The current FITT Challenge is going well but is not without it's issues. Something always seems to come up in every challenge no matter how well planned and thought out it was. This one is no exception as there have been two issues. I have not been posting much and up until recently have avoided posting in the thread. First issue was handled as expected, the hosts made a decision and stuck to it. The most recent however, is one that seems to come up every once in awhile and needs to be addressed. We have discussed it several times before but have yet to come up with a solution. So I would like to propose three things which I feel may benefit the community overall.
Sometimes, a participant will question a testers results, as we have recently seen. I have always taken the stance of defending the tester since they are hard to come by, and harder to keep coming back. But is that the right thing to do? Rule 13 is in place to protect the tester from having their results questioned unless there is something clearly amiss. But, the questioner also needs to be protected and is often attacked/jumped for asking a question concerning those results. Often, but not always, it is a case of being misunderstood, but since type has no tone it is hard sometimes to tell. So please here me out, I'm not sure this is the best solution but at least it is an attempt. If it is not well received, then I shall crawl back into the shadows and keep quiet, but will know that I did my part in trying. So here are my three suggestions:
1. We need to do a better job of displaying, upholding, and enforcing the rules. The basic rules are normally posted somewhere in the OP but how many people actually stop and read them? I feel it would be best to give them their own post, and clearly display Rule 13 and a link to the complete Rules:
13) Driver feedback, both positive and negative, is strongly encouraged and should be done in a constructive manner. Not all tunes work well for every driver. Personal attacks WILL NOT be tolerated and may result in penalties or disqualification at the discretion of the organizer(s) and also may be subject to sanction by GTPlanet Moderating Staff. Treat all participants and spectators in a respectful manner so that everyone may enjoy the event.
Should an issue arise (and they usually do), simply instructing to first read the rules is a good place to start. Being in the OP, every participant would have no excuse not to read them. Also, there needs to be more respect for the host(s) as it is not as easy (or as hard) as it looks but is time consuming to a point. If they have made up the rules, they should be followed and not be questioned or asked to change them to suit another's desire. Just my thought......anyway
2. in the same post after the rules, should read a statement about what to do should an issue arise or if you feel there is something wrong with test results or a posted tune. The best solution is using the feature GtPlanet gave us, PM. It could read something like this:
In the event that a participant feels there is a discrepency with a testers results or any other issue, the first thing that should be done before making a public statement is to PM the host. Explain your concern and be sure to have the tester/tuner in question involved in the conversation. This should eliminate attacks and clear things up (if possible) without needless pages of people attacking each other or posting what may be deemed by another as an attack. When a resolution is found, it will be up to the host as to whether or not to go public with the concern or if the public should help remedy the situation. Should you have an issue and post it before conversing with the host(s) or the other participant in question, you except responsability for the outcome and may or may not get help from the host(s).
May need to be worded better, but you get the idea. We need to get out in front and put a warning label in the OP. This may help to eliminate and possible avoid issues before they get out of hand.
3. (and this is the big one) We need to make an attempt to introduce a new way of using the DC Score. A simply yet defined formula needs to be created. Several have thought about coming up with new ways of doing it, but none have even been tried. So I have one that may (or may not) work, but would need to be tried to find out. I have an idea for a challenge but not the time to run it. Otherwise I would give it a test drive myself. Three parts, each should help explain the score (and tune) better, and still give the tester some freedom to rate the tune as they wish.
a. Comfort/Easy of learning.
Some tunes are harder to get used to before you can get the most out of, others you can just jump in go. So this scale should grade each, and every other in between:
- 9-10 : Great tune, just jump in and go. easy to learn and get comfortable driving.
- 7-8 : Good tune, but took a few laps to get a grip on what it wanted.
- 5-6 : Not a bad tune, but I struggled a little with it. Took too many laps to get used to.
- 4 and under : Was never really able to settled in to this one and get comfortable.
- For anything 4 and under, please be specific and/or give suggestions as to what you think might help the tune based on testing the others in the challenge
b. Handling and Consistency
Should be self explanatory.
- 9-10 : Handling spot on, easy to be consistent and turn fast laps or to push harder
- 7-8 : Good handling but needs minor improvement to be top rate. Consistency not bad
- 5-6 : Some handling issues, not easy to be consistent
- 4 and under : Not good, difficult to find consistency is at all
- For anything 4 and under, please be specific and/or give suggestions as to what you think might help the tune based on testing the others in the challenge
c. Fun Factor
Some tunes are more fun for a tester than others even if they are not the fastest. Some fast tunes are not as exciting for some and can be found safe. Up to the tester as to how they grade this, and it would be like the current scale. Completely subjective. Again, anything 4 and under needs explaining, but the tester would be given free reign as it is what Driver's Choice is all about.
Based on this scale, tunes should be better explained and there scores easier to understand. This would hopefully help to avoid questions from others. 30 points would also likely be harder to achieve than a 10 in the current system. Might also help to spread the scores out which may not be a good thing but the tuners are getting better so the would likely stay close anyway.
Any thoughts, positive or negative appreciated.
Bowtie