Sorry – couldn’t resist. I mean, just look at those cute, furry-cuddly, viciously-fanged mammals over there!
I mean “other badges” of wine reviews, of course – in my case, I’m the late-comer to the wine badge review par-tay masterminded by Vintank; that is, late-comer in terms of getting my badges ready for prime-time (I was part of the “wine badgers” group from the conceptual phase).
What the hell are wine badges? Essentially, they are intended to be a visual way to help you identify a wine that I think has something “special” going on, beyond the quality ‘grade’ and mini-review that I might give to a wine when reviewing it. Here’s the overview from Vintank brainiac Paul Mabray:
“As with everything the digital arena is transforming everything we used to know about wine. I am fortunate to watch a group of talented bloggers bucking tradition and judge wine on new merits by creating a whole new movement for scoring wine. It seems like a small thing, create a category for a wine that you believe in and assign a badge to it, explain the criteria openly and transparently, and only give those wines that you appreciate fit that category a badge. Simple, elegant, but more importantly a TRUE representation of the quality you admire in the categories you create. A wine fits or it doesn’t. A wine earns an accolade or it doesn’t.”
It might help to think of the badges as a cross between a score and a medal, but with more awesome. The cool thing is that the badges are already in use by Mark deVere, Ward Kadel and Steve Paulo. The badges aren’t yet standardized, which I personally think might come back to bite us in the tushie somehow, but in terms of distribution these puppies are primed for success. HelloVino, Cruvee.com, and Yourwineyourway.com are already signed-on and using the badges, which thanks to their distro. system are automatically being included in content like winery Facebook pages. We often talk about on-line technology having the potential to change things in terms of the wine world – this is an example where the potential is starting to actually be realized.
Some great discussion on the badges available so far has popped up over at Vinotology and at DrinkNectar.com, and I left a comment in the DN thread that sums up my view and vision behind the badges, so I’m reprinting it here:
“If I give a wine an A- or a B+, does that tell you much aside from my view of its quality? Not really. If I categorize a wine as ‘Elegant’ or ‘Sexy’ does that tell you much? It does – it tells you which wine to try if you want to impress someone, or in the latter case if you want to get lucky on a hot date. So, by giving a badge to wines that meet some kind of minimum standard, I’m hopefully telling people a bit more about that wine without them having to read the entire post or review or whatever (unless they are curious and want to do that). I see no conflict between the badges and scores of any kind. I see them primarily as complimentary.”
The main criterion for a wine receiving a 1WD badge is that I give it a “grade” in the B or A range; after that, if I think that they meet the criteria for a particular badge then tat wine will be “awarded” one.
So at this point you’re probably thinking “enough already, what the f—k do these badges look like?!??”
Well, my friend, read on for the badges and their explanations…
| Crowd Pleaser A wine that will make everybody happy at your next party, whether they’re wine-geeks or not. Bring more than one bottle because it will probably go fast. Be prepared to be viewed as a rock star for bringing this wine to the shin-dig (maybe literally, if you’ll be playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band during the party…). |
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| Elegant A wine that tells you, based on one taste / sniff, and in no uncertain terms, that it has boku amounts of class. These are the wines to grab when you want to impress the boss, a date, your date’s parents, etc. If you’re a fan of balanced, more subtle but excellent wines, these are for you. |
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| Kick-Ass A wine that totally and utterly kicks all kinds of ass. I mean, really, do I need to explain this one? Typically these will be “bigger” wines than those in the elegant category, but the essential element is that they are full of intense awesomeness. |
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| Overachiever A wine that over-delivers quality and taste for its price-point. These are the wines that offer mad levels of QPR (quality/price ratio). When looking for a bargain, grab these wines as the market tendency for this kind of wine usually goes something like this: Wine gets reviewed –> wine gets attention because it’s great value for money –> wine gets popular –> wine’s price goes up –> bummer. |
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| Sexy Like Kick-Ass, this category hopefully doesn’t require a ton of exposition. A seductive, supple wine that beguiles the senses. Wanna get lucky on some sumthin’-sumthin’ with that special someone after some dinner? This is your wine. |
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The badges were designed in conjunction with Mofunsun Enterprises, LLC (a.k.a. design rock-star Jeffrey Sun), who did the artwork and brought my (very, very) basic design ideas into stunning and vivid reality (thanks, Jeff!!!). You’ll start to see the badges getting used on 1WineDude pretty much immediately.
Would love to know what you think!
Cheers!
(images: virginmedia.com, Mofunsun Enterprises LLC)
How could you leave out "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!!"? I'm looking forward to these rankings.
Ha! Well, Richard – a few others have gone there already so I thought best to leave it out :).
I have been skeptical of the use of the wine badges, and have yet to see anything to change that skepticism. It still seems to me to be the efforts of several individuals, rather than a united front, because of all the different badges, as well as the different opinions concerning these badges.
You did point out the potential issue of the lack of standardization of the badges, and I believe that is a major issue. How does it benefit a consumer to see six different badges on a wine? That only makes it all more confusing. Plus, it requires the consumer to check out all six of the badges, to ascertain what they mean, as well as to get an idea of the palate of the person who gave the wine the badge.
Plus, some users seem to see badges as a way to take down the 100 pt scale (i.e. "A new wine badge system attempts to knock down the dominance of the 100 point scale.") while others, like yourself see it as complimentary. So, the users currently are working at cross purposes, which further muddies the issue.
Until there is standardization and a common purpose, I don't forsee badges having any significant impact.
RichardA – totally agree, I think the badges need more unity. It's still very, very VERY early days on these.
One aspect that shouldn't be overlooked is that I think they've gotten the distribution right so far. That's a big, big step and means that it won't be a hurdle in working out the other kinks; i.e., it wouldn't be a case of all-dressed-up and nowhere to go – we have somewhere to go and great means for getting there, and we can get better dressed as we move along. Cheers!
But who is the target audience for the badges? And does that target audience need, and want, badges? From all I have heard from others, the badges are primarily an online tool, not for brick & mortar stores. So, you are dealing with a different consumer audience. Does the online consumer need another tool, such as badges? And if so, why?
And if it is only online, it also does not help those consumers in states that cannot get wine shipped to them, like me in MA.
Plus, if unity and standardization is the goal, why not start doing it now, rather than wait? The longer you wait, the harder it will be to give up the old badges. As well as even more confusing in the future. As there are only about four of you using the badges, it should have been easy enough to agree on a standard. But add more people using badges to the mix, and agreeing on a standard becomes much more complicated.
RichardA – good questions but as a consumer, I might still want to know what some on-line reviewers think about a wine before purchasing it locally even if it cannot be shipped to me.
I'm not sure unity/standardization is the goal – I'm just saying it would be nice to standardize on *some* aspects of the badges, not on the badges themselves. Personally, I think consumers are smart enough to del with badges being different, following the advice of different reviewers, etc. I mean, I am a consumer and the prospect doesn't bother me much – and it wouldn't even for topics in which I have no knowledge.
The goal is to offer a means of easy-pickin' type of reviews that are easily understood and easily accessed – and that cover some of the thousands (and thousands) of wines that do not get reviewed critically.
I think far more research and study is needed on "consumers" and what they desire in selecting wines. There are clearly different groups of consumers, and those who seek reviews online is likely only a small percentage of the overall wine consumer category. As a consumer, I rarely consult online retailer sites when deciding whether to buy a wine or not.
If unity/standardization is not the goal, then I see badges as a needlessly complicated system. It requires lots of work to understand the meaning of each specific badge, as well as understanding what the reviewer means by those badges. And I don't believe most wine consumers would take the effort to do so. Many consumers want the easy route. Whether we like it or not, points are an easy thing for people to understand, which is why it has lasted so long.
There are at least 24 badges already that people would need to learn and understand. And more badges could come. I don't see that as an easy to understand system for many consumers.
Well Richard – as you said yourself, not all consumers are the same and you might not dig the badges, but I might.
But… does Sexy really need much explanation? Sorry, but I trust people can figure that one out without any help or detailed explanation from me!
There are definitely some people who like the badges. I question though whether the average consumer will like or benefit from them.
What about the "I Can’t Believe It’s Not Brunello" or "Tropical Vacation Approved" badges? They certainly need an explanation.
And I even bet that if you ask ten people what "Sexy" means in a wine, you might get several different definitions. :)
"And I even bet that if you ask ten people what "Sexy" means in a wine, you might get several different definitions. :) " – sounds like good fodder for a blog post! :)
Richard, great comments. I think standardizing the look and feel of the badges is appropriate and we've had conversations with the leaders of this program to do just that. However, "Taste Tribes" do not have standard qualifications. In fact, humans do not taste wine the same and using the lowest common denominator (the 100 pt system) really does not represent the alignment that some people with other people with similar taste preferences (ala Taste Tribes). The individuality really exemplifies the difference and allows reviewers to create a meaningful system by which people that subscribe to their tribe can understand the wines. What makes this really incredible is that these badges are free for use to all etailers, social networks, mobile apps providing them a meaningful tool to help consumers find their "Taste Tribe" and have assistance in choosing their wines. This already exists in other industries (tech, video games, movies, books, music, et al). Find the critic you like, understand their method for choosing their favorites, buy.
Thanks. I do see the 100 pt system as relevant to Taste Tribes. Parker has his own Taste Tribe, as do the other major critics who use the 100pt system. People understand the preferences of those critics, and if their own preferences mesh with those critics, they will follow their reviews and scores. Some bloggers use the 100pt system and have their own Taste Tribes as well. Some critics and bloggers who don't use the 100pt have their own Taste Tribe. People who just like the preferences of those critics/bloggers follow their reviews. I don't see badges are doing anything unique.
Sure it is good that the badges are free, but I still don't see them as especially helpful or necessary. Especially without standardization.
Badges are just the electronic manifestation and representation of the "Taste Tribes" that can be digitally consumed easily by a myriad of audiences. It is the notion of representation and distribution that make this unique my friend.
I disagree that the current system of badges is "consumed easily." I see plenty of complexity.
I don't understand how this system is unique at all, or different from the use of points. Online retailers often use points in their advertising. How is it unique then to use badges instead?
What I mean by consumed easily is that it is served through RSS or through API's or flat directories to allow any 1/2 way e-savvy wine company a simple way to integrate the badges into their sites. It is not unique, it just is differently leveraged than what is often the "in-store badge" aka Paul's Favorites, Best Buy, etc for the digital arena.
I like it, a lot! Simple, unique, fun and approachable for consumers. Rock on.
Thanks, Courtney. We'll see how these start to play out in the coming weeks when I get back to talking about wines. I've just had too many diatribes to write lately it seems! :-)
You don't want to know what I think, Joe. But I'll tell you briefly.
In any professional sense, these are as embarrassingly useless as the wine bloggers who display them–underqualifed "experts" awarding pretty badges. It's wines as beauty pageants. Might as well use "Hustler's" porn rating stages of erections to assign value to wines.
But have fun, kids. Yup, you're really changing the wine biz.
It's still early days, Ron – but I do like the erect penis rating idea…
Ron, I don't think that the people rating are underqualified (Joe is a WSET graduate and Mark de Vere is an MW). It is the early days and time will tell if they are adopted but anything that helps consumer choice is a positive change for the wine industry.
I fail to see how badges do anything other than try to promote wine bloggers as arbiters of taste a position talent will earn them not stupid graphics. No matter what my buddy Bill Smart says, it's transparently aimed at marketing Wines for Dummies. I don't care what ratings system one uses, it's flawed by definition, by several definitions at once. Joe is plenty qualified to discuss the merits of wines he tastes, as is Mark de Vere, a guy with letters after his name. What about the rest of the bozos who will jump on the bandwagon? We judge our buying decisions, if we're smart, on the merits and skills of the taster, not on yet another silly rating system. Elegant? (by the way, Joe, Audrey Hepburn's Estate will likely sue your ass if this catches on). Kick Ass? Sexy? This is a rating system? Why not rate the Poodles who use the badges on the same scale? Oh, you don't have an "Underachiever" badge.
Abandoning the fictional 100 point scale for adolescent badges is like switching from betting on horses by using the Racing Form in favor of picking the horse with the prettiest silks. You'll probably lose either way.
Joe, you're better than this, my friend. I mean that. The wine business is a tough racket. You do yourself no favor associated with Badgers. Just my angry old man opinion.
Ron – my friend, I value the opinion no matter how angry or old you might consider it. We need your perspective (god knows!).
And I am pretty sure I could come up with an "Underachiever" version… and "Talentless" and "Self-Absorbed" and… I think I might have stumbled upon a future HMW topic! :)
There's something very Tarantino about these badges that I like.
Thanks, Clinton – but no one is getting shot in these so… ;-)
Joe – never mind Ron. He's just an angry old man. (love you buddy).
Hey, my POV – it's an awesome idea and exactly the right track. I believe as consumers begin to branch out (which they are) to get their wine information from sources such as you, this type of approachable, fun rating system will be an immediate hit. It would be awesome to have your review and badge on a flyer or shelftalker – wine is supposed to fun, right?
Thanks, Bill – and I am also in the Ron fan club so no worries!
So, Bill, consumers are branching out for wine information and you think this helps? Sell that to the judges at the Harvest Fair and I just might come over to your side. Given a choice between a 93 from WS or WE, or a Sexy Badge from 1WineDude, I'm wondering which would be on the front page of your marketing material. Because marketing material is supposed to fun, right? (love you too, buddy)
Ron vs. Bill! Ok, time to fire up the popcorn and grab a good seat! :-)
While it may be seem disingenuous than the points system, using any kind of rating shortcuts, however well-intentioned, only accomplishes the same purpose.
In addition to pandering to people looking for the easiest, most disengaged answers (which in turn insults those actually trying to learn something about they wine), it does a grave disservice to the wine and its producers, reducing what may be a nuanced wine of many different facets into a cute little logo.
No matter how much lipstick you smear on rating shorthand systems, they still show their curly little tails.
Tim, why does a review have to be serious? Why can it not reflect the ethos and charisma of the reviewer? And who says a specialized review insults wine producers? Moreover perhaps our old rating system alienates consumers. And its ok to pander to an easy answer to help people understand what they are buying. Consumer will use the internet to dig deeper. Shorthanded rating systems assist buyers with limited wine knowledge in an easy to understand, digestible format. A majority of the wine drinking population has limited wine knowledge or is looking for assistance in choosing wines (ala Oprah's Book pics for books or Rotten Tomatoes ratings for movies). We need to build a system that gives all wine consumers help in choosing their wines (it is unreasonable financially to expect them to buy wines they won't like just to try) and find their own "Taste Tribe."
I personally want to drink each kind of wine that you described. I couldn't pick a favorite "badge," so I guess I will have to drink them all, a lot. Put this into action!!
Thanks, Mary – I want to drink these too, actually… :)
HOLY KAW WineDude!
We posted our thoughts on the whole badgery the same day. I am not so convinced that this is the way forward for wine reviews, it seems to just add more noise to an already noisy situation. Follow this link for some more in depth thoughts and musings on the topic: http://bit.ly/cjQEDI .
Looking forward to the discussion.
Hey Chris – good discussion there.
I'm not convinced it's the ultimate wave of the future either, but the backline of distribution is definitely being done the right way, and I think the badges will be valuable – and entertaining – for 1WD readers, so what the hell, here we go! :)
Good on you Joe!
You don't know until you try, after all neither did Ford when they built the Edsel, or Les Paul when he invented the 8 track recorder.
All joking aside, I look forward to you chronicling your Badger journey
Frankly, I don't see the badges as any different from any other rating system – 100 point (50 pt), 20 point, or whatever. To have any real meaning, one has to be familiar with the reviewer and know how their tastes & prejudices compare with one's own. For the casual buyer/drinker who just craves validation for his or her purchase (which we all know is what it's really all about), the badges might be more accessible & fun than point scores………or maybe not. And while Mr. Washam makes a valid point, there are already plenty of unqualified people assigning point scores & writing ridiculous reviews (to be fair, in every media, not just blogs).
At any rate, have at it, & good luck to all of you who want to be the next Parker, Tanzer, or whatever it is that you actually want out of all this.
But, Joe, seriously, "Kick-Ass?" please tell me you didn't work too hard thinking up that one…
Mike – well, some ideas came more naturally than other…
Honestly, to come up with the badge ideas, I examined the words that I used in casual conversation when recommending wines to others. The ones that you see in those badges are the ones that I used more often than not – yes, including Kick-ass!
Mike – not to diminish the experience of the consumer but Barefoot Cellars used "Gold Medal" badge (even if they hadn't won it for years) on their wine for years and it was a successful catalyst to help catalyze purchasing behavior. This is an internet tool (that hopefully will move to the real world) that is much better suited to help make purchasing decisions from people that are passionate about reviewing wine. I think it is an authentic augmentation of the need for educating consumers and with its connection to the internet, better suited to allow it to be simplistic and abstracted.
If given a choice when entering a party – I would much rather high-five a buddy and say, I have a "Kick Ass" bottle of wine than announce I have a 90 something rated wine to drink. (however, the big hair, Enter The Dragon type guy might need some mods) ;-)
I might also add, numbers have very little personality.
Joe, your badges represent how you express yourself and "talk" – well done.
Thanks, DC – these things are kind of generational, too. When my daughter is buying wine someday far from now, she is probably NOT gonna relate to "Kick-Ass" :). Cheers!
Just to add to the discussion generally, I hope I am not making this effort out to seem more than it is – I emphatically do NOT see this as a replacement of wine score-style reviews. I see this as another means to add some value and FUN when it comes to recommending wines. The fact that the on-line distribution system is growing like mad and has electronic wine review media / apps. / etc. lined up to use the badges is probably the part that is any sort of real "challenge" to the current reigning system of point scores, but it's way to early in the game to call this a sea change of any sort.
Also… if you folks *this* stuff is controversial, just wait until you see wait until you read the next three articles scheduled in the queue on 1WD… we might start an international incident or two before this time next week! :-)
The "Kick Ass" badge for some reason makes me think of Leon Phelps — Tim Meadows "Ladies Man" character from Saturday Night Live. So I'd definitely drink a wine with that badge on it. And I think we can all agree that Leon Phelps would say that he possesses "intense awesomeness." ; )
Thanks, Kimberly – fond memories of that SNL era!
Joe, I don't know a damn thing about wine, but I like that I can use your badge system to help me almost pair a wine with my life event. You're helping EVERYONE enjoy wine
Thanks, man – I forgot to create a badge for "Total Drunkenness" (wines to be guzzled when you're laid off)! :)
“Tim, why does a review have to be serious? ”
Because otherwise it’s just masturbating to an audience. I can watch a monkey in a zoo do that, with the benefit of popcorn and the amusing sight of flung poo.
As I get older and grumpier, I get less enamoured of being pandered to, marketed at, or dumbed-down upon. Charisma of the reviewer? I’m not going to seduce him, I’m trying to find out what the damn wine tasted like.
As long as people treat wine like a uniform commodity, with easy shorthand and a ‘for dummies’ approach, producers won’t reach people who can truly enjoy their product in its context. Whether that’s bad or not is up to your definition, but most of those ‘stinking badges’ pander on the worst level, to my way of thinking.
BTW Joe, no reflection on you: great thread, lots of good discussion and commentary.
Tim, really? With over 250K wines produced and only about 30K that have professional reviews, ANY accolade (cute, fun or not) helps consumers buy a product that they have no idea how it tastes. Badges are only another education vehicle produced by people that are passionate about wine to help consumers make an educated decision. He is not seducing you with his charm, he is using his charisma and style to describe the wines in a way that relates to a certain audience. If you don't respond to that style, amen. But others will and want confidence to buy wines that they have never tasted. Badges hep provide this assistance.
Are you saying 250K wines deserve accolades? I can think of a few thousand this year that deserve distillation.
This badge meme is fun, and great to starting a conversation, but really do we need more labels on bottles, virtual or otherwise, to confuse the consumer? If this were to work each blog would get at the most 1 badge. You recommend it or you don't, then at least you can see someone gives it a thumbs up. Yet even that would be doomed to fail, if we took the 1000+ blogs we're tracking at wineblogger.info and had each one with a badge the system becomes humorous.
Most bloggers traffic is from search and when someone finds the rating or story with a badge, they either need to guess at what it means, or spend more time on the site looking for the explanation.
Someone needs to register: winebadge.org or similar and give us a standard, that could maybe affect that sale of wine. If there was one set of badges with one explanation and bloggers were given a chance to callibrate to that system you might actually change something.
Having a more standardized, consolidated blogger badge effort is an intriguing idea. But if I keep hearing that consumers are a confused bunch of lab rats, I'm gonna puke! (Ryan this is not directed at you individually, it comes up here and on comments on other blogs, forums, etc., etc., etc.).
Consumers have varying levels of "giving-a-shit" when it comes to buying anything . And I know this because I am one of them :-). You know what's confusing? German wine labels.
You know what's confusing? BURGUNDY is confusing – the whole f-cking region and how it makes wine is confusing. Trying to buy a bottle there without throwing down $65 on something that tastes like cabbage water is basically a gamble unless you know a sh*tload about Burgundy, and I don't so I never buy it unless I am with friends who know the region intimately because I've been burned waaaay too many times.
Would I welcome the opportunity to see badge on a bottle of Burgundy that was recommended by someone who I know and trust in terms of their knowledge and palate? Hell yes, I would.
We need to stop treating consumers – like ourselves! – like poo-flinging lobotomized monkeys and have some faith that they can shop for wine with varying degrees of developing interest.
Amen.
NO worries, Tim – I love the discussion!
I will add this: it's ALWAYS my hope that anyone who sees a badge ultimately checks out a more thorough review of the wine on my blog.
“Badges hep provide this assistance.”
Worthless and glib though it may be.
“You know what’s confusing? German wine labels.
You know what’s confusing? BURGUNDY is confusing”
So hard things are either not worth doing, or the province of ‘experts’, either real or self-appointed?
You know what the badges will be really good for? The same thing the 100 point system is good for: allowing charlatans to fleece idiots out of their cash. That’s the real evil behind setting up an internally self-consistent rating system that depends on soi-disant cognoscenti interpreting wine quality for the less educated.
Sure, sure, Ryan wouldn’t use it for that, nor would you, Joe. But as sure as 90% of everything I read on wine blogs is utter nonsense or self-serving blather, there are those who would immediately slather these labels on crap they’re getting kickbacks for, or are acting as astroturf cheerleaders for a brand. And by endorsing the system, bloggers with good reps will be involuntarily colluding with them.
pmabray, you want a reviewer to use charisma and style to describe the wines in a way that relates to a certain audience? Then why on earth would that require a crypto-points rating scheme in the guise of a badge system? Isn’t their reputation, charisma and charm enough?
Hi Tim – I didn't said hard things were worthless because they're hard. Not intentionally, anyway – I'd never say that.
But let's take a quick example: I don't know how to fix the transmission in my car, and what's more I chose not to know and will happily accept the counsel of others when it comes to when and how I should have the transmission serviced if it goes on the fritz. I don't like working on my car. I never will like it. None of the car blogs in the world could get me to change my mind. I get sick just thinking of the tire smell in Pep Boys. Forget, it just ain't happening.
I can use countless similar examples for areas outside of my expertise. Bottom line is that not everybody *wants* to know this stuff and they shouldn't be derided for choosing not to know it. There's a big difference between seeking advice from knowledgeable folks that you trust, and glibly dismissing something simply because you don't understand – and I'll bet on 1WineDude.com readers doing the former rather than the latter any day of the week.
Good point about the badges losing cred. if used by wannabes – I couldn't agree more. But so far, I don't count those who are on board with this initiative (and they were recruited) among the ranks of the wannabes.
Hi – I hadn't seen these so thanks for putting it on my radar. This is the second time in a week that I've seen a site talk about a new way of rating wine so obviously there is a big disconnect between the traditional scores and wine writers and the blogging world.
I'm sure you'll hiss hiss at my last comment (or piss piss as the case may be) but it does offend me that sexy show the woman's thigh when I think a glass put to an anonymous set of wet lips might have done the job just as well.
I enjoy your writing!
Julie@womenwine.com
Thanks, Julie!
“Bottom line is that not everybody *wants* to know this stuff and they shouldn’t be derided for choosing not to know it.”
You’ll get no argument from me, and I don’t think I cast aspersions in my posts towards anyone choosing not to take the hard road. I too outsource things that I just don’t care to delve into. I _do_ know how to work on cars (and motorcycles) but I now choose not to–skinned knuckles and a cramped lower back are not my style.
“There’s a big difference between seeking advice from knowledgeable folks that you trust, and glibly dismissing something simply because you don’t understand”
Therein lies the rub: the ideal use of rating schemes depends on finding people you trust, and that is most emphatically not how they work in the real world. Wine stores list Parkerpoints or similar to move product. Fair use would allow them to use your stickers the same way, and we all know how that works out on the floor in wine stores: random numbers on shelf talkers for whatever product needs moving today, with no connection to a real system that talks intelligently about wine.
Everything that is wrong with points systems is wrong with cute stickers.
Tim – you're right, of course; the badges can get abused. And probably will. Nothing we can do can prevent that, aside from working the distro. channel as best we can (Paul M. and Vintank have the know-how on that part and have commented already) to minimize the chance of it. But no way can we eliminate it.