[H]ardDCer changes discussion

[Xilikon]

In the nomination thread for December, aldamon proposed that we should make the nominations/polls a bi-monthly (another proposed quarterly) event, not monthly so we can bring more competition and make it more exclusive.

I would like to hear opinions or suggestions about that... We would like to implement the changes (if we agree to change it) for January 2008 so we have 3 weeks to decide.

 

[Celerator]

I like the monthly system. Having 12 in a year seems pretty exclusive already to me. I've been folding for several years and have been nominated once (quite a thrill). Considering the number of [H]orde folders, 12 reinforcers seems better than 6 or 4 to me.

Fold for the cure!

 

[schenks]

I guess I'd like to see it continue monthly. That said, unless traffic picks up soon here, bi-monthly may end up being better (at least until things pick up). Start spreading the word on the hardocp frontpage to increase traffic

 

[gwarren007]

I would like to still have it monthly. If we went to a bi-monthly or even quarterly nonmination
you would be snuffing out the little guys.

Hers a guy who used to fold, then quit? (i'm guessing)


How many votes would he get if we only did it quarterly? We need to recruit, educate and retain members. I would like to see a "New Folder of the Month" and let them have a title until
1. they reach thier first year
2. Thier production falls below the 70% mark of when they recieved thier badge (for 6 consective weeks)

For a newbie to folding, putting up ~200.00 for a rig to do SMP and getting 800ppd won't get them squat for the first year. Why get a quad? Why learn VmWare or linux? Build a farm-why?
There is no payoff till the 500k mark. Let's rethink some of our decisions.

 

[Bill Clo]

I think monthly is a better option, as long as we get enough site traffic to get sufficient votes. I suspect there's alot of lurkers out there who wouldn't vote anyways.

 

[Xilikon]

Yes, I see the consensus is to keep it monthly still.

However, here's a idea I might throw to make things interesting : What about if a [H]ardDCer of the month is decerned to a member, then we cannot renominate him anymore in the foreseeable future instead of only 1 year. Like that, if someone got it, he is already in the hall of fame, no need to add him again... The [H]ardDCer of the Year would be the only outcome for the previous winners.

If we have someone we want to reward for his exceptional work (Like King_N who almost got his 3rd title in 3 years), we should find another way to better recognize this than just titles...

 

[aldamon]

My suggestion was every other month so that gets my vote.

 

[digital_exhaust]

I would like to still have it monthly. If we went to a bi-monthly or even quarterly nonmination
you would be snuffing out the little guys.

Hers a guy who used to fold, then quit? (i'm guessing)


How many votes would he get if we only did it quarterly? We need to recruit, educate and retain members. I would like to see a "New Folder of the Month" and let them have a title until
1. they reach thier first year
2. Thier production falls below the 70% mark of when they recieved thier badge (for 6 consective weeks)

For a newbie to folding, putting up ~200.00 for a rig to do SMP and getting 800ppd won't get them squat for the first year. Why get a quad? Why learn VmWare or linux? Build a farm-why?
There is no payoff till the 500k mark. Let's rethink some of our decisions.

All excellent points and ideas.. I really agree with the New Folder idea... it's something I brought up in my interview...... I really think that someting like that would encourage people to participate... and it would likely bring out some of the lurkers as well...

 

[Xilikon]

Honestly, I like the idea of a [H]ardDCer - New Folder of the month... However, I must get the approbation from Kyle first.

 

[Rebel44]

I would like to still have it monthly. If we went to a bi-monthly or even quarterly nonmination
you would be snuffing out the little guys.

Hers a guy who used to fold, then quit? (i'm guessing)


How many votes would he get if we only did it quarterly? We need to recruit, educate and retain members. I would like to see a "New Folder of the Month" and let them have a title until
1. they reach thier first year
2. Thier production falls below the 70% mark of when they recieved thier badge (for 6 consective weeks)

For a newbie to folding, putting up ~200.00 for a rig to do SMP and getting 800ppd won't get them squat for the first year. Why get a quad? Why learn VmWare or linux? Build a farm-why?
There is no payoff till the 500k mark. Let's rethink some of our decisions.

I agree - this looks like very good idea

 

[aldamon]

I like New Folder of the Month better than Hard Folder of the Month, which seems arbitrary.

The winner of NFoM could be measured easily and I agree could be a good incentive for new folders to join.

 

[ICE_9]

I believe the current system is effective.

 

[APOLLO]

I like New Folder of the Month better than Hard Folder of the Month, which seems arbitrary.

Yes, I agree. If we desire to make the 'Hard Folder of the Month' award more exclusive, which seems to be the premise of this thread, we can bestow that title on a quarterly basis following the seasons of the year. That is but one possibility and an example would look something like this: Xilikon [H]ard|DCer - Spring 2007. The bimonthly proposal is also interesting, but the custom title might be difficult/cumbersome to designate. This is in addition to the 'NFOM' award, which would be more transitory as suggested earlier.

The winner of NFoM could be measured easily and I agree could be a good incentive for new folders to join.

Yes, and it might grant them the motivational influence to stay folding longer as well as increase the competitiveness between new members. The longer someone participates in DC, the greater the chances they'll stay with it for the long haul, which is the team's ultimate reward.

 

[Xilikon]

What about this :

-Quartely [H]ardDCer of the month (once won, the name is foreved removed for future nominations) and the title is permanent.

-Monthly [H]ard New folder of the month with some criterias for admission (like under X points, under X averages and less than X months/year). Title is lost if minimum criterias is not respected for some time.

With all the winners of both rewards, we can make a [H]ardDCer of the Year

This way, if someone want to shoot for the Year title, they need to either contribute a lot to the team by various ways (quartely part) or be dedicated to the team by either ramping a lot or sustaining a good production for a good amount of title. Everyone would have the motivation to work harder toward a cure...

For the newcomers, I think it should be themselves who opt in, not for us to hunt for them because not everyone is interested in those rewards or just lurk. Those who opt in would usually have a reason to participate in the [H]orde community and they are usually the ones who post a "Hi to the team, I'm new".

 

[aldamon]

I like it.

 

[APOLLO]

Xilikon, that's a very good proposal. I really like the multi-tiered system. I'm surprised it hasn't been implemented already. I guess it has to meet approval from the top, as with most such amendments.

 

[digital_exhaust]

Sounds good to me, and I like the "opt in" idea .... I really do think it would encourage new and or less productive members to participate more than they would otherwise....

 

[gwarren007]

and this idea gets my vote

 

[SmokeRngs]

I would rather continue with the setup we now have. I see no reason to change what we have. While things have been slow in the forum lately, it doesn't mean it will stay that way forever.

I'm not a real big fan of the new folder of the month either. A big part of that reason would be keeping track of someone's points and then removing the title at a later time if they stop. More work than what it necessary.

Also, making any title points based is way off the mark. The folder of the month title has nothing to do with points and damn well better never have anything to do with keeping up a certain amount of points. We welcome and happily greet anyone that wants to fold even if it's on a PIII 450 which might barely make deadlines.

The folder of the month award was something started to point out those on the team who were doing something above and beyond the call of duty so to speak. It has nothing to do with points. It could be someone doing 100PPW but making a great contribution in another way.

I would consider unhappy_mage one of these people. At one point he was putting out some good points but he won his title due to his work on Foldix, the fold server and his easy Windows installer. That's a hell of a lot of work he did and for the most part, not something I've really seen anyone else in the folding community do. He spent a lot of time and effort on that.

As we all know, King_N is like this too. He's quiet and ran UD when it was around and now WCG. However, he's put an amazing amount time and effort into hardfolding. He's also been recognized for his efforts.

What I'm saying is making any type of title just because of points is a bad idea and something I will not support. I don't mean to be rude or harsh, but that's the way I see things. I've been around here longer than I care to think about sometimes and awarding something like a title or whatever based on points is against just about everything this team stands for. It's always been the little guys with one or two machines crunching away nonstop which have made the biggest difference for this project. Putting an emphasis on points would probably drive away people we would otherwise have.

 

[brycejones]

Very well said SmokeRngs. We really need to try and focus on those who are contributing to the community in ways other than just points. The examples cited above are individuals who improve the community as a whole.

 

[APOLLO]

Even though I like Xilikon's proposal I definitely agree with SmokeRngs that points shouldn't take center stage. Meaning, other DC related achievements besides total production should always be considered. Someone who helps new folders out in the forum would be a good candidate despite a low personal production is but one example. Or, someone who gets many new members recruited, etc. These kinds of contributions cannot have a numerical value attributed to them because their worth is inestimable.

 

[Pocatello]

These ideas have sure generated some interest around here. I guess that is good.

I prefer to leave things as they are. I think that having 12 hard folders of the month each year is pretty damn exclusive when we have over 1,000 active folders at any one time.

I would like to focus on getting more members on our team, and getting our team to ramp up and produce more points for Stanford. As well as keeping the members that we have by creating some contests.

Kill the Beast! Buy a quad core! Fold for Team 33 !!!

 

[aldamon]

I'm not a real big fan of the new folder of the month either. A big part of that reason would be keeping track of someone's points and then removing the title at a later time if they stop. More work than what it necessary.

Yeah, I see what you're saying about the work but disagree about the new award. Titles aren't changed for HFoM so why would they need to be changed for NFoM? Just slap a date on it and be done with it.

The folder of the month award was something started to point out those on the team who were doing something above and beyond the call of duty so to speak.

Really? Is that what's happening with the award right now?

What I'm saying is making any type of title just because of points is a bad idea and something I will not support.

The HFoM award has never been and never will be only about points and I don't think anyone has suggested otherwise. As for the potential NFoM award, if someone came along and contributed a half million points in their first month or something I'll be damned if he/she isn't worthy of some recognition! Points aren't some useless number. If you disagree with making awards only about points, then we can expand the net and include people who have contributed in other ways. Of course, the chances of a new folder contributing something besides points are low.

We welcome and happily greet anyone that wants to fold even if it's on a PIII 450 which might barely make deadlines.

How does recognition of an excellent badass new folder slight a small contributor? I don't think it does. I think we can reward good folders without offending the folks folding a single PIII in a closet.

 

[digital_exhaust]

I completely agree that points alone should never be considered the primary criteria for awarding anything to anyone. But it was my perception that the new folder concept was not so much intended to replace the Hard Folder, rather a way to encourage forum members to join the Horde and fold with us.... and perhaps bring a few lurkers out and become more involved.... so if I misunderstood the idea, I apologize. Regardless, I do think that finding some way to encourage the little guys to actively participate is something that we need to do.

gwarren007 made some very valid points, rather right or wrong, about some new or existing folders not really feeling that folding is worth the effort..I know for a fact that there are many who feel there is "no payoff" so to speak. Now while I think folding only to achieve some sort of "payoff" is missing the entire point behind the project in the first place, there are those who may find a little payoff here and there just the encouragement they need to make it worth while.... that's all. I would hate to see it become something that became cumbersome or unfair, it would take some time and effort form those of us willing to help out (raises hand) but in the end, if coordinated correctly, I think it could be something fun and would offer a little competitive spirit for the little guys...

Really, look at my attack list. Last I checked there were maybe four out of ten that were active, and I have never seen their usernames around here.... kinda pointless "calling" any of them out for a little fun, huh? That's all, I just think it may encourage some of those unknown guys to come out and play, if you know what I mean.

Just a little guys opinion, take it for what it's worth.

 

[racercarl]

personnally i am a lurker, mostly


lurk

lurk

lurk,

 

[Xilikon]

Continue the discussion, it's getting interesting

I just made this thread because some ppl expressed a wish to change or add something about the title. Myself, I think the current system works very well but I also think we need to come up with a way to make new folders and lurkers participate in the community...

I will think about all this and I'll try to bring more ideas. However, I should stress that doing awards based on points only isn't a good idea (everyone can produce points, there is no real challenge) and my last proposition is only to get some criterias for admission, not the main reason to award someone...

 

[Jon855]

I personally think there should not be any level of "criteria" to be met in order to qualify for the DC'er award. Like it is now is all based on the nominations, it can be of any reasons as long they're folding for the right team then I don't see the purpose of singling anybody out.

We've got nominations so I think that works just fine. I however would like to see that the folder be at least somewhat involved in the forums someway. But that's for my nomination only. Some of us may have been folding for years in the back of the crowd and choose to be like that. I don't want to single them out with any new set rules. I think it works the way it does right now just plainly fine. I do see the incentives for creating somewhat new folder of the month or something like that working out to an extent but I don't know about that myself...

Fold On.

 

[Pogo]

I would like to still have it monthly. If we went to a bi-monthly or even quarterly nonmination
you would be snuffing out the little guys.

Hers a guy who used to fold, then quit? (i'm guessing)


How many votes would he get if we only did it quarterly? We need to recruit, educate and retain members. I would like to see a "New Folder of the Month" and let them have a title until
1. they reach thier first year
2. Thier production falls below the 70% mark of when they recieved thier badge (for 6 consective weeks)

For a newbie to folding, putting up ~200.00 for a rig to do SMP and getting 800ppd won't get them squat for the first year. Why get a quad? Why learn VmWare or linux? Build a farm-why?
There is no payoff till the 500k mark. Let's rethink some of our decisions.

Hey now! I was active early on in the folding cause here on the [H]. Had to take down my clients since my time at that job ended and I couldn't leave the clients on those machines. Came back to it now that I watch over many more systems than before. Didn't have too many points from before though.

 

[relic]

My $.02...

Shaddup and fold.

 

[gwarren007]

You were convienant, your the only one on my threat list. After I hit 6100ppd you disappeared

Hey now! I was active early on in the folding cause here on the [H]. Had to take down my clients since my time at that job ended and I couldn't leave the clients on those machines. Came back to it now that I watch over many more systems than before. Didn't have too many points from before though.

 

[Duster]

you all are a bunch of long winded people. (I.e. i read about 2% of the post in this thread)

I for one dislike seeing the same people over and over again. I know people do a lot around here. A few pull enough of their weight plus a few of us others. I am not saying we should steal there thunder for any reason, if anything make it better.

So we have folder of the month and then we have folder of the year? (might be wrong here) Maybe we should put in place something like folder for life. After so many times wining folder of the year you become folder for life. basically the highest of highest honors. and with that they are no longer eligible for folder of the month


or maybe i am just pissing in th wind and the rest of you long winded fools aren't reading post either