A suggestion to make frenzies more workable

[LSK]

Here's a little method that might work...

- The frenzymaster sets up an e-mail bot that players can e-mail at any time to learn the name of the fight. (during a 24-hour period)
- Anyone may join at any time during the fight, but they must finish within 55 minutes. E-mail timestamps will be used for this purpose.
- Results are posted after 25 hours.

I think this would alleviate many of the scheduling difficulties that make frenzies so impractical for many songfighters. For lack of an e-mail bot, one could use Gmail's vacation messages.

[JonPorobil]

I would like this idea a lot, except that there's kind of no way to verify that the fighter finished within 55 minutes of learning the title.

I'm more in favor of just announcing the exact time of a frenzy WAY in advance, so that people who want to participate can actually clear an hour in their schedule.

[Reist]

Email bots? Timestamps? This is intense, guys.

Frenzies won't be running for the next few months, since there was a huge decline in interest. In the meantime, I'm totally in favor of discussing new ways to do the frenzies in order to make them more user-friendly.

Maybe a frenzy calendar with little checkmarks on when the title will be revealed ...

[The Weakest Suit]

Reist,
I would think that Feb would be a prime time to have some frenzies. A lot of people will be in a writing frenzy anyway due to FAWM and will be more apt to participate to get another song completed for it.
Just a thought.
Chris.

[Lord of Oats]

Reist,
I would think that Feb would be a prime time to have some frenzies. A lot of people will be in a writing frenzy anyway due to FAWM and will be more apt to participate to get another song completed for it.
Just a thought.
Chris.

I told him this, already. He wouldn't listen. Good idea, and whether you realized it or not, thanks for backing me up.

[The Weakest Suit]

No problem. Maybe we can organize some rebel frenzies.
Lord of Oats: what is your FAWM username?

[JonPorobil]

Yeah, how come Reist is the only person who can do Frenzies? Back in '03/'04 (last time I was really active on the site), there were many SongSkirmishes (1-hour fights with one non-optional challenge). If I recall correctly, no one person was in charge of deciding whether or not there would be a Skirmish. If you guys want to fight it out in 55 minutes, just do it.

[HeuristicsInc]

I dislike the 55 minute thing. I have enough trouble getting one done in an hour!
-bill

[Reist]

Reist,
I would think that Feb would be a prime time to have some frenzies. A lot of people will be in a writing frenzy anyway due to FAWM and will be more apt to participate to get another song completed for it.
Just a thought.
Chris.

If we do them in feb, I won't be partaking - I'm doing FAWM, but I don't feel that my FAWM album and 55 minute frenzies can coexist - I'm hoping to write a concept album, and frenzies can't offer me that - they tend to be random and painfully similar to each other.

I told him this, already. He wouldn't listen. Good idea, and whether you realized it or not, thanks for backing me up.

It's not that I didn't listen - it just can't work for me. See above.

No problem. Maybe we can organize some rebel frenzies.
Lord of Oats: what is your FAWM username?

Feel free to do so - I'd rather you change the name if you're running them though. It's not like I want it to be an exclusive club or anything, but it's been my pet project for a while, so I'd like the name '55 minute frenzy' to remain a reist/radnoise run project.

[The Weakest Suit]

how about 55 minute rumbles?
do you get the joke?

[Phil. Redmon.]

I get that joke.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I don't get it.

[Project-D]

FSK's idea could be implemented really simply.

Set up a Yahoo account or any account that allows auto-reply or vacation response. You can set it up to have a vacation response for a certain amount of time. Anyway, set it up with your title and post the email. People email the account and get an auto reply with the title, they then record the song attach it and send it back to the email (or a different one). Yahoo time and date stamps everything with the GMT +/- time already on it. You can check the time differential between their first email and second email.

I'd imagine a lot of email clients could do it too.

[LSK]

I don't have any place to host files, but I'd otherwise be willing to hold at least one of these for FAWM.

[spinlock]

Thanks very much for the ideas everyone!

We are discussing them here and Reist has OK'd me attempting to automate at least some aspects of the frenzies.

If you have anything more to say please drop a note there. The main reason I want to automate stuff is to make it easier to run them, but lots of the features you've suggested, like LSK's 55 minutes from 24 hours idea, should be easy to add and try out once we've got the basic thing done.

Project-D: I'm trying to move away from email as I've had odd problems with it recently, but I like your take on the idea.

Generic: As for giving more warning - I'm hoping to start monthly swap frenzies soon, with at least 2 week's notice. Of course, if you don't want to do swap frenzies, that's pretty useless for you, but as you say, anyone can organise a short-deadline skirmish well in advance. I'd certainly join in if you wanted to set that up (and it was during my waking hours). As it is, I try to run a eurofrenzy every fortnight on Saturdays at 8PM (british time) - though the time does change due to external factors (this week is eurovision for example, so it needs to be earlier)

[Eric Y.]

FSK's idea could be implemented really simply.

Set up a Yahoo account or any account...

it could also be worked around really simply.

a dishonest songwriter could just as easily create a "dummy" yahoo account, send an e-mail and get the 'vacation response' during hour one. then spend twenty-three hours writing and recording, e-mail again during the twenty-fourth hour from their real e-mail account, getting the 'vacation response' there, and then submit the final product -- ostensibly less than fifty-five minutes from getting the title. there just wouldn't be a song turned in from the "person" who had e-mailed in the first place, but there would be no way to trace who that was.

not implying anyone would try to cheat the system around here, just sayin'.

[ujnhunter]

doesn't it track ip address? not sure...

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

How about 'Frenzy Albums', based on the AAD concept, but the 'Frenzy Master' provides 12 Titles of his/her own creation, the competitors then have 24 hours to create their very own 'Frenzy Album' with artwork.....

.... this would though make reviewing a rather long process, and therefore voting! (scratches head, shrugs shoulders, sits back down!)

[spinlock]

How about 'Frenzy Albums', based on the AAD concept, but the 'Frenzy Master' provides 12 Titles of his/her own creation, the competitors then have 24 hours to create their very own 'Frenzy Album' with artwork.....

.... this would though make reviewing a rather long process, and therefore voting! (scratches head, shrugs shoulders, sits back down!)

Yeah - I wouldn't be doing any of those, but maybe Reist would. Or you could run one yourself
As it stands, I'll consider 'Multiple titles' as a request for future feature for Frenzybot. He's about 1/4 of the way there now.

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Another barely thought through idea.... a 'running frenzy', the frenzy-master provides a percussion only track, and nominates someone for lead, who then nominates for rhythm, then someone else for lyrics.... bass.... vocals!

(another stupid idea, which I should delete, but won't because I want the world to see my stupidity!!!)

[Reist]

Another barely thought through idea.... a 'running frenzy', the frenzy-master provides a percussion only track, and nominates someone for lead, who then nominates for rhythm, then someone else for lyrics.... bass.... vocals!

(another stupid idea, which I should delete, but won't because I want the world to see my stupidity!!!)

It could be a cool idea, but I can't see it ever working due to commitment issues.

[Eric Y.]

http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php ... _the_temps

it's a shame all the old message board stuff is no longer around.