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Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 01, 2012 9:26 am
by Pattertwigs Pal
Dear Knights,

This tournament has been a brainchild of one of the mods for several years. It took several months of planning, several meetings, discussions, disagreements and effort just to get this tournament to become a reality. Nevertheless, we overcame, and the result was something truly spectacular! After a month of posting, tallying, adding, and cheering for our Knights, your epic battle has come to an end. However your Marshals have one last task for each of you!

Your Marshals devised an awesome tournament (if we do say so ourselves ;)) ), but we are in no way perfect. We realize that there are some "chinks in the armor" so to speak, and therefore, we would be remiss if we did not allow you to voice your own opinions about the competition. For those reasons, we ask you to take a few minutes and answer the questions below. We also welcome the opinions of members and mods who did not participate in the competition. Edit: If you would rather summit your feedback privately, you may PM a marshal. [/Edit]


1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

This thread will be locked in 7 days. Your suggestions, feedback, and comments will go to decide whether there will be future tournaments, and how said tournaments will run.

Again, thank you for an amazing month of July! We hope that this opened your eyes as to what an awesome forum we have here, and we hope that you'll peek your heads back into those sections like Talk About Narnia, Cast and Character Discussion, General Movie Discussion, Narnia and Christianity, Costumes, and all of the other wonderful subforums that NarniaWeb has to offer. Now that it is over, the 2PPP rule has been removed so you may post as much as you like as long as you do not double post. ;)

Thanks for making this what it was. . . it was truly something special!

Sincerely:
The Marshals: DiGoRyKiRkE, Malkah, ValiantArcher and Pattertwig's Pal

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 01, 2012 5:21 pm
by Aslanisthebest
You guys did a great job! Everything was so orderly and well-done.

1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

Yes, I did! I think the most fun part was being able to enter so many fun conversations - like someone said, it was just like Narniaweb was when one of the movies came out. (I came around when PC was released) It was so exciting to get into an active and in-depth conversation about Narnia - something I haven't gotten to do in so long! I hope that the conversation stays the same even now, when the competition has ended.
Boring... I'm not sure. I don't recall anything being boring. :P Perhaps it was because it was hard to talk in GMD, but that wasn't boring. I think I posted most in there. :P

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched? Yes.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?
I thought that the scoring was fair. The bonus points were like that (1) that pops up on facebook or when you see a new message comes up, or when you log into Narniaweb and come see a popup that tells you that you have a PM and see a (1 new message). :P The hidden bonuses were pretty fun. I didn't pay specific attention to them, so I can't 100% say.

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why? Indeed! My favourite was Talk About Narnia probably because of all the discussions going on in there and the scope was kind of unlimited. I love the books, of course, so that contributes to the reason I liked it.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied? No, not really, speaking for myself.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why? Hmm.... maybe the duration changed a bit differently? Maybe there could be one new thread (with an interesting topic) per week to discuss? That's just an idea off the top of my head whose reasonability I haven't thought of. Everything else was nice. I don't think I'd change anything. :)

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

I think 5 points per G&B made sense. I did like that the bonus points were awarded to especially plummy posts in the non-G&B sections, but I feel like it would be fair if posts that weren't precisely long enough for 15 points received something different. It might be fun, because it would encourage others to weigh out how much posting in one section will count and then post accordingly.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

At some point, it felt like it was a bit long, but the length was okay overall.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

Most likely, if I have the time. :)

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

I'm awful with coming up with names, so I don't have any suggestions. :P

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

Nope, not really, other than to thank you guys! :)

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 01, 2012 7:08 pm
by NarnianMonkey
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

It sure was fun! I think that a slightly less... limiting post limitation would definitely make things go faster in some threads, which would make it more fun. Maybe it could be something like this: At least 4 (number can change) other people on your team need to post before you can post again, or wait for it to reach the next page (both of them in the same tournament, but you can wait for either one). That way, it would be more about team work than last time, making it even more fun.

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

I think it was evenly matched, except for the occasional inactivity from some members of both of the teams (including me). To solve that, here is my idea:

If a member of the team is inactive (something like 3 (number can change) days without being online), then another NarniaWebber can take their place until they come back. If they don't come back for 7 (number can change) more days, then the inactive member is kicked out of the team (this part can be removed, but I think that someone who is inactive for that long probably isn't going to be on for the rest of the tournament anyway).

I doubt there will be any situation that a team member will be busy for 10 whole days, so this allows for it to be fair when somebody isn't active for a really long time.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

I think that the point totals were a little bit high, but that's just about all I have to say.

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

I liked some of the forums available for earning points in, but I didn't really have the time to read the chapter of The Screwtape Letters that is available for free, so I couldn't participate in that section of the forums. Also, I couldn't find anything to talk about in "Narnia & Christianity", so I couldn't post there, either. General Movie Discussion was my favorite of the forums available for earning points in other than Games & Blogs, with Games & Blogs being my favorite.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

I don't think there is anything that was un-clear, except for what PPP stood for.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

I think it would be my post restriction change idea, I really think it could make things better.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

I think that each post should score points in a different system, perhaps something like this:

1 point for a post.

2 points for a good post.

3 points for a great post.

5 points for a exceptional post.

Plus these bonus points:

On qualifying games in the Games & Blogs section, you can earn 1 bonus point for making a really silly post (games like "What Would You Do Dearie?", where you are supposed to make silly posts.)

On all games in the Games & Blogs section, you can earn 1 bonus point for posting at least three times in one thread (assuming that you make the post restriction change that I suggested).

You earn 3 bonus point for every 25 posts you make in one day. If any of your posts break any of the rules on your way to the 25 post mark, the amount of posts that count towards this bonus resets, making this a very hard to earn bonus, explaining the reason for it earning more bonus points than other bonus points. If you make the 25 posts mark without breaking a rule, your posts you make in one day resets (sort of like how once you reach enough coins in a Mario coin, your amount of coins resets, and you get a 1-Up), meaning you can't lose the points for breaking a rule after posting 25 posts.

I can't really say much about the hidden bonuses, as I wasn't really posting much when they were around. However, I said I can't say much, not that I can't say anything. I think that if you are going to have them, they need to be around at the start of the tournament, instead of appearing near the end of the tournament.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

I think it was a little bit too short if you ask me. I think it should have lasted two months instead of one. Also, there should be more sign-up time next time, so that more NarniaWebbers will join the tournament next time.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

Yes, I would, unless things were too busy at the time, in which case I couldn't join the tournament.

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

I think the names were good, but maybe you could have it be different team names each year so that it makes more sense when the teams have different members than the previous tournament.

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

Not really anything else I have to say.

That's it! Sorry about this post being so long, but I think that it's hard to say it in any shorter form.

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 01, 2012 7:24 pm
by Dinode
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun? Yes, on the whole I did enjoy the tournament.

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched? Yes.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition? I didn't really participate much near the end, so I don't have an opinion about the hidden bonuses. The point totals were certainly higher than I had expected when we began. I might like them to be a bit lower.

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why? Yes, the main problem for me was my difficulty writing deep posts when other people have already written great posts that I completely agree with. I think GMD was my favorite.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied? Not really.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why? Make it shorter, that will make it easier to maintain a posting frenzy without getting tired.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun? :-?? I think that would be just as likely to make it less fair as more fair, I can't tell.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short? I think it would have been better if it were shorter.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it? YES!

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names? The names were good, would Archenland Archers be a good team name?

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey? Would it be possible for there to be a third team next time?

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 02, 2012 5:56 pm
by Eustace
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?
I loved the whole tournament. I have no clue what would make it more fun.
2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?
I think the teams were fairly evenly matched.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?
I would have changed the competition to a different month because less people would be busy.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?
It all made sense and was reasonable. It made things fun and fair.
8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?
I think it was long enough, it gave people lots of time was not too short to think all hope is lost after being behind at the beginning.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

I would sign up for another tournament any day.

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?


I loved the names you guys came up with. They made sense and sounded cool. I have one suggestion for a name: Reepicheep's army.

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 03, 2012 2:33 pm
by Movie Aristotle
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

Yes I did.

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

Not at first. I thought the Lions were too many at first, but after talking with the mods it looks like we might have actually had fewer members than indicated.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

More than anything I felt sorry for you marshals who had to tally the points! I think a simpler way might be 25 points for G&B and 75 points for other threads. Or perhaps 10 & 30? Or simply 1 & 3? On my end, I had not problems with the point totals.

I liked the bonus points because it made me feel like it was worth it to put the extra thought and time into a post. After all, the real goal of the competition, and of all posting on NarniaWeb, is to have discussions of some real depth or creativity. It helped people to stay focused and helped keep competitors from just spamming forums with uninteresting "me too" posts.

Although I understand the reasoning behind the random bonuses, I'm not too much of a fan. I could do with or without it. On the other hand, I think the random bonuses were probably the most fun for you marshals, no?

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

Absolutely! I wish that all the forums had participated. -Although some, like G&B would have to be 5 point forums. I especially liked having both G&B and the Reading Group open for the whole competition. -This is a must for next year's competition. It was nice to know that there was always a forum you could go to for a few quick points or a lot of hefty points. I know that a lot of the Lions' strategy revolved around these two forums.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

I know that you marshals were learning as you went, but the changes from 4PPP to 1PPP to 2PPP were a bit dizzying. I tended to shy away from the games a bit. I also loved the short-running games but they were over before I realized they were there. Perhaps an announcement of when they will begin and end would be nice.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

More teams. It was great to start out with two, this year, but I think that 3-5 would work better. That way the winning team can't stay complacent for long.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

Terrible idea. I do think that people should be rewarded for more thoughtful posts, but I still think that people deserve to be rewarded for their effort. If you are thinking about going this way next year, then I would at least make a note of each team member's post count before and after the competition and award points per post accordingly. Then you could give out points for exceptional posts in addition to these.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

Because I'm a busy person, I thought it was too short. I know that work expands to the time allowed, but still, a week per forum is too short, -as I'd guess you learned towards the end of the tournament. I'd have the competition run two full months so as to better span the summer season and the inevitable summer vacations that teammates will be going on in the northern hemisphere.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?
Yes! :D

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

Oh boy, do I have suggestions! :p:

Narrowhaven Slavers
Beaversdam Beavers
Bism Gnomes
Tashbaan Forevers
Telmar Pirates
Archenland Twins
Ramandu's Island Stars
Magician's Island Duffers
Dark Island Mists
Ettinsmoor Ettins
Terebinthia Terebinths
Kingdom of the Sea People Sea Horses

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?
I can't think of any right now!

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 03, 2012 4:49 pm
by Ithilwen
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?
I did enjoy the tournament. I'd say the most fun was conspiring with my fellow teammates. I can't really say I have any favorite/least favorite parts of the actual competition itself, considering that the competition was basically just made up of posting and then checking the scoreboards.

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?
They would have been, if most of our teammates' computers hadn't broken down at the last minute. ;)) We didn't seem too hurt from that though, thankfully. :)

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?
I thought using 5s and 10s as scoring numbers was a smart move. Especially for the sake of the poor Marshalls. It makes counting easier. I didn't really like that the Games' points got raised later on, since there's never much substance in those. I didn't really understand the hidden bonus points that came in later... What were those, anyway? :-\

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?
I'd have to say my favorite was the General Movie Discussion. Mostly because there was a lot of activity and things to talk about. After the competition moved to other boards, it was very difficult to find things to discuss, and I didn't post much.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?
I didn't understand the hidden bonus points that came in at the tail end. Were they just given out randomly?

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?
That the points from the Games threads went up so much later on.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?
I think all posts in qualifying areas should get at least some points. But I think to make it more fair, there should be more variety as to how many points they get. For example, only really, really exceptional posts got more than 15 points. And because of that, one-sentence posts were getting just as many points as the average but well-thought-out and medium length posts. Which wasn't fair to those who had posted the latter.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?
It was a bit too long. I think two weeks would have been better.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?
Yes.

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?
You could use the names of Narnian countries. Such as Team Calormen, Team Narnia, Team Archenland, etc.

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?
I think it would be fun if there was something more interesting done to decide who got on what team. Maybe like a mini little Qualification game or something.


~Riella =:)

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 03, 2012 5:35 pm
by Lady Courage
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

Yes, very much so! The breakneck speed of G&B was hilarious and fun, probably just about my favorite part. Oh, and seeing that I got massive bonus points for sayin' sumpin' smart. That was fun too. :P
Boring? Ummm... Well, I didn't think any of it was boring. XD

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

Yes, I think so. Y'all did a great job with splitting the members.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

I liked the scoring, but I also like the idea y'all have later on in this survey. So, I'd be open to change. The hidden bonuses confuzzled me. :P They weren't something I disliked, but since I couldn't figure out how to find them, they weren't something I personally loved either. :P

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

There are a few forums I've never really got into, costumes being the main one I just never poke my head into because I have NOTHING to say on the matter. Except, "Gee, she looked AH-MAZING!" :P But otherwise, yeah, I liked them.
However, I wish DT's RP's could have been part of the competition. Some of those stories also need some love, and bonus points could have been given for particularly well written, thoughtful posts.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

Just the hidden bonuses. :P I suppose the idea was to post like mad to find them, but I didn't have time when they came up to post like that.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

Roleplay posts being counted.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

YES! Yes, I LOVE this idea! Though perhaps not taking away the baseline point for G&B. 'Cause, seriously, how creative can you get in some of those games? XD But everywhere else, totally. Absolutely. I like that idea very much. B-)

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

Hmm... Well, I thought it was a pretty good length. Wouldn't want it longer for sure and would not at all be opposed to being shorter. That could keep momentum up better, if it was shorter.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

If I had time, absolutely. :D

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

I liked the names. ;)

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

Not that I can think of at the moment... Just, thanks for being so diligent in all this!! I've been in awe of how much WORK y'all mods put into this. You're totally awesome. All of y'all. :D

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 03, 2012 6:09 pm
by Pattertwigs Pal
Movie Aristotle wrote:On the other hand, I think the random bonuses were probably the most fun for you marshals, no?
They were fun. ;))

Ithilwen wrote: I didn't really understand the hidden bonus points that came in later... What were those, anyway? :-\

Posting had dropped off some from the beginning of the competition so we were adding extra incentive for posts. Basically, we used a lottery system to pick one post a day in Screwtape, CCD, and costumes. Those post were awarded 10 points. In Games and Blogs, every time a game filled up a page a post was selected at random and awarded 10 points.

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 04, 2012 9:44 pm
by stargazer
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

It was lots of fun! I think it brought some action to the forum during what is sometimes a rather slow time. I liked the way it was set up - emphasizing some sections for higher scoring (over a shorter time) and a couple other sections for the whole month.

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

Yes. There are some variables, like vacations or interruptions in internet access, that may be outside the Marshals' control, but all things considered the teams seemed pretty evenly matched.

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

I liked the baseline score for G&B posts but might suggest higher scoring potential in the other sections, especially Screwtape, where more substantial posts are the norm. Maybe 25 or 30 points for exceptional posts there?

The hidden bonuses were a nice surprise.

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

I liked the incentive to visit other sections that people may not go into, or (as in my case) may not frequent as much as they used to.

I liked that it brought some new topics and fresh conversation into those sections, especially GMD, that haven't seen a lot of posts lately. My favorite was probably TAN followed closely by GMD.

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

No.

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

Possibly introducing the hidden bonuses earlier in the competition.

Also, perhaps a change in the forums spotlighted each week. Consider that the enthusiasm is highest at the beginning, so maybe it would help to pair up a section with more topics (like GMD or TAN) with one that has fewer (like N&C or CCD). This might help drive traffic during those early enthusiastic days to those smaller sections.

Another option might be to keep the smaller sections open for points for a longer time (maybe two weeks), but still to begin giving them points right away.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

I think it would be better to keep a small baseline for each post in G&B so people don't feel they have to be profound all the time (they can post just for fun, and still get points!)

But offering a larger range of points for posts in the other areas, for substantial and thoughtful posts, sounds good.

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

A month is good length of time.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

Affirmative!

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

I liked the names, though some of the others suggested here might be fun.

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

I like the suggestion of having more teams, though I know this would complicate things for the Marshals. Perhaps 3 teams could be tried next time, to open things up a bit but limit the extra work for those tallying posts.

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 07, 2012 8:24 pm
by Varnafinde
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun?

I enjoyed it very much! I think what I enjoyed most, was joining some discussion that we got going in the discussion fora. And some of the games were more fun than others ...

The whole idea of posting everywhere to gather points for your team, is fun in itself. A bit like collecting something in order to complete your collection, rather than merely choosing select objects to collect ...

Edit:
And since I have posted mostly in the Ditto Town forum before, it was fun to meet new people ...

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?

Both teams had both heavy posters and posters who only posted a little - even though the end result gave a fairly large difference between them, perhaps we could still say that in some sense they were evenly matched?

3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?

Perhaps the point totals could have been divided by 5 (by dividing each score by 5)?

The bonus points were good - those were the biggest incentive for posting substantial posts, when there was the economical question of where to get most points per minute of writing. (And for that reason, perhaps the bonuses should have been even bigger and more varied - more about this under point 7.)

The "hidden bonuses" at the end were fun - you knew that by mere posting, even nothing very substantial, you could get your team extra points!

4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?

TAN is my favorite - it is the most "Narnian" forum, with the widest scope of different topics. Narnia itself and the Chronicles is such a wide area to talk about, and the one where you most can pretend that Narnia is real :D . It is "the real thing", rather than the artistic interpretations of it which we discuss in the film fora.

But I found it a little discouraging to go to TAN and see so many interesting threads that I couldn't post in, because they were locked. (Of course, this is my own fault for not having used the opportunity earlier to post in them. Many of the other tournament members may have shared their opinions in them already ...)

Some people started new threads, but it takes more courage to start a new one than to post in an existing one. Perhaps some more threads could have been reopened before the relevant week?

5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?

The hidden bonuses - I wasn't sure whether they were totally random, or if there was some pattern that I might be able to work out.
You have remedied it already by explaining them in this thread :)

6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?

Reopen more threads to give us more threads to spread our posting over.
Even the G&B forum might have had more games to choose between.

7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?

Keep a base-line, but lower it to 1 point. Then we are counting posts, and every post should count - how else can you contribute to your team when you find you cannot post anything creative? You should be able to earn points for your team by merely posting.

Then we could have a wider range of bonus points - good to exeptional posts could earn from 2 to 5 points (or even more), for creativity or extra substance. (This may mean more work for the Marshals, I guess ...)

This could be an incentive for good posts, without removing the possibility to earn points by easy posts. It seems more fair - might even be more fun!

8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?

It was long enough. Not too long, but if you have to change it, make it shorter rather than longer.

9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?

Oh yes - if I could afford the time at all!

10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?

I liked them (and would like to come back to the same team next time ;) ).
But it might also be a good idea to have three teams instead of two - the third name should also be something Narnian, then, don't put Narnia against Telmar or other countries.

11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?

Is it costly / much work to open more channels in the chat rooms? What about one channel for each team, with the assumption that you were not supposed to peek into the wrong channel? (It wouldn't be practical to check this and punish it, but working on an honor basis seems to have worked well this year anyway.)

I might have chatted more, and we might have discussed more strategy in the chat room, if there were only our own team members in the channel. (My main reason for not chatting is the time difference, though, so I don't know how much strategy was discussed while I was asleep.)

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 12, 2012 5:33 pm
by DiGoRyKiRkE
Thank you for the feedback guys! The mods will keep all of these answers in mind when planning the next tournament!

Re: Competition Survey - All Welcome

PostPosted: Aug 13, 2012 6:39 am
by Pattertwigs Pal
*sneaks in*
1. Did you enjoy the tournament? What parts of it were the most fun, and which parts were the most boring? What could we change to make it even more fun? Yes I did. I enjoyed having posts in my sections to read. There were some lulls in the competition. I don't think that last question applies. ;))

2. Did you think that the teams were evenly matched?
Based on what we knew, yes. There were quite a few surprises in the amount members posted. We didn't think about taking vacations into account. Next time we do this, we should wait to assign teams until closer to the start date. The extra time will make it easier to look at various factors. We should ask the members to let us know if they have any vacations or very busy times so we can try to even those out between the teams. We can use the amount of points members earned this year to try to balance the teams. (Of course this isn't fool proof as members may not post about the same they did last year and it doesn't take into account the members that weren't in the competition last year. However, it is better that using our impressions about how much people post.)
3. What did you think of scoring? Were the point totals too high? Too low? What about the bonus points? Did you like the "hidden bonuses" that came into being at the end of the competition?
I like having the points go up by 5s. It makes in easier to count. ;)) I would make a few small adjustments. For the whole competition G&B should be rewarded 5 points a post but be able to earn up to 15 points for creative points. For other forums, I would drop the starting amount down to 10 a post. That would be for posts that had minimal substance (enough to count as a post with substance but not much more than that). The more substance, thought, etc. in a post the more it would earn - up to 25 points. The hidden bonuses were fun but I can take them or leave them. When there were a lot of posts in G&B it was hard to keep up with giving the bonuses. It didn't help that I was very busy the last couple of days in the month. :P
4. Did you like the forums that participated in the non-G&B aspect of the competition? Which was your favourite and why?
Yes, that's how I got involved in the competition to begin with. ;)) Screwtape because it actually got a fair amount of posts.
5. Were there any parts of the competition (any aspect at all) that were unclear to you? If so, what were they, and how would you like to see this remedied?
No.
6. If you could have changed one thing about the tournament, what would it have been, and why?
I think I would change the order of the featured forums and maybe make N&C a month long one as well as the reading group. That way the forums that are easier for people to post in (GMD, CCD, TAN, and costumes (there are threads about favorite / least favorite costumes and future costumes)) would each have a week of focus. In other words, 3 other forums would be open at a time and members should be able to post in at least one of them. I would order the forums: Costumes, CCD, GMD, TAN.
7. How would you feel about eliminating the base-line for points (AKA, not every post in G&B will receive 5 points, not every post in TAN will earn you 15 points, etc....) and having the Marshals only give out points for exceptional posts? This would lead to lower scoring competitions to be sure, but do you think it would make things fairer? Do you think it would make things more fun?
I don't like the idea. I'd rather see it like I described above.
8. What about the length of the tournament? Did it last too long? Was it too short?
I wouldn't want it to be any shorter. I was very sad to see it end so I wouldn't mind it being longer.
9. If there was another tournament, would you sign up for it?
Yes, as long as I can be a marshal again.
10. What did you like the names we came up with? Do you have any suggestions for names?
I liked the names we came up with but I also like some of the suggestions other people came up with. I don't have any suggestions; I'm terrible at coming up with names. :P
11. Any other thoughts, suggestions not covered by this survey?
No.