Question

badges, trophies, or something like that

Answer 1

badges or thophies would motivate members to participate in OpenStudy more and have a feeling of accomplishment once they earn them. They could be awarded automatically for acomplishments like helping 100 people, staying active on openstudy (to keep this badge one must log in and participate at least 3 times a week) or something like that, I am sure you get the idea. Some of the more prestigious ones or special badges could be awarded only by administrators/moderators.

The badges could be represented using small graphical icons on the profile page of the member and on the pop-up member desciption box that comes up when one hoovers above the avatar image of the member.

Answer 2

something like this