Player groups, lists & playing records

This thread currently deals with the above subject matter. Announcements and developments relating to the subject matter are posted below. Go to the last page (by clicking the largest number to the left of "NEXT >>" above) for the latest announcement/development.

As the subject matter has been modified from time to time, as described in various posts below, any given post may not fall squarely within the subject matter. As at 17 February 2014, this first post on this thread was:

Jun 8, 2010 14:35:53 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

Now that the monthly round up is on the message board, I thought I'd explain the points system here as well. The way it's set out on the blog doesn't really convey the aim, namely, to encourage participation, playing well, and playing in the right spirit. The points for a game are currently as follows:

* 2 points for everyone who plays in a game - basically, to encourage participation.

* 1 additional point for every vote in the player poll.

* Additional 0.5 points for any player that volunteers to switch from the winning side to the losing side in the middle or late in the game in order to make the sides more even.

* Additional 0.2 points for a win and additional 0.1 points for for a draw. To get points for a win or draw, someone who knows the result must add the result to the report. However, if a team wins by more than 5 goals, it will only get 0.1 points instead of 0.2 points, while a team that loses will still get 0.1 points if it loses by less than 3 goals. This is to further encourage player swaps during the game in order to make a one-sided game more even, or to encourage a losing team not to be discouraged and play the best they can to the end, as the case may be.

* Additional 0.1 points for a modified result (instead of points for a win or draw). If comments are added but without a result being provided, or for any reason, such as an injury to a player, one side having an extra player, new players who greatly affect the balance of the sides, late changes in personnel or mix up over the line ups, the game will be recorded as a modified result, and everyone who played in the game will get an additional 0.1 points only, even those on the winning side.

* Additional 0.2 points for everyone who posts comments on the report thread.

The points are applied to the computation of the points table and the player of the month.

Doing the line ups on the message board before the game is meant to save time, so that time is not unnecessarily spent at the start of the game sorting out line ups. However, we won't always get balanced sides, so player swaps are intended to compensate.

It also helps if everyone comes early.

With reference to the reports, the level of participation has been low - only a few regulars post comments. Even fewer vote in the player poll. You have to be registered to vote, but you don't have to be registered to post a comment. Hopefully, this will improve as more players register.

We had a record 26 games in July 2010. We've already had 25 games so far in August (including tonight's game). With the games this weekend and up to Wednesday, the record will be broken.

We've 7 games over 7 days from 25 July 2010 onwards. Since Monday (23 August 2010), we've had 8 games over 7 days, equalling the previous record achieved a year ago, in August 2009.

102 places were filled in the 7 days from 17 August to 23 August 2010 (including 16 for the women's session on 21 August 2010), beating the previous record of 100 places filled in a week (the same week in August 2009 referred to above).

A record 30 games in August.

Only taking into account the 14 female players named for the women's session on Saturday (Hur Yuin indicated there were 20+ players), a record 103 places were filled between Monday, 23 August, and Sunday, 29 August, even though we were a player short for the games on both Tuesday and Thursday due to very late withdrawals.

From this month (September) onwards, the result of the game won't make a difference to the points awarded. It will be a flat 2.1 points for playing. At the end of the day, results don't matter. We keep score for the fun of it.

Also, the votes should carry more weight than adding comments, so:

1. From this month onwards, the number of points for adding a comment to a report will be reduced from 0.2 to 0.1.

2. From next month onwards, each player will be given two votes in the player poll. Each vote earns 1 point.

From this month onwards, votes for oneself won't count. I believe only a couple of players have ever voted for themselves.

If at all, it's almost always only those on the winning side who post comments on the report threads.

Comments about games that have been played influence future line ups.

The comments of those on the losing side are actually more useful.

To "encourage" those on the losing side to comment more, the bonus points for those on the losing side posting comments on the game will remain at 0.2.

I haven't remembered to allow for 2 votes per player, so we'll just stick to 1 vote per player for now.

From next month onwards, there may not be a player poll for every game.

Also, I am no longer keeping records of the result of games.

However, the aim remains to encourage those who played, especially those on the losing side, to comment on the game, so that their comments can be taken into account in the proposed line ups for future games.

Therefore, from this month onwards, I will stick to 0.2 points for those on the losing side who comment. For commenting without any result being provided, it will be 0.1 points. If you are on the winning side and comment, there are no points - you should be happy that you won.

As I am no longer keeping results, there is no longer a points table. However, I will continue with the player of the month for the time being.

As there is no longer a points table, the Calc document with participation records now has only 4 sheets instead of 5:

* First sheet (Sheet 5) – Full listing by number of games played over the past 6 months.
* Second sheet (Sheet 6) – Full listing of those in the running for player of the month.
* Third sheet (Sheet 1) – Details of games played over the past 6 months, computations for player of the month and total number of games played since 1 September 2008.
* Fourth sheet (Sheet 3) – Alphabetical listing and computation of points.

As set out above, the only points are as follows:

* 2.1 points for playing in a game.
* 0.5 points for swapping from the winning team to the losing team in the second half of the game.
* 0.2 points for commenting on the report thread despite finishing on the losing side, or 0.1 points for commenting on the report thread without any result being provided.

For now, the points are only used for the player of the month.

GIFFA is one year's old. Read about it on the FIFFA blog, and add your comments below.

Jan 13, 2011 9:35:51 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

The "Player Lists" and "Monthly Round Up" boards have been merged.

The Player Lists will be updated sometime between the 8th and 22nd of each month. The monthly thread will be put up around the same time. Member List A and Guest List A have been updated on the "Details" sub-board. A listing without details will be set out below.

..., the number of games played will from now on be based on the Excel spreadsheet created to keep payment records.

The listing of the number of games played will be added as a post to the monthly thread sometime between the 6th and 14th of the following month.

....

I have been allowing at least 7 days from the last game of the previous month before updating the listing of number of games played over the 6 months up to the end of the preceding month. This is because I have also been updating the Player of the Month for the preceding month at about the same time, and I allow 7 days before closing the voting in the poll for player of the game. I refer to the said listing of number of games and the said updating of the Player of the Month as the monthly round up for the preceding month.

I update the Player Lists for the current month after the Monthly Round Up.

However, whether there is a player poll at all, and whether there are any votes, is left to those who play in each game.

Only a few of the games had player polls last month, so the Monthly Round Up for January 2011 and the Player Lists for February 2011 were both up within the first week of this month.

Jan 11, 2011 16:46:13 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

The Username is the name under which you register and log in. The Display Name is the name which appears when you post. The Username cannot be changed, but the Display Name can be changed.

Please choose a Display Name by which you will be referred to for all purposes, including putting your name down for games, line ups, and payment records.

You can change your Display Name by modifying your profile.

Feb 3, 2011 11:11:39 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

In order to bring the Display Name of registered members in line with the name they use for themselves, whenever a registered member puts his name down for a game, I will change his Display Name to the name used.

I have started to do this for those putting their name down for the game on Tuesday, 8 February 2011, onwards.

I have changed my own display name to "Rajiv (admin)".

The e-mail "Updates" are sent out after the Monthly Round Up for the preceding month, and the Player Lists for the current month, have been updated.

The Player Lists and Monthly Round Ups started on the blog - the Player Lists as early as May 2008 (variously known as "Mailing List", "Contact List" and "Participant List"), the Monthly Round Ups later, in September/October 2009 (replacing the previous weekly and quarterly round ups).

I also started keeping a separate list of guests in September 2009.

The monthly round ups were moved to the message board in April 2010 (under the "Monthly Round Up" board). The Player Lists were moved to the message board in May 2010 (under a separate "Player Lists" board).

As stated above, the Player Lists board and the Monthly Round Up board was merged in January 2011.

Since September 2010, the Player Lists comprise of:

* Member List A - Registered members of the message board who have played at least once in the past 6 months.
* Guest List A - Other players who have played at least once in the past 6 months.
* Member List B - Registered members of the message board who, although they have not played in the past 6 months, have played at least once in the past year, or meet other criteria for inclusion.
* Guest List B - Everyone who has indicated an interest in playing, but has yet to play a game, including those who have registered, but never played in our games before.

Member List A and Guest List A can be downloaded from the "Details" sub-board. As it includes contact details, you have to be registered and logged in to access the lists.

Since points tables were abandoned in October 2010, the monthly round up has been much simpler. It comprises of:

* Number of games played by players on Member List A and Guest List A in the preceding 6 months.
* Player of the month.

I first started keeping Participation Records (including results) in September 2008 (originally referred to as "attendance records").

I stopped recording results (in September 2010). Even before that, I had only been recording results that were reported. Over time, even as the number of games increased, fewer results were reported. Consequently, the points table began to resemble the listing based on number of games played - an unnecessary duplication.

I am no longer keeping Participation Records. Since the start of the year, the listing by number of games played is based on the payment records.

The "Player of the Month" was introduced in July 2009, based on the player poll.

Since the start of November 2010, the player poll has only been included if the report is put up by a player who played in the game.

Dec 23, 2010 15:38:28 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

I leave it to anyone who played to put up the report thread. The person who puts up the report can decide whether to include the player poll. If no one puts up the report, I will do so two days after the game. I will only include the player poll if I played in the game.

....

Ever fewer players have been voting in the player polls.

Nevertheless, I will continue with the player polls for the reason they were originally introduced - for fun.

If the person putting up the poll so wishes, each player can be allowed more than one vote.

Also:

Nov 21, 2010 16:37:14 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

* If one team maintains or takes a big lead in the second half of the game, one of the better players from the winning side should swap with any player from the losing side. Any player that does so gets 0.5 points in the player of the month poll. There are no points for winning.

This is to promote playing the right spirit.

From early on, e-mail "Updates" were used to supplement the blog. I have had [url=up to three e-mails a week. Since January 2010, there has only been one a month.

As the number of votes in the player polls is very small, I do not need the full listing of players to take note of the votes, effectively de-linking the results for the player of the month from the listing of players by number of games played.

Therefore, the listing of players by number of games played can be updated after the last game of each month.

The Player Lists can then be updated at the start of the following month.

The results of the player of the month will still have to wait until at least 7 days after the last game of the preceding month which included a player poll. It will be posted under the preceding month's thread.

The monthly "Update" will be sent out after the results of the player of the month.

From the start of the next quarter, the criteria for remaining on Member List B will be tightened. It will comprise of registered members who, although they have not played in the past 6 months, have played at least 3 times in the past year. If they have not played at least 3 times in the past year, but have played at least 3 times in the past two years, I will leave them on Member List B if they have::
* posted on the message board at least once in the past 6 months; or
* logged onto the message board at least once in the past 3 months.

The crux of the matter is that any registered member who has stopped playing, and is not even using the message board, will have their membership deleted.

Guest List B wlll also be tidied up at the start of the next quarter.

I have started a separate thread on player polls.

As for the numbers on Member List A and Guest List A:

Mar 1, 2011 14:20:36 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

There are several on the guest list who have played more often than those on the member list.

As I've said before:

Feb 1, 2011 21:50:18 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

I hope that guests who have played more than 3 games over the past 6 months will consider registering.

I think anyone who has played more than 10 games over the past 6 months should register.

Also:

Feb 3, 2011 15:51:36 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

.... I hope that enough guests register so that by the end of this month, there are twice as many names on Member List A as there are on Guest List A.

As we now have 134 names on Member List A and 66 names on Guest List A, the above objective has been achieved a month early.

....

As the threads under Player Lists & Monthly Round Ups cover reviews over 6 months, a year or two years, I'll rename it as Player Lists & Round Ups.

I'll also renamed this thread accordingly.

Previously:

May 1, 2011 22:24:47 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

To simplify the criteria for remaining on Member List B, a player must have played at least twice in the past year, or post on the message board to request an extension. However, there will be no further deletions before the end of this quarter.

On further consideration:

Jun 1, 2011 23:37:00 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

The problem with that is that those on Member List A who have played only 1 game can't go to Member List B. To allow those players more time to get another game under the belt, the criteria for Membre List B is now those who haven't played in the past 6 months, but who::

* Have played at least once in the past 9 months.
* Have played at least twice in the past 12 months.
* Post on the message board requesting an extension. I'll extend it by 3 months for each request, up to a maximum of 12 months.

Member List B will be tidied up again at the start of the next quarter.

Jun 1, 2011 23:37:00 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

For the third month in a row, the number of players on Member List A remains at 139. However, only 128 are the same from the start of April 2011. Four players were dropped to Member List B last month (Assad, Gilbert G , Jordan, Wayne P), and a further seven dropped to Member List B this month (Howard, Jeffers D, Jose, Kevin A, Paul M, Sing Cher, Sunny), to be replaced by, coincidentally, the same number of new members.

The number of players on Guest List A has increased from 65 in April, to 67 in May, to 74 this month, despite 9 names being dropped in May and a further 8 names being dropped this month.

....

For the first time since March 2011, the number of players on Guest List A is more than half the number of players on Member List A.

I hope more guests register, so that the number of members is always at least twice the number of guests.

In order to bring the Display Name of registered members in line with the name they use for themselves, I have been changing Display Names to the name used when putting names down for games.

I have only been doing so for those on Member List A. For those on Member List B, I have added (MB) in front of their default Display Name. For those on Guest List B, I have been adding (GB) before their default Display Name. For female players, I have been adding (F) before their default Display Name.

Last Thursday's game ended up as Kelvin Au's work team against the rest. Three of them played for the first time.

Jun 11, 2011 8:50:23 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

.... They are added as the Thursday game was scheduled as usual, and their names were added as usual for the game, even though, as a matter of line ups, they played as part of Kelvin Au's team

Also, it counts as a game played for everyone who played for that team.

The game against another team today was proposed and organised as a representative game.

Jun 12, 2011 22:55:20 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

....

If a report is put up on the "Reports" board, I'll count it as a game in the monthly round up for those who played for GIFFA.

In such a representative game, the players on the other team are not added to the player lists, and even if they are currently on the player lists from having played previously, it doesn't count as a game for them (unless the other team are short of players, and a player who puts his name down to play for GIFFA ends up making up the numbers for the other team).

Jun 13, 2011 9:45:56 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

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A report can be put up on the report board even if the game is not scheduled, proposed or organized on this message board. If half or more of the players are registered members of GIFFA, I will count is as a game for them in the monthly round up.

....