Hey guys, we're officially down to the final month. How close are you to releasing your games?
So, I've given the extension question some thought. I'm thinking about it in terms of what's affected the state of HotOHR games in the past.
What I
think I'm going to do this year is change the
nature of the deadline rather than the deadline itself. Let me break this down by practical application, using a fictitious story about a Heart of the OHR contestant releasing his game on July 31st.
Code: (Contestant checks the time. The Heart of the OHR window is about to close, and he still has to finish the last hallway in his final dungeon.)
CONTESTANT: Oh no. The Quest for My Dignity is due in an hour if I want to make the release window. I still need another week!
(Contestant hashes out a rushed hallway and lame ending to make sure he's uploaded for the July 31st deadline. Then he uploads it with five minutes to spare.)
CONTESTANT: Whoo, just in time. Now I need to finish my hallway properly and iron out all of the game's bugs for the next two weeks. Hopefully no one will judge me harshly while I'm trying to fix what I know is broken.
(end scene)
The contestant knows he will likely be judged harshly because, even though he has two weeks to fix the game before the final deadline comes, he also knows that some players will start playing and judging him on August 1st, and no amount of patchwork will appease them because they won't replay the game on August 16th when voting officially begins.
So...I don't really want to penalize the contestant for striving for excellence.
That said, the July 31st deadline is still in place. Sort of. But, I know that some people don't want to release their games with bugs or unfinished sections, as that could negatively affect judging. So, I will accept releases submitted between August 1st and August 15th from those who request it, based on the idea that premature exposure could ruin the player's experience. But be advised that this still counts as the bugfix period, and releasing your game after July 31st means that you're ready for people to play it, and whatever state it's in is vote-worthy. Releasing it on or before July 31st encourages feedback for the sake of fixing things, but votes will not be counted until you release the official version sometime between August 1st and August 15th (and you designate it as officially ready for voting).
I hope that makes sense.
If I recall, in previous contests, late submissions forfeited the entry prize, but I won't do that this year, not if you have a good reason for holding off past the first deadline. I don't want to encourage rushed entries this year, especially if the turnout is low.
TL;DR: You can submit during the August 1 - 15 bugfix window instead of July 31 or before, but doing so tells voters that you're ready for their opinions and ratings. Releasing on or before July 31st tells voters that you're not ready for their votes, but you are ready for them to tell you what's broken so you can fix it in time for votes.
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