ohh thank god... I didnt want it to come off like bitchy. lol I reread what I typed and I could see how it would seem that way

It is interesting. That idea of taking away for mistakes in judging used to be the way it worked, even in DCI. it was called the tick system. Basically a group started with full points of 100 and worked down as judges saw errors and mistakes. They literally had a clicker they would use and then take that away from scores. The problem was GE basically didn't exist at all. So come 80s they start to revamp the system to boost creativity in shows, work in themes and develop the idea of what is GE so you are boosting up not taking away to reward not punish. Shows got more entertaining and dare I say started to make sense (instead of a hodge podge of different music styles thrown together to show off your flexibility) and the story became part of what we see, oh and visual became a word instead of marching and maneuvering. So your not wrong, your just 35 years late lol. Thank GOODNESS for the change or I don't think we ever would have seen shows like Tilt, Spartacus, E=mc2 or Angels and Demons! It didn't just impact GE but all areas of the score sheet. You certainly take errors into account still and the more made the less points you'll get, but for each caption there are other equally important aspects to consider.

This article gives a bit of insight to current DCI scoring ...I know I've seen one that breaks down each category and of course every marching band circuit in the country has there own but I believe the only big change to this since is the early season vs late season sheets and there is no GE Music and Visual anymore, just GE

http://m.dci.org/mobile/ViewArticle.dbml?atclid=209937964&DB_OEM_ID=33500&;

That's an excellent point, gcurrier, and something all of us should consider. I know that this competition is fake and just for fun, but that doesn't mean we can't try to be as accurate as possible to the best of our knowledge. Honestly I've already been judging like the current system, judging upward, not downward, without knowing the history of score sheets. No group starts at a perfect 100 but all groups, obviously, work to achieve it.

I want to encourage all of you to think that way, no matter which caption you judge. All captions have their specific factors on which to focus, and as you judge that specific area, try to see the good and think about how a group can improve in it. Obviously if a group that we judge makes many mistakes, the group has much on which to improve and shouldn't be heavily rewarded. On the other hand, that doesn't mean that, that group gets a 0 or gets a score incredibly lower than its competitor, especially not one that is 3.95 points lower. All of these bands are better than that.

On that note, have a great rest of the week. I'm anxious to find out which bands will be in our top 5 at finals. No matter what, have fun!

Thanks again!

Sorry for using an unfair scoring system. I'll change it from now on. And thanks gcurrier for the explanations, GE is obviously not my style and you have a very good grasp on it, and I'm sorry that my lack of knowledge and judging capability affected the outcome. If you want Aaron, you can take me out of the judging panel. I'll do more research and come back with a better understanding of judging next season.

No way! I'm not removing you from the judging panel. It's not that serious. We aren't professional judges, and this game is just for fun. We just wanted to pass along some valuable information about judging to the best of our knowledge and experience. Therefore, for the next round, and especially for the final round, the scores will make more sense. Keep judging, use the tips provided, and most importantly, have fun with it.

I honestly had go clue what I was doing when I started judging, it took me a little bit to figure everything out. Don't fret over it, it took me a little bit to get everything down, and I would assume the same about just about everyone else here

Look, you guys gave me really good ideas for judging that I will take into account... But I'm the type of person that needs a very specific system when doing something like this. I had one, but I now know that it's unfair and I need to find a different one, and I need time to. You guys have very amazing techniques and stuff but that doesn't give me a full grasp of how I should go about coming across a specific score for whatever the caption. I think that I'd like to wait until next season before I judge again, I need to find a reliable way to do it. Good luck to everybody with the rest of the FMA season and whatever competitions your band might be facing (like parade or state solo ensemble). Cheers.

Okay, I respect that. I'm a little disappointed that you don't want to judge, anymore, but I understand the reason. My best advice to how to improve your grasp on judging is do what you were doing before, just do it the opposite way. Instead of taking away points for mistakes, give points for what is successful. However, I'll judge visual performance for you this round. Hope you join us next season.

Sorry everyone for the delay of the results. Tomorrow I have a day off. I will finish my judging and post the results and the final round. Thank you for your patience.

*** Round 4 Results ***

Reagan 2014 - 94.55

Cedar Ridge 2013 - 91.75

Reagan wins all the caption awards.

Recap Link: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=11216A7CDDA72CA6!192&authkey=!AHAqmU9QMtKyzww&ithint=file%2cxlsx


*** Finals Match Up ***

(NOTE: The bands MUST be viewed in this order, just like a real competition.)


Claudia Taylor Johnson 2014 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVdTh7HCjWw

Carmel 2012 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89_a3Ape-Io

Round Rock 2013 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S3UjqEUDt0

Reagan 2014 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9_ym024yo

Vandegrift 2013 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPoAcwII7og


Please pick the judging caption(s) in which you have the most experience. Therefore, we can get the most accurate scores. Thank you, and enjoy the final round judging.

I will do GE visual and guard

I will do GE Music

I'll do ME and VE.

oops ..sorry so late I'm juding winds and guard

This is happening next season too right?

Yes, absolutely. Next season we will be judging drum corps.

Hopefully we can get more people involved, it's nice to have a bunch of people judging

I agree. To make the competition more interesting, I'd like to have one person judge one caption per round, but meanwhile, we do what we can to make sure all gets judged. Or if more people wanted to judge, I wouldn't mind if we had to double up as long as it was two different people and not someone judging two captions.

Yeah I like that as well. And if we're forced to/decide to double up, we could ask that people only judge 1 music and 1 visual caption. That's basically what's happened anyway so why not make it official?