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Re: [CQ-Contest] Evolving scoring systems

To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Evolving scoring systems
From: W0MU Mike Fatchett <w0mu@w0mu.com>
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 18:34:11 -0700
List-post: <cq-contest@contesting.com">mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>
The Carrot is not to work or find a single station. The carrots would be a bit more sophisticated. Ie work 10 stations in 30 zones, work 100 stations in any country, work 100 stations in 20 zones, work one station in all 40 zones, etc. These are simply off the top of my head for WW. These are simple. I am sure with some thought some really innovative scoring options could be created.
Mike W0MU

On 12/2/2013 2:37 PM, Joe wrote:
Problem with the hidden carrot or prize if they find a certain station, with the spotting networks that will work for 5 seconds.
Joe WB9SBD
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On 12/2/2013 6:36 AM, Ken Low wrote:
"I am not attempting to solve any issues with a particular contest. My scoring comments then emphasized by Mark, are being suggested as a means to sell radio contesting to a huge group of younger people who
love to compete using computers playing online games.

Aren't the amount of logs being sent in a function of the internet reaching almost every location on the planet? Participation should be up too as I think we have more amateurs in the world than we ever had.
Making scoring more interesting or dangling carrots in front of 
participants has been a proven method in online gaming.  See the 
series of articles recently published in NCJ.  We can't fix the age 
problem unless we can interest younger people.
Mike W0MU"


If the goal is to attract new, younger, 'Millennial-type' participants to Radiosport, minor changes like distance-based scoring won't move the needle. Here's why:
My son Patrick, K3PAL got his General class license when he was 13, 
with lots of help from me.   He tried a few contests on Phone and 
RTTY but it did not stick - not complex enough to hold his 
interest.   Many real challenges of contesting come at the advanced 
levels (band selection, propagation, Run vs. S&P, off times, etc.) 
which for beginners don't matter.
Now he's 19 and a Freshman at UVM Honors College.  Don't ask me how 
he does it, but he's getting A's and B's while spending 2-3 hours a 
day playing Guild Wars 2.   Out of 2 million players worldwide, he is 
ranked in the top 150.   What's the attraction?   It's complex, 
social and accessible:
1.   SOCIAL FRATERNITY:  He is on a team ('guild') where he was 
interviewed for two weeks to verify his skill level.   This involved 
streaming his game play for observation and review by the team 
officers before he was admitted.   Now he's been admitted it's clear 
it serves a social purpose an an 'elite online fraternity'.   They 
use 'voice chat' to coordinate their attacks online.
2.   ACCESSIBILITY:  It's available 24/7.   Patrick arranges his 
competition schedule around his classes.   Millennials like Patrick 
do not operate on a 9-5 schedule ... They operate in a 24/7 mode.  
His guild teammates live in Europe, Silicon Valley, etc.  They form 
teams for 'raids' based on day-to-day accessibility.
3.   MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE:  He has completely deconstructed the 
gaming algorithms to increase his scores and attain his current 
rating, and writes User Guides to help other players. It is obvious 
the mathematical complexity aspect is a major attraction.
4.   CONSTANT IN-GAME FEEDBACK:   No 'slow rate hours' in his game.   
There is constant action and obstacles to overcome.
5.   LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY:   Patrick builds his own computers from 
scratch since stock models don't have the graphics capabilities he 
looks for.   He has dual 24" monitors, 7 fans for cooling, 
noise-canceling headset and a memory keyboard that records his 
keystrokes for playback which helps him kill certain monsters.  Total 
investment was about $1,700 but the ongoing costs are  FIOS Internet 
fees only.  Total cost = a big tribander.
You can see the parallels to Radiosport in all 5 aspects I described 
above.   But you can also see how hard it is for Amateur Radio to 
compete for Millennials' attention.
A small Postscript:   As you can imagine, our dinner table 
conversation frequently goes like this:  "Hey Pal, how about a little 
less gaming and turning those few 'B's into all A's"? To which I get 
the infamous 'teenager blank stare' back.
But as he's majoring in Business and Economics and will probably 
start his own company one day, I don't push too hard.   It's clear he 
knows 'the Millennial marketplace' better than I do. Most 
importantly, when his company goes public, he'll be a prospective 
client for me at UBS Private Wealth Management :-)
73,

Ken KE3X


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