HSX Forum

Movies

Suggestions for new Contests and Games

Posted by: lobogotti on Dec 28, 06:34

I've put a lot of thought into some contests that could help the website regain interest.

I think Snob said it well, what people want out of HSX and what HSX needs out of HSX are two different things.  The problem is the data has evolved, but the players of the game aren't fans of that evolution.

Quote shadowking: http://www.hsx.com/forum/forum.php?id=3&pid=408704 

Opening weekend means everything around here.  The current .OW, .CA and .PU don't seem to necessarily fill the void of adjust.  I think this is because by the time they halt, a lot of the fun has been taken out of them.  The IPO is priced a lot of times very close to what the film opens, also you get to dissect Thursday numbers.  There don't tend to be many huge paydays playing the warrants.  While I don't think they should personally go away, they just aren't enough for the expectations of most players (in my opinion).

Quote secondgary: http://www.hsx.com/forum/forum.php?id=3&pid=408700

The warrants have never been enough for many people to gather and talk much about prospects.  I think that's because people still had the halt and adjusts to look forward to.  The social function to the halt has all but disappeared.  This leaving the community slowing dying because of piecemeal changes.

My suggestion is keep the game the way it currently is (with the new changes) but add some weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly contests.

While I feel small monetary prizes would really get the heart pumping again, you can offer money to buy more shares if the budget isn't there.

Here are some suggestions for contests:


1. Thursday Midnights - This is the new normal.  An average of 1 to 2 films a week are opening on Thursdays now.  Allowing players to guess these up to a certain time (12am PST Friday morning) would be a lot of fun.  Basically having a page where players can submit/edit their guesses and they will not be seen until halt.  After halt that page will display all traders guesses and payouts can start at 90% accuracy.  And go up in stages...  90% $xxx, 95% $xxx and Bullseye at 100% paying out a nice bounty.  My recommended payouts would be worthwhile to play.  Maybe $1M, $2M and $10M. 

A game like that will start to help educate players on the how and why's of Thursday numbers.  It will also give HSX excellent data.  You could also penalize traders for really bad guesses.  Maybe start penalizing any guesses below 50% at a much smaller payout to HSX.

This also helps smaller ports be able to start contending, by winning and giving them more money to work with for trades.


2. Theater Counts - You could allow traders to give their guess on how many theaters a wide release film will open on Friday.  You could halt their guesses at midnight at 12am, the last Monday morning before release.  Do payouts at 99.5%, 99.75% and Bullseye at 100%.  Maybe payouts for this would be half the suggested above.  Would not recommend penalizing for this contest.

This will also start educating players on how and why a film really opens to $30M or whatever the number is.  HSX also benefits from this data.

By running both of the suggested contests above you are directing traffic to the website Thursday and Sunday, as well as giving something for players to discuss.


3. Weekend Openers - Allow guesses on all wide release films during each month. Leadersboards and such.  At the end of the month traders in certain percentile ranges are paid out accordingly and the overall winner is compensated (recognized) with an actual giftcard or a nice bonus like the bullesyes above.  Payouts can only be made to traders that participated in all wide releases for that month.

This is great for so many reasons.  It brings back opening weekends, it's brings traders to the website to make sure to get their picks in.  It brings them back at halt to see how everyone fared.  It brings them back for payouts.  HSX also benefits from this data.


4. Teals Contest - Run a Summer and Winter Top 5.  Pay actual prizes for the 1st and 2nd place.  I will fund it.


People can add to this post, suggest contests or games here.  Give your opinions on if these are good ideas and if you are in favor of seeing some or all of them adopted at HSX.

I realize it is some time to code, but we can be patient.  I will offer my services to help make updates as well, if resources are tapped.

By adopting some sort of additional contests, you'll drive traffic and restore lost interest in the game and it's current format.  Add enough of them and you give traders reason to be here daily.

Hope this helps get the discussion started.

Suggestions for new Contests and Games lobogotti Dec 28, 06:34

also, this gives other traders the opportunity to be recognized on a regular... the way people are recognized on Kaigee lobogotti Dec 28, 06:41

people are leaving and many left are frustrated, so maybe a suit from cantor could get in here and at least tell us whats up islander Dec 28, 06:49

there's no doubt. it's very apparent. I hope for the same. {nm} lobogotti Dec 28, 06:59

It's the holidays. Don't expect anything real soon {nm} JMT-NL Dec 28, 08:16

Players have become dependent on the adjust as a measuring stick for success. {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 08:55

History says both Sing and Assassin's Creed are under-priced, people aren't comfortable with no adjust... so both prices are unstable. {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 08:52

They would have been even more underpriced if they had adjusted under the old rules. {nm} Antibody Dec 28, 09:05

Haha... You're a card. Direct question: what is your feeling about these postings with suggestions for the site ? {nm} JMT-NL Dec 28, 09:11

Good suggestions, some better than others. We know the site and demographics are aging. We need to attract more players. {nm} Antibody Dec 28, 09:22

I think you can by adopting some games/contests. make it a tad more social and give reason for people to conversate. lobogotti Dec 28, 10:53

Nedding more players is not your problem... Chimpmuck Dec 28, 11:16

I bet there is more than just a "small number" of very active users. I would ventue to guess lots of smaller ports are very active. RollingThunder Dec 28, 11:34

An official app for Android and iPhone could pull players from the mobile app markets. {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 11:21

Speaking nothing of the logistics of creating such an app, this would absolutely attract new players. RollingThunder Dec 28, 11:29

What's the business model though? Unless you' {nm} RogerMore Dec 28, 11:56

... you've got a way of funding the development and support of an app, it's not going to happen. And the usual business models - pay-to-play RogerMore Dec 28, 11:58

Ad supported apps are where it's at. You can't think of any advertising possibilities for a game centered on movie predictions. Honestly? {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 16:34

Yep, no market would ever target a pool of people with a vested interest in movies, television shows, and actors... ;-) {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 16:39

How much advertising does HSX attract now? {nm} RogerMore Dec 28, 20:46

or maybe keeping the current players & bringing the thousands of inactive ones back somehow {nm} adrenalin112 Dec 28, 11:31

I just assumed there is enough historical data to tweak the multiplier for holiday weekends and early week openers, improving accuracy.. {nm} HSXiphos Dec 28, 11:24

Lobo=MVP :) {nm} tomcat90 Dec 28, 07:41

You probably need to stick to the predictive market aspect of the game, rather than build games along side it Moviesnob Dec 28, 11:58

Yep - as you (lobo) said in your OP, the opening weekend is everything, so the focus should be on that. I don't see the player interest in RogerMore Dec 28, 12:00

I'm curious if you've played around with your data and if you have thoughts about a simple adjust multiple that is better than 2.7? Moviesnob Dec 28, 12:10

I haven't played around with it - but the game needs to be simple. I don't think rules that give different multipliers for different types RogerMore Dec 28, 12:18

hmm, i wonder why its skewing their data then. {nm} Moviesnob Dec 28, 12:54

I think because multipliers are diverging - blockbuster movies have increasingly shorter legs, other movies have longer, so it averages out. RogerMore Dec 28, 13:09

yeah, that makes sense. but if the delist is really causing people to leave, then whats the common ground? Moviesnob Dec 28, 13:46

I don't think there are any easy answers here - otherwise we'd already have a solution. {nm} RogerMore Dec 28, 20:45

you could build a contest prediciting the 4 week multiplier from OW as well. {nm} lobogotti Dec 28, 13:40

thats what HSX is relying on - that players will account for OW & the 4 week multiplier but the feedback is that they cant or dont want to {nm} Moviesnob Dec 28, 13:56

maybe HSX crafts a survey with many options and allows users to vote on one, some or all options. {nm} lobogotti Dec 28, 14:05

maybe, but i have yet to see an idea presented that, in my opinion, gives HSX the data they needs using the market HSX built. Moviesnob Dec 28, 14:58

Perhaps this has been discussed before, but how did the adjust compromise HSX's ability to generate pre-OW data? {nm} second gary Dec 28, 19:08

HSX seems to be most interested in predicting how much money a movie will make over 4 weekends. But moviestock prices were based on the RogerMore Dec 28, 20:44

Then stocks should be OW only priced...and derivatives should handle projected 4 week BO TwoMisfits Dec 29, 14:20

Side games can be a fun addition, but it doesn't solve the main problem shadowking Dec 28, 12:50

Upping the stakes for the OW 's sounds ok to me. Maybe topping the normal stocks at the same time JMT-NL Dec 29, 01:27

One idea I've been thinking of is essentially flipping the moviestocks and the OWs. RogerMore Dec 29, 08:28

thank you for the word you've put into these - thursday midnights contest sounds particularly interesting {nm} daveart Dec 28, 13:24





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