How do you feel about Theme Polls? Chime in here!
A Theme Poll Discussion
For quite a few LD's now I've conducted a Theme Poll and it's come to my attention that the community has mixed feelings about it. Some like it, some dislike it, some frankly don't give a hoot. So, I thought I'd start a discussion about Theme Polls here -- why they can be fun, how they might affect "groupthink" or change the way people vote, or how they might affect the overall theme selection process in general. Regardless of outcome, I won't be doing a Theme Poll for LD56. But I am curious how people feel about them!
Poll Accuracy
Contrary to popular belief, the poll does have a decent track record of predicting the winner, or at least getting close. This could allow jammers to pre-emptively discard over half of the themes when brainstorming for ideas before the theme is announced. Is this problematic? Possibly.
Over the last 6 events, the Poll predicted the winner 50% of the time, with the other predictions being at least in the top 4. (Shoutout to @gamecreatorc for helping compile these last time)
- LD55: #1 (Summoning)
- LD54: #4 (Limited Space)
- LD53: #4 (Delivery)
- LD52: #3 (Harvest)
- LD51: #1 (Every 10 seconds)
- LD50: #1 (Delay the inevitable)
And so, gentle jammers, I ask you:
Feel free to sound off in the comments below about why you feel the way you do! I'll go first. 👇