HSC needs a new host

[Lauren Tyler]

Ze_ro has pretty much disappeared, and like all of you I'm sure, I don't want this thing to die out. I'd offer to be host, but I want to hear offers from other prospective hosts.

[D.Yancey]

If you read the end of the last week's thread, they agree to take a couple of weeks off. Zero said he was going to tabulate the running score standings and revamp the game selection criteria. Unless you know something that I don't.....

Edited April 15, 2006 by D.Yancey

[Christophero Sly]

I thought the HSC was just on hiatus for a few weeks until Ze_ro figures out the best way to proceed.

Edited April 15, 2006 by Christophero Sly

[Ze_ro]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but well, there's isn't any activity really. I'll probably toss a new game up next week at some point (maybe tuesday or so)... although I'm still not sure what changes will go down for the next season.

 

--Zero

[+batari]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but well, there's isn't any activity really. I'll probably toss a new game up next week at some point (maybe tuesday or so)... although I'm still not sure what changes will go down for the next season.

 

--Zero

I suggest that you guys play homebrews next season.

[Christophero Sly]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but well, there's isn't any activity really. I'll probably toss a new game up next week at some point (maybe tuesday or so)... although I'm still not sure what changes will go down for the next season.

 

--Zero

I suggest that you guys play homebrews next season.

Homebrews get picked fairly regularly.

[+batari]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but well, there's isn't any activity really. I'll probably toss a new game up next week at some point (maybe tuesday or so)... although I'm still not sure what changes will go down for the next season.

 

--Zero

I suggest that you guys play homebrews next season.

Homebrews get picked fairly regularly.

Over the past two years, I only counted 4 of them.

Edited April 16, 2006 by batari

[Christophero Sly]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but well, there's isn't any activity really. I'll probably toss a new game up next week at some point (maybe tuesday or so)... although I'm still not sure what changes will go down for the next season.

 

--Zero

I suggest that you guys play homebrews next season.

Homebrews get picked fairly regularly.

Over the past two years, I only counted 4 of them.

I count six, but I take your point. However, given that homebrews represent a small proportion of the VCS total library of games, six (or four) picks is about what one would expect.

[D.Yancey]

We need an in-depth statistical anaylsis for we may indeed discover that the "home-brews" are victims of discrimination.

[Cybergoth]

I prefer playing the classics here. Most homebrews I know inside out anyway

[Lauren Tyler]

Sorry I never realized that.

[video game addict]

I prefer playing classics just because more people own the classics & can play on the real thing. It sucks when a game is picked I don't own, because I usually won't play if I don't own the real cart. Rare games, homebrews & prototypes that are not widely owned, are often games that need to be played via emus instead of the Atari. And for me at least it's about playing the real thing.

[sku_u]

I prefer playing classics just because more people own the classics & can play on the real thing. It sucks when a game is picked I don't own, because I usually won't play if I don't own the real cart. Rare games, homebrews & prototypes that are not widely owned, are often games that need to be played via emus instead of the Atari. And for me at least it's about playing the real thing.

 

The only problem with that is after three HSC seasons, we're running out of available games that are worth playing to choose from. I myself have had almost no interest/desire to play the games chosen this season. Don't you own a modified Supercharger, CC2, CC1 or Krokodile Kart or the adapter that allows you to use an Atari joystick with an emulator on a PC?

[Cybergoth]

The only problem with that is after three HSC seasons, we're running out of available games that are worth playing to choose from.

 

Uhm... what?

 

How about playing these:

 

Crash Dive, Crossbow, Fast Eddie, Kangaroo, Millipede, Polaris, Private Eye, Pitfall II, Road Runner, Robot Tank, Secret Quest, Tapeworm, Venture, Tutankham, Super Cobra, Starmaster, Star Voyager, Solar Fox, Sorcerers Apprentice, Star Trek, Sky Skipper, Snoopy and the Red Baron, River Raid, Star Gunner, Tapper, Xenophobe, ...

 

My unHSC'd favourites wishlist alone would fill a whole 4th season without need to repeat!

[+Omegamatrix]

Well, after everything I've read above I came up with this:

 

1. Give every participant for the current week one choice for next week's game, and forward it to the mod. He can put all of the choices in a hat and do a draw to determine the next game played.

 

- This rewards the players who play more as they have more opportunities to play the games they want.

- This attracts more new players as there is a good opportunity to play a game you choose sooner.

- This will keep the list of active players relatively short.

 

2. Make a decision how long a game can go before it's allowed to be replayed. There's two trains of thought here. One says we still have lots of quality games, the other says that list is getting smaller all the time. My self I think if two seasons has gone by then it should be fair game again. Keep a list of titles that have been played over the last two seasons in the first post of each week and update it.

 

- This will keep the pool of games that can be choosen reasonable big.

- This will be more an incentive for new players to join, because games they might want to play become free again.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[video game addict]

I'm not against homebrews completely, but a whole season of homebrews might get a little stale when most members are stuck playing on emulators. I just prefer to play on a real Atari, that's my preference. And no I do not own any of those devices.

 

I think there are still many good game choices left that have not yet been used. I like seeing a homebrew every now & then as a choice, but for every week no I would not want that. Part of the fun of the HSC is the randomness in choices, each member gets a pick, you as a member must play that pick for the week. It introduces members to new games that maybe they've never given a real chance to in the past.

[shadow460]

Cybergoth has picked a few games for the 7800 HSC, and they went over decent (for that HSC anyway).

 

I tend to play only when I've got the cart, too. StellaX didn't make it through my system restore, so I'll probably stick to actual hardware until I get another hankering for Ram It or something like that.

 

How about trying different variations of the games we've played? Yars' Revenge on Game 6, maybe?

 

Has the Starpath library been tapped? How about some others (don't know if they've been played yet...) Subterranea, Starmaster, Air Sea Battle, Ghost Manor, any RealSports title, Ice Hockey, or even Pressure Cooker?

[Robert M]

If I may make a suggestion for a format change. What if the top twenty players from the last season all pick a game at once. Then we create a sub forum for season four. In that sub forum we add a thread for each of the 20 games. The player that picks the game can post and maintain the thread for that game to distribute the work load for the club using the standard format that Zero uses to post a new game minus the ranking information because it won't matter at the start.

 

All games are then in play simultaneously for a period of 4 months. If you have a new high score in a game you post to the thread for that game. You MUST have a higher score to post in the thread. At the end of 4 months we count for each game the people in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions on each game (should usually be the last three posts, minus errors and personal improvements). Each 1st place is worth 5 points. Each second place is worth 3 points, and each third place is worth 1 points.

 

There should be an additional thread in the season sub forum for chatting and asking questions about any game active that season. The game threads should be exclusively for posting new higher scores.

 

Goals:

- I think this approach will yield less work for the manager of the club. Scores are only tabulated once, and they should

almost always be the last 3 posts in each thread.

- If you are really into a game you have 4 months to compete and don't miss out if you are on a trip or something.

 

There is a minor negative. If you score in what would be the current second place, then you can not post in the thread. You must surplant the existing high score to get into the rankings. I think that difference makes for an exciting shoot-out style of season.

 

We could push to have season 4 start this way on May 1st and run until the last day of August.

 

Any takers?

[+Omegamatrix]

Ze_ro, or anyone else, does somebody have a current rankings list? I haven't played since Omega Race and there doesn't seem to be one even since then.

Edited April 17, 2006 by Omegamatrix

[vdub_bobby]

If I may make a suggestion for a format change. What if the top twenty players from the last season all pick a game at once. Then we create a sub forum for season four. In that sub forum we add a thread for each of the 20 games. The player that picks the game can post and maintain the thread for that game to distribute the work load for the club using the standard format that Zero uses to post a new game minus the ranking information because it won't matter at the start.

 

All games are then in play simultaneously for a period of 4 months. If you have a new high score in a game you post to the thread for that game. You MUST have a higher score to post in the thread. At the end of 4 months we count for each game the people in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions on each game (should usually be the last three posts, minus errors and personal improvements). Each 1st place is worth 5 points. Each second place is worth 3 points, and each third place is worth 1 points.

 

There should be an additional thread in the season sub forum for chatting and asking questions about any game active that season. The game threads should be exclusively for posting new higher scores.

 

Goals:

- I think this approach will yield less work for the manager of the club. Scores are only tabulated once, and they should

almost always be the last 3 posts in each thread.

- If you are really into a game you have 4 months to compete and don't miss out if you are on a trip or something.

 

There is a minor negative. If you score in what would be the current second place, then you can not post in the thread. You must surplant the existing high score to get into the rankings. I think that difference makes for an exciting shoot-out style of season.

 

We could push to have season 4 start this way on May 1st and run until the last day of August.

 

Any takers?

Sounds...not so good to me. 20 games at once, for four months? Most games I'm willing to play a few times just to post a score, but there are few games I'm willing to play for four months. And 20 games at once is way too scattered, IMO.

 

Maybe expanding each "week" to two weeks would help get more participation; I dunno. You cycle through games a lot slower that way; probably be best to implement voting in that case so people feel they have a say in what games are picked (it's already a long wait to choose a game, double that time and you could be waiting forever).

 

Is the problem really that Ze_ro is over-worked? Is that the problem we're trying to solve here? I wasn't picking that up.

Edited April 17, 2006 by vdub_bobby

[StanJr]

homebrews are easily obtainable via the Atariage Store, and they cost less than most modern games...

 

Word is AA is running a sale right now as well...

[sku_u]

If I may make a suggestion for a format change. What if the top twenty players from the last season all pick a game at once. Then we create a sub forum for season four. In that sub forum we add a thread for each of the 20 games. The player that picks the game can post and maintain the thread for that game to distribute the work load for the club using the standard format that Zero uses to post a new game minus the ranking information because it won't matter at the start.

 

How do you determine the "top 20 players"? That'd eliminate interest from pretty much anyone who does not have the time or expertise to play every week. Not everyone can or has the desire to play the game every week. If you're going by the Top 20 points people that'd also be unfair as it wouldn't encourage anyone to play anymore.

[sku_u]

homebrews are easily obtainable via the Atariage Store, and they cost less than most modern games...

 

Word is AA is running a sale right now as well...

 

Do you have $25-50 a week to shell out on new games? Most people do not.

 

I like homebrews as much as the next guy, but a whole season of them would pretty much guarantee a series of single page threads and almost no participation.

[Christophero Sly]

As far as playing homebrews and protos, I echo vga's sentiments exactly. I also believe that there are many worthwhile games that have yet to be picked. I would probably sit out games we've already played, especially if I didn't really enjoy them the first time around.

 

Some suggestions for a new season:

 

• I'd like to see the system for choosing games get revamped, so that everyone has an equal chance of having their pick chosen. Perhaps, at the start of the season, everyone who plans on participating in the HSC submits a pick. Each week a game is picked at random from that pool of submissions. This way everyone has an equal chance of having their pick chosen each week. If multiple participants submit the same pick, then that particular game has increased odds of being picked. This same "poll" could be conducted weekly, but if we did it once, at the start of the season, it would be far less work for the host.

 

• Make it easy on the host and scrap the point system and season standings and just play for the high score and rankings each week. The standings for this past season haven't been updated in quite some time anyway and I think without them the HSC would draw more casual participants.

[sku_u]

The only problem with that is after three HSC seasons, we're running out of available games that are worth playing to choose from.

 

Uhm... what?

 

How about playing these:

 

Crash Dive, Crossbow, Fast Eddie, Kangaroo, Millipede, Polaris, Private Eye, Pitfall II, Road Runner, Robot Tank, Secret Quest, Tapeworm, Venture, Tutankham, Super Cobra, Starmaster, Star Voyager, Solar Fox, Sorcerers Apprentice, Star Trek, Sky Skipper, Snoopy and the Red Baron, River Raid, Star Gunner, Tapper, Xenophobe, ...

 

My unHSC'd favourites wishlist alone would fill a whole 4th season without need to repeat!

 

You might find those titles entertaining, but to me, most of them are a big yawn. Fast Eddie? I could play that one without dying until my 2600 or power brick overheated since you can "hide" on the ladders and pause when you need a break by hitting the bw/color switch. That's one of the easiest games on the 2600. Pitfall II? You'd end up with a long list of people finishing with a perfect score. That game's also been mastered and well documented already. The only games on that entire list I'd be interested in playing are River Raid, Tapper and Millipede.

 

I like Christophero Sly's suggestions in the above post. Seems more equitable and you wouldn't have a long list of people who do not even visit Atariage or participate in the HSC lined up to choose a game. The standings are also pointless as far as I'm concerned. The only person who participated who seemed to care about them was Todd Rogers who mysteriously disappeared right after being told he can participate as much as he wants but his scores wouldn't count.