Here's my plan.
 

• Games Showcase will be renamed Works in Progress and the old WIPs forum will be merged with it.
• A new subforum, just called Showcase, so that it can be used for demos as well. Only mods will be able to post new topics there.
• There will be a clear list of guidelines posted in Showcase as a sticky so you can all see what you need to satisfy to get your game there.
• I will probably decide on two mods specifically for the Showcase section. If you're interested in the job, please let me know.

Seems simple to me - leave all as is but add a new section called 'Admin's Choice Games' (or something) and stick the good stuff in there. Users could apply to have their game added or the mods could choose the ones they liked. No-one can really argue as it's the mods personal choice.

I like this idea. Maybe we could combine it with having some users nominated, as I don't want to be responsible for playing every single game and deciding whether it goes in there. :p

my game has to permantely stop win WIP because my game is based on constantly evolving hence the name kickassevolution
my game is designed to grow as new content is added giving the players more things to do.

From what some of you have seen of my game you would not know this as ive only just started to implement the data structures to allow for unlimited growth(hard drive space permiting). You basically download new data as you require it.
OH GOD i cant wait to show it to someone  .

i think developers should choose if they want to put there game in WIP but then again if i wanted to play a game in showcase i would expect it to be finished(bar a few minor tweeks,thats allowed).
Or would it be classed as finished when it doesnt crash or throw errors and is fully playable ??
I think moderators should use thier god like powers and AUTHORATAR to remove games or at least tell the user they are going to remove a game from showcase if it is proven that its not finished.

Heres a thought..
say you put a game in showcase and it fully works no crashes fully playable..
then you decide to add a new feature to it like chat or new levels or different entities etc etc  that also works ok .
should you be beaten with a blunt object for posting the first version? NO the game worked ok the new game is just a different version.
I think leave it up to moderators to remove games if they arnt fully complete.

Is the showcase section intended to be a community showcase or a personal showcase? If it is a place for the Java community to showcase complete games, then some kind of moderation seems necessary. If it is just a place for game developers to show off their work, then each person can decide for themselves when a game is "finished enough".

To me a community showcase seems more useful, so I'd give moderation a vote.

Society needs order.
Please rule.

You can do whatever you want, I believe you are clever enough.

Anarchy! The game authors should decide if their game is ready for showcase or a work in production...

How about someone who makes games for a living vets them Hint hint. ps. I am notoriously scathing of substandard work. I really mean that.

Cas

You guys (including Demonpants) are taking this way too seriously.

A moderator should be able to move a topic at his own discretion, provided he documents it in the thread. If a moderator consistently irritates people by using wrong discretion, then the solution is to remove his moderator privileges.

I think all this extra meta-planning (3 judges or whatever) is unnecessary and will probably discourage people from posting games to these sections. Just focus on my game, not on where I posted it

I voted "If 3 users in a topic vote that it should be moved, do so", but I'm not sure I meant the same thing by it as Demonpants.

Basically it's similar to SimonH's proposal but putting less load on the admins. No-one can create threads in Showcase; if three people vote in a thread for it to be moved to Showcase and the OP agrees (they might still consider it a WIP and not ready for Showcase, and that should be respected) then a passing admin will move it.

yup thats the reason i mentioned guidelines, so judges can just say it fails this guideline, so if developer want, he can just go away and try fix that part.

hmm, guess that does make sense.

Leaving it to the mods does sound alot easier and straight forward, but the rules/guidelines of what goes into the showcase needs to be tightened up and not just left to the authors discretion.

Riven got it bang on. Close the Showcase to posters. Let moderators find the good stuff and post it up there.
ps. don't actually move threads. Moderators can invite authors to write a brand new post for their game.

Cas

fi the moderator makes the thread then no problem (except kinda confusing).

but if the user makes the thread. then they should put the moderator who invited them. So if the moderator looks and didnt ever invite them, they can get put back.

Having clear rules to decide whether a game is complete or not is fine and necessary (the author then has almost no reason to think it is an arbitrary decision), it is a good way to go but these rules have to be known and largely accepted by the whole community. In any case, I think that if you behave correctly, if you justify your position and if finally you ask the authorization of the author, you can move the game into the WIP section with his approval without frustrating him and without discouraging him.

If your "colleagues" and you had spoken in private to me, we could have found a solution that would satisfy everyone. You don't put a game here in order to loose any control on how it is shown. This forum has to be democratic or some developers will go away because they will undergo the moderation. We have to be united. If someone feels integrated and respected in a community, he will perhaps invest itself more than if he considers his games are not shown as he would like them to. I don't believe in authority, speak to people, people here are not stupid, they are able to create games. There is an emotional aspect that might complicate the way of making a decision when it concerns your own games but I'm sure we are reasonable enough to go beyond it to make fair decisions together as a team and not moderators versus developers, do you see what I mean? I don't think many authors will refuse moving their games into the WIP section if you use some pedagogy.

I won't answer to some very formal and conservative viewpoints. My attempt of finding a kind of unity comes to an end when it deals with politics here.

We are not forced to do everything like the others. We use Java for gaming, we are already different.