I do not know what will be addressed by the panel ahead of the Q&A, but it would be helpful if the GDC clarified a few statements their members made in the past so the forum can better understand the GDC’s reasoning. I also have a few of traditional questions at the end.
Clarification 1, this not a test.
Paul later Stated.
Emphasis added.
I assume what happened here is bo1 was intended to be a permanent change from VEX Worlds 2018 and beyond, assuming bo1 wasn’t a complete flop at worlds. In that regard, worlds was a test of bo1, but the GDC was confident it would work out well.
I think the confusion came from Paul responding to the criticism of “Why is bo1 being beta tested at worlds?”, the wording of his first post made it appear the GDC was saying “We will use worlds to test bo1, and based on feedback, we may or may not implement it next season.” After Paul’s second comment, it gave the impression the GDC was saying “Feedback from worlds will not be considered, this is a permanent change.” It appeared the decision to keep bo1 had been made before Vex Worlds 2018 even started.
To be clear, I’m not saying this was the GDC/Paul’s intent, but rather the impression that was given on the forum. I think what would have been helpful is if there were a few questions about bo1 on the worlds feedback survey. Surveying teams who experienced bo1 first-hand would have given great data.
In short, can you clarify if Vex Worlds 2018 was meant to test bo1? If so, in what capacity was it a test? Was there a possibility of it not being implemented for the 2018-19 season based on feedback? How was this feedback collected?
Clarification 2, data supports bo1.
In an email exchange with Unionjackjz1 and Paul, the following was stated by Paul:
Grant also touched on feedback from the community at large.
There is a gap in data available to the public about bo1 compared to the data the GDC has. That makes sense, the GDC isn’t going to release a spreadsheet every time a new decision is made public (though, that would be kind of cool!). The tension arises when a bold claim of “my data and feedback say otherwise”, presumably stating a majority of people are in favor of bo1. This causes tension because the only publicly available data about bo1 shows 88.7% of competitors that have experienced bo1 prefer bo3. The data the GDC collected may very well show 88.7% people actually prefer bo1, but the public does not know.
In general, the GDC does not need to share data that informed their decisions, but it would be helpful if the GDC could share the feedback/data they have received about bo1. The public data suggests consensus among top competitors, but what about the other 99% of competitors?
In short, could the GDC share the data they have about support for bo1 in an effort to better inform the forum about the entire vex community’s thoughts?
Traditional questions:
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Is the GDC open to changing back to a best of 3 system next season based on feedback for the 2018-19 season? If so, how would this feedback be collected?
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Would you consider using a different elimination bracket in VEX U for the reasons stated in this thread? It is a different program from VRC and could theoretically have a completely different elimination system.
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For the Judges Award, can a small space be added to the script for the judges to write why a team is receiving the Judges Award? The Judges Award is meant to award a team for their unique efforts not defined by the traditional awards. It always bothers me at events when a team receives the Judges Award, but the audience doesn’t know what the unique recognition is for! As someone who has been an FLL judge for a few years, I know it takes less than 5 minutes for the judges to write 2-3 sentences on why the team won.
Thank you to Paul, Grant, Dan, RECF, and VEX for creating a program that engages in a dialogue with their community. The RECF and VEX are great examples of what it means to listen to customer feedback. You all are awesome!