Results: IF Games in 1996: which were worth the download?

[dylanw@demon.net (Dylan O'Donnell)]

Well, fourteen responses, counting my own. A bit down on what I was hoping
for (around 20-25), but not that bad considering the Competition only got
60 after months of hype. So, it means that all the numbers presented for
your delectation below are wildly statistically insignificant (one decimal
place in the averages? Hah!), but they may give rise to some discussion, or
you may spot a game you missed that other people rate highly, and give it a
try. If just one person does that and enjoys it, I reckon the whole
exercise has been worth it.

Several people sent very interesting comments along with the scores, which
I haven't reproduced here because I don't always know which were meant for
publication, and I can't think of a good format to put them in anyway. But
I will be asking Avrom Faderman for permission to post his, since I think
they're very much worth the wider audience.

Some comments of my own: as I was half-expecting, there was wide variance
among the scores given, so the min-max details below aren't all that
revealing. The important thing, I think, is the fourth column in each
section; how many people commented on each game. It's obvious that entering
the competition gets your game played; alternatively, it may just be that
people didn't want to rate longer games that they hadn't had the time to
complete. Outside the competition, the two most scored games were So Far
and Lost New York; good games _will_ get played, it seems. It's very
noticeable how few votes games got that weren't announced in r*if; 
spoiler-laden hint discussion in rgif (The Wedding, Return to Karn) don't
appear to have the same effect.

Anyway, the figures. In each row, the numbers are:
a) Was your game worth downloading it (bearing in mind what else you
_could_ be playing): max score, min score, average, number of votes.
b) Do you think the game will still be worth people's downloading it in two
years time: ditto.
Some people only sent one score; I've assumed that they were answering a).
Fractional scores were ruthlessly rounded up by fiat.

Lost New York                     5  3  4.8  9    5  4  4.5  6
So Far                            5  3  4.5  11   5  2  4.1  8
The Wedding                       5  3  4.5  4    5  2  3.3  3
Tapestry                          5  2  4.4  10   5  1  3.0  7
BSE                               5  4  4.3  3    4  6  3.3  3
Kissing the Buddha's Feet         5  3  4.3  7    5  3  4.0  6
The Meteor, the Stone and a       5  3  4.1  10   5  1  3.8  8
  Long Glass of Sherbet
Small World                       5  3  4.0  5    4  2  3.3  4
Frobozz Magic Support             5  3  4.0  3    5  3  4.0  3
Return to Karn                    4  4  4.0  2    4  3  3.5  2
Ralph                             5  2  3.8  11   5  2  3.3  10
Fear                              5  3  3.8  8    5  0  3.1  7
Time: All Things Come To An End   5  1  3.8  8    4  2  2.6  5
Delusions                         4  3  3.6  8    4  2  3.0  7
SpiritWrak                        4  2  3.6  5    4  3  3.8  4
Gumshoe                           5  2  3.3  8    3  2  2.5  6
Reverberations                    4  1  3.3  7    3  0  1.7  6
Calling All Heroes                4  2  3.2  5    4  1  2.4  5
Night at the Computer Center      5  2  3.1  8    4  1  2.0  9
Looking for Godot                 3  3  3.0  4    3  1  2.0  4
Aayela                            4  2  3.0  7    3  0  2.0  6
Alien Abduction                   4  1  3.0  6    4  0  2.2  5
Maiden of the Moonlight           4  1  3.0  5    4  0  2.0  4
Urban Cleanup                     3  3  3.0  1    3  3  3.0  1
Wearing the Claw                  4  1  2.9  9    4  0  2.0  8
Piece of Mind                     4  1  2.5  6    3  0  1.6  5
Frozen: A Night at the Lab        3  2  2.5  4    3  1  1.5  4
Past Tense                        3  2  2.5  2    3  2  2.5  2
Phlegm                            4  1  2.4  5    4  0  1.8  4
In The End                        4  1  2.1  9    2  1  1.3  8
Of Forms Unknown                  3  1  2.0  6    3  0  0.8  5
The Silence of the Lambs          4  1  2.0  3    1  0  0.3  3
Nine Points                       3  1  1.8  5    3  1  2.3  4
Stargazer                         3  1  1.7  6    3  0  1.2  5
The Broken String                 3  0  1.7  3    3  2  2.5  2
Cheater                           1  0  1.7  3    0  0  0.0  3
Vindaloo                          2  1  1.3  4    2  0  0.4  5
The House of the Stalker          3  0  0.8  6    3  0  0.8  5
Rippled Flesh                     2  0  0.6  11   1  0  0.2  10
Liquid                            4  0  0.6  8    1  0  0.3  7

Many thanks to all those who took the time to respond, especially those who
gave me some insight into the meanings behind the scores. I hope that this
poll provides a starting-point to some useful debate :-)

-- 
Dylan O'Donnell (dylanw@demon.net)
Demon Internet Ltd, slave deck.
http://www.vy.com/psmith.html
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.