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I do like this idea but sadly every system like this is open to manipulation to some extent.  It would be difficult to verify the quality of someone's ratings / reviews.  The idea is most definitely something worth exploring though - especially the badges idea.

GameJolt have an XP type system where you "level up" when you have enough, earned by various actions.  Badges for specific things like "entered 5 game jams", "released 10 games", "rated 5 games" or something like that would be better to me.  I'm just not quite sure about earning actual $ to spend in store though - I guess a lot depends on where these $ come from.  Itch itself?  A fund donated to by devs perhaps (a donation to make their games eligible to buy in this fashion perhaps?).

(+2)

It's all good feedback and I knew there would be flaws. Would be good to see if something like this could be implemented in some way shape or form. A report functionality would be needed for people absuing the system (and there will definitely be some!)

Maybe as a reward outside of montary value could be exposure opportunities for all people who have earned particular badges (like a reward based on loyalty). In October, all users who have the "entered 5 game jams" badge can recommend a game for the homepage. Probably needs to exclude their own titles to make it supportive to all community members

Not sure how we could make this all work, we would most likely need support from Itch to get something like this running.

i like the badge idea just like newgrounds but never a ranking system that locks people until something happens. Also no special gain power because of badge it just leads to trouble.