One-Synth-Challenge: General discussion thread

[V'ger]

This is a thread for general discussions or suggestions not related to individual competitions etc.

This will not be a sticky thread, but you can find the link to it on the site. (FAQ and every comp page)

[V'ger]

RULES REVAMP:

Ok, as there is a 'changing of the guard' after Tattiemannie is retiring, I thought this would be a good time to go through the format and rules to see what can be improved or simplified.

Here are some suggestions:

• 1. Comps to run from 1st to last every month, voting to middle of month (15th).
  
  2. Voting to be simplified to top 5 with points given like this: 5-4-3-2-1. There's been some mention that it's a drag to enter the votes in the form on the page, do you all feel this is the case? One consideration is that the form type spreadsheet is anyway much more reliable and don't produce so many error messages as the plain spreadsheet for some reason.
  
  3. Naming convention to be changed to Artist - Song Title.mp3. This is the most natural and there's always some done this way anyway, by changing they might all be the same.
  
  4. Tagged mp3's. It's so much easier to vote when they show up correctly in mp3 players.
  
  5. Songs to be downloadable.
  
  6. All entrants must have submitted a vote to be eligible for prizes.
  
  7. Equal scores to be separated by highest individual points entry. (like in sports, where the one with the most number of top scores and so on wins)

Please come with your points or suggestions. The aim is to have the rules updated and in place before OSC 23 launch 1st December.

[tattiemannie]

Cool V'ger,
.... as outgoing chief,
..... I'll keep it brief,

1. Yeah, that would save a lot of calendar gazing .... you might have to adjust a little for Dec/Jan though

2. Cool..... assuming there are a sufficient number of entries ... as is normally the case.

3. Cool.

4. Cool, I think

5. Absolutely.

6. Good call, I dont think we should make it compulsory to vote, but not voting does give participants an advantage, which can in some cases be rewarded. So this rule would not make it compulsory to vote, it would just remove some of the advantage.... so cool by me.

7. Yeah cool ( although 5-dice is more exciting )

Great stuff V'ger, I'll have a think about any links etc I need to pass on. I have already begun to inform prize donors you will be incharge from next comp onwards.

[dwsel]

1. good idea in general

2. I like current system - it can only be more sorted, i.e.
with low number of entries < 10 - 5-3-2-1
with med number of entries 11-20 - 10-7-5-3-2-1 system (which I like a lot and often found really appropriate)
with high number of entries > 20 - free voting system (max 6 tracks, not more than 10 pts. for a single one and other rules I currently can't remember which were used in previous OSC's)

In conclusion - I vote for leaving voting as it is with creating rough rules (based on entries' number) WHEN to use each system.

3. no opinion, it does not matter for me at all

4. + 1 (I hope SoundCloud won't be problematic about that)

5. + 1 (aren't most of them already?)

6. not sure if it's required (because we have in my opinion enough interest), but I see the point - to get more votes

7. I've got the same opinion as tattie
(once I've been participating live in such event )

[Mac of BIOnighT]

I have no idea what a tagged mp3 is, everything else is fine with me, I'd keep a fixed voting system, the less one has to check the rules, the more votes might come in...
Any way you may find to give votes only in one spot would be better, I think - the occasional voter may find it too much of a hassle to vote in two different places...

[bwwd]

IMO one comp per month is not much,there should be 2 of them.
It takes too long to wait for votes and for users to submit their track and people are losing interest waiting IMO.do people really need 2 weeks to complete the track,i doubt that.
Now its kinda like slugfest.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Honestly, I think even one a month is too much... it's not like everybody has time available for this every day, not to mention the fact that it takes a while to know what the synth can actually do. Sure, if one slaps together a couple of presets, they can do it in an hour, but to me that has nothing to do with the spirit behind this kind of competition. And again, some people can only work on their tracks a few hours per week. Plus, it takes a long time for the voters to really listen to all the tracks. This is more frequent than it should be already, make it any more frequent, and listening and voting will turn into an unpaid full time job...

[batgab]

I agree w/Mac - one Challenge a month is fast enough.

[DramaNoMore]

I also agree, I've missed the Noisemaker voting because of how far apart time and quality were.

[uiiuiiu]

1. Comps to run from 1st to last every month, voting to middle of month (15th).

Good idea to make stable set of dates. A) It will make it easier to organize and handle B) There is less change of error as in "oh I thought it would go to date x, like last month".

Although, I would prefer longer voting period. Especially when there are lots of entries it's hard to find enough time to listen to them at the same setting/sitting. Which is something that I think objective listening requires ( for example : listening to ½ of the tracks with mono headphones at work and half with a 5000£ home entertainment system ( not that I own one) ).

Still bit embarrassed for missing the previous vote.

2. Voting to be simplified to top 5 with points given like this: 5-4-3-2-1. There's been some mention that it's a drag to enter the votes in the form on the page, do you all feel this is the case? One consideration is that the form type spreadsheet is anyway much more reliable and don't produce so many error messages as the plain spreadsheet for some reason.

I'm a big fan of the system, where you have given amount of points, which you can assign in a way you want to. To keep the voting intact I would suggest this :

20 points total to be assigned between 5 contestants. Stable one point difference wouldn't in my opinion reflect the real difference in "better vs. worse" in most situations. This way the points would reflect better the opinions of the voters

3. Naming convention to be changed to Artist - Song Title.mp3. This is the most natural and there's always some done this way anyway, by changing they might all be the same.

Agreed, much more natural to name in the "Artist - Song" format.

4. Tagged mp3's. It's so much easier to vote when they show up correctly in mp3 players.

I don't think this necessary to make this mandatory, but could be encouraged in the starting thread. I think most people listen to the tracks from the stream anyway.

5. Songs to be downloadable.

They aren't already?

6. All entrants must have submitted a vote to be eligible for prizes.

Seconded and makes sure that the level of activity remains after initial submission.

7. Equal scores to be separated by highest individual points entry. (like in sports, where the one with the most number of top scores and so on wins)

Good idea.

[MaxSynths]

Thanks for this thread so I can remember to all those which choose a MaxSynths product as a price to send me a mail/PM with their full name and email (so I can avoid to write it everytime)

Cheers,
Max

[Mac of BIOnighT]

20 points total to be assigned between 5 contestants. Stable one point difference wouldn't in my opinion reflect the real difference in "better vs. worse" in most situations. This way the points would reflect better the opinions of the voters

Good point (no pun intended), it's probably the best choice, if it is possible from a practical point of view.

[olikana]

2. Voting to be simplified to top 5 with points given like this: 5-4-3-2-1.

i'd prefer top3

• 1. Comps to run from 1st to last every month, voting to middle of month (15th).

would it be possible to have the voting going for 1 month too? (concurrent to the OSC)

20 points total to be assigned between 5 contestants. Stable one point difference wouldn't in my opinion reflect the real difference in "better vs. worse" in most situations. This way the points would reflect better the opinions of the voters

-1
it's flawed imo.

someone could vote like this and have a way too big impact on the result outcome:
1st: 16 points
2nd:1 point
3rd:1 point
4th:1 point
5th:1 point

if u wanna introduce the point system then u must regulate how points are given....adding extra complexity to a voting sytem which imo should be simplified if anything.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Giving 5 total points to be voted in any fashion toward the entries (like 2-2-1, 4-1, 3-2, 1-1-1-1-1, etc.); that would probably be the ultimate for me. But that doesn't matter as much as making a consistent system, and sticking with it from month to month. Consistency is #1, then simplicity #2.

And the other thing Mac said; make the voting in one place only.

edit: What's the thing about making it downloadable? Is this something that happens by default under the current system with google/soundcloud, or would there be an extra step involved?

[uiiuiiu]

20 points total to be assigned between 5 contestants. Stable one point difference wouldn't in my opinion reflect the real difference in "better vs. worse" in most situations. This way the points would reflect better the opinions of the voters

-1
it's flawed imo.

someone could vote like this and have a way too big impact on the result outcome:
1st: 16 points
2nd:1 point
3rd:1 point
4th:1 point
5th:1 point

if u wanna introduce the point system then u must regulate how points are given....adding extra complexity to a voting sytem which imo should be simplified if anything.

Actually it isn't, it was used in a few comps someway back, but you are rigth, I left important part out of the suggestion. The max points for one entry would need to be limited to 10points or 8 points. In anycase I think it would be much better since each voter could give points according to their own desire, not in a "set in stone" format.

I wouldn't mind even if the amount of songs needed to be awarded points could be chosen within certain limits. Just as a example :

25pts minimium of 4 entries voted upon, maximium of 10 points per one entry :

1st - 10pts
2nd - 8pts
3rd - 5pts
4th - 2pts

or

1st - 6pts
2nd - 5pts
3rd - 5pts
4th - 3pts
5th - 3pts
6th - 2pts
7th - 1pts

Much more versatile than set of points for each position. And it really isn't that complicated imo as it can be easily defined by one sentence.