User blog comment:Jbarb/Badges/@comment-1915803-20100713153856

To be honest, no, not really. It's too easy for users to cheat to get the badges, and users who contributed before the badges were instituted would have to start all over again if they want to earn the badges – putting them level with the newer users. And users might make these badges their main priority, and edit only to increase their badge points.