Wednesday Already?
Okay, mea culpa – I didn’t actually have anything interesting for you yesterday. I was out sick, and concentrating on keeping my brain moored to its tether. But today I have a response to allegations of unfairness being brought by certain unhappy parties.
I’ve already explained that no human is involved at any point in the tournament seedings – it’s a straightforward matter of the most-propped rig going against the 128th, the 2nd against the 127th, etc. At the beginning of the month, I set up a tournament. This involves me selecting the number of battles in Round 1 (64) and setting the start and end dates for each round. After that, the computer handles everything else. There is no way for me or anyone else to alter the tournament, whether by deciding which rigs are entered, whose rigs they battle, or any other means. I had nothing to do with the coding, nobody who runs the site on a day-to-day basis has any access to that code, and to suggest otherwise is personally offensive to me. This system occasionally causes frustration – some rigs are set against other rigs by the same author, some are set against rigs that their owners assume they have no chance against, but this is a sign that the computer is impartial, not (as some assume) weighted for or against any rig or modder.
We are considering altering the tournament process so only one rig per user makes it to each tournament, but really, I don’t see how that would be more fair. The vast majority of our modders have more than one rig, and some – like Wolverine and Slipperyskip – have a huge number of them. Without allowing multiple rigs per user, I don’t think we’d have enough rigs per month to make for a very large tournament. Nevertheless, it’s an option we’re investigating, though code-wise I don’t know how easy would be. It can be a little discouraging to some modders to see people win multiple places per month, but I’d venture to say that it’s a testament to their modding abilities and fan base rather than any nefarious goings-on on our end.
If you have questions or concerns about the tournament seeding process, would like to see changes to the way the tournaments are seeded and run, or any other comments, please leave feedback on this post. Or, if you prefer, send it to me privately at nathan at maximumpc dot com.
It saddens me to see people
It saddens me to see people leave this awesome site. Problems will surface, and they will get ironed out! Be patient. This is a great place to hang out, check out other modders’ rigs, learn new things in the how-to section. There’s a lot more here than just the battles. I have seen mods here that I have never seen before, old and new. Some mods I haven’t seen in years, so it’s cool to revisit them. This site has grown so much in the last 7 months, it’s probably the most diverse collection of case mods and custom rigs anywhere.
And you know there are potential sponsors and venders out there who frequent this site, so it’s great exposure too. Don’t deprive yourself of this great resource. Stay and have a blast! I for one will be staying here awhile.
Hope to see ya around. :-)
Its a bit tragic that some
Its a bit tragic that some don’t enjoy this site. new products (like modshop) need a little evolving. Frankly its critisism that helps that evolution. After all, without critizism, whould there be a need for product improvement? I will understand your position if your comments are falling on deaf ears. Is that really happening? It is my opinion that the admin (and the community as a whole) is welcoming and responsive. I am sure they are all working very hard to make this popular and enjoyable for all. Cheers…
I’m with Slipperyskip…
I’m with Slipperyskip…
After this month I too wash my hands of this.
Yes, this is fun! At least
Yes, this is fun! At least I’m having fun… both reviewing and voting on the rigs displayed here, as well as completing and competing with my own.
Overall the system seems to work fairly well. I’d hate to see strict competition categories made and think one is fine. Daily voting increases overall visits to the site, which of course benefits the sponsors as their names and products get good exposure. This makes perfect business sense to me. Afterall, that is what drives the Mod Shop.
One thing I would suggest to make it easier for people is a newest (date) sort function for the rigs browser. Some folks don’t want to subscribe to an RSS feed but might end up missing newly posted rigs for the month. Not sure how much work this would be to add, but I’d certainly use the function to give props to deserving rigs.
Thanks to all the site sponsors for giving us this fun opportunity.
Totally agree, Boddaker.
Totally agree, Boddaker. Granted I’m a new modder and one of those rarer birds, a geek girl, it is great to have the Mod Shop as one of the resources available to learn about the hobby (or business as the case may be). I’m always on the lookout to learn new things and for inspiration. I would hate to see anyone stop participating here. Giving constructive criticism will serve to refine and define this site as it grows.