Whoops, hit Post too soon. I formally give myself permission to doublepost, since i'll be quoting.
I hadn't considered this - but the form is very very convenient, since it allows much quicker communication from people who might not want to hang around to make a big post. It also lets us ask questions that we'd prefer were answered anonymously (the "did you just do it for the medal" one) and questions that nobody would answer in a forum post but are very useful for us - like time zone, or where they saw the jam.
And again, "some people"! Who? I know of a few specific things that we're behind in doing, but well, of course you're going to stay silenced if you don't speak up.
I kind of agree with you: there is indeed a gulf now between "decent" and "pro standard", and we need to be doing more to support that. However, we can't not support new members: not devoting energy to helping new people as they come in means that they leave sooner, taking their bad experiences with them - tf2m once again is known for elitism, and we lose new incoming talent (I would use Yrrzy as an example here - joined only a year or so ago!).
Another part of the cause is that a large group of our veterans have simply moved on - to get jobs and have less hobby time, or even to get non-compete clauses that ban them from things like this. Loads of the people who were really really good at crossing the decent>pro gulf are no longer here: and many of those who remain are content to socially hang out in chat and make things themselves, rather than providing assistance to others: the end result is that lots of people are trying to pull themselves up through that gulf together, and of course not doing an optimal job at it.
You're right that this isn't really relevant to the jam, though. Our very next contest - seriously, should be out in two weeks or so - is of a level of difficulty targetted to that veteran group, and i'm hoping to give them more opportunities to show off later.
I hadn't considered this - but the form is very very convenient, since it allows much quicker communication from people who might not want to hang around to make a big post. It also lets us ask questions that we'd prefer were answered anonymously (the "did you just do it for the medal" one) and questions that nobody would answer in a forum post but are very useful for us - like time zone, or where they saw the jam.
And again, "some people"! Who? I know of a few specific things that we're behind in doing, but well, of course you're going to stay silenced if you don't speak up.
I kind of agree with you: there is indeed a gulf now between "decent" and "pro standard", and we need to be doing more to support that. However, we can't not support new members: not devoting energy to helping new people as they come in means that they leave sooner, taking their bad experiences with them - tf2m once again is known for elitism, and we lose new incoming talent (I would use Yrrzy as an example here - joined only a year or so ago!).
Another part of the cause is that a large group of our veterans have simply moved on - to get jobs and have less hobby time, or even to get non-compete clauses that ban them from things like this. Loads of the people who were really really good at crossing the decent>pro gulf are no longer here: and many of those who remain are content to socially hang out in chat and make things themselves, rather than providing assistance to others: the end result is that lots of people are trying to pull themselves up through that gulf together, and of course not doing an optimal job at it.
You're right that this isn't really relevant to the jam, though. Our very next contest - seriously, should be out in two weeks or so - is of a level of difficulty targetted to that veteran group, and i'm hoping to give them more opportunities to show off later.
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