Letters from Readers

From: Jayson Laplante (Feb 16, 1997)

DAMNIT! That pretty much sums it up on how I feel about your muscic charts. Where are the Canadians? What is it with you Yanks and your grudge towards Canadian talent? Where are the Canadian artists?? A FEW EXAMPLES: Our Lady Peace, The Hip, I Mother Earth, Moist??? Come on. This is really getting a little ridiculous.

Two points: 1) I am not a Yank, I am European. Dutch to be precise. I don't care a thing about your Canadian music nor any music from the USA. 2) The charts are compiled from votes sent by people from all over the world. If your favourite Canadian artists are unpopular in the rest of the world, then go cry in the corner and leave us alone. We are just adding global scores and nothing else.

Jurgen.

From: Heather Knous (Feb 11, 1997)

I find that a lot of old songs that aren't very popular are still on the charts. I just don't think that's fair for all the new songs that are better.

Many people are voting for old titles. That's not unfair, it's just the way people are voting. We can't help it. We can only make sure that our algorithms reduce the support for old titles where it gets unbalanced.

Thanks!
Jurgen.

From: Bernd Bruegmann (Feb 11, 1997)

Since the very first edition of the Top 100 I have been a big fan. I am way to much into games, I even won five of them at the Top 100 game contest some time ago.

PLEASE: Bring back the column that lists the actual number of points received by each game!

This is very informative. Of course, as usual, all type of information is representative and misleading at the same time. But this column helps a lot to gauge the distance between spot 1 and spot 50.

I understand your point, but you'll have to wait for just another few weeks. The points column, as it was presented up to a few weeks ago, lost its meaning over time, when we added more and more algorithms to the software. People didn't understand that and we got too many questions about it. In a few weeks (or months) you will see all the points again for each title. You will see the original number of votes, and you will be able to see how each algorithm has its effect on the number of points. That way, it will be clear again to people what all the points are doing to the list.

Jurgen

From: Vangelis Papacostantis (Feb 11, 1997)

I would like to recommend you something.I think that it's better if you make seperate charts for different categories of games(Adventures,Arcades,Racing simulations,R.P.G,Strategy e.t.c). In that way you can pull many other gamers attention.For example I love Adventure Games,but you can't help me with a chart including only them, I have to scan through your chart to find the first best Adventure. But if you had a chart with only them it would be much better,Don't you think so?

Yes, you're right. But it takes much less time for you to scan through the chart and look for adventure games, then it takes for me to compile and publish 10 additional small charts each week. Your idea is good, but there is so much we want to do, and we only have a limited amount of time. Maybe later we will do it, but probably not this year.

Jurgen.

From: Jim Hagerbaumer (Feb 2, 1997)

Jojo...Where's Bad Mojo???

Not able to resist the play on words, and wondering why the game Bad Mojo is not on the charts anyplace. It is rated highly by nearly all reviewers, and it has a unique one-of-a-kind style which ought to make it more popular. Do you have any idea why it has not made it onto your top 100 chart?

Thanks in advance.

Bad Mojo has been on the Top 100 chart for 13 weeks, and it has reached position 62. It fell off the list in November last year.

For information about other games' performances, be sure first to check out our history file on our website.

Ciao!
Jurgen.

From: Steve VanderClute (Jan 25, 1997)

Hi Jojo,

I enjoy your chart, but I think there are too many games left off. Three examples that come to mind are: Cave Wars (not the demo), Strat-O-Matic Baseball CD ROM V1.0, and Flight Commander 2.
Thanks for an enjoyable service.

Steve VanderClute

Our Top 100 chart is only about the _best_ games in the world, and not all the games in the world. The games you mentioned are just not popular games on a global scale.

Thanks!
Jurgen.

From: Lars Reissman (Jan 21, 1997)

I have some problems with your Internet PC games Top 100 list. When I try to see the list, the list does not show - even after the "document done" message. I do get to see the top of the page, but I can not see the list itself and the right scrollbar is also gone. I am in urgent need of the latest up-dated Top 100 from the 20th of January and in case you can not advice me how to make the list show, I kindly ask you, if possible, to fax me a copy of the list still today. Thank you in advance for your advice and also for your fax.

I don't understand what the problem is. You should explain what web browser you are using, what system you have and which page you are having problems with.

There are several pages with our Top 100 lists. Have you checked the text version of the list? Plain ascii should never give you any trouble. Our website also explains where else you can find our list: in several newsgroups and at many other websites in the world. You should really try a little bit harder to find the list, if you are in such a need of the latest version. There are many different copies available, just a few clicks away. We cannot start emailing or faxing people the list personally. That's too much work for us.

Jurgen.

From: Curt Neuman (Jan 13, 1997)

Why can't I assign more than 5 points to one album if I choose to vote for four different albums?

The maximum per title is 5 and the maximum for the sum of all the votes is 20. There has to be a maximum somewhere. If we choose to set the maximum at 10 points per title, we'll have people asking us why they can't give more than 10 points.

Ciao!
Jurgen.

From: Brad Wardell (Jan 12, 1997)

[...] I realize you must hear this a lot but thank you for putting together such a wonderful list.

When I was at E3 last year, both Blizzard and Westwood studios spoke of your list as THE list to be on. In fact, the guys from Westwood were bragging at length on how well their game was doing on the Internet top 100. That is the only list they mentioned by the way. [...] It's just kind of neat to see how the list has gone from being the Internet's best kept secret to the industry standard list.

Brad Wardell

President,
Stardock Systems, Inc.

Wow!

From: Tom Broniarek (Jan 12, 1997)

i've got a suggestion about your list
overall, it's good :)
but i'd like to see how each game moves thru the year
maybe in graphical format, spreadsheet?
if you can direct me to a place where such a list is
i would be grateful

keep up good work :)

I don't know if I already answered this message, but can I say this: In a few months time it should be possible to show all the previous positions of each title in the chart, on a seperate page. It is not possible at this moment, but we hope to have it working later this year.

Thank you!
Jurgen.

From: Sam Tao (Jan 12, 1997)

I have just get mail from you. I have a suggestion that the chart list is not formatting beautiful, you can use TAB character to format the list, or use the fixed-width font.

The current format of the chart has been no problem for years. But suddenly now that email programs allow you to view mail in fonts other than fixed width ones, the format has become a problem.

Using tab characters doesn't help, since it doesn't solve all the formatting, and some people don't want to get tab characters in their email messages.

For the moment, you'll just have to view this email message in a fixed width font, as has been common for years. We'll see how we can solve it later.

Thanks!
Jurgen.

From: Ski Karwowski (Jan 7, 1997)

I have been a voter for the PC Games charts since about the 16th week. I discovered the charts in the newsgroups when I was still a student at Ga Tech. Since then I have changed ISPs, and email addresses about five times, but I remain a devoted follower of the charts. I try to purchase any game that clears the 300 vote mark in the charts, and I have never been disappointed using this technique. I was very disappointed when I noticed that this weeks issue did not list the number of votes received by each game. I humbly ask that you reconsider your decision to remove the number of votes from the lists. I enjoy the numbers, the actual position of a game with respect to another means very little to me when I am trying to decide which game is next on my shopping list. For example, if Red Alert is above Civ 2 in the charts it does not mean that Red Alert is better than Civ 2. But, when both Red Alert and Civ 2 receive more than 1000 votes then one knows that at least 200 people think that both Red Alert, and Civ 2 are excellent games. I feel that the positions may lie a little, but the numbers never do.

I have another reason for wanting the number of votes. A couple of years ago, I suggested that you compile an all-time list that adds the total number of votes received by each game. At the time I wanted to watch the relationship between my all-time favorite Civ, and the newcomer Doom. You replied that it would take too many resources to keep track of all votes, but you did start the year end "Best of the Year" charts. Well, after that I wrote a little program that processes the text of the charts as they are issued, and adds the number of votes in the new chart to a database of all of the votes from the previous charts. I had the votes from every chart issued since #6, because that is when you started putting the number of votes in the charts. Each week I compiled an All-Time chart that sorted by the total number of raw votes that each game got in every chart. My friends and I enjoy watching the progress of new games in the All-Time greats chart, but without the votes listed in each issue, it will have to stop at 209.

Now that I have pleaded my case, I would like to take the time to thank you for publishing the charts. I have never been disappointed with any game that I have purchased on the basis of its performance in the charts. I have an additional reason to thank you for the charts as I was one of the winners of the five free games at the end of the second year of the charts. So once again I just want to say thanks, and I apologize for putting you through such a long letter.

Over the years the points in the last column have lost their meaning more and more. Every week there were people asking why the games were not sorted by points totals, and these questions only increased with the increasing number of voters.

It is not true when you say that the numbers (points) never lie. There are people stuffing the ballot using different email addresses, there are floods of votes organized by websites and mailing lists, there are publishers voting en masse for their own games, people vote continuously for old games without playing them, etc, etc.

The points only showed the raw data. The algorithms we use to compile the charts are getting better and better. In the end only the position of a game in the chart tells you how good the game is, not the number of votes. For example, if game A gets 200 points from people in 20 different countries, then this game is much popular than game B which gets 400 points all from one and the same country, or even one and the same domain. More points does not make a better game.

I really enjoy reading your letter. You must be one of our most devoted readers. Thank you for that. But to get to the point: Just calculating totals from all the previous points columns is not the best method. Because at one or two occasions the meaning of the points column was changed in the past. Plus: the number of voters has grown significantly, so points would actually have to be weighed before adding them up.

All I can say right now is that you will probably need to wait just a few months, and then all your wishes will come true. This year I will be making a Hall of Fame with the best games ever. And I will be more clear about how the charts are compiled, giving you all the data you ever wanted.

Just a little patience,
Thanks again!

Jurgen.

From: Lloyd (Jan 6, 1997)

Your list of songs to choose from isn't the best, as it does not even include all the songs in the current chart. For example Roxette's song "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore". I would personally have the songs in the current chart all included in the list to vote from rather than having to include them later.

The reason this song is not on the voting list anymore, is that it is too old. The song is on the chart only because people from the Roxette fanclub are actively voting for it, but it does not at all reflect the popularity around the world, because it is not a hit record in any important country. To make room for new singles on the list the old and unpopular songs are frequently removed.

Thanks! Jurgen.

From: Susan (Jan 5, 1997)

I am sorry some things upset me so but I don't understand why your - screen /gindex.html lists "Current Voters" but only lists people who have websites. This "sucks". :) I am a _current voter_ for a number of months but cannot get my name up in lights because I _don't have a website. Please change the title to something more reflective of what is actually listed.

Hmmm, that's a tough one. If someone's homepage has a link named "Cool Sites", does it mean that *all* cool websites in the entire world are being listed? Probably not. Likewise, "Current Voters" doesn't mean "All Current Voters" but instead "Some Current Voters". However, I'll see if I can change the heading in the next round when the graphics are being updated.

Ciao!
Jurgen

From: serendib (Jan 5, 1997)

Now that so many games are coming out for Windows 95, there should be a W95 code on them, rather than just W, because there are a few Windows 3.1 games on the charts and some people still only have Windows 3.1. Just a thought....

It's a good thought. But the problem is, the more we differentiate between operating systems and other system requirements, the less time we have for our core activity: making the charts. It's all a matter of time and resources. :(

Thanks! Jurgen.

From: Lynn Alford (Jan 4, 1997)

Have you ever considered doing a set of end of year charts with the top 20 or 50 by category? I'd love to see the top 50 adventure games for the year, and I have no interest at all in seeing any action titles.

I have done such lists in the past, but it consumed too much of my free time. I hope to have time for it somewhere in the future again.

Thanks! Jurgen.