 100 rep bonus, which is enough to upvote stuff.
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 17:40
  • 1
    @SamB Ya i linked it. But didn't get any rep bonus. But i got it for other accounts.
    – Amsakanna
    Commented Apr 16, 2010 at 6:03
  • 3
    @SamB Ha! i got it! I cleared all the associations and linked them again. Thanks!
    – Amsakanna
    Commented Apr 16, 2010 at 6:10
  • Badger? We don't need no stinking badgers!
    – YWE
    Commented Sep 26, 2010 at 2:25
  • 1
    We need a mushroom and snake badge too.
    – Toon Krijthe
    Commented Oct 20, 2010 at 14:27
39
votes

Unselfishness — For people who consistently post good answers in obscure or low-view tags.

Despite the joking about Objective-C fanboys, one of the perennial frustrations is that so few people view or vote on questions in that tag. My highest-voted SO answer was (still is) a semi-flippant one to a question with a Java tag. :-/

Sure, we post for a given language because we love it and/or use it all the time, but also because we care to help other users of the language. Nobody's hating on the Java or C# dudes, probably because they're in the majority, but does that necessarily make one any less of a fanboy? :-)

4
  • 4
    Maybe we need a list of some overlooked tags; I'd happily peruse a few to watch (and vote) for general quality of the Qs&As - although I'm not qualified to comment on technical accuracy.
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 14:29
  • 2
    Yeah, but moderators shouldn't have to artificially inflate the stats for our pathetic little tags. :-) It should really come from the people who benefit from the tag, although getting people to vote (well) is tough.
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 18:19
  • 1
    what if lower use tags had some way (trigger, threshold) of dishing bonus rep for accepted or up-voted answers?
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:23
  • 2
    Good idea, but I think this speaks more to getting people to vote, than force-rewarding the the heroes.
    – Chris S
    Commented May 24, 2010 at 18:57
35
votes

Super Hero - 500+ points in 24 hours or having 10 answers accepted in 24 hours, either way showing super human (answering) abilities.

9
  • 15
    Call it the Jack Bauer badge.
    – stukelly
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 13:29
  • 7
    Last time I looked, there was a 200 points per day limit.
    – jamesh
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 13:42
  • 3
    @jamesh: Points gained by having answers accepted still count, even if you've already reached the 200-point limit.
    – RichieHindle
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 14:22
  • @jamesh - not so; the high rep uses are often at 300+/day. I don't know if I've done 500 (I've come close a few times, though, even without bounty), but sounds like a fun challenge ;-p
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 22:06
  • 9
    500 points in 24 hours could be 200 points just before UTC midnight, then 200 points + 105 from 7 correct answers in the first part of the next day. It could happen :) (FWIW, without bounty I've never reached 500 in a UTC day. My best was 425 on March 31st, I think. Including bounties: 556 on April 2nd with a 150 bounty.)
    – Jon Skeet
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 6:53
  • Is this really how the cap works right now? I've definitely lost points due to getting accepts+bounty before I hit 200 then...
    – bananakata
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 11:42
  • 4
    @annakata - yes, that is correct. Frustrating, isn't it? Jon had a 300 bounty accepted the other day... first thing in the morning ;-p
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 9:47
  • I would suggest something more reasonable like 250 points (probably because I got 260 a few times... :)
    – Zifre
    Commented Jul 8, 2009 at 14:44
  • 30
    Call it the Jon Skeet badge.
    – MGOwen
    Commented Jul 23, 2009 at 4:29
32
votes

The Long-Haul Trucker.

For "clearing the road" of tumbleweeds.

Answered n Tumbleweeded questions with at least one upvote.

2
  • 3
    Sounds cool... kind of along the lines of the Necromancer badge, but for unpopular as opposed to old questions.
    – gnostradamus
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 3:36
  • 1
    funny - I go through the tumbleweeded questions every week or two :)
    – warren
    Commented Sep 17, 2009 at 8:55
28
votes

Rockefeller / Gates - You have to buy it, and it costs 20k in reputation

8
  • 1
    CoD prestige mode.
    – Travis
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 13:44
  • 1
    Rep sinks, sounds like a great idea.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 22:25
  • 23
    I like the idea of buying badges with rep. Very interesting.
    – JohnFx
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 1:50
  • 1
    Jon Skeet wouldn't buy it just to spite us all.
    – Alvin Row
    Commented Sep 9, 2009 at 3:35
  • 1
    Yeah, but all the badge whores would, making it easier for the rest of us to identify and ignore them.
    – Chris Charabaruk
    Commented Sep 13, 2009 at 15:57
  • Pynt: Jon Skeet would buy it and still hit the daily rep cap.
    – Tom Hawtin - tackline
    Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 1:43
  • 2
    @Tom: lol...I wonder if I could get a rep loan to get that badge...do we have a 20 year mortgage available?
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:26
  • booooo!! :D ...
    – studiohack
    Commented Jun 29, 2010 at 0:30
26
votes

Centennial Badge: visited the site each day for 100 years.

4
  • 3
    /me tries to picture Jon Skeet at age 133... then regrets it.
    – mmyers
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 17:28
  • 3
    /me pictures Jon Skeet right now... then regrets it. :P
    – Alvin Row
    Commented Sep 9, 2009 at 3:36
  • 2
    while cute - it'd be more interesting to extend the fanatic badge to someone who keeps up for a year
    – warren
    Commented Sep 17, 2009 at 8:53
  • 1
    there can be a badge for maximum number of visits. should be like a rolling trophy
    – Amsakanna
    Commented Mar 22, 2010 at 11:42
25
votes

Troll - 100+ down votes

24
  • heh, great badge to show off ;) or most likely, to warn people ;)
    – hayalci
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 12:21
  • 6
    I like the concept of negative badges - for the good of the community
    – Richard Stelling
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 12:24
  • 39
    Negative badges should come in their own flavor... not bronze, silver, or gold... they should be plastic or rust. Some cheesy ugly badge color that you don't want
    – Jeff Fritz
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 12:36
  • Skull and Cross bones or bio hazard.
    – Richard Stelling
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 12:45
  • White Skull and cross bones, in a black circle, or rectangle.
    – Brad Gilbert
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 15:33
  • 46
    A ratio of downvotes would be more appropriate. I'm fairly certain that high volume users have way past 100 downvotes, but compare that to the number of upvotes... Also, heavily downvoted items are often deleted, making the numbers harder. Perhaps a count of the number of items closed as spam/offensive...
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 22:02
  • 27
    I don't think a 'negative' badge is a good idea. It's still a collectable, shiny or not, and (some) people will want to have one. They would encourage negative behaviour.
    – Blorgbeard
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 7:39
  • 4
    I'd actually like to see this badge for people with an high ratio of downvotes cast
    – bananakata
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 11:40
  • See the post by John Pirie — I like the idea of "Curmudgeon" for high ratio of downvotes cast.
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 14:51
  • 3
    Aren't "Tumbleweed" and "Peer Pressure" already badges of dubious honor?
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jul 1, 2009 at 16:54
  • 2
    Down/Up > 1 == Troll && Down/Up < 0.5 == Cheerleader
    – Steve T
    Commented Jul 7, 2009 at 5:45
  • 1
    perhaps negative badges should be taken away after a period of non-infringement
    – flybywire
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 11:08
  • 10
    (-1) I don't feel that negative badges are advisable on StackOverflow. As Jeff Atwood has mentioned, once a badge is given, it is never removed. That means that you will always be branded with whatever negative stigma is associated with the badge. And most behaviours that are numerable will EVENTUALLY be reached by the power users. I have quite a lot of downvotes, and quite a lot of upvotes too. I don't think I should be branded for that.
    – devinb
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 13:14
  • 2
    I have downvoted 153 times and I'm not a troll.
    – Daniel Daranas
    Commented Sep 9, 2009 at 6:58
  • 3
    (-1) Not the best idea - downvoting is one of the means by which we weed out patently-bad suggestions (as opposed to suggestions that you merely dont feel earn an upvote). The ratio of downvotes to upvotes might be more meaningful, but Troll isn't a suitable name. I like Dans suggestions, but I'm sure there are others...
    – CJM
    Commented Sep 29, 2009 at 8:47
25
votes

Greengrocer - 10 unreverted edits to other people's posts that merely remove apostrophes. (See Greengrocer's apostrophe)

6
  • 3
    I love this suggestion + I do it a lot!
    – John Topley
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 14:11
  • Or insert the missing ones? (Not "one's", please note.)
    – Jonathan Leffler
    Commented Oct 19, 2009 at 5:35
  • +1 just for the link -- i never knew about that.
    – quack quixote
    Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 20:43
  • ++++ hard to code, but brilliant!
    – Pekka
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 20:09
  • LOL --> Dunglish
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:31
  • 4
    Wouldn't Greengrocer be more appropriate for people who'd had a number of such edits performed on there posts?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 8, 2010 at 19:53
25
votes

Hacker -- This badge is never given out, the only people who have it have hacked the system.

3
  • 12
    You mean the Hacker9asdasijhd187bcb87caisbcab17c18qcn89anascNOPNOPNOP... badge?
    – Draemon
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 22:04
  • 1
    Hacker, in these parts, is more likely to be awarded to someone who has done excellent work on the implementation of Stack Overflow. 1337 h4x0r, on the other hand ...
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 18:30
  • Same idea but "Black Spot" in a pirate theme to people that misuse the site somehow.
    – Robert
    Commented Apr 30, 2010 at 20:59
22
votes

Narcissist - accept 10 of your own answers (must have up votes)

3
  • Hey, sometimes you just know who has the best answer, right? ;-)
    – Quinn Taylor
    Commented Jun 30, 2009 at 21:47
  • 2
    I do this (though it may not get upvotes), on grounds that sometimes the answer reached is inspired by, but very different to, the answers I received. I'll upvote the inspiration(s) and then accept the solution I actually used.
    – Margaret
    Commented Jul 4, 2009 at 7:17
  • 1
    I've answered a few of my questions simply b/c I found an answer or derived one from another source when none of the other answers would pan out.
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:35
20
votes

I-Shot-The-Sheriff

Awarded when your answer, submitted after one from a moderator, is accepted. Could be awarded multiple times.

4
  • Haha, funny. I like it.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 21:29
  • 7
    Hey now, as a moderator I'd like to point out that out answers are perfect, every time. OK, maybe not always. :) +1
    – mrdenny
    Commented Aug 19, 2009 at 3:07
  • Re; the Jon Skeet award...actually...hhmmm - what about if an answer is accepted from a poster with significantly less rep than another...both answers must have at least 3 or 5 up-votes?
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:38
  • 4
    @mrdenny: your comments certainly don't appear to be! (I hope you can't fix that typo after all this time and make me look dumb :-).
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 18:31
19
votes

Chatter Box - ratio of comments to answers is 10:1 or above.

1
  • 1
    I'm probably pretty close to that on SO (and I bet many would have this on MSO).
    – Zifre
    Commented Jul 8, 2009 at 14:53
19
votes

Compulsive Voter — For those of us who consistently use up our daily votes.

This obviously has negative incentives for stuffing the ballot box, usually with upvotes. I see it more as a humorous badge, anyway.

3
  • 6
    I just had to give that +1.
    – Axeman
    Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 13:23
  • There's a limit?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 8, 2010 at 19:58
  • This is now implemented as the Suffrage badge (for the first time, at any rate).
    – Pops
    Commented Oct 19, 2010 at 14:25
18
votes

Now that there is linking between accounts on the different sites, what about cross site badges:

  • Programmer - awarded for having greater than some amount of rep on SO
  • Server Admin - awarded for having greater than some amount of rep on SF
  • Metahead - (or some answer from here) awarded for having greater than some amount of rep on meta
  • Power user - awarded for having greater than some amount of rep on SU

While naming is certainly important, it is not my talent, so liberties should be taken with these names and the amount of rep would need to be determined, but I would think something like 5k maybe.

To be clear, my thought is these would be badges visible on all sites, so if you earn it on SO, it would be listed under your badges on SF, etc.

5
  • we already have that by folks becoming moderators at 10k, right?
    – warren
    Commented Sep 17, 2009 at 8:57
  • 6
    How about only being able to possess one of these badges at any one time, but you get it on all sites. The one you get corresponds to the site where you have the most rep (above a minimum threshold).
    – Ether
    Commented Oct 18, 2009 at 3:27
  • I like the idea. It would be nice to show people in what domain you're better.
    – alex
    Commented Oct 19, 2009 at 7:17
  • 1
    @Æther: Bad idea, IMHO. If someone has the potential to earn more than one of these badges, I think they should be able to possess all of them for which they qualify. Maybe have bronze/silver/gold level badges, with the next level up replacing the lower level one, to show a user's relative level of participation on each site.
    – RobH
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 0:16
  • @Ether: I'm with @RobH.
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 18:26
18
votes

Policeman - was first to flag posts/questions that were later removed as hate speech or trolling. Bronze (Policeman) - did it one time, Silver (Officer) - 30 times, Gold - (Inspector) - 100 times. Note Marc Gravell's answer about need to flag rude post - this badge could make people to report unacceptable behaviour.

5
  • There is already a badge for flagging posts.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 18:44
  • 2
    Yes, there is "Citizen patrol" but you get it for single flagging. I want to ensure people to report abuses often, so moderators can get SO free of abusers.
    – smok1
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 18:47
  • 1
    I suppose. Having a badge for only one isn't super helpful. +1
    – jjnguy
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 18:54
  • I like it... +1
    – IAbstract
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 23:40
  • 3
    Leave Citizen Patrol as the first one, then make Policeman 10, and Officer 50.
    – Catharsis
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 1:02
18
votes

Unrewarded Ten or more accepted answers with 0 or 1 upvotes. One for the people working in fringe badges or just those unlucky enough to answer during a quiet patch for upvoting.

Inquisitive 90% of activity is questions (maybe on 10 consecutive days to make the percentage workable over time)

Helpful 90% of activity is answers (with durational requirement as above)

Balanced Diet Percentage of answers and questions very close.

6
  • 3
    I like "Unrewarded" as a consolation prize for not getting (presumably) good questions upvoted, if it were restricted to answers with only zero votes. However, almost everyone will end up getting at least one of the other three badges, which would render them fairly pointless.
    – Ether
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 5:18
  • Good point about those badges going to almost everyone, perhaps more restrictive criteria? 95%? I think there is something to be said for badges that server as statistical measures - how many people are there who pretty much only answer questions? Though, maybe it doesn't server the other purpose of driving desirable behaviour.
    – David Hall
    Commented Dec 12, 2009 at 4:05
  • Why not add a minimum count to Inq and Help? Otherwise, one answer in 10 days would get you the badge.
    – Jürgen A. Erhard
    Commented Jan 12, 2010 at 10:17
  • The duration requirement was intended to refer to a grand total percent, not to the spot average. So I was thinking 90% of all time activity is questions, over n days) however, thinking about this, it wouldn't be necessary since once rewarded, badges are not removed.
    – David Hall
    Commented Jan 12, 2010 at 20:34
  • 3
    "Unrewarded" is good. I was thinking of it as "Unsung Hero". Getting an answer accepted with no upvotes feels like it was just grudgingly accepted by the inquirer.
    – Rob Heiser
    Commented Mar 26, 2010 at 21:07
  • 1
    @Rob Heiser: I like "Unsung Hero" as well.
    – Randolpho
    Commented Apr 14, 2010 at 13:35
16
votes

I think "Member of all SO sites" would be nice, but I would change it to 'Participant', i.e. asked/answered at least 1 question in each site.

3
  • 10
    all is relative to the time frame though. There was a time not that long ago that everyone would get this badge for only being on stackoverflow.com
    – Brian R. Bondy
    Commented Jun 28, 2009 at 12:57
  • Good idea.
    – Joel Coehoorn Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2009 at 12:53
  • Is that asked or answered, or asked and answered?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 15, 2010 at 18:24
16
votes

Cited: — if your answer is cited (linked to) more than 10/50/100 times, perhaps only from answer with at least one upvote. This is to encourage comprehensive answers that are referred to.

Might be difficult to implement, and to tune: number of citations is a free parameter, requirements on grade of answer with citation (points / number of upvotes).

4
  • What if you're the one linking?
    – mmyers Mod
    Commented Aug 18, 2009 at 19:06
  • @mmyers , just do not account links made by you. And lover the threshold needed to gain the badge.
    – P Shved
    Commented Oct 20, 2009 at 9:50
  • Maybe have different levels. (Bronze == cited, silver == highly cited, gold == ??.) Someone would have to come up with better names.
    – RobH
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 0:34
  • Gold = textbook author? I like this particularly if you garner a lot of attention from search engines too (can they be counted in?)
    – user142852
    Commented Feb 6, 2010 at 21:01
1
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