This is probably not what you excellent designers would like, as it depends on the generosity of the community - but what about simply allowing a donation scheme?  Many would not, but I know I'd throw a little money to the designers of my favorite boards. Maybe I'm just generous, but I have a lot of fun playing on this site - which is why I have no problem paying to be a premium member.  I'd also chip in to support the better designers - but maybe that's just me.

Hell - I've even found bugs in a board, messaged the designer about it - but the designer was too busy to fix it.  In that situation, since it's one of my favorite boards - I would have happily bribed the designer with a donation to fix it, if it was easy to do.  Meaning, not trying to find out the designers real life identity on my own to try to bribe them with direct paypal loot.  I may be generous, but I'm also lazy 

FYI - this bug still exists.  RiskyBack - if you see this and if you want a little cash bribe to fix the problem I messaged you about way back in June 2011, let me know.

Slander wrote:

FYI - this bug still exists.  RiskyBack - if you see this and if you want a little cash bribe to fix the problem I messaged you about way back in June 2011, let me know.

You can also message me  - I'd be happy to fix it.

tom wrote:

Slander wrote:

FYI - this bug still exists.  RiskyBack - if you see this and if you want a little cash bribe to fix the problem I messaged you about way back in June 2011, let me know.

You can also message me  - I'd be happy to fix it.

Sidetracked...but...if it's a Risky board it's possible it's not a bug but oddly intended :P

what if you changed the board competitions schedule to just the boards that have gone "live" in that period, instead of creating a theme. it might draw in some more contestants and cooler boards.

j-bomb wrote:

what if you changed the board competitions schedule to just the boards that have gone "live" in that period, instead of creating a theme. it might draw in some more contestants and cooler boards.

j-bomb wrote:

what if you changed the board competitions schedule to just the boards that have gone "live" in that period, instead of creating a theme. it might draw in some more contestants and cooler boards.

I kind of like the idea of having a theme, but I can also see the appeal of a general best board over some time period contest.  As a map maker I find it a fun challenge to come up with a board that fits the theme, and I think it forces me to be more creative that I would be otherwise.  Tom is fronting the money so I guess it's really up to him.

Maybe there could be some combination of these things.  For example every six month period, have a contest for all boards released in that period, but then also once a year have a contest with a specific theme.

I'm not sure how those #s would shake out, and what the optimal contest size is.  I think have 2 or 3 entries is obviously too few, but if you had a lot of entries, it might be harder for everyone to play all the boards enough to vote fairly.

By my count, we had 40 boards released in the last year.  If you only had two contests a year, that is 20 boards in each contest, which seems like a lot.  If you did it 3 times a year, it would be only ~13 in each contest which sounds more reasonable, but if that would mean completely giving up any themed contests I would be against it. 

Ozyman wrote:

j-bomb wrote:

what if you changed the board competitions schedule to just the boards that have gone "live" in that period, instead of creating a theme. it might draw in some more contestants and cooler boards.

I kind of like the idea of having a theme, but I can also see the appeal of a general best board over some time period contest.  As a map maker I find it a fun challenge to come up with a board that fits the theme, and I think it forces me to be more creative that I would be otherwise.  Tom is fronting the money so I guess it's really up to him.

Maybe there could be some combination of these things.  For example every six month period, have a contest for all boards released in that period, but then also once a year have a contest with a specific theme.

I'm not sure how those #s would shake out, and what the optimal contest size is.  I think have 2 or 3 entries is obviously too few, but if you had a lot of entries, it might be harder for everyone to play all the boards enough to vote fairly.

By my count, we had 40 boards released in the last year.  If you only had two contests a year, that is 20 boards in each contest, which seems like a lot.  If you did it 3 times a year, it would be only ~13 in each contest which sounds more reasonable, but if that would mean completely giving up any themed contests I would be against it. 

If the # of plays was used to determine "Best New Board" then it wouldn't really require a lot of prep/voting time so the frequency could be increased.

The voting on the map making theme takes longer so I think might be better to have that be less frequent.

i.e. Every 3 months there is a "Best New Board" result based on # of plays in that period.  It would have a lower payout and provide an on-going incentive for new board creation.

Every 6 months there is the current theme-based comp that uses the voting system for results and has a larger payout.  This would encourage a different set of mapmakers potentially.

In addition to the theme-based competitions (which, btw, I think are a really great idea but are starting to become a bit confused -- we've got legos, escher, something else (?) all going on right now, it seems), it would perhaps be nice to have a "Board of the Month" and/or "Board of the Year" competition, ideally with a modest incentive to sweeten the pot.

> If the # of plays was used to determine "Best New Board" then it wouldn't really require a lot of prep/voting time so the frequency could be increased.

If we are going to have an automated contest (i.e. one where voting is not required), I think I'd rather have some end-of-the-year superlatives (although any time period would work ok, I think an end of year thing would be the most fun, and prizes could be bigger and cover more than just 1st).  For the map makers it could be:

• Most Popular Board
• Highest Rated Board
• Most Prolific Map-Maker
• (others?)

For players you could have:

• Most Wins
• Most Improved Ranking (net change in ranking from year begin to end
• Most Improved CP (similar)
• Most active (most games played)

Probably a few others too, if we thought about it.

> the theme-based competitions (which, btw, I think are a really great idea but are starting to become a bit confused -- we've got legos, escher, something else (?) all going on right now, it seems)

The schedule is in a transition period, because their was a consensus that there was not enough time for creating and voting on maps, so it is a bit wonky now, but after the end of this month when the LEGO maps are due,  there will be 1 theme in the voting stage, in 2 in the creation stage, and once the schedule settles that will always be the case.

btw - the upcoming theme is 'Educational', which I'm hoping will give us some really interesting maps, and should be broad enough to get lots of interest.  Anything from historical battles, anatomy based maps, molecular structures, musical scales or instruments, etc.  I'm trying to figure out if I can do one based on turing machines.