Map of the Fortnight: Main thread

[Krall]

Originally Posted by Kaiphranos

I got curious and went back through the archives to count some numbers. Did you know that an average of 9.7 maps are submitted for each round of the Map of the Fortnight challenge? The lowest was 3 and the highest was 20. (Interesting hypothetical question: what would happen if there were more than 20 eligible entries in a round? Host the poll elsewhere? Or split it into multiple polls?)

And here's a quick graph showing the number of entries per challenge and the number of votes per challenge:

Very interesting, Kaiphranos! It seems like the number of map entries we get hasn't really increased over time, but the number of votes we get does. That's possibly due to the forum's natural population growth, rather than the contest's popularity, though.

By the way, I'd like to thank you for keeping the MotF Rounds page on the wiki up to date, even if it's not oft perused!

[Martin23230]

Originally Posted by Krall

Very interesting, Kaiphranos! It seems like the number of map entries we get hasn't really increased over time, but the number of votes we get does. That's possibly due to the forum's natural population growth, rather than the contest's popularity, though.

By the way, I'd like to thank you for keeping the MotF Rounds page on the wiki up to date, even if it's not oft perused!

My analysis shows basically the same, a clear upwards trend for votes and in fact a slight downwards trend for entries, interestingly.

Because of this the average number of votes per entry has increased quite a bit: the average votes per entry for MotFs 1 to 10 inclusive is 4.3, the average for 46 to 55 is 9.9! There are a few anomalies, MotF 32 only revived 4 entries (the second lowest recorded) but a pretty average 80 votes so on average 20 each.

Interestingly that the winner only got 35% of the votes. The smallest percentage was MotF 4 where the winner only gained 18% of the vote, but still won by 2 votes. The largest is MotF 8 where the winner gained a massive 65% of all votes, but considering there were 4 entries and 23 votes in that one it was a bit extraordinary.

The difference between 1st and 2nd place(s) I've plotted below, the only draw (MotF 21) is marked in red, the largest margin was MotF 46 where the winner was 41 votes ahead of second place. It is interesting this trend exists, as it might suggest an increasing "marginalisation" of the Map contests. However, an alternate hypothesis was suggested to take into account the increasing number of voters for each contest. There is a clear trend visible on Figure 2 below, and as can be seen on Figure 3 overall the winning margin has remained reasonably steady taking this into account.

Sorry, I might have got a bit carried away...

[Kaiphranos]

Originally Posted by Martin23230

Interesting, though the scale doesn't do the graph much justice. A few tips, if I had the data I would remove the line on the graph, the data points are not technically related. I would also put a different scale on the RHS for the number of entries, then there are a couple of significant tests or ways of graphing it to see if there was a connection...

Yeah, if I actually had a proper spreadsheet program I might do that--I was doing this in Pages, which seems to lack a lot of the features I'm used to in Excel.

Originally Posted by Krall

Very interesting, Kaiphranos! It seems like the number of map entries we get hasn't really increased over time, but the number of votes we get does. That's possibly due to the forum's natural population growth, rather than the contest's popularity, though.

Yeah, the other thing that I was thinking would be interesting would be to sync it up to time of year and see how much of an effect that has.

By the way, I'd like to thank you for keeping the MotF Rounds page on the wiki up to date, even if it's not oft perused!

Hey, no problem.

Originally Posted by Æsir

Air, Fire, Earth, Water
Make a map showing the effects of an alternate history natural disaster.

I like this one!

[Krall]

Originally Posted by Martin23230

My analysis shows basically the same, a clear upwards trend for votes and in fact a slight downwards trend for entries, interestingly.

My theory is that both of these is caused by an upward trend in the quality and complexity of maps. This discourages people who do not believe they are able to make such good maps from entering, whilst simultaneously inspiring people to vote.

The best way to solve the problem of people being discouraged from entering, would probably be to make one or several comprehensive map-making tutorials. You know, like I've been meaning to do for two or three years.

Originally Posted by Martin23230

Sorry, I might have got a bit carried away...

This is the internet, here being obsessive is synonymous with being awesome .

[Æsir]

Two days left for MotF 57 and it's been pretty quiet. Anyone else working on an entry? Thoughts on what the challenge for round 58 should be?

[Meerkat92]

Originally Posted by Æsir

Two days left for MotF 57 and it's been pretty quiet. Anyone else working on an entry? Thoughts on what the challenge for round 58 should be?

I'd like to see one with an alternate Scientific Revolution. It could be earlier, later, or even butterflied away entirely. Industry could be involved or not. Got the right balance of open-endedness versus structure. Any thoughts?

[Krall]

Originally Posted by Meerkat92

I'd like to see one with an alternate Scientific Revolution. It could be earlier, later, or even butterflied away entirely. Industry could be involved or not. Got the right balance of open-endedness versus structure. Any thoughts?

Well, it certainly sounds interesting! There was a challenge suggestion which involved the Islamic world having a scientific revolution alongside the Christian one - a more general challenge would probably be better, maybe something like "Make a map showing a world where a scientific revolution took place somewhere other than Europe, either instead of or in addition to the one in Europe."

I'm not sure what the title of said challenge would be. It could be called "Age of Reason", "Age of Enlightenment", perhaps "Natural Philosophy" ("natural philosophy" was the study of the natural world that came before modern science)?

[Martin23230]

Originally Posted by Æsir

Two days left for MotF 57 and it's been pretty quiet. Anyone else working on an entry? Thoughts on what the challenge for round 58 should be?

I just put my entry in, sorry for cutting it close.

[wolf_brother]

Originally Posted by Krall

Well, it certainly sounds interesting! There was a challenge suggestion which involved the Islamic world having a scientific revolution alongside the Christian one - a more general challenge would probably be better, maybe something like "Make a map showing a world where a scientific revolution took place somewhere other than Europe, either instead of or in addition to the one in Europe."

I'm not sure what the title of said challenge would be. It could be called "Age of Reason", "Age of Enlightenment", perhaps "Natural Philosophy" ("natural philosophy" was the study of the natural world that came before modern science)?

Natural Philosophies, perhaps.

[Kaiphranos]

Originally Posted by Æsir

Two days left for MotF 57 and it's been pretty quiet. Anyone else working on an entry? Thoughts on what the challenge for round 58 should be?

I'm sort of working on one, but haven't gotten very far with it. Might be able to finish up in the next day or so...

Originally Posted by Krall

Well, it certainly sounds interesting! There was a challenge suggestion which involved the Islamic world having a scientific revolution alongside the Christian one - a more general challenge would probably be better, maybe something like "Make a map showing a world where a scientific revolution took place somewhere other than Europe, either instead of or in addition to the one in Europe."

Hmm. Except Meerkat's version would also seem to cover earlier or later European scientific revolutions. Any way to include that?

[Meerkat92]

Originally Posted by Kaiphranos

Hmm. Except Meerkat's version would also seem to cover earlier or later European scientific revolutions. Any way to include that?

Natural Philosophies: Make a map showing a world where a scientific revolution took place under different circumstances, either earlier or later, or somewhere else, instead of or in addition to the one in Europe.

[Turquoise Blue]

I suggest In the Footsteps of Illustrious Men again.


In the Footsteps of Illustrious Men
Show the world at least ten years after a famous, world-changing, person died. Future is OK, ASB no. The famous person has to be ATL, but they can be OTL if they went a different way.

Just to make sure people can see it again, and know it.

[Krall]

Originally Posted by Meerkat92

Natural Philosophies: Make a map showing a world where a scientific revolution took place under different circumstances, either earlier or later, or somewhere else, instead of or in addition to the one in Europe.

That's rather confusingly worded. I'd word it more like "Make a map showing an alternate scientific revolution that took place at a different time and/or at a different place than the one in OTL. If you show a scientific revolution taking place elsewhere than the one from OTL, you may show it instead of or in addition to the OTL scientific revolution in Europe.". Does that sound good to everyone?

[wolf_brother]

Originally Posted by Krall

That's rather confusingly worded. I'd word it more like "Make a map showing an alternate scientific revolution that took place at a different time and/or at a different place than the one in OTL. If you show a scientific revolution taking place elsewhere than the one from OTL, you may show it instead of or in addition to the OTL scientific revolution in Europe.". Does that sound good to everyone?

I like this one, quite a lot actually.

[Æsir]

Originally Posted by Krall

That's rather confusingly worded. I'd word it more like "Make a map showing an alternate scientific revolution that took place at a different time and/or at a different place than the one in OTL. If you show a scientific revolution taking place elsewhere than the one from OTL, you may show it instead of or in addition to the OTL scientific revolution in Europe.". Does that sound good to everyone?

It's an interesting concept, but I'm unsure how to translate it into a map.

Some other previous ideas I like;

The Indomitables: Make a map showing a state which has managed to retain its independence in a region being divided between colonial powers, or how the state's independence affects the broader geopolitical situation. (OTL examples would be Ethiopia, Thailand, Japan, etc.)

The Miracle: Make a map showing a country that achieved an "economic miracle" - like Germany or Japan post-WWII - that did not in OTL, or in a manner different to how it did in OTL.

The Locked Country: Make a map showing a country which has cut itself off from the rest of the world, similar to feudal Japan under the doctrine of Sakoku, or North Korea in more recent times. The map may be from the perspective of outside observers - either showing what they know about the country or speculating as to its internal structure - or it may be a map of the country from its own perspective.

And the two ideas I had;

The Anywhere Spring: Make two maps, one showing a localized armed uprising against a government and the other showing the localized remnants of that government after the rebels have overthrown it.

Air, Fire, Earth, Water: Make a map showing the effects of an alternate history natural disaster.

[Martin23230]

Originally Posted by Æsir

It's an interesting concept, but I'm unsure how to translate it into a map.

Some other previous ideas I like;

I do like The Indomitables.

[Kaiphranos]

I'd be up for Natural Philosophies (however it ends up being worded), The Indomitables (naturally, since I suggested it), or Air, Fire, Earth, Water.

[Meerkat92]

Originally Posted by Krall

That's rather confusingly worded. I'd word it more like "Make a map showing an alternate scientific revolution that took place at a different time and/or at a different place than the one in OTL. If you show a scientific revolution taking place elsewhere than the one from OTL, you may show it instead of or in addition to the OTL scientific revolution in Europe.". Does that sound good to everyone?

Sounds good to me.

[My Username is Inigo Montoya]

Originally Posted by Krall

That's rather confusingly worded. I'd word it more like "Make a map showing an alternate scientific revolution that took place at a different time and/or at a different place than the one in OTL. If you show a scientific revolution taking place elsewhere than the one from OTL, you may show it instead of or in addition to the OTL scientific revolution in Europe.". Does that sound good to everyone?

I vote for this one

[Krall]

"Natural Philosophies" is the most popular suggestion, so it shall be the challenge for MotF 58. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to post the new threads later today as I might be quite busy, so they might be up sometime on Monday instead. I apologise in advance for the (possible) delay!