GSA 2014 Information

Discussion in 'Public Member Events' started by HashDankHog, Mar 26, 2014.

  1. The Good Samaritan Award 2.0

    Fellow monkeys Empyreans and friends, this is technically The Good Samaritan Award 2.0 2.0, but lets ignore that fact for now. This will be the SECOND annual Good Samaritan Award, which I am basing of my original award, which was ripped off borrowed was inspired by AlexChance's community appreciation and CRAFTA awards, with slight changes to help improve fairness and maximum FUNOSITY (fun-os-ity).

    The original award was meant to reward those who helped out the community. The idea was to help recognize the people that make this community so grate. Their kindness, philanthropy, and FUNOSITY (fun-os-ity) helps make our community so wonderful and what it is today. These people deserve recognition and deserve a reward of their own, while not expecting it. The idea is not to have people act nice as an investment in hope to win prizes, but to encourage community growth. Players will also be judge on memory.

    Year one was a major success, it went from an idea I had in the shower because I was bored, into a major competition that was highly supported and even got on the front page. Even though last year was a major success, it still had some flaw's I wish to correct this year.

    Flaws & Proposed Improvments:
    • The prizes were smaller than I wanted. This year I wish for the grand prize to be between 300000r and 640000r
    • Staff members were not eligible to win. This year
    • Some spies were poorly chosen (my fault) and with few spies, finding the best people was a hard task. Spies are now hand picked with care.
    • The award had some criticism for apparently ripping off AlexChance's award's. I am not afraid to admit it, but I think it has become much more than that. The award was meant as an upgrade from his award, to insure everyone has eligibility, everything is fair, and there is no bias.
    • I had to make some quick decisions without enough time, which hurt the award results. This year will have two new things to help this. First, is that the competition will have a three month span, versus last years "month and a half or so" timespan. Next, will be a rule where I can change a rule at free will when needed, at any time during the competition
    Here is the original thread:
    Spies can apply via this google form:

    Link is here if the embedded form does not work.

    If you apply, you are not guaranteed to get accepted. Give me time to talk to you, and do not bother me about it. Members can recommend a player. If a spy is recommended by 3 or more players, they have the choice to opt out of spying and become a nominee

    Donate money to IceCreamHorse.
    I still have 400k worth of items that are going to be used. I want you to still have faith in me. I made a mistake which i regret, and I had no idea what its consequences were. We have all made mistakes and I just made a big one. I hope you can all still have faith in me, and that you all believe in second chances. Hopefully the award still has some chance at making the front page again.
  2. I try to make my threads as fun as possible to help people enjoy a long post and to bring out the best in everyone. If you want a serious description and summary of the award, private message me. If serious is your style, I can work with that. Just let me know.

    EDIT (March 27): I am working on an official signature for the event.
    UPDATE (March 28):


    Code:
    [URL=http://empireminecraft.com/threads/gsa-2014-information.37662][/IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0sWi4YR.png[/IMG][/URL]


    Code:
    [URL=http://empireminecraft.com/threads/gsa-2014-information.37662][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/XDbgU2n.png[/IMG][/URL]


    Code:
    [URL=http://empireminecraft.com/threads/gsa-2014-information.37666/][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/vNOEaqJ.png[/IMG][/URL]


    Over time signatures will be added and improved.
    EDIT: March 31) I realized signatures appear smaller in the signature box. I will fix this and improve signatures, which I realized are small and hard to read.
    Palmsugar likes this.
  3. Edit: all fixed. ;)
    Also, please make all donations to my alternate account, Quequay. :p
    I would never be able to keep track of every rupee on my main account.
  4. pardon?
    OrangeDuck607 likes this.
  5. Edit: All fixed. ;)
  6. It works for me, and on my other computer. Try a different browser, I will also post a link.
    boozle628 likes this.
  7. Who said it was ripping mine off? :confused: The more award thingies there are, the better. :D As for the "fairness" improvements though, I'll provide a little insight into bias and winner filters.

    Simply allowing people to nominate themselves to nominate others as winners doesn't work. They pick friends, alts and usually with no harm meant, if the server is lacking of "deserving" players, they will again default to picking friends.

    What I suggest you do, as I do, is allow players to nominate others with reasons, then get a group of really trusted players, staff, ect. to go through them and find the best nominations. Sure, friends can still be nominated, however reasons are required and everything is dealt much more fairly as literally anyone can be nominated, not just people that know the spies (it also helps that the nominating people are the entirety of the active portion of EMC - so to try and prove themselves, they need to prove themselves to everyone) - I disagree with the improvements you made fixing the bias, they extend it :(

    As for players being nominated for monitory reasons, I disagree, it doesn't make them a "Good Samaritan" it makes them a person that likes giving money away, but it has little impact on the greater good of the community. :)

    Just some feedback, good luck. :D
  8. I am going to agree and disagree with this at the same time. When someone nominated a player last year, it was more than just a nomination. After that a spy looked over then and determined if they were worthy of the award. I make a few mistakes last year which did cause bias. If a player recommends someone, I look over their forum activity and the spies look over them in game. I try to pick only the best people in the community. Last year I had problems with spies, and this year I am making sure I am choosing them carefully and being patient. If a spy if figured out by anyone, it may result in termination of the job.

    I think I forgot to add one part to the thread. There are multiple requirements to be a valid nominee besides just giving money away. I am still working on an official list, but this is what I have for now:
    • A potential nominee has to be very active in the community. They have to be active in-game, and at least somewhat active on the forums
    • Being a Good Samaritan is not only about giving money away, as you stated. It is also about their own community involvement with projects that help their SMP thrive. Example: people like yourself, deathtomb, public farm owners, etc.
    • A potential nominee also has to be of course, very nice and fun. They engage themselves with community members and like to know and befriend everyone. Example: people like palmsugar, kuradochuu, etc.
    • Money donations is a good thing but so are donations of time and items. People who help out the new players and give them items, and those who tell them how to get back from the wild, are the glue that hold EMC together.
    • Of course, money is not the number one point, but it is still important. Someone that donates money to community projects and other players that need it (new players that aren't begging, people like that).
    This contest is man made, and like everything that is man made, there is at least one flaw. There of course is a almost certain chance of bias. I want to thanks for your constructive criticism, because you are right. There are several problems I need to work out.

    Also, I am not saying my contest is better than yours, I just think of it as two different ways to do the same job :).

    Thanks, Alex.
    OrangeDuck607 likes this.
  9. I will send some mail to your way and kura's. :)
  10. Um, I do not understand this part in the flaw improvement thingy section: "Staff members were not eligible to win. This year"
  11. Sorry, just noticed that. Right now I am on my cell phone so i cannot edit it. This year staff ranks below senior staff (developer, contributor, and moderator) are eligible to become nominees.
    OrangeDuck607 likes this.
  12. I can't be nominated can I?
  13. I did not know if you applied for spy or not. If you did, read the spy clause. If you did not, I do not see any reason why you are not eligible.
  14. No, I won the SMP section last time.
  15. Well, if a person is worthy of a nomination, I see no problem with being a past winner or nominee. I want to find the best people, and if the person continues to be good, there should be no problem.
    OrangeDuck607 likes this.
  16. Isn't that like... reversed bribery? :D
    hashhog3000 likes this.
  17. Ok, I just wanted to know if I was allowed to be nominated this time.
  18. This is gift giving, not part of the competition. Just an act of kindness. Since it is reverse bribery, it doesn't really matter.
  19. sent you and kura a diamond, I know it is nothing much, but it is what i have atm. Also, can you make a version of that without the words? I may want to use it in the OP.
    OrangeDuck607 likes this.