[denton-scratch]

I agree with your complaint about merit badges; I think they signify nothing more than that you have allies among Wikipedia editors. Since editing Wikipedia should be non-partisan, advertising that you have allies suggests that you're a suspect editor.

But I've been editing WP since about 2004. I have no merit badges, and no admin privileges. I have no allies. I just want to improve the encyclopaedia.

[palmfacehn]

There are some good editors on WP. I've even been lucky enough to encounter a few. In most cases you wouldn't know they are there, because they don't engage in high visibility problematic behavior.