a few explanations for some things that have come up!!
why a 1v1 pvp?
tumblr polls don’t have either a ranked or a multiple choice options, so this is the best next thing. if i had more than 2 in each, i wouldn’t know what is ppl’s 2nd choice unless it is the second most frequent 1st choice, so to speak. having 1v1 polls would allow me to compare more data.
also, making ppl choose between two is less choice anxiety-inducing in my opinion. yes, a bit more work for me, but choosing between two is a little less work for y’all :)
why in order?
a few reasons.
first, i think a lot of ppl have a strong association between their opinion on the season and their opinion on the episode, so i didn’t want ppl implicitly comparing the seasons themselves instead of comparing episodes. ofc besides the finale-premiere pairings but i think the fact that they are supposed to be direct cause-effect episodes neutralizes that.
second, due to the fact that the show has a weird balance of episodic and serialized storylines, the general quality of the sequences of episodes is kind of inconsistent. this led me to thinking of this quality of the show as my own kind of randomizer. there are some pairings that are rather unfair, i admit, but that’s just how it turned out to be. i do have some failsafes installed in the calculation of the future rounds, so don’t worry abt that too much.
third, i think it’s a lot easier to compare the quality of the episodes when in context with each other. it’s just easier to remember how you felt going between one episode to another, so it would allow for a more informed opinion.
tumblr fandom is not a representative sample and is very cliquey.
you’re right! but it sure is fun to see two ppl who i know for a fact are mutuals reblog the same post and tag it with “SWEEP” for opposite choices.
on a serious note, yes, there are definitely going to be polls that were heavily influenced by where they got reblogged to, but even within the same circles, opinions range far and wide.
if it makes you feel any better, i can already tell that the polls have traveled across a variety of character-girlism association - and there’s still about a week to go for a good chunk of these polls.
what’s next?
well, we’ll see. once all polls are done, i am going to analyze how each episode did in both of its contests and how each of its opponents did in their own contests as well (and, if necessary to specify even further, how THEIR opponents did, too.)
additionally, i’ll put into consideration just how wide the winning margin is. a 51% victory is obviously different from a 90% victory.
also, even though i do hope for an approximately similar voter turnout for all polls, it would obviously not be guaranteed, as some episodes are simply much more popular or people have stronger opinions about them than about others. i would then also put into consideration just how many people were very active about promoting and voting for it…. even though i do hope i get a lot of votes in all of the polls <3
the exact plan for the future rounds is not exactly clear to me right now as i have a few different options. all would be dependent on the variety and frequency of similar results. there is a chance i would just be using the first round as a preliminary round to figure out how to sort the episodes into better fitting brackets for an actual bracketed march madness type selection. or maybe i’d try to find a way to make it a very specific ranked poll, specifically using the relative results from the first round. + other ideas i have that will become a lot more clear once i have the first batch of official results.
the best thing everybody can do now is just continue voting! all of the polls are tagged with the season number (e.g. #s4 or #s10) for the ease of navigation, so i encourage everybody to vote. the earlier seasons will finish their polls sooner than the later ones, so make sure we’re voting consistently. i would also appreciate any and all promotion for any polls that have less than average number of votes.
finally, i just wanna thank all of you for indulging me in this :) means a whole lot!
