I would like to ask whether I can opt out from obtaining badges that I consider ridiculous (yes, this has something to do with the new triplet).
I think it is a reasonable request, since for many people, there is stuff they do believe is not worth any badge, and still they receive them.
@MartijnPieters Now I lost you with the last comment I think. And no, I'm not going to stop participating, I just think that the badge system starts to award you for every little stroke that means something positive, instead of truly encouraging people to do something positive. Doing something for a reward is not a positive behaviour in my opinion.
Note that the primary purpose of bronze badges is to educate folks about stuff they wouldn't necessarily realize otherwise. So, for instance, you get a badge for your first vote - not because one vote is all that special, but because voting is important enough that it's worth calling out as something you should do more of. Same with Explainer - editing one question you've answered isn't a big deal, but a tremendous number of folks never edit more than that - so it's worth letting them know, the first time they do it, that it was appreciated.
@tohecz I rather feel appreciated and recognised for what I do constantly: edit a question into shape when answering. I wish more people did just that.
@MartijnPieters And I doubt that this new stuff will have a positive impact. Well, I wasn't the only one, but obviously our opinions were only little considered. This badges will be obtained by many people doing ridiculously useless stuff, therefore the value of having them is no more than zero.
@tohecz and how is 'opting out' going to change that? And the devs will be on the lookout fog shenanigans, don't worry. I just have a little more faith in how this'll go than you, that's all.
@MartijnPieters He may have only got 2, but others got a lot more. And receipt of them is staggered across the sites; I personally find it very, very annoying when they keep popping up every few minutes when there's not actually anything worthwhile in the notifications.
Amongst the people on TeX.SX who got the silver one, I can't think of any single one who really does the positive things in order to be rewarded some metallic nothing. I don't think anybody will join them soon, because he would get one of these things.
@Shog9 So far, the badge hunters didn't hunt for it. Now, they will. (Remark: the review badges already cause a big mess on many sites, just solely because they do exist.)
If you're willing to make 500 edits for a badge, there are already easier ways - ways that don't include having to write useful answers. Yet somehow, the number of Copy Editor badges awarded remains... Very, very low. And it's even possible to earn rep while working toward badge. Editing, it appears, is not a particularly attractive option for lazy badge hunters.
@Shog9 And the number of Steward badges awarded to people doing constantly bad job is still high. Ok, I'll change the request to opting out of the whole system of badges, that sounds better, after all.
Outside of SO, Steward is pretty rare too. On Stack Overflow, we need folks willing to put in that sort of effort - it's far easier to adjust the system to account for the occasional careless review than it is to get everyone to review 10,000 posts a day carefully. Different needs, different badges...
