[CQ-Contest] Contest Burnout

[David Gilbert]

I wholeheartedly agree.  There is a reason that video games are so very 
popular ... they use great visuals and involve tiered strategies of one 
sort or another.  I have argued for years that ham radio contest would 
be a lot more fun than being mostly just an endurance event if we could 
come up with some way to add layered strategies for obtaining points, 
and maybe even overlay real time activity on a global map ... or some 
other way to add visuals to the contest that display

In my opinion, ideally part of the points achievement would involve 
offensive and defensive moves against other participants.  Ham radio 
contests currently don't actually involve direct competition unless 
you're trying to break a pileup, and the stations that win contests do 
rather little of that since they are mostly running.  I'm talking about 
somehow being able to affect whether or not an opponent gets a point ... 
like maybe he gets fewer points for a contact with a particular station 
if you work that station first.

This goes beyond whether any of us still have the desire or ability to 
sit in a chair for enough hours to do well in a contest.  It's also a 
matter of basic appeal.   I've done a lot of contests and I've played a 
lot of open world video games, and while I have enjoyed both I can say 
with some assurance that one is a grind and the other is exciting.  It 
just seems to me that there should be some creative way to bridge that gap.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 12/3/2022 7:07 AM, Joe wrote:
> Over 70? Geez How about over 60 guys?
> The days of doing any of the CQWW Contests 48 hours is LONG gone!
> Geez I can't even do 24 hour ones anymore.
> 6 to 8 hour tests non-stop is about my limit now.
>
> Myself I'd like to see a contest where strategy plays a major role in 
> the contest, not just pure stamina and or great stations. A contest 
> where you get rewarded by working the harder ones to work more than 
> the easy contacts.
>
> A contest where the understanding propagation, plays a major role.
>
> A contest where it is not a marathon.
>
> Joe WB9SBD