Quote: Original post by jpetrie
Superpig has a life and a Real Job, and on top of that still manages to keep this site up and running in its current state, handling tons of back-end craziness, and spec out the next iteration of the site, which includes extensive research and user feedback collation, and organize and run a bunch of the GDNet contents. Give the guy a break, hm?

Then maybe we shouldn't have contests.

If superpig would tell the site what sort of help he needs on this or future contests, though, maybe the community could work to actually make the contests run.

Quote:
Then maybe we shouldn't have contests.

That's entirely a valid option, but there's still the matter of wrapping up the outstanding contests, which is what I'm presuming this thread is about (4E...whatever number we're on).

One thing you could do is actually just create a member vote and basically go through and start voting outside of official judgement. You know, kind of a fan favorite; that way people get at least some feedback and things will move forward. Yeah, it won't be filled with grand prizes, but kudos are also a great thing.

So, could we find out what kind of help GDNet needs on this contest and see if the members can't help out.

I started going through the entries and making comments, but I couldn't get most of them to run (especially on Vista).

Quote: Original post by dmoonfire
One thing you could do is actually just create a member vote and basically go through and start voting outside of official judgement. You know, kind of a fan favorite; that way people get at least some feedback and things will move forward. Yeah, it won't be filled with grand prizes, but kudos are also a great thing.

Yeah, that's a good idea. I was actually going to make a thread about that a while back, but then I saw these forums don't allow polls. It's no replacement for the official judging, but it would be awesome to see what the people like.

If we haven't figured out something, I'll throw some poll software up on my site and get a list of all the games. That way, we can at least start something and have some fun with it.

I just need to get back to apartment (re: Iowa flooding), but I should be back in a week or so (yeah, I've been saying that for a while, sorry).

Quote: Original post by jpetrie
Superpig has a life and a Real Job, and on top of that still manages to keep this site up and running in its current state, handling tons of back-end craziness, and spec out the next iteration of the site, which includes extensive research and user feedback collation, and organize and run a bunch of the GDNet contents. Give the guy a break, hm?

Lots of people who entered the contest had such distractions but didn't try to submit their entries months late. And other contests I've seen on non-professional sites didn't have such issues.
And this isn't the first time. Last time we knew prizes in advance, but judging still took forever and in the end most people didn't even get a score.

I do love GD, but while the running of the contests is quite good, the judging of them is like a parody of Duke Nukem Forever's development (or games development's approach to deadlines in general).
GD advertises itself as the premier site for game development, so why can't it use that to get decent prizes? I'm talking internships and jobs, or at the least, top-spec PCs.

I think it would be better if people didn't volunteer unless they could dedicate the time required. Of course it's done for free and this is NOT a criticism of SuperPig (and anyone else involved), but IMO it would be better for the site if people didn't take a role they can't fill.

At this point, I'm waiting for any sort of feedback at all. I worked on this game with another individual that goes to the same school I do. I graduate in August, and it never crossed my mind this contest may not be judged before I leave for good so we can celebrate our hard work together.....

I'm very fond of the idea of creating a poll and having GD members vote, because peer evaluate is just as important to me as the official judging will be (albeit the lack of prizes :P). I hope this happens!

Quote: Original post by jpetrie
Superpig has a life and a Real Job, and on top of that still manages to keep this site up and running in its current state, handling tons of back-end craziness, and spec out the next iteration of the site, which includes extensive research and user feedback collation, and organize and run a bunch of the GDNet contents. Give the guy a break, hm?

I didn't join the contest so it is not really an issue that affects or concerns me personally, but I find your suggestion that the people here would not appreciate all the hard work Superpig puts into keeping GameDev running and planning future improvements a little crude. Besides, nobody referred to Superpig as the sole responsible person.

If he isn't able to handle the additional workload, which I think the vast majority of us can respect and understand, then perhaps it is best to refrain from organizing these events, at least for a while. Regarding the past contest and the current judging process, has anyone taken a look at the alternatives like delegating the responsibilities to other staff members or moderators? And are there plans to improve the communication with the participants, so that they at least know what's going on?

I think many members, myself included, have shown their gratitude for Superpig work. And I don't think you should read any of the posts here as a personal attack on him. If there are any complaints, it's toward GameDev as the organizer of 4E6. By holding this contest it has made commitments, just like the participants have. It's GameDev's job to follow up on them. And if unforeseen difficulties arise, it's its duty to inform the other parties of interest clearly and frequently on the progress.

We all love GameDev and its contributing staff and members; honest criticism will only make the community stronger.

Quote: Original post by OOBrad21
At this point, I'm waiting for any sort of feedback at all. I worked on this game with another individual that goes to the same school I do. I graduate in August, and it never crossed my mind this contest may not be judged before I leave for good so we can celebrate our hard work together.....

I'm very fond of the idea of creating a poll and having GD members vote, because peer evaluate is just as important to me as the official judging will be (albeit the lack of prizes :P). I hope this happens!

Which game was yours?