3-14-07 – Behind the scenes

Let us not use the FSM as the canonical reference. As veruca points out, it is “an independent 3rd party website created by a farktography enthusiast for supplemental reference.” Fark is the canonical reference for data. Farktography.net calls the contest after ~24 hours, declaring a winner. If the Farktography.net winner isn’t the actual total vote getter (because of votes coming in after 24 hours), well, that just adds to the controversy.

Correct me if I’ve misread you here schnee, but at some point he may say ‘eh, fuggit’ and quit doing the FSM, just because he’s bored with it and ready to move on. That probably will never happen, but I’m sure he’d like to keep that door open so he’s not locked into managing a hobby in perpetuity. Or have I totally misread you here mi amigo?

If that is the case then the next question that needs an answer is whether we still want to call the event at 24 hours or not. I think we should, as it does give a bit more framework to the event, and opens up the bragging rights. If that’s where we want to go, let’s dust off some of the conversations we had over on the site redesign board, and take the platform to the next level. Anyone game?

Uh, Zeke… Schnee made the FSM. Notice it’s hosted at Schneeworld.net.

I agree with Curious that we might as well increase the voting time to make sure everyone who wants to vote gets a chance to unless this creates a hassle for veruca and anyone else that this would effect.(although I cant speak for those who actually are competing for the top spots and if they like knowing who wins sooner rather than later)

Well, Curious could speak more to this, but I don’t think the PS contests are ever “called”. However, I kinda like that Farktography is called, even though I’ve been bitten by the “No win for you, NOT YOURS” issue–my first “win” was a tie when called, but a couple days later turned into a second place finish. I think the suggestion of basing call time on vote spread makes sense, if it isn’t too much a pain in the ass for veruca. And Curious is right–A 5-6 vote (or more) lead rarely gets overturned in late voting, while less than that can and has. It makes sense to give close contests a little more time to pan out before calling them.

I think what Zeke was referring to was the potential to automate the calling process, which, if calling it manually (especially allowing for different time frames depending on vote spread) is going to be a burden on veruca in any way, then it might not be a bad idea to look into that.

Alas, I’m not sure if Fark would close threads when we ask (though that would certainly take care of things on our side)…might be too much hassle even for Heinekin lol.

I think what Zeke was referring to was the potential to automate the calling process, which, if calling it manually (especially allowing for different time frames depending on vote spread) is going to be a burden on veruca in any way, then it might not be a bad idea to look into that.

Actually, I’m kicking around the idea of taking snapshots of who’s got how many votes at certain points after the contest opens, at say 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours after the contest gets posted. Then we’ve got the historical record of when things happened, and if we want we can stretch the final “call” of the event out a bit. Fark and the FSM will still track total votes over time, but this way we can have a point of a defined “winner”, assuming its still what everyone wants.

Alas, I’m not sure if Fark would close threads when we ask (though that would certainly take care of things on our side)…might be too much hassle even for Heinekin lol.

Nah. Make it Guinness, and I’ll take care of it from our end 😉

Haha, you met in a bar? Are these guys Farkers too?? 😉 Meeting in a library ftl heh heh