Have you noticed the badges next to your names in the status area?  Well, they aren’t totally meaningless!  These items (lifted primarily from Mario, no less) represent a system of rank and post count, among other things.  If you hold your mouse over these icons for a moment, you’ll see a box that represents the scope of your individual achievements here at The Bacon.

Keep in mind that it’s easier for us to keep up with some of these than others; for example, it’s not hard to keep up with who hosts a Twitch stream or who posts a video review, but it’s much more difficult to keep up with who’s subscribed to our RSS feed or who follows us on Twitter.  If you think you deserve a badge that you haven’t been given, let me know!  

Everyone moves from the rank of Jr. Contributor through Author, receiving appropriate badges along the way.  Afterwards, authors can continue on to gain even more responsibility.  Either way, once a member has reached author status, further increments in total number of published articles (or “post count” as we usually call it) are represented by a second badge.  Rank and post count are a pretty good overall indicator of what a member has accomplished here, so these are the two that are displayed directly.  But we want to recognize several other facets of a given member’s participation as well, and that’s what the box is for.

Site Service is a category that encompasses special one-off accomplishments don’t typically require as much sustained responsibility as a full on rank promotion, but they do represent important strides in our expansion and diversity nonetheless.  Social Networking Badges aim to reward those who actively follow us and contribute content on such sites, and finally, Special Badges are awarded for very specific efforts by our members, such as participating during themed months.

Look through this carefully if you’re interested in accumulating as many badges as possible!  And remember, some of these are harder for us to keep track of than others, so don’t be shy about letting us know that we’ve missed something!

Rank Badges

No Badge – Junior Contributor – New members don’t have a badge just yet, but getting one isn’t too hard!

 – Contributor – Mushroom Badge – Once you’re a full-fledged Contributor, you’ll receive a Mushroom Badge next to your name.  In order to make the jump, you must have 5 published articles.  During this time, you’ll also be invited to participate in our “Meet the Team” running post where we give members a chance to tell the world a little more about themselves.

 – Senior Contributor – Carrot Badge – After 10 published posts, you’re officially a Senior Contributor and will earn the Carrot Badge.  Senior Contributors may be invited to participate in projects reserved for higher-ranking members.  You will also be permitted to write your own DIY articles and Top 10 lists as long as at least 50% of your total output includes hardware and/or software (games) reviews.

 – Junior Author – Frog Suit Badge – When you’ve reached 15 published articles, you’ll be designated a Junior Author with the hopes that authorship is imminent.  For this fine accomplishment we present the Frog Suit Badge, one of my personal favorites.  Like Sr. Contributors, Junior Authors will also have the chance to participate in special projects and series.

 – Author – Raccoon Leaf Badge – Now you’re officially in the big leagues.  We hope that all members strive for authorship, as we hope to make this designation the bulk of our membership.  Authors must have 20 published articles and must be registered with us for at least one month.  In addition to the Raccoon Leaf Badge, Authors enjoy other privileges as well, including the ability to edit previously published posts of theirs, an @nerdbacon.com domain email address, and the opportunity to create an entire page about yourself to be listed with other senior members.  At 25 posts, Authors are also provided with space on the site to maintain a personal blog.  Authors are routinely invited to participate in special projects.

Finally, Authors also become eligible to earn a second badge based on how many of their articles have been published on the site.  For more information on these badges, skip down to Post Count Badges.  Authors can also continue to rise in rank through taking on additional responsibilities throughout the site as needed.

 – Reporter – Feather Badge – Reporters are still Authors, but have the added distinction of possessing personal clearance from the site’s administration to cover current events for the site.  News articles are held to a higher standard than typical reviews; incorrect information can severely damage our reputation.  Reporters earn a Feather Badge for their tireless efforts and attention to fact.

 – Editor – Fire Flower Badge – With so many articles coming in from different members with different styles, editing is a huge part of what we do here.  Editors need to be familiar not only with correct English grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., but must also possess a thorough understanding of the site’s own policies and technicalities regarding article publication.  Editors are highly regarded as their function is indispensable.  Administrators trust Editors to make fair and accurate decisions about what is “good” and what is “bad.”  If you’re willing to help us move through our continuous volume of articles, you’ll earn yourself a Fire Flower Badge!

 – Department Manager/Specialist – Sledgehammer Suit Badge – To push the site in the right direction, we need members capable of running certain aspects on our behalf.  Some areas include the forums, social networking direction, membership management, and many other duties we have listed on our open positions page.  As the site grows, increased compartmentalization will be needed to ensure efficiency, and any future overseers will hold this distinction as well.  For being awesome and taking time to really help us out, you’ll be presented with the awesome Sledgehammer Suit Badge.

 – Exemplar – Tanooki Suit Badge – The Tanooki Suit Badge has been especially reserved for a member’s extraordinary contributions to Nerd Bacon.  These members have exceeded expectations and/or gone on to directly participate in massive, systemic changes or additions to the site.

 – Assistant Administrator – Whistle Badge – If you’re successful as an editor or specialist, or if you have some awesome ideas about what we can do with the site and where we can take it along with the know-how to help us get it done, you might just be invited to become an Assistant Administrator.  Assistant Admins are a jack-of-all-trades who can work their way around WordPress and help maintain the site on a day to day basis.  These include editing duties, recruiting, pitching ideas, implementing ideas, and working closely with he other administrators to keep the site moving forward and functioning efficiently.  Assistant Admins are trustworthy, tireless, and dedicated members, who receive the fine honor of “wearing” a Whistle Badge.

 – Associate Site Director – Spiny Hat Badge – This is Nerd Bacon’s second highest ranking official – an individual with a ton of experience and commitment who helps us move forward on a day to day basis.  If you need anything and one of the admins isn’t around to answer, this is the next stop.  Also if both administrators are absent for any reason, this official will assume full control over the site and its activities until the return of an admin.

 – Administrator – Starman Badge – The highest possible distinction is exclusively reserved for the founders or the extremely rare event of another individual becoming a full partner.  You’ll recognize us from our Starman Badge.

Site Service

In addition to holding important administrative and managerial ranks, members can contribute to the site’s growth, diversity, and visibility in other ways.  These tasks can be big or small; the point is that, by whatever margin, these badges recognize members’ willingness to go outside of the norm.  If you find yourself meeting any of the below conditions but have not received a badge, just let me know!

 – Financial Contributor – Coin Badge – This is for anyone who’s thrown a few bucks our way.  We don’t expect money, but it sure does help!  And it can interpreted in different ways – maybe you helped us buy some software, or maybe you attended an event to gain exclusive for the site.  If you’ve spent money in any way to contribute to Nerd Bacon, then proudly let the world know.

 

 – Beneficiary – Music Box Badge – A few of you have worked hard to obtain promotional and/or advance material on Nerd Bacon’s behalf.  If you’ve ever received any free software from a developer (or publisher, or anyone else affiliated with said game) then this is your badge.  It can be a physical game or a free digital game, including early access codes or free access codes.

 

 – Exclusive News – Letter (from Old Man to Old Woman) Badge – Have you been lucky, persistent, and/or hardworking enough to bring an exclusive to Nerd Bacon?  This could be a personally conducted interview, an exclusive look at a developer’s work, or coverage of a video gaming related event that you’ve attended.  If you’ve tracked down information that can only be found here (at least at first!), then this will be your elusive prize.

 

 – Videographer – POW Badge – This one is pretty self-explanatory.  It’s for members who’ve produced and uploaded an original video for The Bacon.

 

 – Twitch Host – Golden Leaf Badge – Many of our members have taken to Twitch, and this one goes out to anyone who has hosted at least one official and public Twitch stream for the site.  (Not a personal stream or trial run.)

 

 – Twitch Attendee – Statue Leaf – Given to those who have attended at least one official Nerd Bacon Twitch stream.  Simple as that; show up, get a badge!

 

 – Blogger – Green Leaf – This badge is for those of you (with the privilege) who’ve kept up an active blog. What constitutes “active”?  Well, we’re going to set it at 2 or more, though we’d love for everyone able to keep up with it fairly regularly.

 

 – Proud Baconeer – Poison Mushroom – As part of the “you’re now an author” package, we encourage members to create their own sort of “about me” page on the site to introduce themselves to the world.  This is not only a chance for you to shine as an individual, but a chance for us as a whole to brag about our longstanding and hardworking staff.  Make a page, get a badge, got it?  (By the way, don’t take the poison ‘shroom the wrong way…we just thought it was cool and wanted to use it!)

 

 – Enthusiastic Baconeer – Gold Mushroom – On the road to authorship (at the 5 post mark to be exact), we ask members to participate in a short questionnaire that tells us a little more about themselves.  We then take these answers and form a blurb about said member on our Meet the Baconeers page.  If you’ve taken the time to fill one of these out and get back to us, this one’s all yours.

 

 – Newsletter Contributor – Lightning Bolt – Have you taken a few extra minutes to weigh in on our bi-weekly newsletter?  All it takes is something simple – a tip, trick, or question, or it can be something even bigger that you’d like to get the site involved in.  Whatever it is, get in touch with us and we’ll do our best to put it in the following issue of Greased and award you with the Lightning bolt.

 

 – Recruiter – Metal Box Badge – We’re always looking for new members, and we’re always asking for the help to find them.  If you’ve referred someone to the site and they’ve filled out an application (even if we don’t accept it) then this one is all yours!  If you do get a fellow nerd interested in writing for us, make sure they fill out the “Referred By” field near the top of the form so we can give you credit!  Spirited (and non-disruptive) campaigns carried out my members (such as on Craigslist or other online communities) will also be rewarded with the Metal Box!

 

 – LNNB Attendee – Cube of Zoe Badge – For the insomniacs out there, the casual Late Night Nerd Bacon (LNNB) Twitch streams have become an interesting event.  These are often unplanned, spontaneous, and extremely informal, but often highly interactive and sometimes just plain weird.  Set your Twitch accounts to receive an email when the “NerdBacon” channel goes live and drop on by one night!

 

Content Badges

These badges represent a rudimentary degree of diversity contributed to the site. How many areas of Nerd Bacon have you helped to build?

 – Columnist – Screwattack Badge – For a while now we’ve offered authors the chance to start their own column under the “Beyond Bacon” heading.  If you’ve taken the time to get a special column off the ground, this one’s for you.

 

 – News Writer – Map Badge – Not everyone is immediately sanctioned to write news reports, but if you are, or find yourself eager to report something, we’re easy to reach.  When you do share your first piece of news with us, we’ll gladly hand you your very own Map Badge.

 

 – Do-It-Yourself-er – Potion Badge – Game reviews are our bread and butter so to speak, but we enjoy filling in other sections of the site as well.  Write up a DIY article and this one is all yours.

 

 – Top 10 Composer – Box Hat Badge – I don’t really know what this item is called, but it’s all yours if you take the time to compose a Top 10 list (or similar countdown list).

 

 – Hardware Reviewer – Hammer Badge – Again, we love filling in smaller sections of the site.  Give us a hardware review and we’ll give you this nifty badge from SMB 3.

 

 – Nintendo Contributor – Question Block Badge – Have you reviewed a game for a Nintendo system?  Any Nintendo system?  If so, then get ready to add this badge to your collection!

 

 – Sega Contributor – Ring Badge – What about Sega?  Ever reviewed a game for any Sega system?  If the answer’s yes, this iconic monitor is all yours.

 

 – Sony Contributor – Sackboy Badge – For those of you with a review of any game f0or any Sony system under your belt, say hello to Sackboy.

 

 – Microsoft Contributor – Master Chief Badge – This nifty icon of the Chief can be all yours for the simple price of…a review of a game on any Microsoft system.  Grab one now!

 

 – Atari Contributor – Joust Badge – How far back and how far deep does your gaming experience extend?  Whether you relive the classics on a 2600 or managed to tough out an Atari Jaguar game, a review of a game for any Atari system will add this character to your swath.

 

 – PC/Mac Contributor – Pokedex Badge – There’s still somewhat of a rift between PC and console gamers, though we aim to do our part in bridging such a gap.  If you’ve ever reviewed a PC/Mac/Linux/whatever game, prepare to take home the very computer-y looking Pokedex Badge.

 

 – Arcade Contributor – Pacman Badge – What could be more iconic of the arcade than Pacman himself?  If you’ve ever spent a few quarters a nearby arcade and given us a review, or perhaps emulated an arcade only title, Pacman is all yours.

 

 – Mobile Contributor – Angry Badge – Mobile games may not all be known for their high quality, but there are some fantastic ones out there and kudos to the members willing to embrace and explore this new frontier of the gaming world.  Review a mobile game, get an Angry Badge, easy as that!

 

 – A Second Opinion – Copy Flower – Unlike some review sites, Nerd Bacon encourages writers to review whatever games they want, including those that we already have a review for.  Some members are hesitant to undertake such “duplicate reviews,” but at The Bacon we don’t only allow this activity, we encourage it; the more opinions on one topic the better!  Note: It doesn’t count if you review the game first and then someone else reviews it; you have to the be the second (or third, fourth, etc.) reviewer!

 

 – Sega’s Frankenstein – Spirit Orb – Plenty of add-ons have been released for plenty of systems, but no one was ever able to match Sega back in the early to mid 1990’s.  While not exactly a success, this piecemeal beast was more popular than it had any right to be, and the transformation of the humble Genesis into a hulking behemoth is a staple image of retro-gaming.  Even today, its “spirit” lives on (perhaps in an “orb” somewhere..?).  Review at least one game for each component (the Genesis, Sega CD, and 32X) and add this badge to your collection.

 

 – Fanatic – Bat Pentagram – We’re at a point in gaming history where some franchises have persisted for the better part of 30 years, and, perhaps more than ever, developers and publishers are eager to cash in on past successes and more and more sequels are continually developed.  For ardent followers, this is the badge for you: review at least 5 games from a single franchise, and the Bat Pentagram is yours.  Opinions differ on just what constitutes a “franchise” (does it include spinoffs? do all games featuring the same main character count as a single franchise?), so let us know if you have any questions and we’ll make the call.

 

 – Super Fanatic – Duplicator Badge – Just how enduring is your favorite franchise?  Have they managed to hold our for 10 or more games, or in other words, duplicate their success?  Once you’ve earned the previous badge you can set your sights on this one, one of the most powerful items in Symphony of the Night.  The deal?  Give us at least 10 reviews from your favorite franchise!

Post Count Badges

To reiterate, once a member has achieved the status of Author or anything00000000 beyond, they then have the opportunity to earn an additional badge denoting their contribution in terms of number of published articles (colloquially known as “post count”).

Social Networking Badges

You’ve all heard it plenty of times – we’re doing as much as we can to put ourselves out there on social networks.  And now we’ll give you badges simply for following us and/or contributing content.

Special Badges

Occasionally, we may devise various special badges to award to members.  These are mostly time sensitive, but stick around with us long enough and you’ll earn ’em all!

 – 2 Year Anniversary – Double Shot Badge – Here’s our very first limited edition badge, available only during the month of August 2015!  To celebrate our anniversary, we’ve awarded this to members who’ve provided us with 2 reviews of “first sequels” during August 2015.  You won’t be able to snatch this one up if it’s past August, but stay alert and we may just come up with another limited badge!

 – 1 Year of Activity – Triforce Badge – This is a special badge that members can earn for year of regular service to the site.  Some of you guys are eligible, but we haven’t heard from you in a while!  So make yourselves known and earn another badge!

 – Project Obscure Participant – Compass Badge – This is a badge for members who have participated in our “Project Obscure” at some time or another (hardware or software reviews, possibly DIY articles as well).  Don’t know exactly what “Project Obscure” is?  Check out the Project Obscure page for details about this ongoing effort.

 – October Participant – Pumpkin Badge – You can only earn this badge in October, but all it takes is a scary/horror/monster themed game review.

 – Retroary (February) Participant – Varia Suit Badge – Another time dependent badge, this one is awarded for members who have provided us with at least one “retro” hardware or game review (defined as pre-2000) during our celebration of such during February.

 – April’s Foolish Games Participant – Egg Badge – If you want “the Egg,” all it takes is a review of a “foolish” (bad) game during April, a time when we “celebrate” April’s Foolish Games.

 – E3 Participant – E-Tank Badge – E3 rolls around once a year, and we want to do our best to cover it as much of it as we can.  Anyone who assists us with E3-related news (in a timely manner!) during this period will earn themselves this fine badge.

 – Exceptional Performance – Crown Badge – This badge is awarded intermittently to members who have gone above and beyond the typical call of the Baconeer.  Not only have they embraced and mastered our protocols, but they’ve also helped when they didn’t have to, selflessly volunteered their time in order to make the site better, stepped up to the tough jobs called for, and/or exhibited a prolific mount of material in a short time.

 – Featured Writer – Maxim Tomato Badge – Notice the articles that rotate through the slideshow at the top of the homepage?  These are our “Featured Articles” (or “Posts”) and depending on the level of content we receive, we switch these out every couple of weeks.  How do we choose which articles go up in the slideshow?  Typically we look at those that are 1) extremely well-written, 2) highly popular, 3) filled with unique content.  Keep churning out those articles and you’ll be sure to earn your Tomato soon!

Everyone on board?  Perhaps this can drum up some friendly competition to earn badges!  Although anything beyond 300 is a bit far away, I plan on carrying these even further in the near future.  Have I forgotten to give you a badge?  Do you have a wrong badge?  It’s possible, so let me know if I’ve made any mistakes! TheCubist@NerdBacon.com

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