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Badge Drop #12: The Final Badge-Down!

by mariah

OH. MY. GOSH. Can you, will you, DO you BELIEVE IT?!



The summer has ZOOMED by, week-by-week, badge drop-by-badge drop. We know someone else used the slogan "good to the last drop," but we REALLY MEAN IT. So, THIS (badge) drop is OVERFLOWING with 21 MARVELOUS BADGES!



Most of them declare you the MASTER of something. Want a title to flaunt to all your friends? You could be a WILD KINGDOM MASTER! Or, you could be a BUNNY HOP MASTER — slightly less imposing-sounding, but MUCH more cuddly! What will YOU MASTER? Cryptography? Botany? Exploring? You STILL HAVE TIME to finish up the last badge or two in a series and SCORE that title (and badge!).



Let's get to it:

2014 Badge Drop #12
echo theme_summergame_badge(902,903,904,905,906,907,908,909,910,911,912,913,914,915,916,917,918,919,920,921,922);
?>





So...there's only a teeny, tiny little bit of sand left in the METAPHORICAL HOURGLASS of the SUMMER GAME! So, waste no time, dear players! GET TO IT! Enter in your reading/listening/watching, add in those reviews you've been dreaming up, visit branches and other spots around town, and COME SAY HI at our SG Wrap Party this weekend!



There are just about 55 HOURS left until the Summer Game's STUNNING CONCLUSION! You have until 11:59 SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 to earn THOSE FINAL SUPER-SPECIAL BADGES! We KNOW you can squeak in a few more. WE BELIEVE IN YOU!



We're already getting a little misty-eyed over here, thinking how we'll miss SG14, but... don't worry, we're also SCHEMING FOR SG15. So, don't spend TOO much time getting nostalgic — hop to it! Let's wrap up Summer Game 2014 in STYLE!



As always, this year and every year...



THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Comments

Submitted by willow on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 5:33pm

We have had a terrific time with the game and will try to bring some of this puzzle hunting fun to our everyday lives from now on! :)

Submitted by KathyD on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 6:22pm

Ugh. Don't you hate it when you write down a gamecode incorrectly when you're out and about?

Submitted by kathscot on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 7:03pm

LOVED the game this year - probably spent too much time on it, but also learned more about Ann Arbor places and library resources.
Thanks for the immense amount of time and effort you staff put into it.

Submitted by Morgsush on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 8:33pm

Even though I didn't play that much this year, I can tell that it's getting better and better every year. Great job with Summer Game 2014!

Submitted by jennifer-ricks on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 10:39pm

Hate to see it end but looking forward to next year. Thanks AADL!

Submitted by KathyD on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 7:06am

Still learned new things about our library through the summer game this year after being an avid player since year 1.

Submitted by asiangirl on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 7:26am

Anyone else having trouble getting awarded the "master" badges. It says I have 6/6 badges, but no award? Thanks!

Submitted by sara on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 8:41am

Finishing the Pokemon Bonus Badge seems hopeless- I can see what codes I have, but can't sift through all my summer game activity to find the clues for the codes I'm missing. And, as the bonuses usually refer to the original badge clues, you can't simply answer then without the original badge clues. Has anyone figured out how to do this?

Sara -- go back and open up each of the Polkemania badges from the <a href=http://play.aadl.org/badgelist>Badges page</a>, and that should do it. The clues for the next code AND the bonus are listed there. When you got the code, it usually says something like, "You found The Library Polka! Josie's Chickens sure were great on the acordian, weren't they?" so you can reconstruct the item where the code had been found, if you need it for figuring out the bonus.

Submitted by asiangirl on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 9:25am

Help! I have one Pokemon bonus clue left: BONUS #13: There's a pokemon who shares 5 letters with our friend Nipper. You won't find this Pokémon in the catalog, but you will find the animal it gets its first 3 letters from hanging out with a giraffe.

Using my friend Google, it suggests something that starts with S----R. But its a characteristic of Pokemons, not an actual Pokemon. Plus the "hanging out with the giraffe" thing. Am I overthinking it??
Thanks!!

@asiangirl I was stuck on the same one. I think you are over thinking it (I know I was!) I finally just looked up giraffe in the library and tried to find one that was hanging out with a name that was like Nipper. Good luck!

Submitted by ginarae3 on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 10:38am

I am interested in making a badge. I know someone posted how to do it step by step, but now I can't find that post. Help!

Submitted by Naverick22 on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 11:43am

I swear Eli you're tempting me to spend my 200,000 points on that super item. For that mystery item mainly. Unless that mystery item is a code for shovel knight on the 3ds, I'm probably not going to buy it.

BTW Shovel Knight is a really, really, good game.

Submitted by estermyer on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 1:00pm

Im excited that i have almost all of these! I just don't have the cryptid crptography one, the players picks one, the badge design one, the polka bonus one, and the wrap party one!

Submitted by Naverick22 on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 3:26pm

I have the polkamania master badge, so if you need any help with bonus codes I'm willing to give hints.

Any advice on how to approach the Nakarjakov BONUS clue? I found the CD, know the song (Bzzzzz...) and assume that the fact that the word "Bay" is capitalized means something....But I'm not getting the "transform it to keep evil at Bay" part. Mix up the letters in the song title? Eh? Throw me a bone!

Submitted by amym on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 3:58pm

My college-age daughter was a big help with the Pokemon bonus points. Until this summer, I knew absolutely nothing about them.

My favorite badge of all of them was the Kraken cryptid. I could work on those puzzles all day.

Submitted by wendylv on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 6:21pm

What will I do with all the free time I'll have when I'm not searching the catalog for game codes!?! This summer game has been awesome! The Lydia badges were so clever and the Polkemania badges made me crazy. I knew nothing about Pokemon (and didn't have much desire to learn!) but I got all those badges. I just have a few badges left and am determined to get them all!

Submitted by Kaydence paige on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 7:53pm

HELP PLEASE :(

Stuck on the plants vs zombies badge #4 I searched C****** and got 5 results none had a code.

Submitted by AprilCDB on Sat, 08/30/2014 - 11:34pm

Ay crumba! I love this game, but I'm glad it's ending. I couldn't do it all year... or much longer. I obsess over it to much. The AA area is going to end up with a new disorder classification... AADLSGOCD.

@AprilCDB AADLSGOCD is perfect. Though I just have tagging & rating compulsion as well. Compulsive Cataloging - I spent many years working in bookstores (and a library or two) - so my own bookcases are ridiculously over-organized.

Submitted by sara on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 10:11am

Help! I'm stuck on Pokemon Bonus #15: king of pop in a polka. I found the YouTube video referred to in the badge, I found know who the king of pap is and the song being mocked... can't find it in the catalog.

@sara well lets hope you didn't mix up the king of pop with the king of rock. Anyways, if you know his name, search in the catalog his full name and polka.

Just to make sure you got the right guy, he the one who made "smooth criminal."

I still can't figure out Star Wars #3 - 3 letter first name of a hero. Hint is 'Sneaky hiding from the galactic empire in a book about an earthly empire'. Have tried everything possible that I can. Any suggestions? It's the last code I need for the badges I'm working on...

Off to the wrap party now!

@ssmyth - If you're still looking for Star Wars #3, the hero's initials are H.S. and the code is the tenth search result when you don't narrow the search at all (it's a book in English).

Submitted by Kaydence paige on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 10:38am

Today is the last day and I still need help with the plants vs zombies #4. :/ anyone out of the 400+ players that have it that can offer some help?

Kaydence -- I remember finding the Plants v Zombies badge very tricky, and, while I got that code, I can't remember what I did to get it or where I found it (I did it mid-July), so I can't figure out how to help you. I asked my kids, and they don't remember either. If I figure out where I got it from, so I can give you a hint, I will. (I just wanted you to know I did try to help you.)

Sara -- just search for that person + polka.

@ Kaydence -There may be something wrong with the catalog as I can't 're-find' it either. my 'answer' says 'You planted a C****** and took a bite out of zombie crime! ' - but when I search C****** I only get 5 results and none of them are the one with the code!

Eli or someone - can you help?

@Kaydence, @ssmyth - Sorry about that, guys. The catalog has been re-indexed and the correct item should be showing up now! Thanks for letting us know!

Submitted by takako on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 11:26am

I am trying to send the badge design. I cant find the email address. Please send me the address, Thanks!

Submitted by yaldah on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 12:20pm

I'm so proud of myself - I earned TEN Master Badges! I can't believe that I actually got all the Polkemania codes and BONUS codes - I know absolutely nothing about pokemon or about polka, but somehow, I did it. Don't ask me how. Anyway, congratulations to everyone who earned master badges! :D

Submitted by sarai koster-m… on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 1:26pm

This was my favorite year yet, but..... I'm already putting together my "game" plan for next year!

Submitted by Kaydence paige on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 1:58pm

Ok, so either I am the blindest person ever or there isn't a code? :/

Submitted by jmock on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 3:23pm

Hey, I was at Malletts Creek August 31 at around 2 o'clock and lost a tamagotchi. It is light blue and missing its back cover. If any of you have found it, can you please reply to this message? It is an old toy I've had since I was young and I've grown quite attached to it :(

Submitted by AprilCDB on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 3:40pm

Made it to wrap party with my 2 year old, but made a quick exit as he started acting up since way past nap time. Wish I would have known about the game that would be there as I would have taken my iPad to help with solving the puzzle. Luckily some other players let me join them to work as a team.

Picked up my collapsible containers, they are pretty nifty. I ordered two and wish I had gotten three and now they're sold out. Bummer. They'll make great lunch boxes for family day trips, but there's three of us and I only got two.

Submitted by Fevvers - STAR473 on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 6:28pm

I kept forgetting to print out my reading game form and bring it in...so I was the crazy person who went to the Mallett's Creek desk 10 minutes before closing to brandish it and get a stamp and a coupon.

Thank you all so much, AADL Summer Game crew!

Submitted by tshaw on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 6:48pm

Thank you AADL for all of your hard work this summer (and the rest of the year). You made these summer games so fun. The kids had a blast! Making ice cream, pop bottle straw rockets, searching for terrariums downtown, visiting all five branches of AADL, and so much more (including hours and hours of reading). The end of the summer games party was fun. I was surprised that there weren't more people there. Parking and searching for the codes weren't as crazy as I thought it would be. Thank you again! Also, many thanks to the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library.

Submitted by mtrax on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 7:25pm

Thank you for all your hard work, Summer Game staff. We had a fantastic time playing. This was, by far, the best part of the summer.

Submitted by willow on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 8:22pm

Kaydence -- glad you finally got it.

I enjoyed the end-of-game puzzle but am terribly sad that everyone ran off with their paper to find the codes in parallel. I had a brief but pleasant chat with "amb" :) and her charming companions, but otherwise I didn't really connect with any of the game players -- no one had time! In my ideal summer game party, there would have been more personal connections. I was the only one wearing a "name tag" so I finally took mine off. So at the end, I just felt sad and that it really was over, but without any ending. Anyway, hope the rest of the year goes well for all the summer gamers. I don't think I can keep up this level of intense participation next year, but....you never know. Maybe a few months of rest will be invigorating.

@willow I 100% agree. I wish it would have been a more "mingle" party than another game. I really wasn't in the mood for working on another game. I wanted to connect with some players with their screen names but everyone was to busy with the game. I would have liked name tags something like the following:

My Name is: Cherie
My screen name is: AprilCDB
My ranking at last check (optional) is: 15th

By the time I got the game done, my son was working towards a meltdown and I needed to get the items I had there for pickup and leave. Had a family not welcomed me and my son into their group to work on the game, I would not have been able to do it as I was there by myself with my son and I just couldn't focus solely on getting answers. The family was kind enough to run around the branch while I stayed at the table and worked on getting info on the internet. I can't thank then enough for helping me.

@ willow and AprilCDB

I agree with you about the wrap party- not at all what I expected. The friend I went with did not want to do any more badges, so we left. All the cookies were gone although we were there by 2:30 and it looked like nothing else was going to happen. Kind of sad.

@bookbird, I found the app by using my iPad in the app store and searched for donuts I think... but, the code is a very well known line in A2 and is a summer game sponsor, if you went looking for game codes at the shops you went to one of their several establishments in A2. Search for them in the catalog and it should be the 2nd item... one of their own books on CD

@beeniepie, I'd be up for that, but it would have to be in Sept as I am completely booked up for October. Maybe there could be a kick off party too before the game starts.. get your first code and meet a few people.

Maybe between now and next summer we should all walk around town with name tags when we go out that say "Hi, I'm (user name) and I am recovering from AADLSGOCD". SGers will know what they are and we'll meet each other around town, but no one else will know why there's all these people walking around with these name tags all the time.

@Benniepie, it was nice to meet you today. I got to Malletts Creek a little on the late side, so there weren't many people still around and doing summer game stuff. I feel bad for anyone who had just come to use the library, I understand it was a little crazy there for awhile.
I didn't think to ask Eli today, does anyone know if the are plans for an off season game this year? I kind of don't know if I'm hoping for one or not.
Okay, back to reality.
Thanks again!

I would be up for another wrap party and/or an unofficial SG google group. Why not just keep an off-season SG blog open at aadl? I never knew about the off season games- only learned of them in the summer when earning badges. It would be nice to get an email through our library account saying there is an off-season activity posted...at least something sent to the people signed up to play the game. The Summer Game is wonderful and everyone puts a great effort into making it so. Hopefully the library staff will see our "griping" as constructive criticism due to our enthusiasm in the game.

PS Also, (for the future) it would be nice to get partial credit for showing up at the wrap party for those who couldn't take the time to do the entire Wrap Badge.

Sara -- I thought there were two codes, the stated one (shorter one from the podium) and the puzzle one (longer one), so couldn't players have gotten 500 points for just the event code?

I agree with you about notification of off-season games. Things can move very quickly on the library blog or move off the front page and become hard to find again.

I would kindly suggest to the Summer Game librarians that in the future they consider having "player needs analysis" meetings with game players about their ideas, concerns, prize suggestions, and other feedback. I had the impression that the party would include this as well as socializing with other players, when in fact neither was the case. I love the idea of players starting our own social activities, but I would also encourage the library to consider soliciting feedback. I am not sure to what degree posts on this blog affect the game, but I thought players' opinions about summer game shop items almost seemed dismissed as old-fashioned because the library had decided that it wants to be "non-traditional" with prizes, when it isn't clear than this is what game players actually want. Why not simply ask?

I also think the game is becoming very hard for new players, younger players, and players with limited cultural knowledge. I think a greater effort should be made to provide more badges where the activities are more straight-forward; the 2014 badges are vastly more complicated, requiring either background knowledge or multiple internet searches, compared to the badges of 2011. Assuming everyone who plays now, started out back then and is maturing to a more complex game, is probably inaccurate. Why not even have badges for children, like the separate paper game and connected prizes?

There hasn't been much resolution of the issue unhelpfully short reviews (e.g. "Cool!"), which I have seen public posts about since the online game began, in 2011, and other issues of what players consider unfair play, and we have ideas to share. I think there is an enormous untapped potential for library users' participation, in this and other library activities, which are too often passive/top-down and/or individual endeavors conducted simultaneously. In searching for various Old News badges, I came across a fair number of photos of the Summer Reading Club in the 1960s and earlier, that show children in interactive activities at the library, and I wonder if something like that could be revived for players of all ages. I like the idea of a summer game club!

I also have concerns about giving a small number of players game points for library volunteering (filling shop orders), which only a few had the opportunity to do, especially when their points for those activities totaled in the hundreds of thousands. I should state I have absolutely no ill will towards those player(s), because they clearly helped out the Summer Game and all players who placed orders at the Summer Game Shop. After <a href=http://play.aadl.org/node/264871>I inquired about this</a> (after looking at the scorecards of players whose scores were vastly higher than others') in a public post on the Summer Game website, at least one such player's scorecard became private. This seems contrary to the normal transparency the AADL aspires to, and so I found it surprising. There was a small amount of discussion about this <a href=http://play.aadl.org/node/231144>during the 2013 games</a> and the thread references <a href=http://annarborchronicle.com/2011/06/22/ann-arbor-library-gets-its-game… 2011 article in the Ann Arbor Chronicle</a>. When volunteers can earn <strong>that</strong> many points through volunteering, I think they stop being ordinary members of the public and become some kind of super-players, and maybe deserve their own category with the staff.

While I enjoyed the Summer Game, I think the best parts of it were the ones where I did something other than search the catalog/website, and I am sorry I haven't yet had the chance to meet many other players.

@willow, interesting anyalsis. Throughout the game I kept asking myself "who is this game for? Many aspects of it are way to difficult for a child to complete, as being an adult I had a lot of difficulties." It's also very time consuming. While I understand we don't have to complete every single code and badge, there's a sense of accomplishment in getting as many as possible. I suspect the library is trying to strike a balance of easier ones for kids to work on and more challenging ones for adults to work on. Obviously this would be a difficult balance to achieve.

I also suspect some changes may have been made already to the way people make reviews. I found out accidently this year that you can post the exact same review twice, but get points only once. While doing some tagging, I noticed the same player had "reviewed" many of the items I was tagging with simply "awesome". When I looked at the date they were from 2011. I did not start playing until mid-way through in 2013. So I suspect after realizing what people were doing for reviews in 2011, they changed it so you can't get points for doing this. Perhaps another change of a word minimum being required, but then we'd probably get reviews that say "awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome".

What it comes down to, is if someone wants to "cheat" they're going to find a way.

I would ask that for the physically challenged and disabled that badges that are not "accessible" have an alternative way to earn the badge (ie: park explorer badges).

@AprilCDB - They already do some policing of the points. I remember in 2012, I lost points because someone at the library deemed some of my tags unworthy. And this year, I noticed a couple times that one player would suddenly jump way ahead to the top or almost the top of the leaderboard but then somehow lose points and be lost way down on the list.

Submitted by AprilCDB on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 10:25pm

I just earned my last badge of the season, I'm officially done. Maybe I can get some sleep now. Wondering who's out there in the 11th hour desperately trying to earn more badges. I remember last year we did one of the parks on the last day and I wrote the wrong word down for the code. I had to send my husband back out at 9:30 at night to go get the right code. Learned my lesson then to take a picture of all signs and if possible, just enter the code in on site.

I am "done" as well! I didn't get all the ones I wanted to get but I am not good at history and I can't stand polkamon lol I only did around 100 each of the tagging, commenting, and such which I am ok with. I was not able to attend any events (working) but we had fun! Getting lost was great trying to find Byrd hills and then smashing my phone was "fun" so we didn't have a clue what codes we needed, and my deductible for a new phone was $150. Lol but someday in the far future I'm sure we will laugh at this and say "It was all worth it for a sharpie ;) ) Thank you makers of the summer games we did have fun :)

Submitted by amym on Sun, 08/31/2014 - 11:11pm

Sigh. I'm going into withdrawal already. How many days until Summer Games 2015 starts?

I found the last kraken code just a few minutes after the game ended. WHY!!!!! I was SOOOOOOO close!!!
I'll probably look at this post after a few days and feel silly, but I was THAT close to getting all the cryptids badges.....

Submitted by beeniepie on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 12:11am

@Bookbird -- I feel your pain. I was two minutes to slow on unearthing a clue.

So sad the summer game is over, but I'm looking forward to sleeping.

Submitted by Naverick22 on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 12:29am

Once I know the mystery item, I'll consider the 200000-point prize.

But like i said, Eli, it better be a download code for shovel knight on the 3ds.

Submitted by KathyD on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 8:12am

For those going through withdrawal, here's how to design a badge for next year. Looking forward to some awesome player picks next summer since you're starting early!

Come up with an idea and name for your badge. Figure out at least 5 catalog entries that fit your theme, and paste the cataglog URLs for each into a document. For each one, figure out a clue, a hint, and a game code. You can also suggest an image for the badge. Send your player picks to Eli or Andrew.

The summer game team at AADL will add or edit your suggestions as needed.

The years I've designed a player pick, I ended up with an unadvertised Master BadgeSmith badge at the end of the game. So I guess you can earn a badge in the off-season :)

Submitted by SBNB on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 11:25am

I agree that the extra game at the wrap party was unexpected. Initially, I just wanted to get back home, but once I got into it, I thought it was a fitting way to end the summer game. I also agree though that it would have been nice to have a little more mingle and a little less crazy searching.

Submitted by sara on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 1:19pm

Too late. I did copy down the code from the podium, but thought I had to have all the other codes from the quest to get the bonus. I just tried entering the code, and it said too late, the game ended Sept 1. Wish that had been clearer- I wouldn't have lost my place on the leader-board.

Submitted by amym on Mon, 09/01/2014 - 9:28pm

It's over! What am I going to do with my free time? Probably something boring like clean the kitchen or mow the lawn.

Submitted by pk on Tue, 09/02/2014 - 10:59am

Always enjoy the summer game, even when I don't have as much time to play as in other years. If I had a "wish list" for game shop items for next year, it would include: roll up picnic blanket (like 2013's), umbrella (2012?), and the older black baseball hat (lost mine on vacation!) Thanks for creating another wonderful summer game!

Submitted by Katharina Geschner on Fri, 08/07/2015 - 6:13am

I got the Bunny Hop Master, Botany Master, and the Wild Kingdom Badges. They are awesome!!! They were lots of fun for me!!!!

Submitted by pbapat on Wed, 07/06/2016 - 10:08am

Hooray

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