Surprise! Updater's Update (August 10th, 2013)

[JDMEK5]

Route 10 has no listed composer. Who looked these over?! XD

[FireArrow]

^How about shut up and grab some popcorn. This is the most drama I've seen all week! Keep going!

XD

Anyways, guys, there's an easy solution to all of this - get more updaters.

[Yugi]

the update would only have about 8-10 sheets from firearrow and yugi.

and 50000000000 from JDMEK5

[MaestroUGC]

XD

Anyways, guys, there's an easy solution to all of this - get more updaters.

Good plan.

Tried that.

Didn't work.

[Yugi]

Good plan.

Tried that.

Didn't work.

?

[MaestroUGC]

This sin't the first time an issue with the update schedule/quality has cropped up before, and it certainly won't be the last. Having more updaters generally leads to "More doing Less".

[JDMEK5]

Even if I uploaded the sheets I have checked there since the last update, the update would only have about 8-10 sheets from firearrow and yugi.

and 50000000000 from JDMEK5

[Onionleaf]

An update is an update, I personally don't mind from who the arrangement is coming from. I can definitely understand the frustration of it not being yours (looking through the older threads, this has been a problem before), but anyone is free to share their own arrangements on the forums. It's not a contest or anything of the sort to have it finally uploaded onto the main site. Sounds like everybody here is only a volunteer, you can't exactly make people think of it as a downright duty while you have other things to worry about irl. Yep, been there, done that.

Besides, I'd think it would be more efficient to add arrangements from the quality checkers in one go rather than mix them in with the rest of the updates.

However I have to agree that if there is an obvious problem, it's gotta be fixed. You can't expect to have all of this done without teamwork, right?
(anyhoo.. I think I've said too much already *goes back to lurking*)

[Winter]

Tell ya what, if I'm allowed to go solo like I did back in the day, i can push out updates. I sure loved doing it. My constraint is communication with other updaters and conflicting opinions. Go back and look at the updates I posted. If they were so awful to not justify 25-50 sheets every 7 days, tell me why. If not, then we'll push for 1-updater checks. Just mull it over, that's all I need.

[FSM-Reapr]

Hello.

As much as I like having quality sheets put up on the site, I'm not a fan of how slow the process is. Having only one approval for certainly speed things up quite a bit. We always have replacements to replace the sheets we see have mistakes. You see a sheet in the newest update, comment about what's wrong, and update the sheet in the next update. The thing is to get things going(see how well I put that) and provide people sheets. I remember when the times when I first joined the forums.
If Winter claims he could speed things up a lot more than things are in the current state, I say we at least give him a chance to show us, can he improve the updates. If you'd then like to go back to this current state, then be it. At least give him a chance. Like you did with the Daily/Weekly Updates(although that was doomed from the get-gogogo *cough-cough*).

[MaestroUGC]

I think what we have seen here is an example of multiple ways of handling these updates:

1) Olimar's Method ultimately relies on the "One-at-a-Time" philosophy. Quality is nearly 100%, which is fantastic, but it almost borders on perfectionism in my opinion and as a result sacrifices efficiency. Quality has been at an all time high during the past year, but it's not like any one person is responsible for that. We've gotten to a point were the vetrans already know what needs to be done for quality, and the newcomers catch on pretty fast. Your Live Review method does wonders for educating people, but it's so damn slow. You go over each sheet one note at a time, demanding near-perfection, and the result is one sheet every hour. Your online for maybe 2-3 hours at most, and tend to only help the same 4 or 5 people. At some point I can't help but wonder if by doing that these guys, while they do want to get better, still need this level of help; or if they're doing this just to be sure their stuff makes it onto an update. Newbie Friendly

2) Winter's Method handles the massive backlog in chunks of around 10 at a time. Nothing too crazy, but also pretty managable. 10 sheets a week is still at a point where we can get regular, high quality content. However, while he doesn't demand the near perfectionism of Olimar, he still has some strict standards, and while he does leave criticism, it doesn't have the best follow through. This can result in some people being perpetually locked out because they don't share the same level of education as the update staff. Corrections are very inefficient, but for those of you who know what they're doing can get through with no problems. Veteran Friendly

3) DekuTrombonist's Method works in the shadows. Seriously, he just surprises us with updates with no fanfare or warning. Quality is usually high still, but quality isn't the issue anymore. Whenever he manages an update nobody knows until it happens. As a result, I can't tell what his process is, it seems to combine the quality of Winter with the speed of Olimar. More over, it appears he steps in only when nothing's been done for long stretches of time. Useful for People Stuck in Limbo

Above all else, the major issue here is communication. Do you people talk to each other? But I think I have a way to solve this problem.

A Two-Thread Update System
We have a thread for Veterans and Skilled Arrangers. People whose sheets have reached a consistent level of quality that meets the sites standards will have their sheets handled by Winter. These are also usually the same people who have a huge back-log so it'd be nice to get them on the fast track to contribution. For this group quality is rarely an issue, but if an issue pops up Winter can deal with it, and this thread should be pretty autonomous. Think of it as a "Regular Contributors" system.

Secondly, we have a thread for New Arrangers. People who are making their first contributions to the site and who are new to arranging altogether. Here, Olimar can handle their sheets and educate them to his heart's content. He'll make updates when he feels he has enough quality sheets. We can even make them feel special by giving them their own updates, "First Time Contibutors" or something. When the entire updating staff agrees that somebody has reached a point of consistent, high quality sheets, they can graduate to the Veteran Thread.

Deku can still do his Super Special Holiday Update series, since that usually when he updates, that could be a combination of the above two's content, or some other special thing the Updaters can agree on.

This way the site gets consistent updates and the update stuff isn't faced with talking the Thousand Sheet Wall that is the Contributers' pride and joy. Also, start talking to each other.

[Winter]

^Totally down with that!

[Dude]

best idea ever.

[SlowPokemon]

I do like this idea, assuming that Winter and Olimar stay on top of it haha. Don't forget, isn't Shadowkirby a mod too? He could probably help with that Veteran thread, if there's not much quality assurance that needs to happen.

In your situation, if one wants to "apply" to use the veterans thread, where would that take place?

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Me gusta.  Very much.

Also, theoretically, if arrangers post in their personal threads before the submission thread, they should be able to iron out the formatting errors and simple problems before bringing them to the updaters.  In a perfect world.....

Also, thanks for taking the time to post that, Maestro.  Not only did you think it through well, you got Dude to say something serious for the first time in my memory.