I only ask this out of curiosity because about a week ago, I hosted an OHB that had some names that I don't see all that often, especially on IRC, and I don't think there was nearly that much outrage from it; heck, I even kinda found myself in awe that it even brought people that probably don't even frequent the IRC all that much to begin with.

So when I went into the Lyceum on a whim and found these snippets:

(from Lyceum article "OHC"; bolding added by me)
"BotBrs can participate without IRC but this behaviour is strongly discouraged."

(from Lyceum article "OHB"; bolding added by me)
"Anyone who's registered on BotB can take place in these! But you'd better not, if you don't feel like sitting inside our cosy IRC channel. We've warned you."

I couldn't help but ask...why exactly is it discouraged?

If you take a look at the edit histories, you'll see that bknox wrote the kinda innocent part of the OHC description, but it was Brigthentayle specifically wrote that concerning part in the OHB description. The timing of that OHB edit is also around the time that #botb rules were reworked.

...damn, now what was I thinking again when I wrote that...

I guess this was made as a reminder to newbs to try to stay on the theme? And to stay in the chat just in case they've got a question to the host? Okay, these are probably the most adequate reasons I can name.

its okay tayle we all make mistakes!
that said, being on the irc chat can enhance the experience (specially on voting since one could be interrupted midway if he's not on irc to warn the host that he hasnt finished voting yet)
instead of discouraging non-irc users of joining ohbs, we should instead encourage ohb entrants to use irc, like instead of "dont join the ohb if u're not on irc", something like "while you're joining the ohb, you could also join the irc chat, since it enhances the experience"

we also now have the twitter bot to notify non IRCers of a fresh ohb instead of them stumbling across it on site with 5 mins to go

Battle of the Bits push notifications changed my life

"irc chat can enhance the experience"
This is a trap. Don't listen to his lies.

Yes, instead of the negative wording, it should encourage people to join the chats for the OHB (especially n00bs). I'm not certain, but I believe this stuff was written at a time when there was a decent amount of trolling on OHBs or folks were ignoring the rules/bitpacks. Whoever edits this thing could add a link to the online chats!

xyz y r u a butt

ButtB

Yeah it seems that quite often those who enter OHBs without some level of IRC participation miss the mark on themes.
This could be down to a need for further clarification of the exact rules/theme in the bitpack or in the OHB comments.
Sometimes the rules can be a bit esoteric and a bit of discussion is not only helpful, it's necessary.
Plus sometimes we have synclistens and it's more fun if all the OHB participants can listen/watch the stream together.

but hey, I'm preaching to the choir here.

Oh yeah the benefits are there.

Doesn't make the drawbacks worth it.

Maybe alongside editing the OHB article to be more encouraging, I should probably also write an article or section on how to make more accessible OHB themes, simply because it's a given that someone will either accidentally or intentionally misconstrue the rulesheets (which is why there seems to almost always be a 5-10 minute session on clarifying the rulesheet every time an OHB happens).

The reason why I think some non-IRC BotBrs participated in the latest battle that I hosted was probably because the theme was relatively simple: play the piano. Sure, I may have noted some specifics (use a VST, MIDI, or actual piano) and left some out as a result (use samples), but I personally thought the aim was straightforward enough.

Your guys already know these oh-eich-bees sometimes needs context and everytime you must GOTTA GO FAST or got latist pwnd
And also ohb have no "prepare-your-tiny-ass-kicked-so-hard" time

So, ye gotta keep your buddamn head-on loop hole open at irc or you missed it
How, How? How! how can these non-irc maximus noobus participate to this one-hour-bustingnut doodle doo?
They like "Yo wWWAHT TEH fucCKE hapEn in this WebShite???"
"what teh is lyceum?? lol tl;dr"

There's twitter notification acc and things
But, still, i bet you let these sneaky ohb rats go
Unless ye only following botb account or ye had well-made notification partition

And you guys better remember not everyone can stick to irc channel and only talking shit... LIKE... YOU

Someone should fix this inaccessibibablibity
Like... place irc one-liner things on botb homepage
Or else... fuck das old demoscene irc compoing tradition and moving to something more easety peasety communitcating platform (oh hey what if irc is most easy and *stabbed*)

It's a wording thing but yeah I think it should be changed. Also just to say it as much as possible, hosts for battles need to be clear about the rules for their ohbs. When IRC says g0g0g0g0g0! I don't look at IRC again until my ohb entry is finished. Depending on IRC to make the rules clear is totally avoidable.

IRC augments the experience. It's always been about the feedback and togetherness. Not all OHBs are parties on IRC, depending on the time and the format, but when they turn into parties it's good to be a part of the crowd. :)

As an incidental counterpoint, I'm on IRC and still mess up at following the theme all the time. :D

Since nobody'd stepped in yet, I went ahead and took the liberty to rewrite those bits in Lyceum-land. Postive encouragement is a super-good thing.

Sadly, I had to sacrifice my awesome Pedagogy score to do so. RIP -1 Pedagogist Points. You will be missed.
http://i.imgur.com/xqXo75L.png

It was very relevant at the time it was written. That is all.

Also, sorry for missing the mark on ohb themes sometimes. You can't force creativity when it strikes! Sometimes you just have to let the music take itself where you want it...