NOTE: Currently we use a different judging system that allows everyone to judge - more info in the recent MTC thread. Some of the points below still apply, but you don't need to send us a message to judge.


Judging in the MTC isn't a simple job. Just because you don't feel like building a track, you shouldn't apply to be a judge. Judging all the entries will take a lot of time, and you must understand that before you will send us the private message saying "Hey, I want to be a judge."


Who can become a judge?

Well, I would like to say "anyone", but that isn't really the case. You should have some experience in both tracking and driving. This is because we want the judges to know the basics of the game. You should know what's possible and what isn't - that will help judging the entries fairly. You don't have to be an elite though. Actually, having only really good trackers and drivers among the judges is not a good situation - we'd like to have some average players there, too.

However, experience isn't the most important aspect in a judge. There are two things that are far more praised: Dedication and time. If you have neither, judging is not the right job for you. We all want good results, and we want them in time, so you must be able to write clear and constructive feedback and you must have enough free time to send them before the judges' deadline.

Of course we will understand if a judge can't finish in time because something happened in his real life, for example, if one of his/her relatives passed away. In these cases, it's often better to just drop the judging - there might be still time to get another judge. Please be honest though - if you realised that judging isn't your thing, just send us a PM instead of writing "my computer broke" on the forums. We will understand, it's hard to tell what judging is like before you try it out. But before applying, be prepared.


I was chosen as a judge, but I don't know what to do!

Judges have simple rules, but we expect them to be followed. Please read this part carefully.

Judges are not allowed to betatest, award or comment on any of the entries before the results have been published. They are not allowed to reveal that they are going to judge, either. This is because we want to get as fair results as possible. If a judge talks to his friends about his duty in the MTC, it might seriously cause biased results. And none of us wants that.

Judges receive a judging sheet after the participating deadline, but they should start driving the tracks as soon as they come. This will definitely boost up the scoring, I highly recommend it. You don't have to nolife the tracks, just get to know them. Then, when you drive them again after you've received the judging sheet, they are much easier to drive and you will finish judging faster. Just make sure that you drive ALL the tracks again after the deadline - the tracks may have been updated!

You should remember that if you only write scores, the participants will not know why they got a certain score. You must write comments. They don't have to equal infinity in length, but you must write the main points up. One of the most important tasks of the MTC is to be a source of feedback for the trackers, and to help them improve. So take some time to comment on each track.


I read it all, and I think I would make a great judge! Where can I sign up?

Send a PM to the crew! Please include some information of yourself in the message: driving/tracking experience and amount of free time should be enough. We'll respond you asap!

Also, don't stress too much about whether you'll be a good judge or not. Actually, if you do, you'll probably be pretty dedicated, and that's the most important thing!



ManiaExchange

Ville says:
start driving the tracks as soon as they come.



ManiaExchange

My god no!
Judges must only start to drive the tracks when the MTC deadline has come!
Maps may be updated during that time, and so the judgement won't be anymore fair.

Btw, good post ville.

On tmnf-x i asked one time to be judge, and i won't ask again. It takes a lot of time xD

Added another sentence to clarify it

I hope judges will do that, because for example, on the previous MTC, i updated my map 3 times (to fix a cut).

We have always told them to.

sounds fair thx for this post
and iam glad to know this now

but if one mx player dont submit on my track that is suspisious and
then i know that he/she is the judge

Only thing new to me is the "don't beta test or comment" part. I knew I couldn't award maps if I was judging. (until after results were out)

Really nice write up Ville and I think it'll be a great asset to future potential judges.

You can award and comment on the tracks after the results have been published. But the reason why you can't do it before is simple: If you give some feedback, like: "I don't like the second jump" and the tracker updates that place, you will (possibly) like the jump more. That means you have contributed to the track, and it should be pretty obvious why you can't judge it anymore. Betatesting is absolutely unallowed, but if a judge has awarded one or two tracks before he was chosen to judge, we don't usually mind. It depends.

Yeah, it totally makes sense. I fully support it. But I've beta tested dozens of MTC maps in the past when judging (I was never told I couldn't), so... that'll be quite a change for me should I ever judge again.

.dejavu says:

Ville says:
start driving the tracks as soon as they come.

My god no!
Judges must only start to drive the tracks when the MTC deadline has come!
Maps may be updated during that time, and so the judgement won't be anymore fair.

Btw, good post ville.

On tmnf-x i asked one time to be judge, and i won't ask again. It takes a lot of time xD

This can be easily solved by having the judges look over which tracks that were updated during the time AFTER the deadline. In that way they can test a track more times and see what's updated aswell.