My involvement in WoodyCon (from a player's perspective)

Preface

On August 17, 2022, the voting period for the 14th WOLF RPG Editor Contest (hereinafter referred to as WOLF RPG Editor Contest) ended.
I was able to participate in real time again this year, just like last year, and it was a lot of fun.

This article describes my stance as a player participating in WOLF RPG Editor Contest and my thoughts on the contest.
There isn't really any particular argument or conclusion, so after reading it, you'll probably just think, "Hmm, I see."I think the content will end with "."

What is WOLF RPG Editor Contest (WOLF RPG Editor Contest)?

WOLF RPG Editor is an annual contest that showcases games created using the game development tool "WOLF RPG Editor".
This system involves players, acting as general judges, playing and scoring games submitted through applications, and then voting within a set period.
Those reading this article may not need an explanation, butFor more details, please visit the official WoodyCon page.It's listed there.

I believe the three main characteristics of WoodyCon are as follows:
The first point is that all of the works are previously unpublished.
Therefore, these are all works that have never been evaluated before, and they are works that can be played for the first time at WoodyCon.

The second point is that the application and voting periods are limited to a specific timeframe.
In my case, I always run out of time to play the games I submit, so there are some games I can't play.
Since you can't play all of them, it becomes necessary to select which games to play and which to skip before you even start playing.

The third point is that you are required to rate the vote when you cast it.
The scoring criteria are presented for each category, in the form of "Engagement," "Originality," "Storytelling," "Images/Sound," "Ease of Play," and "Other Bonuses."
While the provided criteria make scoring easier, the "other bonus points" allow for a fair degree of freedom in adding points, giving the grader considerable discretion.

How I learned about WoodyCon

To be honest, I don't remember exactly how I first learned about WoodyCon.
Looking back at past contests, I remember entries from the 4th contest (2012), so I think I was aware of its existence around that time.

I remember that back then, one way to find interesting free games was to look through the winning entries of the WoodyCon competition, which had already been held.
In fact, many of the top-ranked titles are interesting, and I have enjoyed playing numerous of them so far.
Conversely, there have been times when I happened to play a game that was a contest winning entry, and that made me understand why it was so fun.

At that time, my understanding was simply, "Oh, so there's a contest like that."
My initial thought was that if the results of the next WoodyCon were announced, I might try making an interesting project.

Changes in how we engage with WoodyCon

I think my involvement with WoodyCon started to change after I started using Twitter.
I started a blog in 2017 and have been writing a lot of reviews of free games.

Soon after, I started using Twitter as a tool to collect and share information about free games.
On Twitter, I've been able to connect with other indie game players and creators, which has allowed me to get a lot of information about indie games.
Being able to see information about interesting games in real time has made it incredibly useful to me to this day.
I especially appreciate posts from people with similar tastes to mine.
I've realized that works that such people find "interesting" are highly likely to be interesting to me as well, and I often discover works through other people's recommendations.

As I continued to use Twitter in this way, I started to see discussions about how "it's almost time for WoodyCon again this year."
Up until now, WoodyCon was nothing more than something I did after the results were announced, simply to look for interesting entries.
However, when the opportunity arose to participate in WoodyCon in real time, I felt a strong desire to be involved in the event myself.
One of the reasons I write articles introducing free games is that I want to talk about the same hobby with other people.
in short,"There's this amazing game out there, so everyone should play it and let's talk about what we think!"That's the impulse.
If your only goal is to efficiently find interesting games, it might be wiser to wait until the contest results are announced before playing them.
However, the reason I still wanted to get involved in WoodyCon in real time was because I felt a strong desire to participate in the event with like-minded people.

Current involvement in WoodyCon

Due to these circumstances, I started participating and voting in real time from the 10th election (2018).
Initially, I only played a few games, but the number of games I play has increased year by year, and this year I cast the most votes I've ever had (though it was only 17 games).
In this section, I will explain in detail how I am participating in WoodyCon.

Search from the list of submitted works

First, from the list of submitted works,I download any works that even slightly interest me.
Because of the festive atmosphere, I feel more inclined to actively play genres that I wouldn't normally play.

If I see a game in a screenshot or comment that looks interesting, I lower the barrier to downloading it and start playing it right away.
The estimated playtime is quite important; even if it's a genre I don't usually play, a short playtime makes me more inclined to give it a try.

Even if I don't download a game here, I often see other people's reviews on Twitter and later decide to try it myself.

Take turns playing

I'll prioritize the games I've downloaded and play them as quickly as possible.
The order of priority is, of course, based on which one seemed the most interesting.
Even if a game has a somewhat long playtime, I try to play them in the order that interests me the most.
If the level of interest is about the same, I often prioritize playing the game with the shortest playtime first.
I think it's because there's a limited time to vote, which makes people want to clear as many games as possible.

If I find a game interesting after playing it, I often end up playing it until I finish it.
This might seem a little contradictory to my earlier desire to complete as many games as possible within the given timeframe, but I also genuinely want to finish and vote for any games I find interesting.

In reality, I think that as long as you play enough to get a score, you don't necessarily have to complete the game.
However, in my case, I want to play the game to the very end before writing a review article, so I often end up playing it all the way through.

Tweet your thoughts

If I complete a project during the WoodyCon period, I try to tweet about it briefly.
Personally, I sometimes move up the order in which I play a game after seeing other people tweet their impressions and thinking it sounds interesting.
Besides those effects, it also serves as a small way of reporting that I was able to play the game all the way to the ending.

Even during the WoodyCon competition, I'm writing review articles about the works I found interesting.
However, as a rule I've set for myself, I've decided not to publish introductory articles until the voting period is over.
For creators who post their work online, it might be worthwhile to do so if it helps even a little bit with publicity.
However, this might be overthinking, but I want to refrain from any actions that could potentially influence the scoring until the voting period is over.

In some of my review articles, I mention points that I found bothersome (negative points) while playing the game.
Such articles can give players who didn't particularly see that point as a negative, making them think, "Now that you mention it, that's true," and can also create preconceived notions for people who haven't played the game yet.
While it might be acceptable under normal circumstances, I personally think it's best to refrain from posting articles like this during a contest where rankings are assigned.
Therefore, as a personal rule, I decided to refrain from publishing introductory articles during the WoodyCon competition.

*I have absolutely no intention of criticizing others for publishing articles introducing their works during the WoodyCon period.

You might be wondering, "So, is it okay to tweet my thoughts?"
I'm not tweeting anything negative about the game's content, and I think that if the content is aimed at getting people who haven't played it yet interested, it won't have much of an impact.
The only difference is whether or not it contains negative content.
In my review articles, I sometimes omit mentioning negative points, but since it's troublesome to distinguish between them, I've adopted a policy of refraining from mentioning them uniformly for the time being.

Vote

I will vote for the games I've played in order.
However, I may refrain from voting for games I've only played a little of, or for games where I would give them too low a score.
For creators who want to receive even harsh criticism, this might be seen as an insincere attitude.

When voting, the scoring criteria are based on whether the answer fits the description written next to it.
Since evaluation is naturally subjective, it's only natural that there will be differences in average scores between players.
However, since the stated criteria are used as the scoring standard, I think the ranking of works among players will be less likely to fluctuate.

For example, someone with little gaming experience will likely be more lenient in their assessment of "originality" for every game, as they've played fewer titles. Conversely, a veteran who has played many games will likely be more critical of "originality" for every game.
If the works can be ranked amongst themselves by the same players, then the scoring criteria can be considered to be functioning correctly.
However, since the judges include players with various backgrounds, works that focus on just one category tend to have difficulty earning high overall scores, and works that score well across all categories tend to rank higher.
There are awards for each category, so I think works that excel in a particular area are getting attention.

For the other bonus points, we added points to any element that did not fit into any of the following categories: "Engagement," "Originality," "Storytelling," "Images/Sound," or "Ease of Play."
To be honest, most cases fall into one of the five categories, so there aren't many patterns that will earn you extra points here.

As an aside, I sometimes see opinions that it's impossible to judge fairly in contests like this.
Certainly, I think it's difficult to have a truly fair contest in the entertainment genre of games.
For consumer games as a business, sales figures might be the absolute standard, but even that has its flaws, and in a free game contest, evaluation becomes even more difficult.

but,WoodyCon has clearly stated its judging method.I feel that they are sincere.
I think it's more convincing to have the winner announced abruptly, without any explanation of the judging method or scoring criteria.
Since the people who conduct the general review are also a diverse group of players, I think their opinions, for better or for worse, reflect the preferences of players in this community.

Afterword

The above describes my involvement with WoodyCon and how to participate in it.
My goal of finding interesting games hasn't changed since the old days, but participating in WoodyCon in real time gave me the opportunity to play games from genres I wouldn't normally encounter, which was fun.

Since WoodyCon is a contest, entries will be ranked.
However, in my case, the piece I found most interesting wasn't always the winning entry.
Therefore, while the ranking, which represents the consensus of all participants, may be helpful, I think it's best to find your own grand prize-winning work and cherish it in your heart.

Whether I can participate in WoodyCon in real time depends on how busy I am in the real world, but I would like to continue participating as much as possible in the future.