Badges

On Inkblot, users are able to earn or otherwise obtain various Badges for their contributions to the site. These badges may be earned for free or bought with Coins. The badge system was first introduced with version 1.5.0 of the site released on December 15, 2020. Users who have one or more badges may display them on the Badge Showcase section on their profile.

Categories
Badges fall into several categories.
 * Special badges are extremely rare and are almost always made or created for a special event.
 * Unique badges are ultra-rare and are created by one of two scenarios. Most unique badges are created for one person or a small group of people, but some Unique badges are released to the public and only available for a very limited time (1-3 days, at most).
 * Staff badges, as the name implies, can only be used and showcased by staff members. Non-staff members cannot obtain them, and they can only be shared between staff members. This badge is mainly used for moderators, administrators, and other comparable kinds of rewards.
 * Hidden badges cannot be viewed in the badge listing but can be toggled on/off in the user's showcase.
 * Retired badges still exist but cannot be earned by anyone or transferred between users.
 * Active badges can still be obtained by users.

Badges themselves are subdivided into six tiers, regardless of their availability.
 * Bronze: Badges that are quick and easy to get.
 * Silver: Badges that are easy to get but more rewarding.
 * Gold: Badges that are moderately hard to get but very rewarding.
 * Platinum: Badges that are hard to get but extremely rewarding.
 * Diamond: Badges that are extremely hard to get but award a lot of Coins for each.
 * Transcendant: Badges that are unique or otherwise nearly impossible to get. Awards the most Coins by far.

Trivia

 * Until they were disabled, account merges transferred every badge between the merging and target accounts. This allowed people to hack and share badges that they didn't have access to. The problem went away when the account merge tool was disabled.
 * Badges are not removed when an account is closed by the user or banned by staff. The only way to remove a badge is through a direct request to an administrator.
 * If you earn a badge (and are not gifted it), the account that gives the badge to you has no name. It's actually called "system" in the backend database but appears as an empty string ("") in the message screen.