I was wondering if it's possible to see the results of the MAGS voting.
It's just curiosity (I was one of the March competitors) because my entry was also my first game, and I wanted to see if anyone voted me.
More important: my topic "7th Sense - betatesters needed" in the "Games in production" section, has been locked. So I'm asking if it isn't normal that a game made in a hurry (for a MAGS, there is) needs betatesting even if has got to be COMPLETE to compete in the contest. And so, where should you ask for betatesters if you want to release a bug-free version of your game?
Anyway, this time I decided to skip this part (seen that noone could answer my request, and I don't want to lose time, and, instead work on other projects) and do the betatesting by myself. So, I just want to be informed the next time.
Well, in my opinion it's always better to betatest a game thoroughly before releasing it as a complete game.
However, for MAGS games, usually because of the time limit, you may not have the time to do the test thoroughly before release. The usual case was that when a game maker tested the game himself and thought it's okay for entering the competition he could release it as a complete game already. He can always do more tests (probably with other people) afterwards, fix more bugs etc., and then update the game as version 1.1 or something.
On the other hand, if it's not a game meant for the MAGS (or other time limited activities) I don't think it's a good idea to announce a game as complete during beta phrase (which some people DID do), in my opinion they're not yet complete and should still belong to the Game in Production forum until the test was completed.
Ask for beta testers in the forum.
I made my first game to enter MAGS on September 2003. I did see the results, as there was a little situation with the voting or something. But no other time do I recall knowing how many votes everyone got, and I don't actually care about it.
It might be that I remember wrong, and the vote count is shown on the MAGS homepage.... Atleast there I saw the 9-03 results. I got beaten up that time, atleast ::) IIRC...
Thanks.
Anyway, Gilbot, of course I agree that normally you should announce the game in the "Completed" forum only when it's bug-free. This is why I specified I was talking of a MAGS entry.
Probably the solution is not to put a MAGS game in the "Completed games" forum, and put a link just in the MAGS thread. But this strongly limits your winning chances, obviously.
Hmmm I think it's considered a special circumstance when a game is for a timed activity, posting just in the MAGS thread probably doesn't much attention like you said (for example, I seldom really check the MAGS threads themselves to check if there're downloadable games), but anyway, you can just make your own decision.