StudioBlue
Sponsor
No one can reasonably take the combined blood, sweat, and tears that a person puts into making a game, a book, music, a work of art, etc... and distill it down into a series of numbers.
But is exactly what we judges had to do. That is what any judge who has to do more than "pass/fail" has to do.
It is very difficult.
And as Venetia pointed out, anything can happen that influences a judge's score:
1. The judge may have several problems playing the game. This could be from a browser conflict, a problem with their system, or a bug in your game that you just didn't find.
2. The judge may really bad at your game. So they do so poorly that they don't have fun. Can't rate a game highly if you got so frustrated you walked away from it.
3. The judge may find your game's gameplay monotonous or uninspiring. Not everyone likes shooters, or platformers, or RPGs. Their may be a natural bias to overcome. Regardless of how objective the judge tries to be, their is still that bias.
4. The judge may find your tone in the game's thread to be too little or too much self-aggrandizing. It's impossible to show confidence without some people seeing it as arrogance.
5. The judge may think your graphics or sound/music are not as good as you or the people in the your thread do. Some people are not easily impressed.
6. The judge may still have the memory of the last game they played in their minds, which could conceivably lower or raise your scores.
7. The judge might just dislike your game.
The seven points above are merely examples. They don't serve as an excuse for biased judging (there is none), and they don't reflect any behavior I did or did not exhibit personally as a judge (I was unbiased as humanly possible). They are just examples of things that can cause a judge to give your game a score you don't think it deserves.
The most important thing to remember is that behind each of those numbers is a person who has their own ideas of what makes a perfect game, and what makes a crappy game. And that person is being asked to be objective in judging, through an extremely in-depth set of criteria, for over 25 entries in less than one week.
As for listing rationale for scores, I cannot agree to that. That would just invite more argument and debate over scores. Everyone who entered the contest agreed to have their entry judged. And judged they were. The only compromise I see in that regard is this: in future contests, judges may volunteer (but are not obligated) a list of "suggested improvements" that are compiled and PM'd to the entrants after the contest by the Organizer. I'm not crazy about that idea, but it could work.
Anyway, this has been a very rewarding experience for me. It was something I decided to do because I hardly know anyone here, and therefore was able to be as objective as possible.
And I'll publicly say that I would gladly do this again.
EDIT: And EVERYONE who participated in this contest deserves major kudos. It takes a lot of guts to put your creation out for others to judge. Regardless of if your game ranked high or low, you deserve applause for completing something major. It's like finishing a marathon. Even if you don't win, or even place, you deserve kudos for finishing the race. So congrats to all who submitted their games!
But is exactly what we judges had to do. That is what any judge who has to do more than "pass/fail" has to do.
It is very difficult.
And as Venetia pointed out, anything can happen that influences a judge's score:
1. The judge may have several problems playing the game. This could be from a browser conflict, a problem with their system, or a bug in your game that you just didn't find.
2. The judge may really bad at your game. So they do so poorly that they don't have fun. Can't rate a game highly if you got so frustrated you walked away from it.
3. The judge may find your game's gameplay monotonous or uninspiring. Not everyone likes shooters, or platformers, or RPGs. Their may be a natural bias to overcome. Regardless of how objective the judge tries to be, their is still that bias.
4. The judge may find your tone in the game's thread to be too little or too much self-aggrandizing. It's impossible to show confidence without some people seeing it as arrogance.
5. The judge may think your graphics or sound/music are not as good as you or the people in the your thread do. Some people are not easily impressed.
6. The judge may still have the memory of the last game they played in their minds, which could conceivably lower or raise your scores.
7. The judge might just dislike your game.
The seven points above are merely examples. They don't serve as an excuse for biased judging (there is none), and they don't reflect any behavior I did or did not exhibit personally as a judge (I was unbiased as humanly possible). They are just examples of things that can cause a judge to give your game a score you don't think it deserves.
The most important thing to remember is that behind each of those numbers is a person who has their own ideas of what makes a perfect game, and what makes a crappy game. And that person is being asked to be objective in judging, through an extremely in-depth set of criteria, for over 25 entries in less than one week.
As for listing rationale for scores, I cannot agree to that. That would just invite more argument and debate over scores. Everyone who entered the contest agreed to have their entry judged. And judged they were. The only compromise I see in that regard is this: in future contests, judges may volunteer (but are not obligated) a list of "suggested improvements" that are compiled and PM'd to the entrants after the contest by the Organizer. I'm not crazy about that idea, but it could work.
Anyway, this has been a very rewarding experience for me. It was something I decided to do because I hardly know anyone here, and therefore was able to be as objective as possible.
And I'll publicly say that I would gladly do this again.
EDIT: And EVERYONE who participated in this contest deserves major kudos. It takes a lot of guts to put your creation out for others to judge. Regardless of if your game ranked high or low, you deserve applause for completing something major. It's like finishing a marathon. Even if you don't win, or even place, you deserve kudos for finishing the race. So congrats to all who submitted their games!
