Community Voting

[appel]

It will open soon. Here's a heads up:

1. Each registered user will have 25 points to use to assign to games.
2. Each game can be assigned anywhere from 0 to 5 points from each user.
3. The game with the most points wins. Results will be ordered by the most points. Games with equal number of points will share position.
4. Only registered users on Java4k.com can vote. Multiple accounts not allowed, attempts to bypass this will be dealt with.
5. The voting is open for two weeks. Results will be displayed instantly when voting closes.


Ok, back to work...

[appel]

Ok, it's been opened.

March 3rd - March 17 are the official voting days!!!

http://java4k.com/

Sign in, or register if you don't have an account, and fill out the voting form. The link to the voting page appears as "Community Voting 2010" in the header.

[SquashMonster]

I love that everyone gets to vote, and that the voting mechanism you chose requires that people have played at least a reasonable sample of the year's games.  Looks great.

Do you think that, when the final results are posted, you could do a separate subscore that only shows the votes made by people who have submitted games to Java4k?  A "devloper's choice" award if you will.  I think it would be interesting to see that as a separate measure.

Games published by our own members! Go get 'em!

[Alan_W]

I took a quick look at the voting mechanism, which looks easy to use    With only 25 points to spread around, a lot of games will get a zero, which I suspect, will result in a lot of ties for last place.

Also (I didn't check to see if this was enforced) - I assume that voting for your own games is dissallowed.

[steveyO]

Does look easy to vote. Good job!  Also what shall we base our points on?  ie. Simply if the game was fun to play or not,  or other issues like technical difficulty/graphic quality.  There are a few games with great graphics but a bit boring and vice-versa.

[appel]

Also (I didn't check to see if this was enforced) - I assume that voting for your own games is dissallowed.

Voting for your own game is allowed. So maybe most games won't receive zero votes

[appel]

Do you think that, when the final results are posted, you could do a separate subscore that only shows the votes made by people who have submitted games to Java4k?  A "devloper's choice" award if you will.  I think it would be interesting to see that as a separate measure.

That is possible, yes.

[bysse]

Voting for your own game is allowed. So maybe most games won't receive zero votes

Voting for your own game? No that feels kind of dirty

[Markus_Persson]

I shamelessly voted 5 on VVVV because I'm so proud of it.. but yeah, this effectively either penalizes people for not voting on their own games, or lowers everyone who submitted scores by 5..

[appel]

I shamelessly voted 5 on VVVV because I'm so proud of it.. but yeah, this effectively either penalizes people for not voting on their own games, or lowers everyone who submitted scores by 5..

Depends on how honest people are. If they really believe they have a great game, why can't they give it 5 points. Likewise, if they think their game sucks compared to all the rest, then they wouldn't give it their own points.

Community voting of course isn't without flaws, nor is any voting. But I believe it should give fairly balanced results.

In any case, we do also have judge reviews to make-up for any shortfalls.

Games published by our own members! Go get 'em!

[DzzD]

I shamelessly voted 5 on VVVV because I'm so proud of it.. but yeah, this effectively either penalizes people for not voting on their own games, or lowers everyone who submitted scores by 5..

dont care then I am going to give you a "Zero", so everything will get back to normality mouhaha

[DzzD]

Ok, it's been opened.

March 3rd - March 17 are the official voting days!!!

http://java4k.com/

Sign in, or register if you don't have an account, and fill out the voting form. The link to the voting page appears as "Community Voting 2010" in the header.

did not vote yet but  seems that "commenting" (under game) does not work for me on IE8/Vista nothing happen when trying to submit a comment

[appel]

did not vote yet but  seems that "commenting" (under game) does not work for me on IE8/Vista nothing happen when trying to submit a comment

Fixed.

[appel]

The judges have now started the process of reviewing the games.

Results from both judging review and community voting are due at the same time, March 17th.

[DzzD]

here is my community vote :

Burning Man : 5 for technic, "like to play" /gamedesign
Driver : 3 for technic, "like to play" /gamedesign
Fortress4K : 3 for technic
BugWar : 2 for technic, "like to play"
TR4KS : 2 for "like to play" /gamedesign
SilentHunter4K : 2 for "like to play"/gamedesign
Virus4K : 2 for "like to play"
GTA4K : 2 for technic
4freedom : 1 for technic (and cause not a lot of point to assign more )
VVVV : 1 for technic (and cause not a lot of point to assign more )
Assasin4K: 1 for technic (and cause not a lot of point to assign more )
Falcon4K : 1 for techinc  (and cause not a lot of point to assign more )
TrickShot : 1 for technic (and cause not a lot of point to assign more )

all tested, nearly all liked, but really not enought points to give ......

[TheAnalogKid]

Yeah, that rating system has issues for sure. Not all games can have a vote per voter.

[DzzD]

Yeah, that rating system has issues for sure. Not all games can have a vote per voter.

for sure... I gived you two point at first pass... but so many games and so few points

[TheAnalogKid]

For me, a good system would be to give a rate between 0 (lowest) and 5 (highest or whatever scale) for all the games.

I gived you two point at first pass..

So my game wasn't good enough?  Kidding.

[appel]

Of course, no one system is perfect.

The aim with this point system is to having the voting process as painless as possible. Being a judge for a few years I know just how difficult a task it is to painstakingly go over each and every game, play it, and try to come up with some objective score for it. Trying to make all the community voting participants do that...well... it's optimism at best, as it takes judges many days, weeks sometimes, to go through this process.

The community voting is limited, yes, but it should still draw out the *best* games, which is the goal.
The aim isn't to rate the games (e.g. 5 stars, 4 stars), the aim is to give your points to the games you feel most deserving. If you feel there are so many games deserving, give them all 1 point, but the best game 2 points. Your decision. If it should have 30-50 points instead of 25 is debatable. You can effectively give 25 games 1 point each. Remember, the points aren't averaged out, they are summed together. The game with the most points wins.

Don't forget, the judges will also deliver their voting, where all games will receive their review and scoring. So, any game that doesn't get any points (which I hope isn't the case) it will get it's fair shake from the judges.

[Nate]

Wouldn't just a few people putting all 25 points into one game allow the system to be worked?

[appel]

Wouldn't just a few people putting all 25 points into one game allow the system to be worked?

No. If that were the case, having just one question and a drop-down box of all the games would have sufficed, where it asked "Which game should win?". I can't imagine that working well.

At least now you have a chance of voting for five games that you think deserve to win, or more if you spread out your points.

Having maximum 5 points for each game enforces people to take a look at more than just one game, and having just 25 total points allows people to finish after voting for just 5 games.


edit: I just ran a quick check on the poll data, and 33 out of 34 games have been given points so far. That means only one game has yet to receive points. Pretty good considering the booths have only been open for a couple of days. I think when the results are published then people will appreciate how well this works and reflects on the best games.

[TheAnalogKid]

What about this system: You can rate any number of games from 0 to 5 points but you're not forced to rate all the games. You could also require to vote for at least x games.

[appel]

What about this system: You can rate any number of games from 0 to 5 points but you're not forced to rate all the games. You could also require to vote for at least x games.

And you have to vote for odd numbered games with even number of points and even numbered games with odd number, whereas you cannot vote for more than even number of timer for even numbered games and odd number of times for odd numbered games (sorry for the sarcasm hehe)

Nah, I think simplicity is the best. 

[halfwitgoat]

I'd like to vote, but I'm having problems logging in to java4k.com.

I've probably forgotten my username & password, but I just get a blank page when I try.

[appel]

I'd like to vote, but I'm having problems logging in to java4k.com.

I've probably forgotten my username & password, but I just get a blank page when I try.

You should not get a blank page.

Log-in should work, I tested it right now both in FF and IE.

[halfwitgoat]

You should not get a blank page.

Log-in should work, I tested it right now both in FF and IE.

Aha. Firefox remembers my login  (I've since switched to Opera.)

[bysse]

Having maximum 5 points for each game enforces people to take a look at more than just one game, and having just 25 total points allows people to finish after voting for just 5 games.

I like the voting system. The problem is, just like you say, to get people to try the games.

I just realized that the name and picture of the game are very important for the community voting. All games that have black background on the screenshot have fewer hits that the other games. For an example, 'EPIC INFERNO' was submitted 10 days after my submission (Geometry4k) but it has more hits. It must be because the picture looks better than mine and the name is much better (except for the caps ).

So Appel, is it ok if i change the game name to 'Perfect Geometry' and the image to some lightly dressed girl?

[TheAnalogKid]

and the image to some lightly dressed girl?

The way you pitch something in life always has a big impact on the interest of people. This is embarrassing IMHO but it's a chore you can't afford to ignore. And yes, even the name of the game has a high importance. I'd even say even the way you present the game in the short description.

[TheAnalogKid]

'EPIC INFERNO' was submitted 10 days after my submission (Geometry4k) but it has more hits

There's also the originality factor I guess. Epic Inferno has this "never seen before" factor that can raise interest.

[bysse]

The way you pitch something in life always has a big impact on the interest of people. This is embarrassing IMHO but it's a chore you can't afford to ignore. And yes, even the name of the game has a high importance. I'd even say even the way you present the game in the short description.

Yes i know but i tend to forget it because i'm not that good at design
I guess the title of my entry next year will be one of 'Zombie Strippers 4k',  'Natal 4k' or 'EPIC Burning Bug Assassin 4000 Pro'...