Why mod creators always skip trophies?

mauzao9

mauzao9

Well-known member
Hello there.

I wonder something, the Trophies are nice and i get confuse when many addons that could make great use to let us award trophies based on X usage of their addon.... It's something that every mod owner skips.

I ask why? Is it not possible to implement with the trophy system?
It looks possible, Steam Integration is one that integrated so we can award trophy to a user that associated with Steam, that same integration let us also have more options to display notices and set user group promotions.

Max
 
Last edited:
Its possible, it just requires building out user criteria (used elsewhere past suggestions).
 
Yup @Saimmi but certain is that it isn't something not important. More criteria based in mods can not only add more to trophies, but also to notices and user group promotions. What can make such mods more integrated into Xenforo! :)
 
mauzao9 said:
Hello there.

I wonder something, the Trophies are nice and i get confuse when many addons that could make great use to let us award trophies based on X usage of their addon.... It's something that every mod owner skips.

I ask why? Is it not possible to implement with the trophy system?
It looks possible, Steam Integration is one that integrated so we can award trophy to a user that associated with Steam, that same integration let us also have more options to display notices and set user group promotions.

Max
Click to expand...
I have played with trophies for a little, and they are not as straightforward as I would like them to be.
There was one bug, long time fixed - http://xenforo.com/community/threads/trophy-cron-job-awards-trophy-for-all-unknown-rules.7876/ that prevented people from adding their own trophies "easily"

Now it comes to the point that adding more criteria is not the easiest job, on top of that, the trophies system is a good idea, with a lacking implementation. There is ..
  • No good way of seeing the trophies a user has, it is obscured inside the member card, where you have to click on the number to view the trophies.. no display on the profile page, no display on the userinfo on the post, or ability to add them to my signature
  • There is no way of "showcasing" the trophies that I have, choosing the 3 that I have for bragging rights? Nope
  • The "available trophies" are hidden in a help page, here - http://xenforo.com/community/help/trophies, which few members will be able to find even with the "View all trophies" link
  • Little customization means I cannot assign an image to the trophy, which leads the trophies to just being "a number"
So, even if the trophies are a killer idea, the implementation is a little lacking. It is ripe for disruption by a mod, with a proper trophy section, and a way of seeing which trophies I have and which ones I can earn so I can play "Gotta have them all". Then mods can start experimenting with custom user criteria and custom way of awarding the trophies.
 
You actually can assign images and various other bits of styling to the list of trophies quite easily.

There's plenty of selectors to target. You can, for example, target:

Code: 
#trophy-12 .points
{
     text-align: -1000px;
     background-image: url(path/to/your/image/trophy-12.png);
}
 
Chris Deeming said:
If you see any add-ons that you think would benefit from trophy (and other) criteria, then just point them in the direction of the above guide :)
Click to expand...
Some of your add-ons that can make great use of criteria for trophies, notices and even usergroup promotions is:
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/friend-inviter.984/ (use with trophies can motivate users to invite their friends and win trophies / points!)
It is just one example.
And target trophies that way seems awesome, the mad issue is that the way to display them is very limited sadly, that's why i must use the medals add-on.

@Rigel Kentaurus you are right on that, in our community i found ways to keep them alive, adding a XP > Leveling system based in points and usergroup promotions to let users be rewarded with time for being active, and it works, people are more active, it is hard to do... For some mad reason trophy titles doesn't support banners.
Indeed what you say is some mix of Medals add-on with the trophies system with new features to display what we won, only a brave modder would be capable of do such thing since the Xenforo DEVs doesn't love them anymore! :(
 
mauzao9 said:
It's something that every mod owner skips.
Click to expand...

Not true. 3 of my 4 large Addons have User Criteria integrated with them which are used to create trophies, notices and promotions.

It is beyond easy for any developer to add user criteria to their addons. Chris Deeming took time out of his life to write up a howto that even a non developer could easily follow and figure it out: http://xenforo.com/community/resour...hies-upgrades-and-notices-notifications.1306/

Pickem has 9 Criteria
Pickem - User has joined at least X pools:
Pickem - User has made at least X correct picks:
Pickem - User has made at least X incorrect picks:
Pickem - User has placed 1st in at least X pools:
Pickem - User has placed 2nd in at least X pools:
Pickem - User has placed 3rd in at least X pools:
Pickem - User has placed 1st in at least X weeks:
Pickem - User has placed 2nd in at least X weeks:
Pickem - User has placed 3rd in at least X weeks:

Showcase has 7 Criteria
Showcase - User has created at least X items:
Showcase - User has uploaded at least X attachments:
Showcase - User has posted at least X comments:
Showcase - User has rated at least X items:
Showcase - User has reviewed at least X items:
Showcase - User has received at least X likes (single item):
Showcase - User has received at least X likes (combined items):

Sportsbook has 7 Criteria
Sportsbook - User has created at least X events:
Sportsbook - User has placed at least X wagers:
Sportsbook - User has won at least X wagers:
Sportsbook - User has lost at least X wagers:
Sportsbook - User has wagered at least X amount:
Sportsbook - User has won at least X amount:
Sportsbook - User has lost at least X amount:

The next version of Stock Trader has 8 Criteria
 
Rigel Kentaurus said:
  • No good way of seeing the trophies a user has, it is obscured inside the member card, where you have to click on the number to view the trophies.. no display on the profile page, no display on the userinfo on the post, or ability to add them to my signature
  • There is no way of "showcasing" the trophies that I have, choosing the 3 that I have for bragging rights? Nope
  • The "available trophies" are hidden in a help page, here - http://xenforo.com/community/help/trophies, which few members will be able to find even with the "View all trophies" link
  • Little customization means I cannot assign an image to the trophy, which leads the trophies to just being "a number"
So, even if the trophies are a killer idea, the implementation is a little lacking. It is ripe for disruption by a mod, with a proper trophy section, and a way of seeing which trophies I have and which ones I can earn so I can play "Gotta have them all". Then mods can start experimenting with custom user criteria and custom way of awarding the trophies.
Click to expand...
I have an add-on which is a super basic one, that does exactly what you are mentioning. Puts the trophy images under the user's avatar. If someone's interested I can release it, just need to update it so it can be used with 1.2, which will be even simpler with the template mod system.


trophy_postbit.webp
 
Rigel Kentaurus said:
I have played with trophies for a little, and they are not as straightforward as I would like them to be.
There was one bug, long time fixed - http://xenforo.com/community/threads/trophy-cron-job-awards-trophy-for-all-unknown-rules.7876/ that prevented people from adding their own trophies "easily"

Now it comes to the point that adding more criteria is not the easiest job, on top of that, the trophies system is a good idea, with a lacking implementation. There is ..
  • No good way of seeing the trophies a user has, it is obscured inside the member card, where you have to click on the number to view the trophies.. no display on the profile page, no display on the userinfo on the post, or ability to add them to my signature
  • There is no way of "showcasing" the trophies that I have, choosing the 3 that I have for bragging rights? Nope
  • The "available trophies" are hidden in a help page, here - http://xenforo.com/community/help/trophies, which few members will be able to find even with the "View all trophies" link
  • Little customization means I cannot assign an image to the trophy, which leads the trophies to just being "a number"
So, even if the trophies are a killer idea, the implementation is a little lacking. It is ripe for disruption by a mod, with a proper trophy section, and a way of seeing which trophies I have and which ones I can earn so I can play "Gotta have them all". Then mods can start experimenting with custom user criteria and custom way of awarding the trophies.
Click to expand...

I'd really like to see this developed in a way that it's easier for the 3rd party developers. And I also think that the trophies here need extended and it wouldn't be a bad thing getting some inspiration from how steam do their achievements. I am still one of those that think the trophies are such a great potential yet xenforo has not made good use of that potential. Hopefully we'll see something done with them in 1.3 since i think it's a wasted opportunity if it's left as is.
 
Shelley said:
Hopefully we'll see something done with them in 1.3 since i think it's a wasted opportunity if it's left as is.
Click to expand...
I agree, wasted opportunity, wasted potential. Trophy system and the titles could do much more, when i saw Mike announcing the banners that could most likely also be added to titles, such thing did not happen, that could be awesome to people display their titles with a single class for every title instead the plain text. Another that could use some love is the Following system.

Well let's hope the devs give some love to that area in next updates. :)
 
The things I hear from my members ,mostly are;

-what are these trophies for?
-where are they again? (the help section?)
-what do they do? (out of the box - virtually nothing)
-oh okay cool *shrugs*
 
D.O.A. said:
The things I hear from my members ,mostly are;

-what are these trophies for?
-where are they again? (the help section?)
-what do they do? (out of the box - virtually nothing)
-oh okay cool *shrugs*
Click to expand...
That's the problem of the lack of any update to improve or expand them in the first place, but they have usage now, specially for the user titles.
 
XenForo trophies are a good idea but need much more expansion to a full blown Gamification system. It needs to be clear for members what trophies they can hunt for, how to get those, remind members that they are close, advertise the trophies they have, show what trophies members need to collect to reach the next usergroup promotion, etc.
Such Gamification would make XF even more addictive and rewarding.
 
Alfa1 said:
XenForo trophies are a good idea but need much more expansion to a full blown Gamification system. It needs to be clear for members what trophies they can hunt for, how to get those, remind members that they are close, advertise the trophies they have, show what trophies members need to collect to reach the next usergroup promotion, etc.
Such Gamification would make XF even more addictive and rewarding.
Click to expand...
I'm doing that with my 1.2 installation, it is hard since we must manually edit stuff, but it works with Trophies > Points > User Group Promotions > User "Level up" and can make use of some new features. It works ok but it could have been much better if the system was more expanded.
 
Alfa1 said:
XenForo trophies are a good idea but need much more expansion to a full blown Gamification system. It needs to be clear for members what trophies they can hunt for, how to get those, remind members that they are close, advertise the trophies they have, show what trophies members need to collect to reach the next usergroup promotion, etc.
Such Gamification would make XF even more addictive and rewarding.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. Trophies could be such an integral part of xenforo if done right and developed in a way you mentioned. I know from my gaming experience on steam I'm a severe gaming achievement whore. Heck, Even have achievements which a limited, say there are special achievements that only a select few can get. Example Competition winner achievements where people only get if they win competitions, basically specialized trophies.

The restriction would only be on the developers imagination. It's an area that needs improving, an area that should be improved and extended which would increase the addictive factor 10 fold. Members need something to aim for and this would be a great area to improve to increase members (everyone's interest) immensely.

Steam - There's your inspiration.
 
What would be kinda cool would be when you achieve that trophy a small image (think avatar small) fades in above your name (like an alert) by the usercp and if you happened to be at the bottom of the page it fades in and out like stacked alerts. hmmmm extended trophy system, me want. :D
 
Alfa1 said:
XenForo trophies are a good idea but need much more expansion to a full blown Gamification system. It needs to be clear for members what trophies they can hunt for, how to get those, remind members that they are close, advertise the trophies they have, show what trophies members need to collect to reach the next usergroup promotion, etc.
Such Gamification would make XF even more addictive and rewarding.
Click to expand...
More expansion, like what's stated above, would be fantastic. Very, very possible too.
mauzao9 said:
I'm doing that with my 1.2 installation, it is hard since we must manually edit stuff, but it works with Trophies > Points > User Group Promotions > User "Level up" and can make use of some new features. It works ok but it could have been much better if the system was more expanded.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly.
Shelley said:
Absolutely agree. Trophies could be such an integral part of xenforo if done right and developed in a way you mentioned. I know from my gaming experience on steam I'm a severe gaming achievement whore. Heck, Even have achievements which a limited, say there are special achievements that only a select few can get. Example Competition winner achievements where people only get if they win competitions, basically specialized trophies.

The restriction would only be on the developers imagination. It's an area that needs improving, an area that should be improved and extended which would increase the addictive factor 10 fold. Members need something to aim for and this would be a great area to improve to increase members (everyone's interest) immensely.

Steam - There's your inspiration.
Click to expand...
Gamification just... Works. I think so anyway. The trophy system as it currently is, I don't know if it's better as the stepping stone it currently is (definitely workable, but infinitely expandable) or whether such improvements should be made in the core.
Shelley said:
What would be kinda cool would be when you achieve that trophy a small image (think avatar small) fades in above your name (like an alert) by the usercp and if you happened to be at the bottom of the page it fades in and out like stacked alerts. hmmmm extended trophy system, me want. :D
Click to expand...
With regards to this (I'm no guru in this regard, and you are [:p], so I'm not sure) couldn't the notification ("1 new alert", etc) be extended / styled to display in such a way?
 
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