IronMike wrote:I'm not offering to run it; I'm probably moving in January. But I'd like to provide feedback.
I love the 365 Day Language Challenge. I think the one and only thing that could be changed is the penalty for missing one day. I believe 7 days penalty (8 days total) for missing one day is too much. I know a bunch of folks dropped out of the challenge early for missing a few days because their score dropped so much. I've missed a bunch of days. (Just look at my current score.) But that hasn't stopped me from still trying to do 30 min minimum per day.
I think a penalty of 3 days for a total of minus 4 days for one day missed is probably a better number. For instance, I missed 4 days last month due to work/family stuff. That 4 days translated to 32 days or -1 day for the entire month of October. Yet I studied a minimum of 30 minutes/day for 27 days. Studying at least (30 x 27 =) 810 hours shouldn't be the same as not studying for 32 days.
Other than the penalty, I've found no problem with this Challenge, and I will continue to participate in 2020. Good job, @PeterMollenburg!
Thanks for the feedback IronMike!
Yeah, you have some good points there. I guess I went with what seemed to be about the middle ground of opinions at the start of the challenge. Perhaps, as another suggestion, people
might prefer a neutral, positive, or bonus system. A system in which you have ZERO losses, and so it appears as though you're not punished, but certainly any work you put in either shows in your score, or even more so, shows for those who can keep up streaks. Thus, you miss a day, you just don't score, don't lose anything, and of course don't gain. Then for a more positive/bonus points scoring system you get additional points of some agree amount after completing either so many days in a row, or weeks or a month straight etc. The bonus points could be displayed seperately or simpled rolled into one's overall score or both. Anyway, yes, perhaps the losses are too great and too punishing as it currently stands. Of course it could simply be altered year on year.
Another possibility is having interim winners - each month, 3 months (although clashing with the 6WC wouldn't be good), 6 months, 9 months, a year. And having people join for their own pre-determined period of time. However, that could get a little too messy and too disjointed. Imagine the remaining competitors split up into several categories. Not much of a leaderboard to look at in the end. Still, maybe a slight adjustment of the kind could be worthwhile considering.