[CQ-Contest] RES: CQ WPX M/M Distributed Category Update

[David Gilbert]

It's probably worth pointing out that computer gaming in almost any form 
(PC, console, mobile) FAR outweighs ham radio in popularity (and 
financial support) across all age groups, but particularly among the 
younger folks we hams keep saying are critical to the future of our 
hobby.  I happen to enjoy and indulge in both  ... ham radio for the 
"radio" of it and online gaming for the fun and convenience of it ... 
but "radio" doesn't have the appeal to young people for whom it mostly 
represents really old (and really expensive) technology.

I've said for years that for radiosport to appeal to youngsters that it 
needs to adopt some of the aspects of computer gaming.  Easier access to 
a competitive station.  More real time competition ... preferably 
one-to-one and certainly not having to wait weeks or months to find out 
how you did.  Ideally some sort of graphic display representing the 
"battle".  More sophisticated scoring than simply how many contacts you 
can make, such as points earned both offensively and defensively, or for 
multiple objectives (besides just points and multipliers).  More ways to 
win that don't depend upon how long you're able to sit in a chair.  More 
direct real time social interaction among participants in a multiplayer 
environment.

Most contesters turn their noses up at any similar suggestions, which is 
why we get repeated laments that the hobby doesn't attract enough new 
blood.  I'm not saying that the new distributed M/M category does 
everything right, but at least it seems to have generated some 
enthusiasm among folks who wouldn't have otherwise been as engaged.  
When is the last time anyone can remember that happening?

I'm not the cleverest person here by far, and I have as difficult a time 
as anyone else coming up with actual ideas for how to accomplish any of 
the things I mentioned above.  But for example, imagine a radio contest 
with every participant connected to the internet (I think I just heard 
EI5DI gasp all the way here in Arizona) just like the zillions of real 
time score submitters, assisted participants, and propagation trackers 
already do.  Imagine a logger interface that displayed a (zoomable) 
colorful map of the world populated with dots representing EVERYONE 
online at the time, and maybe with the ability to see the callsign of 
those you hadn't yet worked by mousing over their dot.  Imagine earning 
more points by working a particular station earlier in the contest (both 
run and S&P come into play here).   Imagine getting a better multiplier 
for a station worked further away instead of for which country they were 
in.  Imagine real time reporting of scores, and actually real time 
confirmation of scores since everyone would be reporting online in real 
time.  The strategies required to win would be far different than simply 
how many people you were able to work.  You'd actually be "on the hunt" 
all of the time instead of blankly transmitting into the ether.  
Selection would be more important than quantity.

As I said, I'm not the most creative person when it comes to this sort 
of thing and this wasn't intended to be as much a proposal as it was an 
illustration, but I'm convinced that there are people out there who are 
a lot smarter than I am and who could turn an alternative radiosport 
environment into reality.  I guarantee that the technical capability to 
do all of it and more exists right now. It wouldn't have to replace 
existing contests, either.

Unfortunately, I think the inertia in the hobby is such that it's 
unlikely ever to happen.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 4/2/2021 8:50 AM, Yuri wrote:
> Exactly. That's probably where the main difference lies.
>
> We, "old farts" (per Mike, VA3MW), are still looking at HAM Radio as 
> at AMATEUR RADIO, where radio is the main word. We still have fun 
> building some of the equipment, antennas, we like experiment with 
> them, etc.
> The "other guys" are looking at it as at some kind kind of computer 
> game, sometimes having no idea what RF or even antenna is. Somebody 
> else (a business venture) is offering emulation of HAM Radio for them.
> Different angle views.
>
> Yuri  VE3DZ