For Those About to Rock, We Salute You

Scott Hardie | August 22, 2007
In Rock Block, I'm still not prepared to let users request their favorite bands from scratch (still considering), but for now I am willing to give the players some say in populating the general collection. At the top of the Collection Guide, you'll find a poll asking you to choose one of three rock performers to join the game. It will disappear as soon as you cast your vote. Each weekend, I'll turn the top vote-getter into a card and put up three new options. This will be in addition to the three I add to the game.

I'd like to say that I don't expect a balanced vote, nor do I seek one. For instance, in this week's poll, I predict that the first band will get about 2/3s of the vote, the second band will get 1/3, and the last band (how many players have even heard of them?) will get zero votes. Expect to see this kind of imbalance regularly; it's ok.

Finally, if you don't play RB, but for some reason you still really care what bands appear in the game: The poll is open to all registered users, not just RB players.

Matthew Preston | August 22, 2007
Nice addition. You're right about the first band outcome. I only know the first two and I don't really care for either of them... please forgive my abstaining this first poll.

BTW, a few Q's about the game. Maybe I missed the answer to these in previous posts...

- What happens if two people have the same highest auction bid? I would assume the MySQL database might default to alphabetical?

- How/Why are cards promoted?

Lori Lancaster | August 22, 2007
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Aaron Shurtleff | August 22, 2007
I voted for number two. Number one I don't care for, and I don't recognize number 3. *shrug*

Erik Bates | August 22, 2007
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Steve West | August 22, 2007
"I'm a Maaaaaan. Yes I am and I can't help but love you so."

Denise Sawicki | August 22, 2007
I'm familiar with none of these bands, haha, when is a band going to come along that I am actually familiar with? :) The only card I've seen that I really covet is Buddy Holly.

Aaron Shurtleff | August 22, 2007
I would like to get a level 7 or 8 card that no one else has, and then never use it, so everyone has to look at a ? in the Collection Guide!

But seriously, I've seen a few cards I wouldn't mind getting. 7 or 8 would be fine for me. A 9 or 10 would make me feel like a target!

Lori Lancaster | August 22, 2007
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Lori Lancaster | August 22, 2007
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Scott Hardie | August 22, 2007
I would also like to say that just because a band doesn't place first in the poll doesn't mean they are forever barred from the game. It will take a while longer, but eventually they'll show up as a card, either because I added them myself or because they re-appeared in a later poll.

Voting surprises me so far, but there are still a lot of players left.

Matt: If two or more players have identical highest bids in the same auction, the site is programmed to declare the earliest such bid the winner. Raising your bid counts as changing its time.

If anybody cares, I have modified the auctions so that every day, the Market will offer at least one card that no player owns, if there is such a card in the database. Later on, I'll modify that to offer at least one card that no active player owns, but I'm not going to bother now because we don't have any inactive players yet (1 month of inactivity = deactivated) and recoding it will be a pain in the ass. :-)

Matt again: Why are bands promoted? Because I want to keep some balance of greatness in the game, so that R10 bands have the greatest stature in rock history, progressing down to the R1 cards which have the least. If I keep adding new cards to the game without promotions, then eventually I'm going to have to add an undeserving card to the high ranks. As much as Aaron likes them, They Might Be Giants are simply not on the same par as Elvis. Thus, I devised the promotions system so that I could preserve the balance over time, and it wound up having a great side effect of making cards an investment, so that each band in your label gradually grows more valuable instead of stagnating. (Well, except for the R10s.) I probably should have called promotions something different, since that term already means something else in rock music, but whatever, it's done.

How are bands promoted? When a rank has too many more cards in it than the next highest rank, the site prompts me to promote one of its bands. "Too many" is defined as twice the number of R10 bands in existence. Right now there are two R10 bands, so when R1 has four more bands than R2, I'm supposed to promote one. The promotion randomly redeclares the card's sides, so a card that was once strong on the left might now be strong on the right, but it's an overall improvement. Promotion won't affect a card in past and present concerts, where it remains frozen at the rank it had when that concert started.

Just as a band's rank is decided by me when it joins the game, which band is most deserving of a promotion is also up to my judgment. I do my best to be impartial, but of course I must have some unconscious inclinations. Anyway, running this game has made me something of an amateur rock historian, and so far I'm enjoying brushing up on my recent music history.

Amy Austin | August 26, 2007
Sorry, Lori... I am not familiar with that group -- but since I do like that particular genre, I can imagine that I would! ;-) Looking at their bio, I don't even see any familiar song titles... (unless "I Second That Emotion" is the Smokey Robinson/Miracles remade), but their crazy hair does bear some resemblance to the ever-popular Flock of Seagulls!

Indeed, though I have also heard of Skinny Puppy, I don't have any particular favorite in this poll. Pure & simple nostalgia would probably have me go with Scott's predictions, my affinity for exploring new tastes and such would have me pick #2, and my rebel instinct would be the primary reason for me to pick #3 -- so...

Scott Hardie | August 27, 2007
Amy, I think you're looking at the second group of bands up for vote. The first set was My Chemical Romance, the Donnas, and the Spencer Davis Group. I didn't mention them by name originally because I wanted the poll to be the first place where people saw them, but now it's just silly. :-) And yes, one of Japan's hits was a cover of the Miracles song.

Personally, I really dislike Bloodhound Gang, but I've resolved myself to seeing bands that I really dislike joining the game. I even bid on one of them yesterday.

Speaking of auctions, there's going to be some controversy when the identity of today's R5 auction is revealed. People will want to know why this performer is "only R5." The card is supposed to represent only that person's success as a solo artist, not their success as a member of certain bands which would have separate cards. If it remains confusing for some users, I may have to promote this card a little faster than others (bid high), but I hope to stick to the plan.

Lori Lancaster | August 27, 2007
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Aaron Shurtleff | August 27, 2007
It was tight for me in the Skinny Puppy vs. Bloodhound Gang (I have no idea about Japan...the band), but in the end, I went with Bloodhound Gang, personally, since I like funny quirky bands.

Not that Too Dark Park is not a classic in my mind. I think, in that "genre", I'd be more likely to vote in Ministry. Or at least I consider them in the same genre. YMMV.

Aaron Shurtleff | October 27, 2007
I would just like to state, for the record, that Scott Hardie is Da Man, and he knows why I say this! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy Austin | October 27, 2007
Care to enlighten the rest of us? ...anyone??

Scott Hardie | October 27, 2007
I wasn't using that Bon Jovi card anyway.

Denise Sawicki | December 27, 2007
Figured I'd reopen a discussion about Rock Block polls rather than make a new discussion for my own dumb comments. Anyway, I was excited to see Spacemen 3 in the poll. Probably nobody but me will vote for them but I am here to say, if it ever does become a card, I will do anything within my power to acquire that card. Muhahaha. Well actually not anything, because if I say that, whoever gets it will probably get me to lose multiple concerts for trade... But anyway... I want that card.

Scott Hardie | December 28, 2007
They have three votes so far, but they will probably not win.

The two performers who don't win in a poll will appear in the game approximately six months later.