Decade Awards Main Forum Discussion Thread

[Bengal Tiger]

Is it fair to have the same creation put into 2 polls? That would give it double the chance of winning an award. An example is EFZI2, which Ares de Borg put in fantasy, but I nominated it for Sci-fi. I think an arbitrary decision should be made to keep submissions in only one category.

 

[Balthasar]

I have a secret formula for deciding that, requiring a coin with a head and a tail.

Seriously, I sympathize. My personal belief is that Fantasy involves magic, while Sci-Fi deliberately doesn't. Ursula Le Guin might disagree; certainly the SyFy channel blends the two regularly.

But, all in all, my inclination is that EFZI belongs in the Fantasy category.

 

[Blue Monkey]

So the general guideline that any given thing may be nominated in more than one category but when it comes to the polls it will be in only one? This sounds fair to me. OTOH if something is only nominated in one category I don't think it should be arbitrarily changed just to suit your perceptions, Balthasar.

Also, anything nominated should be allowed in multiple polls for the "overall" categories, such as:

• Unusual Unit Award
• Best Converted Unit
• Best Multiple Unit
• Best Themed Unit Collection
• Best Collaboration
• Best Overall Mod Decade Award
• Best Graphic Decade Award
• Best Unit Decade Award
• Jury Award(s)
• Pioneer Award

Including - of course - anything that has previously been nominated in the individual types of categories.
imho

 

[WildWeazel]

I'm with the cigar-smoking pug.

 

[Balthasar]

I'm with the cigar-smoking pug.

Yes, I agree entirely.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Does "best overall mod" refer to a mod (rules changes, etc.), mod + scenario, or something else?



Any progress on selecting a jury?

 

[Takhisis]

Does "best overall mod" refer to a mod (rules changes, etc.), mod + scenario, or something else?

I nominate Plotinus if that's the case.

Any progress on selecting a jury?

We must choose responsible, serious, sane people. Anyone meet the requirements?

 

[Balthasar]

Does "best overall mod" refer to a mod (rules changes, etc.), mod + scenario, or something else?

I nominate Plotinus if that's the case.

That's Mod, not moderator, Tak. The term 'overall' meant any kind of mod - epic, scenario, etc. In other words, best mod of the decade, regardless of category. It seemed to me that, since we initially break them out by type in the polls, there should be a generalist category.

Any progress on selecting a jury?

We must choose responsible, serious, sane people. Anyone meet the requirements?

Not here! Just kidding. This is something I admit that I've been stuck on. How to fairly choose a jury in this case? I thought about running a poll, and then decided that it could devolve into a popularity contest. I thought about contacting likely candidates directly, but am unsure if such contact (from me) would be welcome, or if my list of likely candidates is really the best pool I could draw from. So I'm sorta stumped and would welcome advice from our veteran members about this. I'd like to get a jury in place by at least the end of September, preferably with a private thread for deliberations.

 

[Takhisis]

That's Mod, not moderator, Tak. The term 'overall' meant any kind of mod - epic, scenario, etc. In other words, best mod of the decade, regardless of category. It seemed to me that, since we initially break them out by type in the polls, there should be a generalist category.

Stop depriving me of chances to suck it up to the establishment! Bad Balthasar!

Not here! Just kidding. This is something I admit that I've been stuck on. How to fairly choose a jury in this case? I thought about running a poll, and then decided that it could devolve into a popularity contest. I thought about contacting likely candidates directly, but am unsure if such contact (from me) would be welcome, or if my list of likely candidates is really the best pool I could draw from. So I'm sorta stumped and would welcome advice from our veteran members about this. I'd like to get a jury in place by at least the end of September, preferably with a private thread for deliberations.

A thread in a secret sub-forum/social group? Otherwise RNG it.

 

[WildWeazel]

RNG would certainly be most jury-like, but then how do we choose who is in the pool? Have a jury sign-up thread and pick random post numbers like the old unit lotteries?

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, something like that. Have a lot of people propose their names, weed out the obviously wrong choices including the trolls from the OT hellhole and some of our most blatantly biased creators, then RNG the 'acceptable' ones.

 

[Quinzy]

How about a sort of sociocratic decision?

Everyone nominates some people, and as a group, discuss the reasons for nomination, the nominations themselves, etc;

Then the discussion leader puts forward a list of good candidates after the discussions. Once those candidates have been put forward to the group, if there are no substantiated objections then that will be the jury.

If there are reasonable objections made to certain nominees, then the process of discussion and substantiation are, for those nominations, brought up again, until there are no paramount objections.

A system of informed consent like this basically means that there will be no-one on the jury that definitely shouldn't be there, and that everyone on the jury will have to have been nominated, gone through a group screening process, and have had their case argued for sucessfully.

 

[WildWeazel]

How about a sort of sociocratic decision?

Everyone nominates some people, and as a group, discuss the reasons for nomination, the nominations themselves, etc;

Then the discussion leader puts forward a list of good candidates after the discussions. Once those candidates have been put forward to the group, if there are no substantiated objections then that will be the jury.

If there are reasonable objections made to certain nominees, then the process of discussion and substantiation are, for those nominations, brought up again, until there are no paramount objections.

A system of informed consent like this basically means that there will be no-one on the jury that definitely shouldn't be there, and that everyone on the jury will have to have been nominated, gone through a group screening process, and have had their case argued for sucessfully.

You don't watch politics much, do you?

 

[Takhisis]

You people in the colonies do things differently.

 

[Balthasar]

Well I've gone ahead and started to contact some C&C vets, beginning with those who have been here the longest. We'll start there, I guess.

Not to dismiss your suggestion, BTW, Quinzy. I thought through it, and decided that with the time deadline we're under, I ought to just put it together with the oldest* vets I can find and go with that.

*In terms of length of membership, of course.

 

[Blue Monkey]

One way would be to ask the elders privately who they would pick to be on the jury. Who they pick might not be people who've been around forever. Or even well known to the general community. They might name - for example - someone who has never created much but has contributed a lot in terms of thoughtful posting, feedback, playtesting, etc.

Another way would be to designate someone responsible. Then let people contact that person via pm with a recommendation. The designated person collects the suggestions & the top 5 - for example - become the jury. Of course the designated person would have to recuse themselves from both the jury & from receiving the prize.

Not saying that I favor either of those ways. Or even that they're the optimal solution. Just that they each have the benefit of minimizing the "popularity contest" factor while maintaining a high level of responsible choice-making.

EDIT: Another way to get a jury selected would be to have the moderators who follow this forum choose them. Afraid that could open a whole can of worms, though.

 

[Kyriakos]

This contest already suffers from serious lack of planning. If you create x categories, the trophies have y value. If you create 1000 x categories, the trophies have 1/1000 y value.
Plus you end up with all kinds of problems, like the ones infesting this thread.

That's too bad cause it could have been a good idea. Now i am almost sure it will mean nothing who won what, due to the poorly thought-through and actually quite random and makeshift process. A yearly award is worth much more than these decade awards it seems.

 

[Balthasar]

I think, Kyriakos, that you're mis-understanding what the Jury will do, the current status of the contest, and even the goings-on in this thread, apparently. There aren't any real problems with any of it, beyond the normal give and take, and things are moving along much as planned, so you can relax; and of course a yearly award is worth what it is worth, and a Decade Award may be worth more than you think. I personally think the day-to-day recognition and interaction of my peers, and a personal sense of accomplishment is more valuable than any of it, and awards are just decorations on the cake. If you're not having fun you need to lighten it up! This isn't The Royal Academy, it's the Colony of Lost Boys, playing at playing, bless us all.

That said, I've successfully enlisted some Veteran assistance, and a Jury will be assembled forthwith, using some hybrid of the ideas that Blue Monkey has posted above (thank you, Blue!).

All is well in Neverland today.

 

[Bengal Tiger]

What about the fact that the jury must be reasonably familiar with every mod ever created?

 

[Balthasar]

What about the fact that the jury must be reasonably familiar with every mod ever created?

That's why I wanted it to be composed of veterans, who would have more familiarity with all of the various mods than most folks. I can think of a few who have private archives more extensive than the database!