[CQ-Contest] Online Contesting-Dr DX

[Jack Haverty]

Thanks David - you said it better than I did.  Contesting hasn't changed
fundamentally for a long time.  That isn't necessarily bad.  There are
lots of classic games that have endured for decades or centuries -
chess, checkers, go, bridge, etc.  Even kids' games like Tag or
Hide-and-Seek or Go Fish.  They have limited audiences today but they'll
probably endure for a long time to come.  

If you want to get more people involved in radio competition, e.g., who
might be from the MMOG community, (and I don't know whether or not
that's desirable) I think it would be possible to do so in the radio
world, but it would probably look a lot different from today.  Some of
the more recent innovations, e.g., RBN/Internet/computers, (as well as
radio improvements) provide raw materials to enable all sorts of new
radio games.

73,
/Jack


On Wed, 2011-02-16 at 20:47 -0700, David Gilbert wrote:
> 
> I believe his point was that the objectives are all still the same.  
> Even in the gaming world, games that merely change the scenery or method 
> of killing get old pretty fast, and usually get ripped in the reviews.  
> We get all enthused about contests like the Stew Perry that are 
> innovative enough to change the scoring system to something different 
> like distance for points and grid squares for multipliers, but even then 
> the basic objectives and strategies are very focused and pretty much the 
> same as they've been for decades.  The tactics may have changed as 
> technology evolved (and as the solar flux changes from year to year), 
> but that's pretty much it.
> 
> I'll jump back to my basketball analogy.  At best, radiosport is like 
> playing horse ... you get the chance to do some creative things but 
> you're basically competing against yourself until the final score is 
> compared.  Online gaming is more like playing one-on-one, or 
> three-on-three, where you're competing directly against other players in 
> a dynamic environment that changes as a function of what the other 
> players do.  Big difference.
> 
> 73,
> Dave   AB7E
> 
> 
> 
> On 2/16/2011 8:14 PM, John Geiger wrote:
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jack Haverty"<k3fiv at arrl.net>
> >> First, contests today are all mostly the same, and haven't changed much
> >> in decades.  Yes, there are variations in the rules - modes,
> >> multipliers, exchanges, duration, points, etc., but mostly it's all
> >> about getting on the air, making contact with as many stations as you
> >> can, and staying in the chair as long as you can stand it to rack up the
> >> most points.
> >
> >
> > I have to respectfully disagree with this one.  Yes, the objective is the
> > same, but how we chase that objective has greatly changed.  For example,
> > there was another email on this reflector just minutes ago about how the
> > logs submitted for the RTTY WPX contest have passed 1500 so far.  That
> > reminds me that I need to submit mine still.  Wow!  Who would have guessed
> > that 15 years ago-that RTTY contesting would be so popular? Or so easy to
> > get on for?  No special TNCs needed like in the past.  Just a cheap computer
> > and some sort of sound card interface.
> >
> > What about CW skimmer?  Who would have thought that it would be an issue for
> > contesting rules even 5 years ago?  20 years ago we never would have
> > imagined assisted categories and the controversy concerning the DX cluster
> > and spotting during a contest.
> >
> > SO2R, electronic logging, Software defined radios, Steppir Yagis, dual
> > receive radios, and panadaptors have greatly changed the face of contesting
> > since I became a ham in 1980. Not to mention that you can actually work
> > Albania in a contest today :)
> >
> > 73s John AA5JG
> >
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