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I was browsing badges right now, and saw that the Analytical badge has been retired. I tried searching how to get one, but found out that it cannot be obtained now - thanks to this question.

Well, I was shocked to see that on clicking on that badge, there were several users who had obtained the badge recently - as recently as 3 hours ago. Is that a bug, or is there some hidden way to obtain the badge still?

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  • 2
    Shocked? Really?
    – Bart
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:08
  • In Damith case it seems to be a bug on all his badges: stackoverflow.com/users/2558060/… all appear to be earned one day ago.
    – fedorqui 'SO stop harming'
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:09
  • Account merge perhaps @fedorqui? The same seems to be the case for Ethan Cabiac...
    – Bart
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:10
  • Could be... or such an intense day :)
    – fedorqui 'SO stop harming'
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:10
  • The last four badges show different earning days, though.
    – aksh1t
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:11

1 Answer 1

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This user got around 20 badges in the same instant, see his badges activity filter.

This happened due to account merge, in such case the badges are awarded in the time of merging. This has been confirmed by a moderator. (who can see merge actions)

Bottom line, the old account having the badge has been merged into his main, newer, account and all badges have been re-calculated.

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  • Damn it, for some time I thought I could get myself one of the retired shinies!
    – aksh1t
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:14
  • Nope, not unless you find old account of yours with the badge and merge it with your existing account. :)
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:16
  • The pattern that you noticed about all the badges being awarded same time is repeated for all other users. 1, 2, 3
    – aksh1t
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:20
  • Yep, on second thought account merge is the only sensible option, edited to reflect this.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Jul 9, 2013 at 14:50
  • I was checking today the badges site and I've seen that the Analytical badge was awarded. It cannot happen by account merging, because there is one account which got this badge recently and has only one reputation.
    – Irgendw Pointer
    Oct 3, 2013 at 14:36
  • @IrgendwPointer guess you mean this user? Reputation is not relevant, the old account (that did get the badge) might have 0 reputation. The "member for" says 6 months.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Oct 3, 2013 at 14:40
  • @ShadowWizard tha badges are still being awarded..
    – Mr. Alien
    Apr 14, 2014 at 10:56
  • @Mr.Alien no. Only as result of merging.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Apr 14, 2014 at 14:29
  • @ShadowWizard got it...
    – Mr. Alien
    Apr 14, 2014 at 14:30
  • @Shadow I can confirm that these are from account merges.
    – animuson StaffMod
    Dec 15, 2014 at 1:39
  • Thanks @animuson I've edited the post.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Dec 15, 2014 at 14:32
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    You can also get merged by a bot. Which is mostly just annoying. But there is hope!
    – bjb568
    Dec 17, 2014 at 0:57

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