There's been some hurbabble and kurfluffin over One Hour Battles. BotB has introduced an updated OHB hosting paradigm. The aim is to make hosting a bit more prestigious; to be taken in a certain light.

New Hosting Requirements
A BotBr must have participated in at least 3 OHBs, have submitted 10 entries in the format they desire to host (this entry count is from ALL battle types), and have b750 ready for a deposit which will be returned when the battle completes with 3 or more entries. Admins can host an OHB with any format and are exempt from the 10 entry clause.

Bitpacks
I want to talk about bitpacks. Bitpacks are the backbone to any BotB battle. A good bitpack sets a tone that resonates through all the entries it inspires. I'm not pointing fingers or saying too many people are sucking at bitpacks. Poor bitpacks do happen, however, and I'd like to set a bar or a model to follow.

A good bitpack is a strong tangible theme, a specific technical challenge, and/or a .zip file with unique bits (samples,colors,etc..) that all BotBrs in the battle work with collectively. 'do whatevs' or 'upload anything' are not good bitpacks and hosts that do that from now on will be grounded (PARASITE) from hosting as long as the BotB Admins see fit.

Side Notes
The raise in the deposit is simply because b250 is hardly a risk for anyone who's been here over a year and consistently participated. If you don't have b750 but have the other requirements to host you can ask a fellow BotBr for some charity. I was considering raising the deposit to b2500! But I didn't. ;)

If you want to host a format, but lack the entry count, then suggest it to an admin. Do that enough times and you'll eventually unlock that format. Admins will soon also be able to set OHBs (or minor battles) to longer lengths and start up to a week away for extra boons.

I know a lot of BotBrs are not so hot about these kinds of changes. This was a hard decision, it required a bit of work, but ultimately I believe this mechanical insulation will improve relations over time. ALL NOOBZ!!

" Admins will soon also be able to set OHBs (or minor battles) to longer lengths and start up to a week away for extra boons. "

EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

I think these changes are ultimately for the better and while I'm not very fond of the hosting fee raise I'd much rather it be b750 than b2500 : - )

for the bitpack section, what about formats like nsf, size compos (8k, 12k, 16k) and adlib where a lot of compos are just do anything because of technical things? do we need specific bitpacks for those or do these new bitpack guidelines only apply to formats like allgear, remix, and sexmodit?

Like I said, a bitpack can also be a theme or technical challenge. It can be something as simple as "happy cat music" or as daunting as "alternate 17/8 and 5/4 time sigs with the notes C C# and G" The point of the bitpack is to provide an original premise for the battle's entries.

Seems like a pretty fair change to prevent certain junk OHBs.

I don't need to really argue about these big changes to OHB and BotB again, after realizing that I absolutely HATE to fight, even if I attempt to do so. :P

Euuugh, ten? I'm never gonna get to do a beeper without begging an admin.

Heh, I'll gladly host a beeper if we're both around late one steamy night!

Why the per-format count though?

Why not just require 50 entries before you can host, or something like that? I said what I meant in the other thread (ha ha this popped up while I was doing the OHC) but this is a policy which only decreases the variety of formats used by directly encouraging people to create battles only in formats they've already used a lot... it's a bad feedback loop.

At the rate that OHBs happen these days I don't see how collaborating to unlock a format with other BotBrs could take you much longer than 10 weeks. An admin doesn't have to participate to host, but they should be around for the duration to do sluts at the end. BotBrs are just gonna hafta work for waht tehy whant! :D/

I've participated in 11 battles (7 of which were major battles, I might add); just because I've not submitted 10 of any one type of entry, I won't be able to host an OHC. Why? Four years of good behavior isn't good enough? ;D

Also, I agree with rainwarrior that this new policy will encourage "more of the same" and limit the exposure that the less popular formats will ultimately receive. That seems counter to what you'd want to see on the site, isn't it?

I'm hearing y'all. Grinding entries is baaad. We were talking about making it 5 entries with a score above 20. Which would mean voting an entry below 4 is saying it isn't good enough to count towards that count of formats. I'm exhausted and still have to do actual work for my actual jorb . . .

to help everyone get experience in formats and make sure people can build up their hosting skills at an appropriate rate i suggested this idea

(03:42) <wolymamto>maybe admins could just remember to host one ohc of each format every 2 months or something
(03:42) <wolymamto>xterm and strobe and people
(03:43) <wolymamto>so that there are regular opportunities to get entries in each format
(03:43) <wolymamto>with the pre-scheduled ohc feature (which seems to be forthcoming?) they could be announced in advance
(03:44) <wolymamto>jangler could say Righto Guys We Are Having A 2x Pokey Compo Next Week


or whatever

Hey!... well in the oldtimes admins actually hosted about 2-4 ohc/ohb every day, i dont see it nuts if WE colaborate with each others. Is about community. I think this new ohb policies are better than the old ones, to specially evade tons of bad ohb or trolls. I don't see it nutz to get 10 entries per format.

I can defenly host ohb's if they worth the participants a nice experience and fun.

Like I said before, change, even (maybe especially) positive change, is not easy. I'm trying to make some positive changes in my personal life and not having an easy time, but if I persevere I'll be better for it.
This change will take some getting used to, but I think it'll be good for us.
Right on, Puke.

So... the word on the street is the requirement is 11 entries, not 10.

nice. Its like unlocking new characters :) Now I wish I did more midi ohc's . Midi ohb anybody?

As demonstrated by this OHB, the new concept is working and you only need 4 more to host SMS. I bet you could get one once a week. How long have you been here? What's anther month?

I'll just drop in and say I disagree with the new concept for pretty much all the reasons mentioned, plus the fact it punishes everyone for a mere few people's misdemeanors. But hey, you're the boss.

the grind is part of teh game!

a friendly admin will gladly host a specific format for you if you ask. i approve of these changes.

I'm pretty sure these changes are way better than whatever solution jrlepage has in his mind.

if you're gonna go ad hominem at least take it to private messages or something.

This isn't ad hominem. I appreciate these "mere few people" being here, and I prefer the current changes to BotB far above them being punished even further.

You essentially said "jrlepage's idea is probably dumber than this"; that qualifies as ad hominem in my book and please stop being a disrespectful dick to me in public thank you~

No one is being punished. Riding the bus to school is not a right, it's a privilege. And although this new model of badge unlocking is an indirect response to n00b meddling, it's a more direct response to BotB being a long term game. It's a new system, it will get smoother with time.

i think this idea is fun! it does make botb seem more like a game and i like games :)

we can also see how versatile a botbr is by seeing all their badges and people would be more motivated to do other formats so they can get more badges

@Svetlana - before this change you had plenty of time to host SMS OHBs, but only hosted one with your current account (which you've had for a year). Your first hosted OHB was in May of last year; you had over 9 months to host as many SMS OHBs as you wanted (the boon deposit was much less too). I'm sorry that you didn't realize what you had until it was gone.

In your response to your post in the other thread: No, I will not merge your two BotBrs. I will not change the name on your accounts. You made the decision to change your name. If you want to keep telling/reminding/hinting me on how the way I run BotB is incorrect then that's your choice. I am dense after all, as you suggest. But, through repetition, you might hypnotize me into changing my mind. Or going postal (or whatever it is I do when my buttons get pushed by BotBrs who condescend and prolly don't even realize they're doing it).

Corrected once again.

I can't wait to try out this new "close thread" button

lmfao jangler

Now I get it. Thank you for the information.

This discussion is outdated. Please refer to the OHB lyceum article from now on for up-to-date information:

https://battleofthebits.com/lyceum/View/OHB

Closing this thread.