No route badge if you do not pre-pick the route

I do not unlock achievements/badges for routes that I had not pre-picked at the start-up screen but I did the turns myself.

E.g. I started Yorkshire selecting the route “Tour of Tewit Well” and continue riding “Queen’s highway” as I had researched the route in advance. But no achievement/badge was given. I then restarted Zwift and picked the route at the start-up screen and this time the achievement/badge did unluck.

I consider this a bug.

I believe it is noted somewhere that in order to get the badge you have to select it from the routes screen before you start. Technically speaking, if you don’t do it this way you have not ‘ridden the route’ but just ‘done a free ride that follows the same path as the route’. I can see where you might view this as a bug, but I don’t think it really is since it is working ‘as implemented’.

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This is true, you need to select the route to get the badge.

I think it is so that Zwifters can learn the routes

Technically speaking, if you don’t do it this way you have not ‘ridden the route’

I disagree. Even though I didn’t plan out to ride the route, I would argue that I did indeed ride it (but maybe this is just terminology).

But ok, I can accept that the behavior is as designed. I just think it is bad design then :stuck_out_tongue:
You may close this as “Won’t fix”.

Why? The point is to pick a route ride it complete it and get a badge. Otherwise you can make a bunch of random turns get a badge and never know you did a specific route.

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Isn’t it the same when you pick the planned route? Then Zwift chooses “a bunch of random turns” and you get a badge, but did you really get to know the specific route?
I would argue that you pay closer attention to the turns and the route, if you make the turns yourself than if pre-planned route makes them for you. But I guess it depends on the person.

But I think it really boils down to what the goal of the badges is. If it really is a you say, that Zwifters can learn the routes, then I believe making the turns for you is a really bad way to teach you the route.

If the goal is to reward Zwifters for riding different routes, which is my guess, then I see no difference in taking a planned route or making the turns yourself.

Okay. So, pick a route, ride it and get a badge. Fair enough. But having done that, why can’t I then pick a second route, ride it, and get another badge without exiting the program?!?

Is this so that Zwifters can learn how to exit the program? :roll_eyes:

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Yeah. It is not like I prefer to take the turns myself :slight_smile: I just don’t want the hassle with having to restart Zwift, just to pick another route to earning its badge.

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There is no need to do all of them in one day. Pick a route get the badge then ride random roads.

In all my years on zwift I never exited the game just to change routes.

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And, as anyone who’s been around for a while knows, if you’re not doing it the way Gerrie does, you’re doing it wrong.

Do you ever tire of being so arrogant?

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Just trying to help. Giving a solution to the current problem.

I am more of a glass half full guy.

Well, you’re not very good at it.

How is this even the least bit helpful? Route badges are relatively recent, so most of your years on Zwift are irrelevant. And, if you are not an Achiever (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/bartle-s-player-types-for-gamification), then your playstyle is also irrelevant.

I have as many hours of Zwifting under my belt as you do, and since the introduction of route badges, I have exited the game several times just to change routes.

The OP has a valid criticism. Stop being such a rabid fanboi and accept it.

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Completely agree with this post. It’s actually a challenge to ride routes manually and the probability of doing so by making random turns is near 0.

If the intention is to only allow users to unlock one badge per day - fine. Otherwise I personally don’t see a point to not allowing badges even when routes are not pre-selected. As already mentioned the work-around is to log out and back in which is annoying.

I’m new to Zwift and generally enjoying it but there are so many aspects of UX that could be improved. Most of these issues have been identified in forums. I hope developers monitor these and start incorporating some of these suggestions.

+1. I’ve been really enjoying the gamification of indoor cycling and I’ve set out to collect all the route badges. Just yesterday I pre-selected the Three Sisters route and rode it to completion, however, in the first mile I did bump my keyboard and performed an accidental U-turn. Within seconds I did another U-turn to get back on course. It was a pretty big bummer when I found out it blew my chance at the badge. Oh well… Back up the mountains I suppose.

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@Ken_Walker I did exactly the same thing hah! I hit U-turn by mistake, corrected it and thought I was going on with my selected route just fine… but no badge at the end of the ride - does this mean when you mess with the route in game it turns to a free ride?

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Same here. Extremely frustrating as the game continues to auto-select the route implying you are ‘en route’ so to speak.