05-01-2020, 10:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-02-2020, 05:59 PM by caltroit_red_flames.)
Hi everyone!
I was hired to be head of the graphics department on 4/13 during the offseason. Since then we've been working on a lot of things to try and improve graphics on the NSFL. I'll go through each of them one by one in this.
1.) Grade Scale - When I came on as head the grade scale was in my opinion both harsh enough to make graphics not worthwhile and narrow enough to force most grades to the middle.
Before the grade scale was from 1 - 5. Exceptional graphics were given a 5 and memes were given a 1. That leaves 3 levels left which may sound like enough, but you have to consider the vastly different levels of graphics creating abilities that have to fit into those three tiers. I can't give an actual number since I didn't look at the actual statistics, but it felt as though far too wide of a range of graphics were being pushed into the 3 - 4 range. As an example each of the following graphics received a 3/5.
This in my opinion shows that the previous scale was not adequately rewarding members for creating quality graphics due to it being far too narrow to allow for graders to differentiate between the quality of graphics.
Based on that Head Office and I talked about it and we decided to be both widen the grade scale and raise the maximum payout for a graphic. The grade scale now goes from 1 - 7 and ranges from $100,000 to $3,000,000. Before the scale went from $100,000 to $1,500,000. We now no longer have to used half grades (ie 1.5) to try to fit a graphic into a grade level and when someone creates a truly great signature their time and effort are being rewarded.
You can find the new graphics grading scale/rubric here: http://nsfl.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=21684
2.) Grading Method - The biggest issue when I took over was almost undoubtedly the huge backlog of graphics that needed to be graded. Unfortunately since we were taking time redoing the grade scale and the graphics grading method the backlog only grew for the first week that I spent as the head of the department. This is because I asked the graphics team not to grade anything to make sure we aren't depriving anyone of the money they deserve.
The previous grading method required at least two members of the graphics team, if not more, to be present to talk about a graphic to help get the grades correct. While this sounds great in theory, it greatly decreases the opportunities that members have to grade graphics. People live in different timezones, have different school/work schedules, and different sleeping schedules. If the team isn't committed to making it work things start to pile up.
Based on this we decided to implement a new grading method that requires only one member to grade at a time. Graphics team members grade a graphics submission post and then lock the thread. Once a week minimum the graphics head goes through all of the graded submissions and approves their grades giving bonuses where the grade was not adequate. Then the graphics head moves the posts and adds the payouts to the graphics transactions page. This means the graphics members can grade submissions when they have free time during the week and makes it much less time consuming as they no longer have to deal with adding the payouts to the bank transactions.
3.) Arbitration - While I will be going through each submission to ensure that grades are adequate, some things will inevitably fall through the cracks. For those situations we have added the arbitration thread where members can submit their graded graphics for review by the entire team of graphics graders.
You can find the arbitration thread here: http://nsfl.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=21685
4.) Submissions Per Week - I spoke with HO about limiting the number of graphics that a member can submit per week. The thought process behind this was that if we are raising the maximum grade then it's a bit worrisome that a member could potentially earn an entire season's worth of training/equipment in a single post. On the other hand HO made the point that this discourages people from making graphics and therefore vetoed this. I'll be monitoring earnings from graphics this season to see if this is an issue and reporting back to HO regarding it during the next two offseasons.
5.) Hiring of More Graders - The graphics team is allowed a total of 7 members including the graphics head. Before I was hired as a graphics team member we were at 5 members. I also recently found that a member of the graphics team had been MIA since before I had come on as head thus relieved them of their duties to open up their spot. We have already hired two new graphics graders @LimJahey and @rapideagle and they have both been doing a fantastic job. I'll be opening up applications for the final graphics grading position over the weekend.
6.) Graphic of the Month - An idea was brought up recently by a member to have a graphic of the month competition, and personally I believe this is a great idea! Each month I will track all submissions that receive a 7/7 in a thread. At the end of the month I will open a poll for 1 week that members can use to vote on the graphic of the month! Assuming HO does not veto it there will be a cash prize for graphic of the month, otherwise it'll just be for the gratification of knowing you're the best! Either way it sounds like fun to me.
7.) My Main Goals - I have two main goals as graphics head currently. First, I want to make sure all graphics are graded within one week of submission. Maybe that isn't realistic, but if we're always striving for that then maybe eventually we'll be able to make it happen. Second, I want to encourage member to make more quality graphics. My hope is that having graphics graded faster will encourage people to make more and that the new grade scale will encourage members to try to get that 7/7 grade.
If you have any questions or ideas for graphics please let me know about them! I want to do everything I can to encourage people to create graphics! I'm looking at working on the tutorials section of the graphics page some time in the future :zoomeyes:
I was hired to be head of the graphics department on 4/13 during the offseason. Since then we've been working on a lot of things to try and improve graphics on the NSFL. I'll go through each of them one by one in this.
1.) Grade Scale - When I came on as head the grade scale was in my opinion both harsh enough to make graphics not worthwhile and narrow enough to force most grades to the middle.
Before the grade scale was from 1 - 5. Exceptional graphics were given a 5 and memes were given a 1. That leaves 3 levels left which may sound like enough, but you have to consider the vastly different levels of graphics creating abilities that have to fit into those three tiers. I can't give an actual number since I didn't look at the actual statistics, but it felt as though far too wide of a range of graphics were being pushed into the 3 - 4 range. As an example each of the following graphics received a 3/5.
This in my opinion shows that the previous scale was not adequately rewarding members for creating quality graphics due to it being far too narrow to allow for graders to differentiate between the quality of graphics.
Based on that Head Office and I talked about it and we decided to be both widen the grade scale and raise the maximum payout for a graphic. The grade scale now goes from 1 - 7 and ranges from $100,000 to $3,000,000. Before the scale went from $100,000 to $1,500,000. We now no longer have to used half grades (ie 1.5) to try to fit a graphic into a grade level and when someone creates a truly great signature their time and effort are being rewarded.
You can find the new graphics grading scale/rubric here: http://nsfl.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=21684
2.) Grading Method - The biggest issue when I took over was almost undoubtedly the huge backlog of graphics that needed to be graded. Unfortunately since we were taking time redoing the grade scale and the graphics grading method the backlog only grew for the first week that I spent as the head of the department. This is because I asked the graphics team not to grade anything to make sure we aren't depriving anyone of the money they deserve.
The previous grading method required at least two members of the graphics team, if not more, to be present to talk about a graphic to help get the grades correct. While this sounds great in theory, it greatly decreases the opportunities that members have to grade graphics. People live in different timezones, have different school/work schedules, and different sleeping schedules. If the team isn't committed to making it work things start to pile up.
Based on this we decided to implement a new grading method that requires only one member to grade at a time. Graphics team members grade a graphics submission post and then lock the thread. Once a week minimum the graphics head goes through all of the graded submissions and approves their grades giving bonuses where the grade was not adequate. Then the graphics head moves the posts and adds the payouts to the graphics transactions page. This means the graphics members can grade submissions when they have free time during the week and makes it much less time consuming as they no longer have to deal with adding the payouts to the bank transactions.
3.) Arbitration - While I will be going through each submission to ensure that grades are adequate, some things will inevitably fall through the cracks. For those situations we have added the arbitration thread where members can submit their graded graphics for review by the entire team of graphics graders.
You can find the arbitration thread here: http://nsfl.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=21685
4.) Submissions Per Week - I spoke with HO about limiting the number of graphics that a member can submit per week. The thought process behind this was that if we are raising the maximum grade then it's a bit worrisome that a member could potentially earn an entire season's worth of training/equipment in a single post. On the other hand HO made the point that this discourages people from making graphics and therefore vetoed this. I'll be monitoring earnings from graphics this season to see if this is an issue and reporting back to HO regarding it during the next two offseasons.
5.) Hiring of More Graders - The graphics team is allowed a total of 7 members including the graphics head. Before I was hired as a graphics team member we were at 5 members. I also recently found that a member of the graphics team had been MIA since before I had come on as head thus relieved them of their duties to open up their spot. We have already hired two new graphics graders @LimJahey and @rapideagle and they have both been doing a fantastic job. I'll be opening up applications for the final graphics grading position over the weekend.
6.) Graphic of the Month - An idea was brought up recently by a member to have a graphic of the month competition, and personally I believe this is a great idea! Each month I will track all submissions that receive a 7/7 in a thread. At the end of the month I will open a poll for 1 week that members can use to vote on the graphic of the month! Assuming HO does not veto it there will be a cash prize for graphic of the month, otherwise it'll just be for the gratification of knowing you're the best! Either way it sounds like fun to me.
7.) My Main Goals - I have two main goals as graphics head currently. First, I want to make sure all graphics are graded within one week of submission. Maybe that isn't realistic, but if we're always striving for that then maybe eventually we'll be able to make it happen. Second, I want to encourage member to make more quality graphics. My hope is that having graphics graded faster will encourage people to make more and that the new grade scale will encourage members to try to get that 7/7 grade.
If you have any questions or ideas for graphics please let me know about them! I want to do everything I can to encourage people to create graphics! I'm looking at working on the tutorials section of the graphics page some time in the future :zoomeyes: