My first thought upon receiving my button was, "I should post this on the forums." By the time I got home, and online, this thread was already on page 3.
Never Underestimate the power of Nerds to Rig the System.
My first thought upon receiving my button was, "I should post this on the forums." By the time I got home, and online, this thread was already on page 3.
Never Underestimate the power of Nerds to Rig the System.
They didn't though. The system was already designed so that only a finite number of people could win. Any loss in prizes pales in comparison to the amount of attention they brought for themselves, and a lot of those prizes weren't even that good.
I was actually the one who first created the lists, by bringing in notepads and clipboards the first and second day, and telling people to keep passing the word. That was about the extent of my involvement. Then they went from super chaotic (e.g., random scrawlings on the wall) to super orderly (Let's digitize this in spreadsheet mode, and have an automated system of a network where we keep checking back and forth!"
My first thought upon receiving my button was, "I should post this on the forums." By the time I got home, and online, this thread was already on page 3.
Never Underestimate the power of Nerds to Rig the System.
They didn't though. The system was already designed so that only a finite number of people could win. Any loss in prizes pales in comparison to the amount of attention they brought for themselves, and a lot of those prizes weren't even that good.
I was actually the one who first created the lists, by bringing in notepads and clipboards the first and second day, and telling people to keep passing the word. That was about the extent of my involvement. Then they went from super chaotic (e.g., random scrawlings on the wall) to super orderly (Let's digitize this in spreadsheet mode, and have an automated system of a network where we keep checking back and forth!"
On Saturday, just as someone started entering the data into Excel (where it could be easily sorted or searched), I mentioned the contest and what people were doing for it, to a couple of friends. We joked how you could actually make a good business out of this, by charging people a buck (or whatever) to enter in your info, or to provide access to the data.
Sure enough on Sunday, there was a guy sitting in the front with a laptop. He didn't charge, but had a donation plate in front of him, with plenty of dollar bills in it. I actually donated a buck, because I figure if he was going to take away time from PAX doing this service, he damn well deserves some compensation.
Funny enough, while you guys make it sound like you rigged the system, the guy I talked to at the Nvidia booth said they had done it for a while at many conventions and that walking around and asking people wasn't the best way -- the game was designed for it to be gamed and beaten, basically.
I think the reason the numbers were so high was probably because they do this thing at all the conventions they go to, and so they just keep counting up. It's also an easy way for them to be sure that your current badge is from the current promotion, and not one from a couple of months or more ago, where you found your match after that contest was actually over.
Overall, I thought it was a cool idea. I do wish there were more matches though.
I think the reason the numbers were so high was probably because they do this thing at all the conventions they go to, and so they just keep counting up. It's also an easy way for them to be sure that your current badge is from the current promotion, and not one from a couple of months or more ago, where you found your match after that contest was actually over.
If that were an issue, then they should just have fine print at the bottom saying what convention it is. Simple.
one of the guys at the booth said that there were not matches for every badge so there is no way they could end up giving out more than they planed for. So basically it didn't matter how ppl decided to search for their match.
I checked the spread sheet repeatedly but i ended up finding my match taped to the NCSoft booth. I was only casually checking badges and almost didn't bother to look but then i was like wth and sure enough it was there.
I did have to wait about 10 mins for the booth attendant to get someone to cover her to go get our prize but it was worth the wait. I got NWN2 and she got a 50 dollar gift card.
I think the reason the numbers were so high was probably because they do this thing at all the conventions they go to, and so they just keep counting up. It's also an easy way for them to be sure that your current badge is from the current promotion, and not one from a couple of months or more ago, where you found your match after that contest was actually over.
If that were an issue, then they should just have fine print at the bottom saying what convention it is. Simple.
If we're assuming they just keep counting up, I think it's safe to assume all the buttons were printed at once, precluding the ability to add which convention they're handing it out at.
Houn on
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EvilBadmanDO NOT TRUST THIS MANRegistered Userregular
edited August 2007
Last I heard from the booth, they had 23 matches. Out of how many people? That's a bit ridiculous.
whypick1PAX [E] Info Booth Manager~2' from an LCDRegistered Userregular
edited August 2007
Well, considering they were raffling off games ($50), 800w power supplies ($200) and mid-range video cards ($225), I'm not terribly surprised that they made sure not too many people found their match. Dissapointed? Of course, but not terribly surprised.
I was 56565. At Blizzcon they had this same thing and fans ended up clearing off two Starcraft showcase tables and just writing numbers all over it. I was like, "WTF is this?"
Drain on
"I don't know why people ever, ever try to stop nerds from doing things. It's really the most incredible waste of time." - Tycho
In case you were all wondering, I was guy with the laptop on Sunday. I can't take credit for starting the excel sheet, but I was maintaining it all day Sunday. I don't know exactly how many people found their matches through me but I do know it led to the winning of an 8800GTX and an 8800GTS.
I also want to thank people for their generosity. I'm not going to disclose how much I got in tips but let's just say I don't have to pay for my badge for a few years :P. And I'd also like to recognize the people who helped out with this. Sky was the original creator of the database but he wasn't there on Sunday because he used his tip money to go get wasted... Next was Josh who helped read info for the original data entry process and kind of oversaw everything on Sunday. And finally there was Lindsay who was the person looking up numbers on her laptop on Sunday.
I know the whole concept was confusing so I'm going to explain what was going on. This thing all started when the 2 clipboards were being passed around. They were then compiled into an excel document. On Saturday night I stuck it up on my website (http://ericmhobbs.com) and used a PHP script to read the excel file and display it. Then also that night, Josh printed out the list and posted it up near where we were sitting. Throughout the day I entered new numbers into the file and was constantly updating the site which Lindsay's laptop was viewing.
Apparently NVIDIA thought this was amusing because when I showed them the database right before it closed on Sunday and they gave me one of the $50 gift certificates.
Congratulations to all the winners and I hope to see all of you next year!
Yeah, unfortunately I didn't find my match. I do realize that the odds were not in my favor. However, I did meet a friend of mine that I had assumed I would never see again, but she *happened* to live in Seattle, and a friend just *happened* to drag her to PAX, and she *happened* to be passing me near the Singstar kiosk. Now if you can tell me that for that scenario the odds weren't also against me, I'll change my tune. However, if the planets aligned in a manner conducive to random encounters with friends, rather than in a fashion likely to get me a video card, I guess I can live with that. Did anyone else feel like their luck was "displaced" rather than absent?
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Never Underestimate the power of Nerds to Rig the System.
They didn't though. The system was already designed so that only a finite number of people could win. Any loss in prizes pales in comparison to the amount of attention they brought for themselves, and a lot of those prizes weren't even that good.
I was actually the one who first created the lists, by bringing in notepads and clipboards the first and second day, and telling people to keep passing the word. That was about the extent of my involvement. Then they went from super chaotic (e.g., random scrawlings on the wall) to super orderly (Let's digitize this in spreadsheet mode, and have an automated system of a network where we keep checking back and forth!"
On Saturday, just as someone started entering the data into Excel (where it could be easily sorted or searched), I mentioned the contest and what people were doing for it, to a couple of friends. We joked how you could actually make a good business out of this, by charging people a buck (or whatever) to enter in your info, or to provide access to the data.
Sure enough on Sunday, there was a guy sitting in the front with a laptop. He didn't charge, but had a donation plate in front of him, with plenty of dollar bills in it. I actually donated a buck, because I figure if he was going to take away time from PAX doing this service, he damn well deserves some compensation.
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Yeah, they probably knew.
Overall, I thought it was a cool idea. I do wish there were more matches though.
If that were an issue, then they should just have fine print at the bottom saying what convention it is. Simple.
I checked the spread sheet repeatedly but i ended up finding my match taped to the NCSoft booth. I was only casually checking badges and almost didn't bother to look but then i was like wth and sure enough it was there.
I did have to wait about 10 mins for the booth attendant to get someone to cover her to go get our prize but it was worth the wait. I got NWN2 and she got a 50 dollar gift card.
If we're assuming they just keep counting up, I think it's safe to assume all the buttons were printed at once, precluding the ability to add which convention they're handing it out at.
I was even asked once by a girl "Can I look at your chest?" Took me a second before I realized she was checking the nvidia number.
There was an enforcer at one of the band booths that was holding up a sign for the longest time with 8675309 on it. It made me chuckle.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
"I don't know why people ever, ever try to stop nerds from doing things. It's really the most incredible waste of time." - Tycho
I also want to thank people for their generosity. I'm not going to disclose how much I got in tips but let's just say I don't have to pay for my badge for a few years :P. And I'd also like to recognize the people who helped out with this. Sky was the original creator of the database but he wasn't there on Sunday because he used his tip money to go get wasted... Next was Josh who helped read info for the original data entry process and kind of oversaw everything on Sunday. And finally there was Lindsay who was the person looking up numbers on her laptop on Sunday.
I know the whole concept was confusing so I'm going to explain what was going on. This thing all started when the 2 clipboards were being passed around. They were then compiled into an excel document. On Saturday night I stuck it up on my website (http://ericmhobbs.com) and used a PHP script to read the excel file and display it. Then also that night, Josh printed out the list and posted it up near where we were sitting. Throughout the day I entered new numbers into the file and was constantly updating the site which Lindsay's laptop was viewing.
Apparently NVIDIA thought this was amusing because when I showed them the database right before it closed on Sunday and they gave me one of the $50 gift certificates.
Congratulations to all the winners and I hope to see all of you next year!