pouët.net

So I'm finally awake and it seems I can think straight again. And while doing so along came some remarks (and critical thoughts) about the MS.

First off was the Demo compo. Yes, there were damn many, but the way they were shown just...didn't feel right. Basically it was like "First we're showing the 25 that are worth to vote for, then you can go to bed and the others that are still awake can watch the others except some pre selected which we don't show at all". Sure there had to be something done as 4 hours of compo is just too much but why not mix them? To be honest - I thought the second part was definatly worth seeing - and let's be honest - nobody has the time to dl the preselected/ later shown demos, watch them and still vote in time.
So where is the solution? Well, time can be limited to let's say 2 - 3 minutes per demo. Everything woth saying can be said in this time? Nah. Not really. Or how about splitting the demos in groups with topics like the "Robots vs Knights" gfx compo. Every topic can be shown differently. Could work, but still no goal. Dunno. Just one negative thing, but I don't have a solution at hand.

Oh, and while we're at it: voting just for 3 Demos in this mass is not really suitable. if you look at the results sheet it shows that only a couple demos get rated fairly. If I got 3 votes, I vote for the best overall. but what about the ones that had innovative ideas, cool design, ...? They are left out meaning like "Yeah, nice stuff, but you need to have everything perfect to get even one fair vote". And if I attend a compo I want my thing rated to see what the poeple think, and not only by friends that are kind enough to spare me a vote. And: NO, pouet and other review sites are something different. Then we wouldn't need compos at all, right?

One BIG thing that bugged me was the amount of stolen stuff. I think I can speak for all if I say that a scene party is a place where I trust the ppl around. I don't want to waste thoughts like "I hope my notebook is O.K." when I'm boozing outside. Oh, I don't think the stuff was stolen by sceners, but let's face it: 40EU are a small price to pay for some gonzo outsider to steal a couple of K worth in Hardware. I know it's getting on everybodys nerves, but how about registering all notebooks like at the cccongress: one label on the notebook and one label on your wristband with a number. Security would check everybody leaving with a notebook. Sure it sucks, it should not be a subject at scene parties but no whining can help it: it is. Sad but true.

I guess that's it. Hope it didn't sound too negative because it was a damn nice party. I hadn't had this much fun in ages, so keep up the cool party feeling. 'Til next year!

Well, then security also have to check all bags and rucksags...

But you're right. Pretty sad, that you have a bad feeling if you go meeting freinds and always have to bring your laptop to the car or so.

barcode tag on the wrist band and same on hardware wouldnt be bad idea..
atleast would make them think twice before just walking inside, grabbing whatever and walking out.

ms was nice, they should have shown all demos though.

results are always fucked. no one cares anymore.
shouldnt be public voting. its as simple as that.

i was also pretty stressy about the laptop i borrowed from multiplex. most of the time i had someone watch it, work on it or i brought it with me.

otherwise, i had a great party.

demo compo was weird. I think the results are not really what they should be (speaking as objective as I can)
the 2-part compo was somewhat...humm. I mean: what's the real difference between showing all or showing (nearly) all with a gap ? if someone wants to leave he can do it anyways. and that big break between the parts :-( I couldn't see our own demo on the screen because there was simply _no_ more possibility to stay awake. now that somehow sucks, coz watching my demo in big is what I want at least.
concerning stealing: really sad that there are always some crapheads. checking people is an option, but as someone already said: you'd have to check all bags then as well. and usually a thief leaves immediately with a laptop or whatever, and when someone notices it hours later that his notebook is stolen, it's already too late.
that's also a cause why I will most probably never take a notebook with me (although it's surely easier)
cu all at mekka03

i didn't see the huge amount of demos in the democompo as a problem, as i passed out after seeing the first five of them. ;)
luckily for me they showed the surge as the first one.

maybe in such a case that there are so many contributions they should allow a chance for people to drop out from the compo and take their demo to somewhere else, where it can be shown more properly.
or maybe a division to non-accelerated/accelerated compos.

i try to never have anything worth stealing at parties, even though i trust people. i just don't trust myself being sober enough to take care of my property.

the party itself was fucking good, one of the best parties i've ever attented. i'll definetly be there next year too.

only think that pissed me off was that they didn't show any of my wild demos. i do admit that the quality in the wildcompo was good(actually, best i've ever seen), but there still was few entries that i totally hated, and it sucks to see something like that on bigscreen when you don't get there yourself.

also, some of the polish people were quite annoying again. it shouldn't be that hard to not step on other peoples food
and not steal their beer.

nosfe> and not crush everyone in the 64k amiga compo ;)

anyways i think the idea with the laptop and barcodes sucks.. it simply wont work at mekka.. maybe at assembly but not at mekka ;)

Like if a hired guard searches a bag and lets *ehem* find something that 'shouldnt' be there. well you get what i mean ;)

however ... you could get some metal lockers where you could put stuff temporarily in and get a key for some euro or ten with a band on wich you easily could put around your wrist or something.. like at sporthalls etc.. would rock since you could place mobiles and other stuff there aswell while boozing/taking a shower etc..

yeah.. lockers! with keys! :) with room for a laptop on some more stuff =) and place it *inside* like at the infodesk or similair so people cant just smack the lockers up.. (ofcourse i dont think about the drunk polish guys who brakes beer bottles against their helmets;)

"Like if a hired guard searches a bag and lets *ehem* find something that 'shouldnt' be there. well you get what i mean ;)"

Last time I checked strap-ons were legal in Germany and at most demoparties, so you won't have to worry ;)

But yes, the lockers aren't a really bad idea, save for the fact that when a location doesn't have them per default, it's going to be hell to find 'portable' locker units And if they're far too portable, people will just steal the lockers.

maybe there should be people controlling the behaviour of party visitors. at mekka i encountered someone licking shifter's ear while shifter was going on a rampage wearing a pair of copstation sunglasses.

i was shocked.

it was not me

"Last time I checked strap-ons were legal in Germany and at most demoparties"

you checked ehh :))

Delax, you're right about the voting stuff with demo compos as huge as this one was... I spent some time thinking about that problem as well and maybe I found something like a solution. Instead of having 3 weighed votes (3, 2, and 1 points) there could be 10 equal votes (1 point each). Then you can vote for more productions and the average of all people's vote will still be quite accurate. Maybe 1 3-point vote for one production you really liked could be there... I don't know. But it at least sounds like it could be a solution to those kinds of problems.

i think one way for voting could be that voters could rate each prod with 1-10 points, and then the production with highest average of given points would be the winner.

That wouldn't exactly fix the problem if 50 demos are delivered.. would it? ;) - but otherwise that might be such a bad idea.

might NOT be such a bad idea, even.. Sheesh! where did my typing abilities go?

I thought only 3 demos deserved a point of those 50 demos anyways so i dont care about that ;)

about stealings... i have a metal case (actually a money cassette) with a key for my hard disk, stuffed with some protective material to keep it from being banged up. it's great for transportations, and i have a chain and a lock for parties.

I would prefer rating every demo instead of selecting only a few of them as well, it also gives a better impression of the way the audience reacted to it...
And the possibility to add screenshots would be nice as well, remember Dialogos 2001 ?

I can only see the big amount of demos as a good thing.. and lets face it: you just cant please everyone. i havent voted for the last five or so years and i suggest the same for you .. less hassle and stress when it comes to voting, more time in being outside having a bud ;-)

I have an idea, how about after every demo shown, people would be given 15-30 seconds to vote for it? ('On-Line').
That way, EVERY demo could be rated and there won't be the problem that people forget what demo was what (which I'm sure happend with 50 demos).
However there is still the problem that not all people would stay awake for watching 50 demos..
However I think if after every demo the party net would give people the chance to vote automatically the results would be much more fair since every demo would be rated individually.
Just a thought.

Would be nice, Trashey... Just hope that the party network is bug-free, and the vote-app too...
AND non-hackable ;)

Much better than voting for only 3 demos.

trashey, what about all the people sitting in fron of the bigscreen and having no access to any computer? They can't vote, then - and I don't think it's feasible to have some nice oga chicks run around after every demo and collect votes, or someting :)

by the way, if you want to take part in a constructive discussion about this and other things to consider for future M&S parties: go here ;)

sory, broken link, i meant this (stupid bbcode crap)

kb_, the idea certainly falls apart when taking into consideration that people watch most compos (except music/gfx as far as I remember from ms2k) when sitting infront of the big screen, and as you said - having people running with 'vote-cards' is just not it (its a demoparty not bingo-party :)).

Nevertheless something I can think about which is not anywhere 'special' since smart people been doing it for years is that each scener will have a paper with him as he rate each demo after it has been shown.
This again doesn't take into consideration that some people are so drunk that they forget how to write (but then again I don't think they can vote either :)).
This again leads to 'bingo-party' style hehe but whats sure in my opinion is that the rating shouldn't be only top 3.
Perhaps if 'voting cards' idea would be revisited and pushed by party organizers it might even come up as an organized doable idea.
Nothing new or special though.