Forum:A second look at wiki achivements

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We — and by that, I mean me included — have been cool to implementing wiki achievements, a system whereby people get little rewards when they complete certain tasks on the wiki. As was pointed out in the succinct, but determinative wiki achievements discussion about a year ago, they were thought of as clutter, and a system that could be easily "gamed", or cheated.

The proposal

However, Ausir has informed me that they've made a tremendous improvement in the volume of traffic at his primary wiki, w:c:fallout. And, indeed, w:c:fallout is usually ranked as the busiest wiki in the gaming division.

We've lost a lot of our volume of traffic over the summer. Most weeks of July and August, we've not even broken the top 10 in our division. It should be a goal of ours to remain in the top 10 entertainment wikis year round — not just when DW is transmitting new episodes.

I'd therefore like to propose a "beta test" for the feature here at Tardis. I think we should switch it on now, just as we approach the return of Doctor Who for the second half of the series. Then we see if it attracts and retains new users.

If no one has any objections, I'd like to turn it on in 72 hours — that is, roughly Thursday (Friday, if you're over the dateline from North America) so that I have time to "skin" the badges so they look appropriate to our wiki. The default badges are dead ugly.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍  <span style="">16:54:40 Mon 22 Aug 2011 

Discussion

If it helps people keep this wiki in shape, then go ahead. It might give self importance to some users, maybe, but it could be used to keep the editors motivated. -- Tybort (talk page) 17:06, August 22, 2011 (UTC)

If you think being in the top ten is worth suffering such a gimmicky feature, go for it. Personally, I don't think being in the top ten wikis is of any importance whatsoever. It's not a competition after all, despite what these "achievements" say.--Skittles the hog - talk 17:12, August 22, 2011 (UTC)

Sounds like its worth a try, I can't see any reason for it not to be a useful feature. --Revan\Talk 17:13, August 22, 2011 (UTC)

I think it's worth a try, but with a trial period. My jaundiced view is that we may wind up with people competing on sheer volume. As someone who views himself as sweeping up around here, I am concerned about the sheer volume of poor changes that might result. I am likely anticipating trouble, so give it a try..... but be ready to turn it off. Boblipton 17:31, August 22, 2011 (UTC)