Beta sites currently use the same set of badges that established sites do. I think there are some behaviors worth encouraging, that badges would be well-suited for, except that these would be appropriate only to beta sites - not to mature ones.
Some examples include:
Question seeding. Beta sites struggle to build up sufficient activity; I've seen several betas that simply aren't getting enough questions. So while we don't need to encourage question-flooding on established sites, on Beta sites this might be very appropriate.
- Such a badge could be contingent on a minimal score per question, or some such.
- A "trailblazer" badge could be awarded to somebody carving out some specific tag that's as-of-yet undeveloped.
Beta Meta. Beta sites have some major initial questions to deal with; I'd love to (further) encourage member participation in tags such as site-definition and promotion.
Are special tags for Beta sites a good idea? Are they technically feasible? What beta-specific tags would be worth implementing?
EDIT: The good Mr. Cartaino has asserted that this is technically feasible. So please make merry with the beta-specific badge suggestions, and the voting to-and-fro on them!