- Joined
- May 24, 2012
Hey guys,
First off, congratulations on CC2012! You really earned the Jaded Monkey!
I've been participating or observing CC since 2009, and my observation is that the most problematic aspect of CC is also what makes it so different and special: changing clients to Chimp names. I've seen it holding back many folders from participating, causing within-team discussions/frictions, which in turn can go as far as donors or teams to swear off CC. I think we all agree that this aspect of CC is both valuable but troublesome at the same time.
I believe the biggest reason why changing CC names is not favored is because personal recognition/objectives are important for some donors (more than others). I believe we should all respect their point of view. On the other hand, there are others who are in it to win it for the Team. I believe we should all respect their point of view, as well. But then, when things heat-up, especially when losing, there starts finger-pointing within the team.
So, I've been thinking how to manage this; keeping the specialty of CC while minimizing the issues it causes. There is basically no way without trade-offs, but as simple as it is, I believe what I'm going to propose will make things "better"
Proposal: Each participating party in the CC, create a new Chimp team (yes, team). Donors who wants to participate in CC for this Chimp team change their team number accordingly, while keeping their username.
Question/Comment: What?? New teams?? WTF?
Answer: Yes, new teams for Chimp names. Was that a question?
Q/C: How is it different from Chimp usernames?
A: The differences are, 1) The donors get to keep their folding names under the new team, 2) Switching to the new team is easier than switching to a new username; a) typos will be fewer, if any, and b) no need to change the passkeys, which 3) Enables a more secure and more efficient process, and 4) It is easier to communicate to new folders (my subjective view).
Q/C: Are there any benefits in doing this? Why bother?
A: On top of the logistics aspects, 1) It opens the CC to a whole new dimension. It is not the original folding teams that are competing now, but it is the Chimps! It suggests that regardless of their original folding teams, donors come together in a totally different team and engage in a totally different competition. 2) Discoupling the CC from original competition (at least to some degree) enables establishing and enhancing the camaraderie between folders across the whole folding community. It can really bring the whole folding community together and do something for fun while still competing, flinging poo, and smack-talking. It can hopefully make it so that it's not about winning but doing it for the celebration of the efforts we're all in together (something we unfortunately forget sometimes).
Q/C: I don't like that team points will be separated.
A: This idea suggests that CC will not be about the folding teams anymore. CC will be a battle of Chimps; this will put the "Chimp" in Chimp Challenge. We're too much immersed in team competition, and why? Why does it really matter what team you're folding for? I hope you can see that it really does not. So, why not change your team to another one for 10 days, just for the fun of it?
Q/C: How are we going to calculate "Growth"? Especially for new Chimps?
A: For the first year, which will be a transient (and imperfect) state, it will be based on last year's points. For new Chimps, there are a number of alternatives to go for. One possibility that I like is giving them the average of their scores in other categories.
Q/C: How about "Conversion"?
A: This is challenging, and there are two alternatives: 1) Same as before, 2) Get rid of it. The first one suggests we divide the Chimp team points to the folding team points and go from there. However, this is not what I have in mind, because it links the Chimp team too strongly to a single folding team; the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve. On the other hand, getting rid of "Conversion" will probably require another category to replace it with (I will post an idea about this as well). My side suggestion: get rid of it, because I envision CC to be decoupled from original teams, and Conversion is working just the opposite way.
Q/C: I don't like it.
A: OK(?)..
Any more questions/comments, please post below minding respect to others' (starting with me
) ideas. Thanks!
PS: I will post this on EVGA and [H] (yes, I've got a steel pair
) as well...
First off, congratulations on CC2012! You really earned the Jaded Monkey!
I've been participating or observing CC since 2009, and my observation is that the most problematic aspect of CC is also what makes it so different and special: changing clients to Chimp names. I've seen it holding back many folders from participating, causing within-team discussions/frictions, which in turn can go as far as donors or teams to swear off CC. I think we all agree that this aspect of CC is both valuable but troublesome at the same time.
I believe the biggest reason why changing CC names is not favored is because personal recognition/objectives are important for some donors (more than others). I believe we should all respect their point of view. On the other hand, there are others who are in it to win it for the Team. I believe we should all respect their point of view, as well. But then, when things heat-up, especially when losing, there starts finger-pointing within the team.
So, I've been thinking how to manage this; keeping the specialty of CC while minimizing the issues it causes. There is basically no way without trade-offs, but as simple as it is, I believe what I'm going to propose will make things "better"
Proposal: Each participating party in the CC, create a new Chimp team (yes, team). Donors who wants to participate in CC for this Chimp team change their team number accordingly, while keeping their username.
Question/Comment: What?? New teams?? WTF?
Answer: Yes, new teams for Chimp names. Was that a question?
Q/C: How is it different from Chimp usernames?
A: The differences are, 1) The donors get to keep their folding names under the new team, 2) Switching to the new team is easier than switching to a new username; a) typos will be fewer, if any, and b) no need to change the passkeys, which 3) Enables a more secure and more efficient process, and 4) It is easier to communicate to new folders (my subjective view).
Q/C: Are there any benefits in doing this? Why bother?
A: On top of the logistics aspects, 1) It opens the CC to a whole new dimension. It is not the original folding teams that are competing now, but it is the Chimps! It suggests that regardless of their original folding teams, donors come together in a totally different team and engage in a totally different competition. 2) Discoupling the CC from original competition (at least to some degree) enables establishing and enhancing the camaraderie between folders across the whole folding community. It can really bring the whole folding community together and do something for fun while still competing, flinging poo, and smack-talking. It can hopefully make it so that it's not about winning but doing it for the celebration of the efforts we're all in together (something we unfortunately forget sometimes).
Q/C: I don't like that team points will be separated.
A: This idea suggests that CC will not be about the folding teams anymore. CC will be a battle of Chimps; this will put the "Chimp" in Chimp Challenge. We're too much immersed in team competition, and why? Why does it really matter what team you're folding for? I hope you can see that it really does not. So, why not change your team to another one for 10 days, just for the fun of it?
Q/C: How are we going to calculate "Growth"? Especially for new Chimps?
A: For the first year, which will be a transient (and imperfect) state, it will be based on last year's points. For new Chimps, there are a number of alternatives to go for. One possibility that I like is giving them the average of their scores in other categories.
Q/C: How about "Conversion"?
A: This is challenging, and there are two alternatives: 1) Same as before, 2) Get rid of it. The first one suggests we divide the Chimp team points to the folding team points and go from there. However, this is not what I have in mind, because it links the Chimp team too strongly to a single folding team; the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve. On the other hand, getting rid of "Conversion" will probably require another category to replace it with (I will post an idea about this as well). My side suggestion: get rid of it, because I envision CC to be decoupled from original teams, and Conversion is working just the opposite way.
Q/C: I don't like it.
A: OK(?)..
Any more questions/comments, please post below minding respect to others' (starting with me
PS: I will post this on EVGA and [H] (yes, I've got a steel pair