Forum:New feature vote: achievements and new user pages

Vote 1 - achievements
Some time ago, Wikia introduced an Achievement extension, which can be seen in action e.g. Red Dead Wiki or SWTOR Wiki, as well as any newly created wiki nowadays.

The goal of achievements is to help encourage people to make more edits and contribute to the wiki. They also help brand new people get a feel for what they can do on the wiki by showing them various challenges. Awards are only available for logged-in users, so they’ll help encourage people to log in when they’re making edits. You can see an achievement leaderboard here. Badges that you've earned and a list of the challenges that are available for you will also show up on your user page. Admins are able to customize the names and pictures used in the achievement awards so that they fit a given community.

Achievements are optional, so it's up to the community to decide whether they should be activated on a given wiki. Of course, they have also some disadvantages - some people might start doing nonsensical edits just for achievement boosting, but I think that as long as this behavior is adequately punished by blocking said users, it won't be much of an issue.

We previously discussed it, but decided not to activate them because the wiki was too busy around the release of Fallout: New Vegas. Given that it's been a while since the game was released, we can discuss the idea further. Ausir(talk) 01:40, April 12, 2011 (UTC)

Vote

 * Yes (Nemerian 06:11, April 12, 2011 (UTC))I completely agree to this, people will be inspired to edit and contribute to this wiki.


 * No Anon undefined Achievements work well on some wikis, but I just don't think the'll work here.


 * Yes --HaroldWannabe360 01:37, April 12, 2011 (UTC) Acheviemnts is a fun way to get people to make more edits


 * Yes Chiefsean16 It will encourage more users to make suitable edits. Plus it helps advance new members into pro editors who understand this wiki's aims on its articles.


 * Yes Drldrl They had em on a wiki I edited...cant remember which one. Worked out pretty well.


 * Hal10k(Leonard Bernstein!) There are a lot of different ways that this could be implemented, some good, some bad. I'd rather see a definitive list of achievements before casting a vote.
 * You can find a list of achievements here. Ausir(talk) 02:42, April 12, 2011 (UTC)
 * So the ones listed at the top of that page are going to be the definite ones after all? I'm still undecided, in that case. People editing exclusively to get achievements isn't necessarily a good thing, and a few of those achievements seem like they're only there for the sake of having more achievements. Hal10k(Leonard Bernstein!) 19:01, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm divided about this. Altough achievements encourage people to edit pages, it's also encourage them to make ANY edit just to obtain the achievement. I saw this on forums that use reputation and "star system" all the time, people troll a lot just for obtaining more numbers. If there's a way to evaluate the contribution that's ok, but for now I'm divided. Brfritos 03:10, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes Should help encourage registration. Blazingsand 03:47, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes Coming up with names and pics for achievements should be fun and a good motivator for getting more users to edit. Shadowrunner(stuff)


 * Yes a great way to "gamify" the wiki gears of duty


 * No I think it has more disadvantages than advantages. Promotes users to make any edit to enlarge a number ...--Ringo66 05:49, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * No Ringo66 put it well enough.--BSMaker 06:50, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes Not only because I like achievements of all kinds, but I also think the feature should be useful to The Vault. If it's not, it can be disabled at any moment. veryblackraven Talk 07:01, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes It will get more people to edit articles that need revision, with the achievements. Dhshrh


 * No I don't see the point of that. people who can make articles better will do so without any additional purpose, and achievements like “Edit once each day for five days in a row” might cause useless edits. Aejay


 * No if the current thresholds are kept. Achievements are supposed to be achievements not consolation prizes. Making 3 comments is an achievement? Puh-lease. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!)


 * Yes They could well be a bit of fun, if they fail we can always un-utilize them right? - RASICTalk 12:58, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * If I know how people on the internet act, and I do, their will be a lot of achievement boosting. I suppose we could give it a "trial run", and deactivate if there's too much boosting... Best regards, Kastera(talk) 13:12, April 12, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes An awesome idea, iv seen the red dead wiki and the award system is great :D !!! ,,,Tommygunner32 18:37, April 12, 2011 (UTC),,,


 * No It isn't my place to say but I can see people abusing the system just for achievements. And it has been pointed out before that rather than people editing because they want to contribute they'll edit because they want "the next achievement". This will lead to many small and pointless edits possibly including simple rewording of sentences to score some points. I also fear this could lead to some kind of hierarchy mentality with individuals believing they are above others because of the amount of achievements they have, and you can obviously see the problem with this. "Hey look at me! I have over 9000 achievements lololol the rules don't apply to me!" not to mention the pointless trolling and possible increase in misinformation or vandalism that will undoubtably happen even if it is on a small scale. Again everything I'm pointing out has been said before I'm just throwing my voice out there. Cartman! 19:15, April 12, 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry for the essay lmao :X Cartman!


 * I'm on another wikia, and the system is great. However, we do have MANY people doing fake edits.  --John Breasly AKA Ranger Breasly


 * No Encourages edit whoring and achievement boosting Matt of the wastes 21:05, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * No There's no need to make it a competition and who has the most achievements on here. TrailerParkApe TPA 21:34, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes More people should be encouraged to edit the Fallout Wiki. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mario479 (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~ !


 * No It's too much of a risk. Admins would be too busy banning, people would be too busy reporting and there would be no useful editing. --YakovFrolov 10:21, April 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes The prospect of possible achievements on this wiki was one of the many reasons I decided to register. They look cool and fun on the Red Dead Wiki, and one of the things I think they will be good at is encouraging new users to try new things. For example, one of the proposed achievements "Stopping By to Say Hi - leaving someone a message on their talk page" may seem trivial to veteran members. However, to new members this not only teaches them an aspect of the wiki but also encourages them to try it. LethalScout 22:53, April 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * No This does not make people make contributions -- it makes them make edits. As I saw on several other wikis, achievements will encourage people to make small, irrelevant edits that do nothing for overall quality. As somebody mentioned above, people would "achievement boost". In multiple ways: making an irrelevant edit and immediately reverting it, adding spaces on articles, etc. And as I saw on the Mafia wiki, it's even worse when the admins encourage it. YuriKaslov 21:39, April 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * No Yuri said it best. BillyOcean 00:40, April 15, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes But only if there's a trial period. The Vault needs new inspiration. I have spent some major amount of time here the past few days and sadly to say, there were times that more blog-comments were being posted than edits on pages. Yesterday morning an hour passed without a single edit to a page. Of course there's a good chance people will make senseless edits just to improve their rank, but it may also result in people registering and making some good edits. It's worth a try and if it doesn't work out, we can always disable it (like with the image-banner a few months ago). I would like less achievement trophies though, larger thresholds, and once a new mark is reached in the same category it replaces the previous one (if that's possible anyway). That's my take on it for now. JspoelJspoel Vault Boy.png 15:19, April 15, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes what gears of duty said, plus it will also inspire more anons to join the wiki (especially Xbox 360 players that have been hooked on achievements already) Otisman 19:03, April 15, 2011 (UTC)

Comments/questions
One other thing, these polls should be highlighted somehow on every page, like the Recent Wiki Activity, so everyone will know about them. --GobTheGoul 18:19, April 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * No Looks like I'm too late for the poll. This is really a bad idea... sure it will encourage people to make MORE edits, but not necessarily helpful edits. In the end, I think, it will be more work to do for the admins.
 * Er, actually, they *are* highlighted on that very page. Ausir(talk) 20:29, April 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * Oops, my bad then! Actually I've never seen one highlighted. I've only found them in the talk pages. GobTheGoul 21:02, April 21, 2011 (UTC)

Vote 2 - new user page
Wikia has also introduced a new user page feature, which showcases a user's recent activity, as well as their activity on other Wikia wikis. You can see it e.g. at Sanctum Wiki. Ausir(talk) 00:52, April 12, 2011 (UTC)

Vote

 * Yes (Nemerian 06:13, April 12, 2011 (UTC)) I think this will be a great tool that will help track down and find vandals.


 * Yes Anon undefined


 * Yes --HaroldWannabe360 01:37, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * No Chiefsean16 Meh... I don't like the look of it.


 * Yes Mr Zurkon 02:18, April 12, 2011 (UTC) It seems like a nice little feature.


 * Hal10k(Leonard Bernstein!) It isn't worse than the current system, but it isn't better either. The current system already has a "Contributions" tab, and I don't see how it would be useful to see contributions on other wikis.


 * Yes Brfritos 03:12, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * No I see no point in showing contributions on other wikis Blazingsand 03:48, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't hate it or love it. Shadowrunner(stuff)
 * --Ringo66 05:52, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes No effect with Monobook skin, but I still like how it looks. veryblackraven Talk 07:05, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes It's small, unobtrusive and serves to promote other wikis too. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!)


 * Yes well, we can see what we are doing outside this wiki. James Jr 10:38, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes doesn't seem like a bad idea. - RASICTalk 12:59, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes Ladies and gentlemen, please die Nice :D,


 * Yes Should be optional though Cartman!


 * Yes Matt of the wastes 21:07, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * If it does pass, there should be a way to make it optional. Best regards, Kastera(talk) 21:32, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes I like that you can see the other edits on other wikis. Like Tagaziel said, it's promoting other wikis. TrailerParkApe TPA 21:35, April 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes I really like this feature. Maybe this could be made optional, like Kastera said (if, for some reason, people wouldn't want their wikia activity seen). Going to win for sure. --YakovFrolov 10:28, April 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes YES YES YES YES YES,,oh i forgot to mention YEEESSSS !!!!!!!! .its a sick idea,,,of course it should be optional :D Tommygunner32 19:28, April 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes It will mean that people can tell whether a certain contributor is involved with other wikis. For instance, someone with an intimate knowledge of TES IV: Oblivion will be able to apply that to other wikis and be respected for it. It would also serve to promote other wikis as Tagaziel said before. --Grammarlad 09:05, April 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * No When it displays the other wikis that contributor edits at, it shows an inaccurate edit count; the "recent activity" thing will often linger on a single edit that occurred, potentially, months beforehand. In addition, you can see all of that stuff on their respective sub/special pages. Plus, it looks ugly. YuriKaslov 21:42, April 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes I suppose it's allright. But I do like it to become an optional feature, for every member to decide if they want it displayed or not. JspoelJspoel Vault Boy.png 15:42, April 16, 2011 (UTC)

Comments/questions
Is this vote open to every one or just registered users? - RASICTalk 21:31, April 14, 2011 (UTC)
 * Registered users. Anons cannot vote. Ausir(talk) 21:38, April 14, 2011 (UTC)

No As everyone else has said, this is entirely pointless. People edit this wiki very, very efficiently, for the love of the game. Not for points. 86.137.55.78

Final verdict
Looks like overwhelming majority is in support of the new user page layout, so we'll be activating it shortly. As for achievements, given that, while most users are in favor, there are also many who don't like the idea, I will activate them for a trial period of 1 month, and after that we'll decide whether to keep them or not. Ausir(talk) 07:32, April 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * As I was told by the Wikia tech people, looks like this version of new user profiles will be phased out soon anyway, in favor of an even newer one, so there's no point in activating them now. Ausir(talk) 20:29, April 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * What changes are they going to make with the new pages? Hal10k(Leonard Bernstein!) 05:45, April 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll let you guys know when I know it. :) Ausir(talk) 21:07, April 22, 2011 (UTC)

It would be great to make achievements a little bit more Fallout-ish. :) If they'll pass the trial period of course. veryblackraven Talk 21:37, April 22, 2011 (UTC)