What happened to our rank badges?

[Talon87]

I see the alt text "Volcano Badge" for my rank / user title. No badge. I miss the badges. Bring them back please? Can it be done?

[Lindz]

Board badges are reset back to zero at the start of each generation (software upgrade) just like in the games! At least thats my guess anyways!

[Talon87]

LOL. Nice.

Though ... whoever reset it just now (you? Kuno?) has it so that my "Volcano Badge" translates to a Thunder Badge.

[Lady Kuno]

Because you checked + complained about it in the 3 minutes it took me to fix it.

[Talon87]

Best. User rank system. Ever.

[Jerichi]

Have I gotten the Earth Badge yet?

Answer: no.

[Talon87]

And you won't be the first to do it, either! >D

Unless you go on a posting spree or I up and vanish again.

Kuno and Tess don't count. One cheated :P , the other posts daily updates for a game on the order of 50 posts/day. [/exaggeration]

[Loki]

We need the Pokeball symbols back :x

[Kindrindra]

Originally Posted by Loki

We need the Pokeball symbols back :x

You backwards thinker you!

When Black and White come out, can we get the badges changed to the Isshu ones? First Gen Badges in Gen IV...


IT'S RETRO!!

[Loki]

How is getting the Pokeballs for the forums going backwards? Pokeballs are still used in every generation. And it's better than those lame folder symbols.

Also, Gen1 is classic and had the best looking badges.

[Talon87]

Gen1's badges are memorable not only because of nostalgia but because most of them resemble something we know about in the real world. A rain drop. A rainbow. A flame. A heart.

The new badges are not always uglier or less cool than the first generation's. But one of their biggest problems is that they're not as memorable. Ask someone to draw the Fen Badge and, if they know it at all, they're going to draw you the circle-within-a-circle and then fall short of the watery prongs. Ask someone to draw you the Beacon Badge and you're more likely to get a Pikachu head than you are to get the actual two-tailed badge itself, which is upside-down relative to a Pikachu's head anyway.

Another big problem with the newest generation of badges (3 and 4) is that they don't even fit with the theme of the gym. For example,

• how does a cobblestone path fit with Maylene's Fighting/Psychic gym in Sinnoh?
• how exactly is Roxanne's badge a "Stone" Badge? O_o; The color and sharp design alike make me think electric, and even that's a stretch.
  
  And the biggest offender of them all ...
  .
• Norman's Balance Badge from Petalburg Gym? WTF? Why should the Normal-type be associated in gamers' minds with balance? What is so "balanced" about a badge which looks more like a lopsided barbel than it does a lopsided teeter-totter? Hell, it looks more like a Pokémon universe scientist's thick-rimmed glasses moreso than it does anything to do with balance! And again! Why "balance" as a theme?

Boulder = rock-types = goes with a rock-type gym = memorable
Cobblestone = rock-types = goes with a ... fighting/psychic gym? O_o = confusing, not memorable

[Lady Kuno]

The old badges are the most recognizable. And by most recognizable, I mean I don't know any of the badges gen2 and onward.

[Kindrindra]

*Looks at Loki funny*
*Nods in agreement with Talon*
*Stares in horror at Muyo*


Myself, I always thought the Cobblestone badge represented a tensai mat or a collection of bricks. Which would go with the whole fighting-type theme. But I do notice that many new badges have less to do with the gym, but have more to do with the city, with aspects of the type factored in.

[AshsBabyLapras]

Originally Posted by Kindrindra

*Stares in horror at Muyo*

...you mean Kuno? s: Seriously, they're not that similar, and I should know...

I know just what Kuno means though. Seriously, new badges are made of forgettable and suck. I even did all that stupid badge-polishing with the touchscreen and I still wouldn't be able to tell you which was which. >>; Mmm nostalgia goggles.

Anyway. Thanks for fixing it for us, Kuno~ :3

[Talon87]

I'm still waiting on the tartan badge. At the current going rate, I know it's only a matter of time. And for sprite-happy GameFreak, it shouldn't be hard, too: take the default fat man Hiker, give him a kilt, remove his Swiss-hiker's cap and give him a Balmoral cap in its place, and we're good to go: Scottish gym leader sprite who gives out Scottish gym badge.

[Emp]

So Fantina should give out the frogs legs badge and LT Surge should give out the...

In any case, badges usually reflect on the type of gym, not the leader's ethnicity

[Talon87]

Melissa's an American.* Fantina's a Frenchwoman. So I suppose the badge which would bridge the two is either the Statue of Liberty of French Fries. ;p

* I think. She sure acts like an American. And her linguistic quirks are all English, e.g. "Unbelievable!" or "OH MY GAH!"

[Lady Kuno]

Hows that?

[Kindrindra]

Melissa?

Inb4HowDidYouForgetMelissa?!

[Kindrindra]

Wow. I just scrolled down a inch or two and found the original thread where Jeri suggested user titles.


Not sure if that's good or bad.

[Lady Kuno]

Originally Posted by Kindrindra

Wow. I just scrolled down a inch or two and found the original thread where Jeri suggested user titles.


Not sure if that's good or bad.

Well the main UPNetwork forum has never really been a huge bustle of activity.

[Treepandaone]

If a Scottish gym leader did exist he'd be the fighting type; practicing with the long pole things that they throw and fighting because they're all bad drunks.

[Talon87]

I dunno, they don't call them the Scottish Highlands for nothing. I could see a rock-type Scotsman easily.

[Treepandaone]

Suppose.

If there was, I'd want a typical English gym leader. Crumpets, top hats, tea. Water gym leader because it rains here so much.

[JustAnotherUser]

Don't forget the monocle.