MA Badges Nerfed

Cut & Pasted from the CoH boards...

"Greetings everyone,

I wanted to fill you all in on our plans for the Mission Architect badges and also our plans for future badges as well. We really didn't want the Mission Architect to be an environment that encourages farming for XP, Rewards or Badges, and we thought long and hard about the current Architect badge situation. Ultimately we'd like it to be a place where you go to play great player created content.

So, going forward--beginning with the Mission Architect badges--we've decided to move away from "count" badges that might encourage farming and/or aberrant game play. Instead, we'd like to encourage players to try all of our content by offering badges for completing 1 time accomplishments and achievements. What this means for the Mission Architect badges is that many of them are going to be removed in Issue 15. This is because they encouraged farming, because they encouraged aberrant behavior by doing one thing over and over again, they were unobtainable by a large portion of our players, or earning them was completely out of a player's hands and in the hands of other players.

I'd like to outline the Architect badge changes to show you precisely what will be happening in Issue 15. Below is a list of badges that are being removed:

Adventurer
Plugged In
Escapist
Hardcore Gamer
Ticket Hound
Ticket Fiend
Ticket Master
Golden Ticket
Creator
Story Teller
Writer
Bard
Acclaimed
Illustrious
Renowned
Living Legend
The Chosen One
Discerning
Aficionado
Maven
Connoisseur
Button Masher
Impulsive
Unpredictable
Pressed the Red Button
Virtual Victor
Virtual Destroyer
Virtual Warrior
Virtual Soldier
Virtual Slayer
Virtual Button Masher
Virtually Curious
Virtually Erratic
Evaluator
Reviewer
Judge
Two Thumbs Up
Windfall
Bounty
Premium
Bonanza
Jackpot
Virtual Ticket Taker
Virtual Ticket Hound
Virtual Ticket Fiend
Virtual Ticket Master
Virtual Golden Ticket
Activated
Encouraged
Motivated
Galvanized
Hall of Famer
Builder
Constructor
Engineer
Designer
Master Builder
Resolute
Undaunted
Virtuous
Champion of Justice
Evildoer
Malefactor
Nefarious
Diabolical
Show Off
Hotshot
Went the Extra Mile
Overachiever
Do Gooder
Safekeeper
Savior
To The Rescue
Virtual Do Gooder
Virtual Guardian
Virtual Savior
Virtual Rescuer
Decimator
Obliterator
Marauder
Cataclysmic
Virtual Decimation
Virtual Obliteration
Virtual Marauder
Virtual Cataclysm
Eliminator
Liquidator
Executioner
Terminator

Below is a list of Architect badges that will remain:

Thrill Seeker
Gamer
Ticket Taker
Author
Recognized
Mission Engineer
Early Bird
Admiring
Poor Impulse Control
Virtually Impulsive
Critic
Customizer
Bug Fixer
Energized
Among Friends
Heroic
Villainous
Workaholic
Virtual Victim
Payoff
Extractor
Virtual Extractor
Destructive
Assassin

Now, as a player myself after reading this I would have a ton of questions: What does this mean for pre-I14 badges? What about future badges? Why did the Dev Choice and Hall of Famer badges go away?

I'd like to answer those questions now:

Q: What about non-Mission Architect badges?

A: We have no current plans to revisit old badges at this time, and I don't foresee us doing this really. All badges unrelated to the Mission Architect will remain unaffected by the changes outlined above.

Q: If I've already earned the Architect badges, will I get to keep them?

A: No. Only the badges listed above in the "badges that will remain" section will be kept.

Q: What can you tell me about future badges?

A: As I quickly mentioned above, our plans for future badges excludes many types of "count" badges. This means we will try to avoid badges that require repetitious tasks, aberrant play styles and give the illusion of "grindiness." There may be "count" badges in the future, but they won't be based on something you can grind at to achieve. An example would be a count badge for the number of badges you collect. That's all I can really say right now as I don't want to spoil any of the exciting badges that will go into future issues at this time.

Q: Why did the Dev Choice and Hall of Famer badges get removed?

A: We realize that a lot of players worked really hard for these badges and to create content worthy of these prestigious awards. However, we want badges to be something that everyone can obtain. We also want badges to be completely within a player's grasp, so no outside influence should affect earning these badges. The Hall of Famer badge and the Builder line of badges are a perfect example of why these badges are being removed. We saw a lot of griefing done by certain players against players who had highly rated missions that would prevent them from ever getting into Hall of Fame and earning this badge. We wanted having missions flagged Dev Choice or Hall of Fame to be coveted by authors, not by badgers. Thus these badges are also being removed.

Q: What can you tell me about the badges that remain?

A: These badges have all been modified so that they are granted for a first time accomplishment. For example: The first time you rescue a kidnapped NPC you'll earn the Extractor badge. The same goes for the other badges that will remain in Issue 15. They're much easier to earn, but they require a player to try every aspect of Mission Architect to earn them all.

Q: What about the Mission Engineer Accolade badge?

A: This badge had its required badges changed to the following:

Thrill Seeker
Gamer
Ticket Taker
Author
Recognized
Early Bird
Customizer
Bug Fixer

This means that this accolade will be significantly easier to get now, which means that a lot of players--that published and played Architect missions--will find themselves earning this accolade and find themselves with the really cool ability to edit and publish architect content from anywhere, including your Supergroup base by simply clicking a power icon.

Q: If I have some or all of the badges listed as badges that will remain, will I get to keep them?

A: Absolutely. You should not have to earn the remaining badges again.

I'd like to close by saying that to some of you this might appear be an extreme decision, but we want you to know that this was done to make the Mission Architect fulfill its designed purpose: to be a place where content creators could write to their hearts' content or for players who want to explore the endless content created by other players. We feel that these changes are a step closer to this goal. Also, don't be surprised if you see Architect badges in future issues as well as we make this feature even more robust than was available at launch.

Thanks for reading,
Synapse"