Can we get rid of the badges completely?

I know emojis is not the topic here but just wanted to say they are great. Over on the mailing list some topics I post get very little response or tend to attract responses from people who disagree. In contrast here I can get 20+ thumbs up emojis. They form a great part of two way communication similar to people nodding there heads if in person.

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Unfortunately, thatโ€™s not an easy option because the software that it uses is no longer supported.

I fully agree with that. The reaction emojis are one of the best features of Discourse. Everyone can show approval or disapproval with one click and without interrupting a discussion with +1 posts.

In regard of the badges I personally do not have a real problem with those, they do not harm anyone but on the other side they do not add any additional value imho.

And I have to say it comes across a bit childish when you get a badge pinned to your profile by Discourse that you can now already embed a link or give an answer by email all by yourself (good boy!) and I can also understand that someone who is rather the factual-dry type then may have the feeling he might have opened by error a teenie forum for make-up questions or the like.

I am aware of that and I did not really mean it serious. I share your antipathy against all this gamification stuff but nevertheless Discourse offers a lot of useful features and comfortable communication tools like the reaction emojis which I really like.

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I donโ€™t understand the fuzz about it. It may be helpful for beginners, others can ignore it. Iโ€™m used to it from stackexchange and other discourses and Iโ€™m slightly amused and bewildered by the gamification, but I can still acknowledge that it can contribute to a good and welcoming, interaction with users.
Keep it.

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