Trixies 2014 - Coming soon... NOW!

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Nonny has hit it right on the money. Trust us that each and every nomination is counted and individually reviewed. Maybe some get consolidated, maybe some get their own award, maybe some get recognised some other way. Its a secretive process which we will deliberate over for the next few days until we reach a consensus. Then stocks are traded. IPs are exchanged. Independent reviewers come in. Insurances obtained. Medical and Dental policies put in place. Llamas are valuated etc etc.

 

...and the order of the Llamaminati pick the final winners according to astrological positions and the whims of Lucifer himself...

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Could this "special category" thing be something oddball like the honoraries from last year? I remember seeing some fairly niched awards at the bottom of the awards table for 2013. Only one I can think of now is Meg's Cybermom 2013 award. Is that one such category?

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Ok, just pretend I didn't say anything 

 

This was not my own fear (since I only nominated within the pre-set categories) but I just thought this was what most of the people were worried about :/

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Have faith.  The final awards are finally chosen by the great golden llama in the sky with diamonds.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I think it might be useful to have a Trixie Discussion thread. As we have seen, many users were uncertain about categories. Others didn't have much time and lacked an overview of some remarkable stuff that happened throughout the year. Then there's the problem with the time window: Was that great release that I'd like to honour published in 2014? Or in 2015? Six months after the end of the Trixie period, I may not remember, and I may lack time and/or motivation to do the research.

 

If we had a thread, people could share and discuss their highlights, help each other to find categories, and so forth. Everyone here visits some parts of the site. For example, I have no idea about C:S or about the CJ section for SC4, but I browsed the STEX for SC4 stuff, and I could have given some pointers as to who published noteworthy stuff on the STEX, and maybe some inspiration for other members to go and look for themselves whose work they like best.

 

If the Trixies were announced some time before nominations open, such a thread could (hopefully) also contribute to generating some buzz and maybe even increase the overall number of nominations because more members would have a general overview of stuff people find remarkable, and many may be reminded of stuff that they might have forgotten about otherwise.

 

For example, after browsing the STEX, I could have posted something like "Hey guys, I just remembered that there have been some great automata releases this year. Author A has made some great vehicles, author B has a nice set of airplanes, and let's not forget the fancy stuff made by author C. I like author D's trains, too. Who is your favourite? Do you remember another author who has made great stuff? Do you guys think that "Best Automata 2014" would make for a good Trixie category?" I think/hope that contributions like these could get a nice discussion started. What do you think?

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

↑ Give that man a Trixie ↑

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

↑ Give that man a Trixie ↑

 

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[TekindusT 3,809]

 

Me neither.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

 

Enough...

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

<snip>

 

Enough...

 

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Guys, really...

 

Back to topic, I felt like a total dunce yesterday when I was looking at a thread where someone asked about curved bridges and rsc204 (IIRC) made him aware of the little "terrain hack" that was introduced by McDuell - would have made a great nomination for the "Best Novelty Beyond the Buildings" category (did we even keep that one?). Did I remember that one when the nominations were on? No.

 

The question is, do we want to keep a Trixie thread throughout the entire year so that there's an ongoing discussion and people can add Trixie-worthy stuff as they stumble upon it? Or would it be better to have one thread for each year that is opened a few weeks before the nominations start?

 

Personally, I'm tending towards one thread per year, but a continuously running one. Once the noms are over, posting in that thread would become pointless, so it would either drop to older pages naturally, or could be archived and replaced by a successor thread for the following year. The downside of not archiving it is some more threads in the forums (albeit not many at a rate of one per year), but maybe old Trixie discussion threads could serve as a useful resource for people who are looking for recommendable downloads and CJs, or want to learn about ground-breaking discoveries.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

I guess you have two options:

 

Option A would be to set up a simple thread where anything realting the Trixies can be discussed. This includes question and answers, category suggestions, friendly reminders of Trixie-worthy stuff around on ST (no matter whether it's a BAT, a friendly user, a specific post or whatever), help etc. What makes this less handy is the point we would lose some kind of anonymity and "confidentiality" due to the widespread discussion around the thread ans possibly the whole side. Additionally, there would be a lack of "wow, I would have never expected to win a Trixie"-moments. 

 

Option B would be some kind of sub-forum (like we did for the Simtropolis challenges). In that case, we had a Trixie-realted discussion area which could be hidden/unhidden or locked/unlocked on demand. This would include a permanent thread for general discussion and some minor and major threads that would be used/locked/hidden etc depending on the necissity and importance. This woulc include thread opened some weeks before the annual Trxie nomations and, therefore, can be used whenever needed. The Trixie staff could even use those for their internal discussion and hide it from public. 

 

Anything else wouldn't make sense in my opinion.

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

I'd also like a new thread for each year. It would probably get pretty messy to have one thread for all. I think that could lead to someone saying "hey, this is Trixie material" about something and get a lot of other members to catch on, which would really but something equally as great, if not even greater, in the shadows. One discussion each year is fine by me. It's worked perfectly well so far.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I like the thread per year idea.  The annual thread can be locked once the Trixie Nomination period closes, but the new thread for a given year should be started January 1st.

 

Question: Is heavy approval in the discussion thread equivalent to a Trixie nomination?  Should it be?  Should Trixie nominations be open year round?

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Personally, I would keep the discussion thread as open discussion only. It should not replace nominations or restrict users in any way. In fact, giving ideas and suggestions and encouraging others to go and check for themselves should always be priority #1 IMO.

 

I think opening the nominations year round wouldn't be advantageous because you haven't seen it all before the year is over, and I would hate to find myself "out of ammo" (i.e. nominations) when something comes up shortly before the awards and I think it's even better than the item I already voted for in that category.

 

This is pure brainstorming right now, but I could also imagine two special thread rules, the former one being somewhat obvious:

1. Don't feature stuff you made (or contributed to) yourself. It's lame, and if your stuff is really remarkable, this fact won't go unnoticed.
2. For every category, always present at least two candidates that you deem worthy. This could hopefully prevent simple "me too" chain reactions where one high-profile site member - whose words on the topic have some weight within this microcosmos - points out an item and inadvertently compels others to follow suit. I like the fact that we don't have a jury vote, only a member vote that's equal for all.
   For example, if Schulmanator as a very proficient CJer recommended a single CJ, people might think "Oh, if that high-profile CJ author recommends it, it must be really good, and I guess I'll simply follow that suggestion because it should be competent and it means I won't have to bother". However, if he recommended three or four CJs, every member would still be faced with the question "what am I going to vote for?", and this is the way it should be IMO.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

I like the second rule. However, I think this will end up in some kind of what we have when Trixie winners are presented to the community. Each user in the discussion thread will most likely have some sort of list they would like to share. This might be a fact because there are two kind of user in my opinion. 

 

1. Those who are very familiar with the whole process of nominating, choosing, creating categories and stuff. Maybe they even got a Trixie themselves or whatever. But in any case they will have their favourites and they will probably get their own things done. (those user will most likely be registered for several years and already have taken part in former Trixies)

 

2. Those user who basiclly have no idea what is going on, why it is so special, how nominating is working and why the hell there is a llama there. Those might be newcomers who basically have registered to get to download stuff (which I would say is why most users register). I highly doubt they wil have any interest in nominating if they hardly got to see anything of this site. 

 

So this might end up with the routiniers posting their favourites (and they might already know who of them they are going to vote for)and those who are around on the forums for not that long will randomly choose one of them after quickly rushing through the CJs, STEX or whatever. 

 

I like the approach though ...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There is need to prevent a popularity contest here.  The main criteria should not be the number of downloads or users, but the quality of the overall item.  Uniqueness should also be considered, as well as craftsmanship and/or artistic expression.

 

All of this is subjective, of course.  It is necessary to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  [if a Beholder stares at you, you are paralysed. -- from the D&D rule book.]

[madhatter106 3,905]

[if a Beholder stares at you, you are paralysed. -- from the D&D rule book.]

 

Wait, no saving throw?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

[if a Beholder stares at you, you are paralysed. -- from the D&D rule book.]

 

Wait, no saving throw?

 

1d20 = current level.

[Cyclone Boom 17,016]

This sounds like a good idea going forward.

I agree the actual nominations should always remain 100% confidential. The element of surprise is what makes the awards special, and builds excitement & anticipation. Having a discussion would add extra build up to the event, and inform those who may have missed events of the previous year. This could mean even more people are recognised for their contributions.

If the discussion worked as an "ideas base", this would give hints of notable contributors, while not being persuasive. I think that's the key really -- maybe something like SimCoug did in a recent CJ entry? People could then use these suggestions to decide who to nominate, and what category to select them for. As long as it doesn't turn into a competition of who made the better content, or convincing people who to nominate. It should just put ideas out there for everyone to decide on their own, with a broader perspective.

Establishing some clear rules would be important to keep it running smoothly. I think the forum / community awards (e.g. helpful poster) are best kept completely separate. These are slightly different, with greater significance in being actively involved in the community. So any discussion would focus solely on the awards for players and builders (i.e. the CJs & custom content). These allow clear evidence of content, where the other award categories are more personal.

If done in a factual but relaxed way, I feel this could work well. It'd be interesting to hear what Dirk / the admins may think about this...

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

I felt like a total dunce yesterday when I was looking at a thread where someone asked about curved bridges and rsc204 (IIRC) made him aware of the little "terrain hack" that was introduced by McDuell - would have made a great nomination for the "Best Novelty Beyond the Buildings" category (did we even keep that one?). Did I remember that one when the nominations were on? No.

We could always make an honorable mention.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^This is probably as a very good reason for a thread that can be reviewed at Trixie nomination time that notes such breakthroughs and work arounds, so that they are not forgotten.  I think I can now say that I am strongly in favour of it provided rules are in place to prevent popularity contests.

[Linoa06 1,374]

I like the thread per year idea.  The annual thread can be locked once the Trixie Nomination period closes, but the new thread for a given year should be started January 1st.

 

Question: Is heavy approval in the discussion thread equivalent to a Trixie nomination?  Should it be?  Should Trixie nominations be open year round?

I don't think so - people can make the nomination in the proper place. Might be useful for reference though, maybe.

[philforhockey51 4,211]

If I may suggest, for categories such as BAT of the year, Automata of the year etc. a list for the category of items that are limited to the year being awarded should be enough.     A thread though somehow limited as it's been suggested would be very useful in being made aware of those actions, such as insights into games, that have been helpful and noteworthy in benefiting the community.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Well, assuming I didn't misunderstand your post, the problem with such a list can be that it may become rather long for some categories. For example, theoretically every BAT upload is eligible for "BAT of the Year"... therefore, a full list could end up being not that helpful. IMO, it's not too much asked to go to the STEX, select "SimCity4 > BAT" as a category and click through the pages that correspond to the year in question. I dunno about SC2013 or C:S, but for SimCity 4, uploads have slowed down to a point where the entire year can be browsed in <20 pages.

I also fear that this would take away from members' involvement in the whole process because it would result in a tedious task for one or a few person to make all those lists, and the other users (especially the more casual ones) would stay out of the process. However, I mentioned the original idea hoping that this "Hey, guys - don't you think these three buildings are totally hot candidates for this year's BAT of the year?" mechanism would encourage members to participate, and generate some enthusiasm about the entire affair. A list is more or less a static and boring thing: It exists, it's sitting there, and that's it. That's why I feel somewhat reserved about the idea.

In any case I'm glad that the topic caught on and that there seems to be consensus that such a thread would generally be a good thing to have.

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I tend to agree that a list would be lifeless (I nearly said listless).  Nothing like doing a little paging around.  In any case, I have a little list by looking at the creation date of any BAT or other item I download.  I wouldn't nominate something I don't use.

[philforhockey51 4,211]

I was typing a bit fast.  I would not want someone to have to sit down and spend time typing out a list. I was more thinking, if its possible (I don't know the tech), some sort of limited search function in the STEX for eligible items. A sort that only displays those items added in a set time frame.  It was my first time voting and I spent the time to look through the STEX having sorted by Date Added and was careful to make sure it was uploaded in 2014 etc. I did get a little confused on one of the "preset categories" and I failed to really come up with any of my own, felt hesitant being new. I wanted to take part so I put the effort in but I wonder how many others may have limited how much they voted or decided to walk away from the process entirely. I guess I'm just thinking of a way to streamline the process a little bit so it's easier for some of us newbies. I kind of followed the same idea as A Nonny Moose, in that I had a tough time voting for say C:S items I don't use or even know about as I don't play the game, so I stuck to SC4 and Forums as far as I remember. Seems for this year there will be many many more C:S items than SC4, so a thread would be very helpful for me to use for awareness.

[Haljackey 17,354]

Things are kinda quiet here, been a over a month since an update.

Did the site update scare the llamas?

 

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Yeah when are the Trixies going to be announced? It can't take two months to count up all of the nominations and Simtropolis itself now seems to have gotten over its teething pains.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The way things are going, the 2015 Trixies may be jointly issued with the 2014 ones.