Camp Bell Tree 2023: Closing Ceremony
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Alolan_Apples
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Seeing all these changes reminds me of the TBT Fair cycle.
- Stage 1 - The event has been announced. Although it hasn’t opened up, the hype begins.
- Stage 2 - The fair opens up. Contests open up, prizes are revealed, and other events are revealed. The site also has a banner update to follow along.
- Stage 3 - Activities ensue. This is where people participate to earn tickets and some cool prizes.
- Stage 4 - Contests close. At this point, the other events are about to wrap up or are on their last rounds.
- Stage 5 - Contest voting begins. After a couple days, the staff pick their favorite entries as the rest vote on the best ones.
- Stage 6 - Closing ceremony. By then, all contests and events have been closed, as winners are given a standing ovation and prizes. Leftover raffles open up as other raffles continue.
- Stage 7 - Raffles close. The final fair activities are over, and the fair is essentially over.
- Stage 8 - Banner and theme updates go back to normal, signaling that the fair is over.
- Stage 9 - Real life prizes have been distributed. At this point, everything related to the TBT Fair is officially finished. From when they first announced the fair to the distribution of prizes.
So, I promised more charts. Now that the camp boards have been hidden, I am finally ready to deliver them! I had done up a chart of how the point totals progressed as camp moved along in 2021, but never got around to posting it before the board was archived. However, I did want to do it for this year's camp! I've put in all the work that I could to deliver a mostly accurate depiction of how the scores progressed as the event went along.
Anyways, prior to diving into it, here's my methodology for this if anybody cares:
Unlike the favorite voting post, I won't go as in-depth with these charts since we've already experienced them during the course of camp, lol. This is ultimately just something I was interested in looking into and figured some other people would want to see it as well. Think of it as a fun, light look back at how the camp scoreboard unfolded! I've done my best to maintain a neutral stance while presenting them. However, I'll put them in a spoiler again since, as I said before, I don't want to force people to scroll through them if they're not interested in them. This won't be as long as the last post, though!
Anyways, that's more or less it for me and my charts! I covered both things I wanted to do, and while there's definitely more I could look into, I'll refrain from doing so just to free myself from looking at the data for both camps any longer, lmao. Though if there's anything anybody would like to know, then just lmk!
Anyways, prior to diving into it, here's my methodology for this if anybody cares:
Basically, my idea for this is to track all submissions by the time they were posted, rather than by the time they were accepted. The reason is that this gives a more accurate picture as to where each team was at any given point in time, as the staff vary not only in when they accept the entries, but how often. Of course, this is perfectly understandable! They have their own lives to live, after all, and sometimes things come up that take priority for them. They shouldn't be required to be on here 24/7.
This worked out well last year when all submissions were available to the public and that data could easily be compiled. However, there are some pain points this year:
As well, one last important thing to mention is the end time for the days. Originally, for CBT 2021, I just did it based on when the day changed in my time zone. However, when doing this year's camp up, I decided it made more sense to have the days end at 7 PM EDT, since that's when we changed areas and when a majority of events closed. That way, each area would fit nicely into a 7-day span. I ended up having to add all the submission date/times and re-time all the days as a result for the CBT 2021 data to make those charts work the same way this year's charts do. That said, I feel like those charts are more informative as a result and do a better job at smoothing out the lines when originally it'd have these more pronounced rises.
This worked out well last year when all submissions were available to the public and that data could easily be compiled. However, there are some pain points this year:
- While you can see the participant/spectator list for most Gaming Station sessions, when somebody submits is private and there's no guarantee everybody who could submit did submit. As such, I tried to figure it out via proxy, as in: whenever somebody had their second session is when they got the points, provided I could confirm they submitted via their individual point totals.
- Since submissions are private for Far Out Frequencies and Planetary Express, I ended up just bulk adding them when the round ended and the submissions were accepted. Thankfully I did make sure to track who did get points during the camp, so this info should be mostly accurate even if when the submission points are applied works against my methodology. Although I was dumb and accidentally deleted my tracked data for the first 2 rounds of Far Out Frequencies and had to work backwards from the entry numbers I posted for my team + individual point totals to try and figure it out again. So the numbers should still be accurate, I just had a hell of a time getting everything to line up.
- Eggs
As well, one last important thing to mention is the end time for the days. Originally, for CBT 2021, I just did it based on when the day changed in my time zone. However, when doing this year's camp up, I decided it made more sense to have the days end at 7 PM EDT, since that's when we changed areas and when a majority of events closed. That way, each area would fit nicely into a 7-day span. I ended up having to add all the submission date/times and re-time all the days as a result for the CBT 2021 data to make those charts work the same way this year's charts do. That said, I feel like those charts are more informative as a result and do a better job at smoothing out the lines when originally it'd have these more pronounced rises.
Unlike the favorite voting post, I won't go as in-depth with these charts since we've already experienced them during the course of camp, lol. This is ultimately just something I was interested in looking into and figured some other people would want to see it as well. Think of it as a fun, light look back at how the camp scoreboard unfolded! I've done my best to maintain a neutral stance while presenting them. However, I'll put them in a spoiler again since, as I said before, I don't want to force people to scroll through them if they're not interested in them. This won't be as long as the last post, though!
So first, I want to set this up by going back to how Camp Bell Tree 2021 progressed:
Generally, you can boil it down to "Poliwags got the lead relatively early and kept it", though the other teams didn't really move around too much after that first week except for the Crystal Ballers eventually overtaking Evergreen for 2nd. Obviously that's good and all if you're a Poliwag, but also boring overall to look back at! In retrospect, it also gives off the idea that the last camp didn't really provide many avenues for teams to get back into it once they fell behind.
Now here's how Camp Bell Tree 2023 progressed:
A lot more exciting! All 4 teams held the lead at one point during camp! The winners were last after days 6/7, but came back and eventually got the lead as the days progressed! The most exciting part is the middle of week 2, when the lines basically converge into one another and every team looked like they had a shot of winning camp! There were less than 100 points separating 1st from 4th at the end of Day 15, and less than 150 points at the end of Day 16!
When we got to the end of Day 18 (or the end of Area #2), things had finally broken wide open and the Cetaceans emerged on top, withstanding a surge from Nevermind as the final week moved along to secure their victory. The gap after Day 18 is in part due to the difference in area points available, as the Cargo Hold had the least points available of the 3 areas due to how Scavenging Race worked, whereas Wishing Star/Planetary Express had lots more points available for all teams this is something I brought up within the survey tbh. Still, for it to be as tight as it was and for each team to have the belief that they could win it at the midway point is impressive! I do feel like that's the ideal way for camp to go, where all teams are able to go deep into the event and have a shot at winning, since that encourages more activity for each team and also generates a buzz internally that's really fun to be around!
As well, if you wanted to know how the scores would look if each team was in the same area at the same time but still got the same amount of points, these are the charts for you! While inherently flawed, these are still interesting to look at:
The control of the lead the Poliwags had in 2021 is still evident, though the Crystal Ballers do come out of this looking slightly better and making it more clear they were a strong team from the start than maybe the original scores let on.
Now, here's the scores for this year when ordered by area:
It's interesting how the dynamic of the scoreboard does change when looking at it this way. Nevermind was stronger in the Bridge and got the lead early on in this chart as a result, but the Cetaceans were better in the Cargo Hold along with having slight edges in the Observatory + Mission Control itself, which allowed them to claw back, take the lead in the final area, and hold it for the remainder of camp.
Also, if you're wondering why I chose the area order that I did, it's just because that's the order my teams did the areas in, lmao.
Generally, you can boil it down to "Poliwags got the lead relatively early and kept it", though the other teams didn't really move around too much after that first week except for the Crystal Ballers eventually overtaking Evergreen for 2nd. Obviously that's good and all if you're a Poliwag, but also boring overall to look back at! In retrospect, it also gives off the idea that the last camp didn't really provide many avenues for teams to get back into it once they fell behind.
Now here's how Camp Bell Tree 2023 progressed:
A lot more exciting! All 4 teams held the lead at one point during camp! The winners were last after days 6/7, but came back and eventually got the lead as the days progressed! The most exciting part is the middle of week 2, when the lines basically converge into one another and every team looked like they had a shot of winning camp! There were less than 100 points separating 1st from 4th at the end of Day 15, and less than 150 points at the end of Day 16!
When we got to the end of Day 18 (or the end of Area #2), things had finally broken wide open and the Cetaceans emerged on top, withstanding a surge from Nevermind as the final week moved along to secure their victory. The gap after Day 18 is in part due to the difference in area points available, as the Cargo Hold had the least points available of the 3 areas due to how Scavenging Race worked, whereas Wishing Star/Planetary Express had lots more points available for all teams this is something I brought up within the survey tbh. Still, for it to be as tight as it was and for each team to have the belief that they could win it at the midway point is impressive! I do feel like that's the ideal way for camp to go, where all teams are able to go deep into the event and have a shot at winning, since that encourages more activity for each team and also generates a buzz internally that's really fun to be around!
As well, if you wanted to know how the scores would look if each team was in the same area at the same time but still got the same amount of points, these are the charts for you! While inherently flawed, these are still interesting to look at:
The control of the lead the Poliwags had in 2021 is still evident, though the Crystal Ballers do come out of this looking slightly better and making it more clear they were a strong team from the start than maybe the original scores let on.
Now, here's the scores for this year when ordered by area:
It's interesting how the dynamic of the scoreboard does change when looking at it this way. Nevermind was stronger in the Bridge and got the lead early on in this chart as a result, but the Cetaceans were better in the Cargo Hold along with having slight edges in the Observatory + Mission Control itself, which allowed them to claw back, take the lead in the final area, and hold it for the remainder of camp.
Also, if you're wondering why I chose the area order that I did, it's just because that's the order my teams did the areas in, lmao.
Anyways, that's more or less it for me and my charts! I covered both things I wanted to do, and while there's definitely more I could look into, I'll refrain from doing so just to free myself from looking at the data for both camps any longer, lmao. Though if there's anything anybody would like to know, then just lmk!
Aniko
Senior Member
It's already the end...
Thanks to the staff for their hard work, patience and all those pretty collectibles and reactions! That will unfortunately disappear ...
I'm not too sad though, because I know Halloween is just around the corner and there is more fun to come!
I hope.
No pressure.
Thanks to the staff for their hard work, patience and all those pretty collectibles and reactions! That will unfortunately disappear ...
I'm not too sad though, because I know Halloween is just around the corner and there is more fun to come!
I hope.
No pressure.
Rainbowhorn
*Bakes cookies for all villagers*
Can we keep the baby aliens around? I kinda warmed up to them...
Paperboy012305
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That would be cool, but imagine if they did a Tropic Jungle theme instead.Underwater camp for 2025?
They could throw us a curveball and have it be a time travel theme where different cabins are reliant on different timelines.
ShinkaiTheSeaWing
Pit main from the pits of heck
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@Croconaw I see what you mean, but what if it is the ocean from that camp? or perhaps...
Ooh, maybe a combination of that and perhaps something like Subnautica? It could be on a distant planet to add to the lore of this year's space camp...
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This is probably the hundredth closing post, but now that we've removed badges, I thought we could officially commemorate the members of each crew. I also wanted to comment on some of the feedback we've received.
While the crews had the same number of members, the activity level of each user wasn't consistent (I'll talk about that more below), so I'll trim the list to the top 50 point earners of each crew.
The Galaxolotls
-Blue-, -Lumi-, -Mars-, aericell, Aerith, Alolan_Apples, amemome, Asarena, aurora., BetsySundrop, BungoTheElf, Chibi.Hoshi, Cirice, Croconaw, CrossingKitty, daringred_, digimon, droqen, edenoakk, FraudulentDimetrodon, FrostyAlmonds, Fye, Gene., glow, God_Is_Life^-^, illumie, JellyBeans, Kattea, KittenNoir, Kitty2201, LateGamer, Mars Adept, Millysaurusrexjr, Mimi Cheems, Mr.Fox, neferet, nyx~, princess.looking.for.frog, Rabirin, Rosch, RosyLilacCat, Sarah3, Saylor, Shanica92, Shellzilla_515, ShinkaiTheSeaWing, skarmoury, starlightskies, Truji, Venn, Wildtown, ZeldaCrossing64
Actually, Nevermind
airpeaches, ali.di.magix, Amilee, AustinTEG06, Azzy, Biyaya, Brickittybrick, Coach, Corrie, DaCoSim, DaisyFan, dino, Dinosauuur, Firesquids, Flicky, Flyffel, Hat', Heyden, himekirako, idiotdoomspiral, IonicKarma, kikotoot, kiwikenobi, Lancelot, Libra, LoserMom, LoveGraceMarie, magicaldonkey, Midoriya, Milleram, Mr_Keroppi, Nougat, pipty, r a t, Ravenkitty22, RemMomori, Rhea, roseflower, Roxxy, Sara?, Sharksheep, Sheando, shellbell, Shinigamii, tarepanda3ame, tessa grace, themysterybidder, xSuperMario64x, Zakira, Zane
International Space Cetacean
Aquilla, Bluelady, Bob Zombie, boring, Bui, Cheremtasy, corlee1289, Darcy94x, Darkesque_, Dinosaurz, Drawdler, Emolga59, faerie, Flaming_Oceans, Freya_Druid, Giddy, Halloqueen, Hanami, Ichiban, Irescien, Iris_T, jadetine, JellyLu, JemAC, Jhine7, kayleee, King koopa, Kitsuragi, LittleMissPanda, MaiaMae, MiniPocketWorld, Minou, mogyay, oak, Oldcatlady, outofwrlds, Peach_Jam, Plume, Rainbowhorn, rass, S.J., seliph, Snek, Snowesque, Trundle, Vsmith, xlisapisa, Yoshi155, You got mail!, ~Kilza~
Moon Bunnies
Aniko, Antonio, Aurita, AuroraFox, Beanz, Blink., ConfusedDad, CylieDanny, deana, duckvely, duckykate, Equity, Foreverfox, Guire, Hatori, Holla, Hunter_Gr33n, Insulaire, itsmxuse, Jacob, jeni, Kirbyz, LadyDestani, LambdaDelta, lieryl, Liz!, Merielle, michealsmells, Mokuren, moonbyu, Moonlight., Mutti, Naekoya, neoratz, Newbiemayor, oath2order, OswinOswald, pottercrossing, Princess Mipha, Rio_, Snap Crackle Pop, Snowifer, That Marshal Fangirl, The Pennifer, Verecund, Vhoop, VillageDweller, xara, Yanrima~, Zerous
I hope you all had a fun time with your crews and maybe even made some new friends!
After reading and discussing all of the feedback left in the survey, we thought it would be helpful to comment on some of the common topics.
Active users on crews
Since I mentioned it above, I thought I'd start by commenting on inactive users and balancing the crews. This was a relatively common complaint because the winning cabin/crew is almost always going to be the one with the most active users. While we had some team vs. team tasks that awarded points, most points came from individual participation. This is how the event is structured because, despite the team element, most tasks are performed individually.
Unfortunately, every crew had inactive users and balancing them is a bit more difficult than it sounds. We also need to be inclusive to all users who express interest in participating, even if it may not be very much. Crews were in fact balanced when the event started, and also to some extent as users were added later. However, we're going to try a different method of balancing next time, so we'll see if we can do a better job then!
Team vs. team
As you probably noticed from a couple of the survey questions, we were anticipating the team vs. team tasks to receive a lot of feedback. Sure enough, a very large portion of the feedback we received mentioned something that falls under this category! A lot of these team vs. team tasks were a bit experimental and we actually saw changes that could be made early on. We definitely agree with a lot of the feedback you left about this and have already been discussing ideas to address it.
Bad sportsmanship
At some point during the event, we put up a notice about sportsmanship and this issue was also commented on in the survey. While competitive banter is fine (and fun), there's a point where it can cross over into bad sportsmanship and rude behavior. One thing I'd like to point out about this is that, whether it's related to an event or not, we don't typically discuss a user's behavior publicly. We did talk to people privately after some incidents, so I want to stress that we did not ignore this issue like some seemed to think.
Also, I think changes to the team vs. team aspects I mentioned above will help reduce some of the rivalry we saw. For example, no more being paired with the same team over and over.
Crew favorite voting
Another common piece of feedback was related to how we selected the favorite entries, which awarded the Rainbow Crescent Moon and extra tokens. For both camp events, we have used crew favorites based on reactions. While this method is flawed for such a big event, there is unfortunately no perfect solution. For example, using the staff favorite method would not have been realistic to select during the short timeframe and with so many other things happening at the same time. However, we are going to spend some time thinking about this to try to come up with a better solution. While we'll probably continue to use community favorite reaction voting for smaller events with lower stakes, we'll see if we can come up with some other system for the next camp event.
I hope this has helped explain the staff's point of view and where we can make changes for next time. Thanks for all of your feedback and help in improving the event!
While the crews had the same number of members, the activity level of each user wasn't consistent (I'll talk about that more below), so I'll trim the list to the top 50 point earners of each crew.
The Galaxolotls
-Blue-, -Lumi-, -Mars-, aericell, Aerith, Alolan_Apples, amemome, Asarena, aurora., BetsySundrop, BungoTheElf, Chibi.Hoshi, Cirice, Croconaw, CrossingKitty, daringred_, digimon, droqen, edenoakk, FraudulentDimetrodon, FrostyAlmonds, Fye, Gene., glow, God_Is_Life^-^, illumie, JellyBeans, Kattea, KittenNoir, Kitty2201, LateGamer, Mars Adept, Millysaurusrexjr, Mimi Cheems, Mr.Fox, neferet, nyx~, princess.looking.for.frog, Rabirin, Rosch, RosyLilacCat, Sarah3, Saylor, Shanica92, Shellzilla_515, ShinkaiTheSeaWing, skarmoury, starlightskies, Truji, Venn, Wildtown, ZeldaCrossing64
Actually, Nevermind
airpeaches, ali.di.magix, Amilee, AustinTEG06, Azzy, Biyaya, Brickittybrick, Coach, Corrie, DaCoSim, DaisyFan, dino, Dinosauuur, Firesquids, Flicky, Flyffel, Hat', Heyden, himekirako, idiotdoomspiral, IonicKarma, kikotoot, kiwikenobi, Lancelot, Libra, LoserMom, LoveGraceMarie, magicaldonkey, Midoriya, Milleram, Mr_Keroppi, Nougat, pipty, r a t, Ravenkitty22, RemMomori, Rhea, roseflower, Roxxy, Sara?, Sharksheep, Sheando, shellbell, Shinigamii, tarepanda3ame, tessa grace, themysterybidder, xSuperMario64x, Zakira, Zane
International Space Cetacean
Aquilla, Bluelady, Bob Zombie, boring, Bui, Cheremtasy, corlee1289, Darcy94x, Darkesque_, Dinosaurz, Drawdler, Emolga59, faerie, Flaming_Oceans, Freya_Druid, Giddy, Halloqueen, Hanami, Ichiban, Irescien, Iris_T, jadetine, JellyLu, JemAC, Jhine7, kayleee, King koopa, Kitsuragi, LittleMissPanda, MaiaMae, MiniPocketWorld, Minou, mogyay, oak, Oldcatlady, outofwrlds, Peach_Jam, Plume, Rainbowhorn, rass, S.J., seliph, Snek, Snowesque, Trundle, Vsmith, xlisapisa, Yoshi155, You got mail!, ~Kilza~
Moon Bunnies
Aniko, Antonio, Aurita, AuroraFox, Beanz, Blink., ConfusedDad, CylieDanny, deana, duckvely, duckykate, Equity, Foreverfox, Guire, Hatori, Holla, Hunter_Gr33n, Insulaire, itsmxuse, Jacob, jeni, Kirbyz, LadyDestani, LambdaDelta, lieryl, Liz!, Merielle, michealsmells, Mokuren, moonbyu, Moonlight., Mutti, Naekoya, neoratz, Newbiemayor, oath2order, OswinOswald, pottercrossing, Princess Mipha, Rio_, Snap Crackle Pop, Snowifer, That Marshal Fangirl, The Pennifer, Verecund, Vhoop, VillageDweller, xara, Yanrima~, Zerous
I hope you all had a fun time with your crews and maybe even made some new friends!
After reading and discussing all of the feedback left in the survey, we thought it would be helpful to comment on some of the common topics.
Active users on crews
Since I mentioned it above, I thought I'd start by commenting on inactive users and balancing the crews. This was a relatively common complaint because the winning cabin/crew is almost always going to be the one with the most active users. While we had some team vs. team tasks that awarded points, most points came from individual participation. This is how the event is structured because, despite the team element, most tasks are performed individually.
Unfortunately, every crew had inactive users and balancing them is a bit more difficult than it sounds. We also need to be inclusive to all users who express interest in participating, even if it may not be very much. Crews were in fact balanced when the event started, and also to some extent as users were added later. However, we're going to try a different method of balancing next time, so we'll see if we can do a better job then!
Team vs. team
As you probably noticed from a couple of the survey questions, we were anticipating the team vs. team tasks to receive a lot of feedback. Sure enough, a very large portion of the feedback we received mentioned something that falls under this category! A lot of these team vs. team tasks were a bit experimental and we actually saw changes that could be made early on. We definitely agree with a lot of the feedback you left about this and have already been discussing ideas to address it.
Bad sportsmanship
At some point during the event, we put up a notice about sportsmanship and this issue was also commented on in the survey. While competitive banter is fine (and fun), there's a point where it can cross over into bad sportsmanship and rude behavior. One thing I'd like to point out about this is that, whether it's related to an event or not, we don't typically discuss a user's behavior publicly. We did talk to people privately after some incidents, so I want to stress that we did not ignore this issue like some seemed to think.
Also, I think changes to the team vs. team aspects I mentioned above will help reduce some of the rivalry we saw. For example, no more being paired with the same team over and over.
Crew favorite voting
Another common piece of feedback was related to how we selected the favorite entries, which awarded the Rainbow Crescent Moon and extra tokens. For both camp events, we have used crew favorites based on reactions. While this method is flawed for such a big event, there is unfortunately no perfect solution. For example, using the staff favorite method would not have been realistic to select during the short timeframe and with so many other things happening at the same time. However, we are going to spend some time thinking about this to try to come up with a better solution. While we'll probably continue to use community favorite reaction voting for smaller events with lower stakes, we'll see if we can come up with some other system for the next camp event.
I hope this has helped explain the staff's point of view and where we can make changes for next time. Thanks for all of your feedback and help in improving the event!
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