Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

[Valkysas]

IF you submitted a game for the contest, post your own idea for the judging. Who you think the judges should be, what the scoring criteria and scale should be, stuff like that. Whatever I feel is the best idea is the one we'll use. Keep in mind that I have no time to judge the games myself, so don't suggest that I be one of the judges.

If you didnt submit a game for the contest, don't suggest anything.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

Judges: I don't know who here has a MAX drive, but first it should be any MODs that wish to do it, then any players (there votes count as half, maybe?)

RPGM3:
RPG:If the game is an RPG
Story: How good the story is (1-8pts)
Character development: How good the characters are developed throught the game (1-6pts)
Minigames/Side-Quests: How good the minigames/side-quests are (0-3pts)
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Inventive game: If the game is not an RPG how well of whatever game it is.
Fun Factor: How enjoyable the game is.(1-11pts)
Style: How well does the game flow(1-6pts)
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Both
Use of limitations: Use of using the limits of the game to your advantage.(1-5pts)
Replayability: Is there any point in replaying it.(1-3pts)
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Total: The total score (4-25pts)

[tjoris9]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

I think any mod willing to take on the task should be a judge also, but I'd like to see if we can get 2-5 judges, so it isn't just the opinion of one person.

As for criteria, my idea is to have several categories, each scored 1-5. At the end the scores are totaled up and the winner is the one with the highest score. The categories I had in mind are:

Gameplay: Is the game fun?
Balance: Is the game reasonably challenging, overly easy, or insanely difficult?
Visual Presentation: Does the game look good? Does it show creative use of the materials provided? If it's an XP or RPGM1 game, does it have good custom graphics?
Creativity/Innovation: Does the game have features uncommon to most RPGM games? Does the game feature new ideas or show the creators true talent for game design? Does the game do things you thought were impossible?

[hitogoroshi]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

7 entries...I'd imagine 4 judges, with whoevers the most strapped for time doing one. There would also be a 5 judge, who would not review any games, but would make sure all reviews expected the same level of quality (i.e, if one review said "graphics are average. 7/10" and another said "graphics are average. 3/10", the fifth judge would try to balance things up.) It's important that the fifth judge does not review any games, so they are unbiased. Plus, only the fifth judge should see all of the reviews until (s)he makes them all public, to raise suspense. The judges can also remain anonymous on which games they judged by going through the fifth judge.

Higher numbers encourage more detail, so I think we should have 5 1-10 categories. Also, this makes it easy to find a percentage score. Just multiply the total by two.

Anyway, IMHO, the catagories should be:

Layout:
Do towns look like towns, or is a just a place with an item shop, inn, and the next story character? Do worlds seem real, or do you just follow a path from one town/dungeon to the next? In essence, this catagory is to distingush whether a game has paid attention to detail or if it's just a bland game where you run around killing story enemies, talking to townspeople, and repeating ad nasuem. Layout also judges whether towns/dungeons are balanced.

Plot:
This measures how cliched the story is (because god knows hell hath no fury like a Pavilionite reading a cliched story ), how much reason you are given for your actions (long backstory vs. "You look able bodied! Kill things in that forest!") and how real the story seems. Note that this concerns any writings within the game (bad plot gets bonus points for good ingame books, for example). However, if your game is highly minigame based and has no writings beyond instructions...well, Tabloid kicked ass, and it took a hit in the Gameplay catagory, so suck it up and hope it's fun.

Creativity:
The contests are out to critque our use of similar wizards. So, Layout shows how well you can arrange the resources given, Plot shows how well you can explain it, and Creativity is kind of a catch-all for everything else. Basically, it judges what unqiue things you have done to maximize the resources given.

Polish:
This is basicaly how professional the game looks. It kind of ties in with the other catagories, but thats inevitable. In a nutshell, the higher the score, the less it looks like it was made with a wizard (although, don't be hyper-conservative with high scores, because games made by a wizard will most likely at least slightly look like they were made with wizards.)

Fun:
This is the most important stat, and thus, if two games are tied the one with the higher Fun wins. (If the Fun scores are tied, it's a draw.) This shouldn't need explaining. Just bear in mind that replay value is a part of this stat (so, if you play it to judge and play it again because you want to, it deserves very high marks.

Summary:
Not a catagory, just a requirement that judges post at least a bare-bones summary of the game they played. After all, if a game got terrible marks they should know what to fix, and the contest winner should know what exactly made their game a winner.

[Valkysas]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

I do believe that every mod that still actively plays RPG Maker has entered this contest. So they cant judge.

[Crimson Knight]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

Ok, you rate the gameplay out of 5, with 5 being best. Is the game fun to play?

You rate the Stability out of 5. How buggy is it(what annoys the player/keeps them from finishing the game)?

Visual style, out of 5. How good does it look? How well were the graphics in each maker used? Simple layouts can still be pretty cool too.

Innovation, out of 5. How "different" was it, compared to the other games?

Also, I think judges should make a closing note or two about what they thought the game was like to them.

[Valkysas]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

who should the judges be?

[Crimson Knight]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

Hell if I know, WE can't be judges.

Ok I have a list.

(if they didn't enter)
-Rodak
-Gloomy
-Ryner? NAH.
-Gwommy
-libra_in_red
-Dreamknight
-John Mora? MAYBE.

Just mouthing off some people.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

*shrug* Just make a post in the Main Forum asking whoever has time and a Max/Dex Drive. You can quality-control from there if needed.

[tjoris9]

Re: Extravaganzicon Contest - Pick how it is judged

Ryner would be a great judge. I can't think of anyone else whose opinions are more valued and honored here.

I agree that we should open up judging on a volunteer basis, given they have Max and Dex drives.