Review threads

[Lunkhead]

1. Why are review threads required before the new songs can be posted...?
2. Why is it required that a community member create the review thread...?
3. Is it plainly stated somewhere e.g. the FAQ that these are requirements to getting new fights posted...?

[JonPorobil]

I'm not a Fightmaster, so these are just my best guesses...

1.) Might it have something to do with the way the fight gets archived when it's done? There is a "Link to review thread" line there.

2.) I don't think that is actually a requirement, seeing as Spud created the "It's About Time" thread. (I'm assuming you mean "A community member," defined as "Not a fightmaster." If you meant "A community member" as opposed to a bot account, then I've no idea.)

3.) I'm pretty sure that the new fight goes up when the fightmaster feels like sitting down to get it posted, and no sooner, regardless of whether the review thread is available.

Spud answered a private message to me after the "It's About Time" deadline passed, but he didn't update the front page at that time. I interpret this to mean that he's busy with other things. I know he's either out of the country right now or preparing for that trip (because it's the reason he won't be in Austin this week), so I prefer to, as always, cut a little slack to the guy who runs the place.

[fluffy]

Spud likes to see other people do things if he doesn't have to do them.

And Spud is currently out of the country so don't expect site updates to be ridiculously timely.

[Spud]

I will answer these questions after I post the fight...

[Spud]

1. Why are review threads required before the new songs can be posted...?

It has to do with the way that I post the songs. There is a template text file with all of the pertinent information regarding a fight, line by line. This saves the time of filling out a form, using a client to modify a database, or what have you. I simply send the text file and run the routine against it and everything is done automatically. Here's what that file looks like for this week:

A this indicates which fight this is, in the case of multiple fights.
07/24/13 - 08/02/13 the starting and ending dates of the fight.
Royal Baby The title.
jpg the format of the cover art. This might not seem important, but it is.
Rabid Garfunkel the cover artist.
none a link provided by the cover artist, if any, or 'none', if none.
http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9131 the URL of the review thread - THERE YOU HAVE IT.
Balance Lost These are the band names of the entrants in this fight...
Berkeley Social Scene
Bombernaughts
The Chocolate Chips
Flvxxvm Florvm
Foobar
Jan's Pants
Jesus and Crackers
King Arthur
MC Milk-Plus
My Social Uniform
Paco del Stinko
999 separates the on-time entrants from the late entrants, if any, followed by the late entrants, if any.
999 end of data. I know, I could test for it, but I'm old-school.

You see, this file includes the URL of the review thread. If I don't put it in here, I have to come back manually and add it. This whole thing is designed to save me from having to do exactly that, so I prefer that it exist before I run the routine that posts the fight.

2. Why is it required that a community member create the review thread...?

Several reasons.
a. To save me time.
b. To keep the format of the review thread from getting predictably dull, like the supposedly witty blurb I post at the end of each fight announcing the winner. Crap, even I find those annoying.
c. As (I think) Jon Eric was slyly pointing out, to prove that some besides me cares. It's a conversation, you know?

3. Is it plainly stated somewhere e.g. the FAQ that these are requirements to getting new fights posted...?

No, but it well known amount the regular players, I am pretty sure.

Thanks for asking.

[Manhattan Glutton]

So if I have a band named 999 I will win everytime?

[Spud]

If you have a band named 999, it will just take a little longer to get the fights posted. I'm only human.