Would you consider extending the deadline a little bit?
Sunday, July 29, 2012 - 10:18
Hi.
I know that all of us in the coding phase would benefit on a few more days of coding. Independant of individual progress, one can always do more, improve, add more content, fix bugs, test, etc.
What's the rush? I don't believe you're contractually bound with a big company.... also, the judges would understand...
Anything would help... 5 days, 1 week, 10 days...
In my case I had to leave my coding for a while, and I'm having a hard time getting back on schedule again...
Well, if you can't move, if it's that set on stone, it's OK, I can still get something for the 31th.
Thanks for your consideration!
We'll consiuder a 2 week extension (through August 15th), provided no one who is planning to enter has any serious objections by tomorrow morning. If anyone objects, please let us know now (you may contact me through my contact form on OGA if you wish to voice your objection privately).
Bart
P.S. Note that under normal circumstances we wouldn't do this, but Chris is moving and my wife is getting abdominal surgery on the 1st of August, so we're both going to be insanely busy for a couple of weeks. Also, several people now have requested an extension, so it seems like the consensus is in favor of it.
As one of the many competitors, I am not against an extension and in fact, would definitely welcome it.
Another competitor speaking up here. No objection from me. Would mean I can relax my last few days of summer holiday and then stress about finishing later ;-)
If it means better quality entries, why not?
I agree. Better quality of games and more polish. But the announcement has to be made so everyone knows. (if this happens would be great news!)
You have to consider the fact that people have been KILLING themselves trying to hit the deadline.
Work, spouses, and social lives have suffered.
In THEORY I want the extension. In practice, it would be unfair to many people to move it after it's been announced at the start of the competition (just like changing the prize amounts) and I think moving the deadline would set a bad precedent and reflect poorly on the LPC.
I'm sorry guys, a huge part of me wants this, but I have to say I object for the sake of LPC, and because I think there is very likely to be people to whom this will be unfair, who won't even see this thread.
We've been busting ourselves trying to get our game done, budgeting our time, four dungeons, one per week, etc, and are finally in the home stretch... I rather agree with gr3yh47. If it was only a day under extenuating circumstances for some competitors, I might feel a little more lenient, but five days is a lot, and two weeks is fully half the competition period.
There's nothing saying we can't continue to polish and work on our games after the deadline, which is why they're all GPL'd and CC-BY-SA'd. I know I plan to keep working, I already have three dungeons sketched out on paper. I know my wife is getting sick of me staying up late to work on it, too. Extending the deadline just feels like a little bit of a letdown this late in the process.
I'm one of those that have 'KILLING ourselves'. I've hardly slept more than 6 hours a day just to try and do an excellent project.
I've had to pass on parties, boxing lessons and going out to the movies such as the new Batman one.
I agree that changing the deadline would set a bad precedent, but if 2 extra weeks means our good games can be polished into great games, I'm all for it.
I'm already pretty tired as-is, which is why I won't fight a decision for or against an extension, but I'd sleep a lot more if I knew I had an extra 2 weeks :P
I wasn't on vacation or anything, I too worked hard and for long hours on this. I'm alone, I'm coding tiling apps and the engine from scratch, by myself. I lost a whole week working on a PhD related assignment that showed up unnanounced.
I can understand how it's unfair for some people that now know they're in an advantage because they got more product on time.
For me it's not about the prize. It's a window for me to show my work. This is a great opportunity to be on a list of games, being seen, etc. And the fact that we have to show everything under the hood, puts a little more pressure on the quality you have to deliver in terms of code.
I want to see more than just concept games in the list.
Maybe an extra point for those that uploaded the game on time? That can be done. If you're considering negative points if the game doesn't compile/run with ease, why not positive points for people on time? That way people that wasn't aware of the extension won't feel bad either.
Plus we have to consider what Bart said, that they too would benefit from an extension, for personal reasons.
Let's face it: we wouldn't be talking about fairness if this wasn't a contest. So let's be less competitive for a minute and think about the greater good, the games, and the potential each one of us have to do better and bigger ones.
I don't believe extending the deadline would set a "bad precedent". Google as done it for the Google Summer of Code and it has reliably resulted in better results. Mozilla also as extended its deadline last year for the DemoParty Competition adn I believe most competitions go though this.
Been the first year, I believe quality and polish should excel, and an extra few days would accomplish these.
Just my two cents ;)
I think if it had come earlier so we'd been able to plan our project accordingly, I'd understand an extension. I know in college & grad school, if I'd asked a prof for an extension on a paper two weeks in advance, I'd get it. But not two days before it was due.
Can we keep an index of active links to entries as they are completed, polished, and updated, so that people can continue to show off their games as they work on them, as an alternative to extending the deadline?
Well, it wasn't about showing the games on an index, it was about the contest having its 5 minutes of fame, and appearing on gaming news sites. That's the moment when you get to show your game to the world. After that, maybe no-one will come back to see how you're doing...
That's why it's a critical date. Everyone will improve their games on the next months, years, etc, but we will only get the biggest audience at the time of the end of this contest.
And of course my plea for an extension comes just days before the deadline. I didn't want to have to ask for it, I am trying hard to recover the days I lost and finish all my objectives on time.
Over the course of the month, I realized this community was very supportive and open. Progress threads were very open and honest. I felt that this wasn't a competitive environment at all. That's why I felt an extension would be well received, because of that community spirit, where it’s more about giving everyone a chance to show their best.
An extension is a second chance to get where you wanted to when the contest started. Those who already have their game ready don’t need it and don’t want it, and I completely understand that.
I have no problem either with deadline extension. I'm pretty well able to submit now, but am doing a bit of playtesting. That said, there are several improvements I could make. Perhaps, if you implement the extra points for being on time, could I submit now for extra points and let my on-time submission compete with my late one (that gets no extra points)?
Though have to admit, I was looking forward to being done this Tuesday!
But I'd be delighted if in the interim two weeks or so people would try out my game and give me feedback! There is a link in a recent message in the thread where I say I am learning opengl and ocaml. So far I am happy with these tools.
-- hendrik
@Nushio, the sleep thing rather supports not extending the deadline.
Do you want to loose sleep for another 2 weeks? I dont.
I would object to an extension.
Dungeon Tactics - Open Source SRPG
I support the extension, polished games are critical to a competition's first year.
I would definitely support extension. Our game dearly requires polishing. I totally agree with seve as well. I can see some people are against it. May be they can be conveyed if the extension is just a week not two. If pushing it to 6th would make alot of difference as most people are busy at work (not me).
The official answer is that we're going to allow a 24 hour grace period until 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time on August 1st. This grace period is mainly to avoid timezone-related confusion, with the end time, so there will be absolutely no leniency with late entries after the grace period is up (That is, if you enter at 12:00 AM on the 2nd, then your submission will not qualify).
Well shucks, time to cut features. I can totally understand the other point of view though so I support the decision.
Happy coding, everyone!