August challenge: Skill Badge monsoon! (updated!)

[carrie]

The weather report is in, and in August it will be raining skill badges! 🌦🌧🌟

Let’s dive into what this month-long challenge has in store:

1) Five weeks of fun: August ‘23 brings us five fun-filled weeks - each with a different theme - and each week will feature six skill badges. Yes, that's right, a total of 30 skill badges up for grabs! 

2) Boosted points for The Arcade Prize Counter: Completing featured skill badges will earn you 2 Arcade points for every 3 badges you earn, double the usual rate. So if you're new to The Arcade, this is a great opportunity to collect those points - because points turn into ✨swag✨. Important: Please note that the extra Arcade Points you earn from successfully completing the featured skill badges will be credited to your points total after the campaign has ended. This means that through September, using the Points Calculator in The Arcade may not reflect your actual total points. We will be sure to let you know when those extra points have made their way out from behind the scenes (you will definitely be able to see your true total before the Prize Counter opens at the end of the year).

3) The challenge: Think you can unlock all 30 skill badges? If you manage to complete every single one of them, you'll receive a grand total of 20 Arcade points. The stakes are high, but the rewards are even higher! And yes, we will announce which skill badges 6 at a time at the start of each week, but you will have until the end of the month (11:59 PM your local time on August 31st) to complete all 30.

4) Weekly themes: Each week has a unique theme (we'd love to know which one is your favorite!). Why the themes? If you complete at least 1 skill badge in the week it is announced, you will get a special digital banner to show off on your social media.

5) Three tiers of digital clout: For all you Arcade enthusiasts out there, we've added a little extra incentive. The digital banners come in three tiers:

• Tier 1: Complete one of the skill badges featured in that particular week, and you'll get a banner for that theme.
• Tier 2: Kick it up a notch by completing three skill badges from that week's selection, and your banner will reflect that extra effort.
• Tier 3: The ultimate challenge lies in completing all six skill badges in a given week. Achieve this feat, and you'll be rewarded with an extra prestigious banner.
• Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special: If you complete all six featured skill badges in more than one given week, you will get a custom combo banner that may make everyone in your network jealous.

We will be sharing the themes and announcing the featured skill badges here, but the best way to get all of the info as soon as it is released is to visit our YouTube channel, subscribe, and tap the Notification bell 🔔

Phew! That's a lot of great goodness pouring down. But we know you've got questions, so here are the answers to some frequently asked questions:

• When will I get my social media banner?
  • Banners for tiers 1 - 3 will be sent towards the end of the following week. For folks who achieve the incredible and are eligible for the custom combo banner, you'll be receiving that in the beginning of September.
• Why can't I see my extra points in the Points calculator?
  • The extra Arcade Points you earn from successfully completing the featured skill badges will be credited to your points total after the campaign has ended. This means that through September, using the Points Calculator in The Arcade may not reflect your actual total points. We will be sure to let you know when those extra points have made their way out from behind the scenes (you will definitely be able to see your true total before the Prize Counter opens at the end of the year).
• What are all the badges up for grabs?
  • We will be announcing the badges in batches of 6 at the start of each week. We will update this post with the new additions, but the best way to get all of the info as soon as it is released is to visit our YouTube channel, subscribe, and tap the Notification bell 
• What if I already earned one of the skill badges last month or before?
  • You are amazing! It does mean that it won't count towards the extra point, but don't worry - there will be more opportunities to get extra points before the end of the year 🙂 
• You say we get a full week to do the featured skill badges to get a banner, but there's 5 weeks which is 35 days and only 31 days in August and the 1st is a Tuesday. How does that math work out?
  • We want to be as fair as possible, so you do have a week for each banner challenge. These are the eligibility date ranges for the weekly themes:
    • Week 1: Tuesday, 1 August through Tuesday, 8 August
    • Week 2: Monday, 7 August through Monday, 14 August
    • Week 3: Monday, 14 August through Monday, 21 August
    • Week 4: Monday, 21 August through Monday, 28 August
    • Week 5: Monday, 28 August through Monday, 4 September

Game on!

Carrie

Week 1: Raindrops

Create and Manage Cloud Resources

Perform Foundational Infrastructure Tasks in Google Cloud 

Perform Foundational Data, ML, and AI Tasks in Google Cloud 

Configure Service Accounts and IAM roles for Google Cloud 

Integrate BigQuery Data and Google Workspace using Apps Script

Develop with Apps Script and AppSheet  

Week 2: Paper Boats

Set Up and Configure a Cloud Environment in Google Cloud

Create ML Models with BigQuery ML 

Exploring Data with Looker 

Secure BigLake Data 

Protect Sensitive Data with Data Loss Prevention

Tag and Discover BigLake Data

Week 3: Umbrellas

Store, Process, and Manage Data - Console

Analyze BigQuery data in Connected Sheets

Optimize Costs for Google Kubernetes Engine

Get Started with Eventarc

Get Started with Dataplex

Get Started with Pub/Sub

Week 4: New Growth 🌱

Automating Infrastructure on Google Cloud with Terraform

Deploy and Manage Cloud Environments with Google Cloud

Ensure Access & Identity in Google Cloud

Create a Streaming Data Lake on Cloud Storage

Use APIs to Work with Cloud Storage

App Engine: 3 Ways

Week 5:

Serverless Firebase Development

Cloud Architecture: Design, Implement, and Manage

Engineer Data in Google Cloud

The Basics of Google Cloud Compute

Networking Fundamentals on Google Cloud

Streaming Analytics into BigQuery

[marcodelmart]

Unfortunately, I'm having the same issue. The progress bar does not appear, even if I finish the lab. This means that the progress has not been made. I'm going to continue with the lab, but I think this needs to be addressed. Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Marco Delgado 👍🏼

Challenge lab:  https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/games/4301/labs/27862?locale=en

https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/games/4301/labs/27862?locale=en

[skwasha]

Are you referring to the "scoreboard" that typically sits on the upper right part of the screen in yellow? If so, it's still there... it's just that it's hidden behind the user strip they've overlaid on top of it.

If you want to see/access it, you can it just takes a bit of manual intervention and DOM modification. Open up Dev Tools and inspect the strip in Elements. You should see that div and 3 others above it in a container div. Delete the overlay div. Then in the top two remaining divs deselect the display attribute (set to none) and you should see the scoreboard again and be able to open it, check progress, etc.

If you need a more detailed walkthru/howto, feel free to DM. 

[player_One]

Could you please shed a little more light on "Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special"? 

Does it imply to all those who will be taking more than one week to complete 6 skill badges?

[marcodelmart]

Hi Player One,

The "Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special" badge is a special badge that is awarded to people who complete all six skill badges in a given week. It is a very exclusive badge, and it is only awarded to a select few people.

To earn this badge, you must complete all six skill badges in the same week. You cannot complete some of the badges in one week and then complete the rest of the badges in a later week. For example, if you complete three of the badges in Week 1, but then you don't complete the other three badges until Week 2, you will not be eligible for the "Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special" badge.

The badge is awarded on a weekly basis, so you have 7 days to complete all 6 badges for that week. If you don't complete all 6 badges within 7 days, then you will not be eligible for the badge for that week.

I hope this clarifies things. 

Thanks,

Marco Delgado 😊

[Titas]

Can I get the Tier 3 or Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special badge if I complete three of the badges in the given week and rest of them are previously done? Can I get 2 points for completing those three badges?

[marcodelmart]

Hi Titas,

I understand that you're wondering if you can get the Tier 3 or Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special badge if you complete three of the badges in the given week and the rest of them are previously done.

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Only badges earned in the month of August will be considered for the Tier 3 and Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special badges. This is because the challenge is designed to encourage you to learn new things and try new skills. If you were able to complete the badges in previous weeks, then you've already had the opportunity to learn and grow.

As for the 2 points for completing the badges, those points will only be awarded if you complete the badges in the given week. So, if you complete three of the badges in Week 1, but the rest of them were completed in previous weeks, then you will not receive the 2 points for those badges.

I hope this clarifies things. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Marco Delgado

[Titas]

Can I get 2 points if I complete one badge from a week and two badges from another week?

[KV]

I am in the same scenario and came here to clear the same doubt. 🤧

[Vivek444]

Hey,

I just wanted to know that on which day of the week is the raindrops starting and which day is it ending?

[shankarsingh]

start at tuesday 1 and end at 31 august

[Vaibhav195]

u said that u would update us with which skill badges would get featured so tell me ......which skill badges are featured this week

[marcodelmart]

---

@carrie wrote:

Not-even-a-tier-because-it's-so-special:

---

Hi Carrie,

I'm so excited to hear about the August skill badge challenge! I've been participating in The Arcade for a few weeks now, and I've learned so much. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to continue learning and growing, and I'm eager to see what the next month brings.

I know that you put a lot of work into planning these challenges, and I just wanted to say thank you. I really appreciate the effort you make to create such a valuable learning experience for everyone.

I'm especially excited about the extra points for completing featured skill badges. I'm always looking for ways to earn more points, so this is a great motivation for me.

Thanks again for all your hard work, and I can't wait to get started!

Best,

Marco Delgado 🫱🏼‍🫲🏼

[carrie]

Marco, your comment made my day! I'm So happy to hear that you're excited for this challenge; keep up the awesome work!

[marcodelmart]

I'm glad Carrie! I just wanted to share how good the learning process has been and my opinion about the "rewards". I even did a post about the situation:

The Monthly Challenges: A Learning Opportunity, Not Just a Badge Hunt

Let's keep learning and growing together!  🙌🏼

[vijay1king]

Serverless Cloud Run Development make This one Optinal

[sakshi11203]

Till when week1 will happens?

[carrie]

Hi Sakshi: I've updated the FAQs with the date ranes 🙂 Week 1 started on a Tuesday, so it ends on Tuesday (August 8th)

[pranavdate908]

when will be week 2 raindrops

[mayukhsaha]

@carrie i  just want to ask ....... i completed wek 1 skill badges only 2 badges i completed in monday so can i get 4 points pls reply

[carrie]

Hi there! 

You receive a point for every three skill badges that you complete. If you complete three of the featured skill badges in the month of August, you would get two points 🙂 So all you need to do is complete one more of the featured skill badges any time this month, and you'll get those points!

[Riya-mehta]

I have completed all this lab previously. But my doubt is that when we will get points and the special theme badge?

[GautamPatil]

Hello sir, Lab from week 1 - Perform Foundational Data, ML, and AI Tasks in Google Cloud  & lab from week 2 - Tag and Discover BigLake Data redirecting to same lab i.e. Perform Foundational Data, ML, and AI Tasks in Google Cloud

[AmanJain18]

Hii @carrie

I wanted to bring to your attention that the link for the Week 2, 6th lab is redirecting to different skill badge. The correct link to the Skill Badge - "Tag and Discover BigLake Data" is as follows:

Tag and Discover BigLake Data

Regards,
Aman Jain

[The_Twilight]

For Week 2: Paper Boats , the skill badge Tag and Discover BigLake Data is just the same as the skill badge Perform Foundational Data, ML, and AI Tasks in Google Cloud of Week 1: Raindrops theme. Please clarify whether they are actually the same or if there is some hyperlink issue.

[Sayanbrata]

HI @carrie,

I wanted to ask when are we supposed to get the Arcade Insider Mails for the GCSB credits needed to complete these quests?

[marcodelmart]

Hi @carrie,

I hope that everything is going well this week. 😀

I’ve been wondering something, and I think that it’s good to share it. It’s related to the bonus points and weekly tiers, or the digital banners.

First, about the bonus points, it’s perfectly explained in points 2 and 3 and in the FAQ. I completely agree with the rules, because the points have some value and we may get gifts by the end of the season. Therefore, to avoid duplicating points in multiple seasons, the rules work just fine.

However, the weekly tiers (weekly badges) work outside of The Arcade and they consider all our progress in the platform. For example, in my situation, I did:

• Week 1: 3 badges done in the given week, 3 badges already done (so impossible to earn them again).
• Week 2: 5 badges done in the given week, 1 badge already done (so impossible to earn it again).

So if this continues, Tier 3 is impossible for me, and in the whole season, I don’t even mention the special-tier 😔

Even worse, it reduces the probability of earning badges or similar in any future activities.

A possible solution may be: We must have all the 6 skill badges done by the end of the week, and at least 3,4 or 5 must be done in that given week.

What do you think?

Best regards,

Marco Delgado 👍

[Darsh035]

sir week 3??

[Mohitbaran]

this is the list for week 3

[benvic]

Are these skill badges part of the google arcade games, because I'm done with the arcade games for August and didn't find any of the skill badges mentioned above. Please explain

[The_Twilight]

Is this a glitch - that I completed many skill badges but when same labs are in Arcade levels, they have to be reattempted again and the progress of previous attempt is lost? These way I have to complete many labs which are same in both skill badhe and arcade games twice. 

[Abhishek213]

Thats why first do games then skill badges to avoid such things in future.


Games are fresh even though u have done old labs u have to re do again for
game labs

[prateekbhat1997]

Where do the special banners get reflected? 
My 1st and 2nd week banners are not yet reflecting, any action needed from our end? 

Thanks! 🙂 

[AmanJain18]

You will get the banners directly in your mail.

[Luna04]

Heyy @carrie and others,

Just had a doubt, if I complete any of week 1's skill badges now(week 4 ) do I get points for that?

[Luna04]

Can someone please let me know about this pls?

[skwasha]

They should still count for your total badges (i.e., the ones you get 1pt per 3 badges for). You won't get any bonus points, as those were just for that week.

[AmanJain18]

@Luna04 Yes, you will receive 2 points for that also...

You have to complete that in the August Month

[pranavdate908]

what to do after ultimate milestone compleeted\

[Abhishek213]

do more skill badges to ace ur skills and learn new techs

[skwasha]

Agreed, do more badges = get more points. However, it should be noted, that the email updates you get with Milestone progress don't indicate your badge count correctly once you hit 30. The email will only show a max of 30. So, be aware of that disconnect between the Points Calculator on the Arcade page and the updates you get via email.