Manfred von Richthofen used to put souvenirs of all the planes he downed on the walls of his quarters, along with photos of the pilots if he could obtain them. One of his early motivations for getting kills was to win the Pour le Merite.
When he was put in control of Jasta 11 and then promoted again, he ordered all the planes to be painted in bright colors and outrageous designs, to establish a feared reputation among Allied pilots, of course they ended up calling it the Flying Circus and Richthofen the Red Baron
After Richthofen was shot down and recovering from a serious head wound, he wrote a book for the German propaganda machine. He used to trade his autograph for better food and supplies. He enjoyed and cultivated his fame.
Likewise with most BOP players. Most players don't mind seeing their name at the top of a leaderboard. If nobody really cared, they wouldn't make leaderboards. The boards are broken, but victory usually increases your level. Usually. Yesterday I lost 2 levels after beating someone ranked higher than me, and then beating someone ranked lower by a big margin.
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