Over the past week, Hullbreach has been adding a new badge system to SDK. I was planning to write a blog on it when the badges were complete, but I just couldn't wait that long. =p I'll update this blog when the badges are updated.

The badge system is an update that was made to replace users' Level of Awesomeness. For old times' sake, the Level of Awesomeness was a level that was determined by performing certain activities on the website which earned you Awesome points, which were shown on individual profiles. Now, there are no "stats" shown on profiles. Instead, there are different-levelled badges which are earned in a similar ways as the Awesomeness levels.

The following are the different types of badges (so far):
> Artist Badge - Earned through making paintings with the DSiPaint app.
> Auctioneer Badge* - Earned through winning auctions.
> Author Badge - Earned through writing blogs.
> Courier Badge - Earned through reading SDKmail messages.
> Digitizer Badge - Earned through making sprites with the Spriter app.
> Gluer Badge*
> MincoSays Badge - Earned by getting at least 500 points in the game.
> OverlorDS Badge - Earned by beating OverlorDS and obtaining Overlord status.
> Poster Badge - Earned through making Bulletin Board posts.
> Publisher Badge* - Earned through making library entries.
> Socialite Badge - Earned through posting profile comments.
> Stylist Badge* - Earned through creating Saviis.
> WakASkunk Badge - Earned by getting at least 500 points in the game.
> Yortzee Badge - Earned by getting at least 300 points in the game.
* yet to be released

Each badge also has a level to it. This is a number from 0 to 7, 0 being you have just started on the badge, and 7 being you have maxed out the badge. Each badge also has different numerical criteria for levelling up. The badge levels correspond to the following terms:
~ New - level 0 - 0 stars
~ Casual - level 1 - 1 star
~ Regular - level 2 - 2 stars
~ Frequent - level 3 - 3 stars
~ Steady - level 4 - 4 stars
~ Super - level 5 - 5 stars
~ Uber - level 6 - 6 stars
~ Awesome - level 7 - 1 golden star
The only badges that don't conform to these standards are the games ones, which have no levels.

Oh, and when you level up a badge (or get one for the first time), it will show up on your Alerts box, if you have alerts enabled.

Also, don't worry about the absence of shortcuts to artwork and BB posts. When the badges are done, they'll be back.

That's pretty much all there is to badges right now, but there are more coming--so keep an eye on your profiles! And be sure to check out Hull's blog too.