Are all Soft Scores really Soft or can they be hardened?

 The shit can got kicked again, people each side are triggered to hell n back.

What causes this heated collar - Soft Scores

But what are Soft Scores?

There are several lines in the sand that to certain people make a score soft.

Purist

If it is not battle scores it is a soft score...

Lets pick that apart a bit.

• Tournament Bonus for submitting list on time / Tournament Penalties for not submitting list on time - Soft Score
• Tournament Bonus for submitting results on time / Tournament Penalties for not submitting results on time - Soft Score
• Is army Painted - Soft Score
• Clocking out penalty - Soft score
• Unsportsman penalty - Soft score
• Sports scores - Soft Score
• Painting/modeling scores - Soft Score

So taking a purist view that is a lot of things that are technically Soft scores. So barring all means barring all including those that help TO's run the tournament on time and efficiently.

Subjective scoring

This is scoring via judges/panel or someone's feelings

• TO's or independent judges rate paint and hobby via a hidden crib sheet or just feeling
• Sports are scored via simple voting on best 1 or 2 opponents

The Paint/Hobby side is done off of hidden criteria, but would be similar to figure skating/Gymnastics/Dressage where a panel of judges mark each entrant.

Matrix Scoring

This is scoring via crib sheet, with a series of binary options.

This is easier in Paint and hobby than it is in Sportsmanship

These crib sheets are then adjudicated along with the armies by TO's/Judges

Why are these scores important or not?

A Tournament is an Event, that showcases the game system and the scene.

Bare Plastic models does little to nothing to encourage others to attend and build on the scene.

There are ways to encourage people bringing fully painted armies, from building it into the pack requirement for the tournament, removing unpainted models from play (if specified this will happen in the pack), to including them within the scoring system itself.

By having it more that just a pack requirement (as TOs don't always remove unpainted units from play as deemed too harsh), but having some sort of scoring / points for painted minis seems to push people towards the event having fully painted minis.

Why are painted minis important?

• It is more immersive for both players to play against colourful armies.
• It is more photogenic for the players and the TOs and the photos can be used to enhance and build the scene.
• People will become more interested in a game with painted minis that grey plastic, so again builds the scene.

Why is Sportsmanship important?

• Avoids/mitigates toxicity in a tournament
• Reduces the chance/impact of people being dicks

Both of which stops games being enjoyable and turns people away from the scene

So what is the big issue?

Two parts.

1. Hobby trumping Battle for rankings
2. Subjectivity

Lets hit the 2nd one first - Subjectivity

What person A rates as good may not be the same rating from Person B, so how can this be mitigated?

Quite easily really, making the Soft subjective Scores Hard and removing those that cannot be Hardened.

This then gives a matrix/rubic/crib sheet that all player of all levels can gain the same points of with time and effort.

By making the binary matrix, it becomes a uniform score sheet check box, and hardens the soft subjective score to a binary system.

This then has the same mechanism as accepted other scoring (ie, list in on time, Results in on time etc), therefore mitigates the Hobby trumping Battle for rankings as baked into the bonus/penalties the same as lists in/results in points)

Can Soft Scores become Hardened?

Short answer yes.

How

Using similar binary metrics that TO's use and accept for the tournament to run efficiently, you can include the following binary metrics (ie a metric that all participants can achieve the bonus/avoid the penalty):

TO helpers

Simple YES/NO, so binary scoring:

• List Submitted on time?
• Results submitted on time?

Hobby / Modeling

Simple YES/NO, so binary scoring:

• Are all models in the army are painted to a basic three colour standard?

This is almost a standard in TO packs anyway, with penalties being points or unit removal
This basic binary can be expanded to include also:

• Are all models in the army have been assembled?
• Is the paint scheme is cohesive across the entire army?
• Are all models based with a type of texture (e.g. sand, flock, static grass, stonework)?
• Is the basing scheme is consistent across the entire army?
• Are their examples of advanced basing in the army( e.g. cork, tufts, water effects)?
• Are their examples of basic shading in the army (e.g. washes, dry-brushing)?
• Are their examples of advanced shading in the army (e.g. blending, edge highlighting)?
• Are their examples of minor conversions in the army (e.g. head swaps, weapon swaps)?
• Are their examples of advanced conversions in the army (e.g. scratch building, sculpting, LED’s)?
• Are their examples of advanced painting techniques in the army (e.g. freehand, object-source-lighting (OSL) or non-metal-metals (NMM))?
• Does the Army have a theme e.g. Monty Python Crusaders) reflected in the modelling and painting.
• Does the army have a display board?
• Does the display board match the theme of the army?
• Does army include Custom modelled objective markers?
• Are Custom modelled objective markers in the theme of the army?
• Are the units formed into dioramas?

Sportsmanship

So first off what is sportsmanship?

The dictionary Definition is "Sportsmanship is behaviour and attitudes that show respect for the rules of a game and for the other players."
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that an activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. This is with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" refers to one who does not take defeat well, whereas a "good sport" means being a "good winner" as well as being a "good loser". Someone who shows courtesy towards another in a sports game.

"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
So how can Sportsmanship be made into a binary matrix?
As a starter for 10 you can look at:

• Did you and your opponent shake hands / wish each other luck before the game?
• Did your opponent treat you with respect and never tease or bully?
• Did players congratulate each other out of respect?
• Did you follow the rules of the game?
• Were calls by officials accepted without argument?
• Did opponent take pride in winning without rubbing it in?
• Did opponent accept loss without whining or making excuses?
• Did you and your opponent shake hands / congratulate each other after the game?

Summary

So by applying none subjective binary matrix to markings it is possible to harden "Soft scoring" to be in the same ball park as other acceptable Points Bonus/Penalties.

The aim is that is still a level playing field for the gods of painting and the numpties.

Unless your a purist