Claimed:TPE Tasks of the Third Kind [FINAL 6/6]

[AIM-11 134]

The Third Way

 

The third way
Is the reign of idiocy
One by one
Freedoms stripped away

The third way
The offspring of our apathy
Down we go
Into the vortex of tyranny

- The Third Way, Jacob's Dream

 

There are times in the life of a VHL Player when the Muse just isn't around for a time.  No matter how many ways you try and summon the beast of motivation, it refuses to allow itself to fall under your spell, and for a time the well of creativity runs dry.

 

This can apply to either of the two main TPE sources.  Creativity is a key piece of either writing an article, or of creating a graphic.  For those of us who might be art-deficient, the loss of the creative juices means an idea for an Article simply does not exist.

 

The VHL already has one way of dealing with this situation, and it's called Welfare.  It's a wonderful system that rewards older members who have put in their time, and allows a Player to still advance without needing to come up with yet another idea. 

 

This article is looking at a third way - a place between Point Tasks and Welfare.  A middle ground where a small amount of effort can be put into a task with the chance of earning a full six points, but a chance of possibly earning less.  It's a lottery of sorts, but one in which everyone is at least somewhat of a winner.

 

The Souped Up Practice Facility - Online Gaming Edition

 

 

Online games are a wonderful addiction that many of us here have succumbed to.  Whether it's killing time on the bus or entertaining yourself during the morning visit to the crapper, there is a good chance the vast majority of folks here spend time each week playing online games. 

 

I propose that the VHL allow for a hybrid point task that involves a new game each week that can be played by those who sign up for it.  The individuals who have the highest score for the week on that particular game will receive 6 Points, and the points will scale down to a possible 2 for those who do the worst.  Here are the proposed rules for the Hybrid Task.

 

1) Sign up for this task must happen by Wednesday evening of that particular week.

2) Sign up for this task cannot happen if the player has already done another Point Task or Welfare.

3) Once a player has signed up for this task they are ineligible to perform Welfare or any other Point Task, regardless of how well or how poorly they do on the Hybrid Task.

4) The Points earned will always be distributed evenly.  For example, if there are 15 people who participate in the task then three will earn 6 points, three will earn 5, three will earn 4, and 3 will earn 3, and 3 will earn 2.  In the case of an uneven amount of people who have signed up, the lowest tier of 2 points will pick up the first remainders, followed by the second lowest tier of 3 points, and so forth.

 

The Challenges

 

There are some obstacles to this challenge, though they are mainly in the form of how to accurately track high scores.  One idea is to have screenshots of the high scores for the week.  The downside to this is that they could be doctored by someone who wants to cheat.  It's easily done, and we're not all known to be fine upstanding VHL citizens.  Another option is to use some sort of gaming website that tracks high scores.  This would require anyone who wished to take part in the challenge to create an account.  That's a headache, but it's doable.

 

Another issue is that of organization.  This idea would require a new job to be created in the VHL - that of the Hybrid Task Organizer.  This job would involve choosing the new games for each week, trakcing the scores, and handing out the TPE.  It's a bit of extra work.

 

Finally there is the issue of 'theme'.  What the heck do online games have to do with the VHL?  How does it fit in?  This one is a little tricky as technically this task is a bit more off theme than the other point tasks.  One idea is to consider this a beefed up form of the Weekly Practice.  I'm not too picky on how to fit this into the theme, so I won't go into it any deeper.

 

The Upside

 

There are a few reasons why this idea would work well.

 

First, it creates a new job! Yes, this was already listed in the Challenges section, but it can also be a good thing.  The VHL always has people looking for creative ways to add to their TPE in the form of jobs.  Just like the real economy, job creation is a good thing!

 

Second, this is a fun way to earn some TPE during those times where you just can't bring yourself to write another article or zip out another graphic.  At the same time, it's not incredibly overpowered as a task as those who spend less time on it may end up actually earning less than they would using Welfare, but will still be rewarded with activity should they actually try and achieve the highest score for the week.

 

In the end I believe there is some real merit to this idea, or something similar.  There may need to be some changes to it to make it work, but it's a fun way to push through the dry periods for those of us who may feel creatively challenged for periods of time.

[CowboyinAmerica 2,735]

Content: 3/3 - Or, when in doubt, write an article about point tasks! I'm not necessarily sold on the idea (mostly skeptical that the league would be able to keep up the work involved), but enjoyed reading your argument for it.

 

Grammar: 2/2 - I'm not sold on capitalizing each of the VHL-related terms like you did here, but it's not something that I'd ever dock for. Otherwise, it's just the one spelling mistake. Good job.

 

trakcing = tracking

 

Appearance: 1/1 - Good by me.

 

Total: 6/6

[Kesler 1,514]

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