Okay, somethings wrong with the Golden Ticket Awards. Here are my theries, everybody has been saying how good Leviathian is and how is is going to be the best steel Roller Coaster in the world. It came 22nd. Throughout 2012 I could not help noticing people saying Millennium Force is overrated. It came 1st. Euromir is a family roller coaster at Europa Park that came 50th, world class Roller Coasters such as Steel Dragon 2000, Dragon Khan and Shambhala did not even get in to the top 50. Also have you noticed all the USA roller coasters? Face it everybody loves Six Flags! Not one Six Flags theme park got into the top 10 theme parks. I was impressed with the new Wodan Timbur Coaster at Europa Park great ride! Didn't get in to the top 50 but a small wild mouse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach does. Is this enough? I could state more. Anybody agree with me something is wrong. Why is there no asian steel Roller Coasters?
Golden Ticket Awards Rigged?
- Thread starter KarlDale
- Start date
Thekingin64
Strata Poster
The Wild Mouse at PBB amazing. There's a reason it's high up!
Otherwise, I agree.
Otherwise, I agree.
Intricks
Strata Poster
You are basing your argument on mainly non-North America based rides, when the only people to vote are mainly North Americans who generally have only ridden North America coasters?
I guess it could be rigged in the sense of its main voting populace is Americans that rarely travel out of North America due to cost of flying overseas and dealing with an exchange of coin that may not work in their favor (what is the current exchange rate for euros, pounds and other currency overseas).
I guess it could be rigged in the sense of its main voting populace is Americans that rarely travel out of North America due to cost of flying overseas and dealing with an exchange of coin that may not work in their favor (what is the current exchange rate for euros, pounds and other currency overseas).
^That's essentially the problem, but blaming the cost of travel for such discrepancies in the results doesn't really work. There are plenty of well-traveled enthusiasts with experience of coasters all over the world - I could name at least 10 from this site alone without having to even think about it - but the only people voting in these polls have little to no experience outside North America.
Labeling them as "international" awards is just plain wrong; they're about as international as your World Series.
Labeling them as "international" awards is just plain wrong; they're about as international as your World Series.
The polls work by "industry experts" (read that however you like) picking nominees for each award. So maybe 5 or 10 for each voter to choose from. If Leviathan wasn't in that list for whatever reason, it could never win.
So there's the first issue.
Second issue is that everyone votes in each category. You don't need to have been on Wild Eagle to vote for it.
So two issues, limited choices and no requirement to gave experienced a nominated attraction to vote for it. They give a concession by allowing each voting member to pick their top 10 wood and top 10 steel coasters. This creates their top 50 list or whatever it is.
Is it rigged? Well real people vote, but given a choice of say Wild Eagle or a kick in the crotch, you know where the votes are going to be aimed.
So flawed? Yes, incredibly. Biased? Yes, incredibly. Rigged? Not as such... ;-)
So there's the first issue.
Second issue is that everyone votes in each category. You don't need to have been on Wild Eagle to vote for it.
So two issues, limited choices and no requirement to gave experienced a nominated attraction to vote for it. They give a concession by allowing each voting member to pick their top 10 wood and top 10 steel coasters. This creates their top 50 list or whatever it is.
Is it rigged? Well real people vote, but given a choice of say Wild Eagle or a kick in the crotch, you know where the votes are going to be aimed.
So flawed? Yes, incredibly. Biased? Yes, incredibly. Rigged? Not as such... ;-)
A101
Mega Poster
KarlDale said:
-Word cool)
Like you, I am enrgaed by the low placement of great rides like Leviathan and Shambhala. Plus, I know that they get different input from different people year-to-year, but seeing as rides move up in the list, they're not actually getting better?!?!?! Plus, they give best dark ride to Forbidden Journey, but ignore rides like Transformers for Best New Ride?!?!?! Face it, enthusiasts don't watch these awards to see the winners, they watch because they want to see the winners CHANGE!
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Everyone in the industry or fan community knows the golden ticket awards are a big joke. It's a same, because its all many normal folk see.
In the subject of Millenium Force in particular, its plain to see what an impact these awards have on the general public. There's no good reason why whilst many non looping coasters are dismissed as boring by the public, including the likes of Bizarro and Skyrush, Millennium Force gets such high public appraisal. It's these damn awards. Perception is so much more powerful than experiance in such cases.
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In the subject of Millenium Force in particular, its plain to see what an impact these awards have on the general public. There's no good reason why whilst many non looping coasters are dismissed as boring by the public, including the likes of Bizarro and Skyrush, Millennium Force gets such high public appraisal. It's these damn awards. Perception is so much more powerful than experiance in such cases.
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SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
I was talking about the general public, not specifically voters in this poll, but rather how its results can influence opinion.
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Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
I got to vote this year. I don't think anything I voted for won, although I did have a couple pop in at #2.
Jake
Strata Poster
I really don't see why this is such a big deal every year.
Yes, it's a load of poo, but we already know it is. To be honest, for American awards, they're not actually THAT bad. If you look at it from an American point of view, they do take smaller and less well known parks into account (which most of the GP probably haven't even heard of).
I'll just echo what everyone else is saying - for world awards they're pretty dire, but if you look at it as an American thing (which it is, give or take a couple of European and Asian stuff that was mentioned) it's not a horrendus way to get less goony people involved in creds.
Yes, it's a load of poo, but we already know it is. To be honest, for American awards, they're not actually THAT bad. If you look at it from an American point of view, they do take smaller and less well known parks into account (which most of the GP probably haven't even heard of).
I'll just echo what everyone else is saying - for world awards they're pretty dire, but if you look at it as an American thing (which it is, give or take a couple of European and Asian stuff that was mentioned) it's not a horrendus way to get less goony people involved in creds.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
One interesting point of note: I'd tried for a couple years to get in on the balloting, based on the criteria I thought I'd met. When I didn't mention that I'd worked for a park, was when I finally got a ballot. I'd visited 200 parks, 250 parks, not enough. 300 parks? OK, here's your ballot.
<shrugs
<shrugs
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
Dollywood has been the host park for the Golden Tickets for 3 years...
I think Wikipedia describes it well enough:
Each ride is given a set number of points per voter (for instance, 1 to 10. I'm not sure what it really is). So far, so good.
Though, while Mitch Hawker and the old ForceFactor system on CF was based on averages, the Golden Tickets are based on total score. This can - and does - favour American rides over rides anywhere else, regardless on how individuals rate the rides.
Say you've got a group of ten American enthusiasts going to Japan to ride the new coaster at Wacky Animestuffland, the Polkadot Express. The ride blows them all out of the water. With eyes running with tears of joy, and their intestines pressed up their throats because of all the airtime, they submit their ballots to the Golden Tickets. They all agree the Polkadot Express deserve a flat 10. None over, none at the side. It simply is the best coaster anybody have ever ridden anywhere. However, few if any Japanese have ever heard about the Golden Tickets, never mind being eligible to vote, so the Polkadot Express only gets those ten 10's.
Meanwhile, at Bald Eagle Tycoonworld in the US, the new Superman Batman Spiderman Spinecrusher 3000 (C)(R)[super]TM[/super] has opened. Pretty much anybody who rides it think it's a pile of total garbage. It rearranges the disks in your lower back, gives you a concussion and explosive diharrea, and plays Bieber at full volume in the queue. A hundred and ten eligible Golden Ticket voters all give it an unanimous 1.
This leaves the Polkadot Express with 100 points, as opposed to the Spinecrusher's 110. The Spinecrusher then wins, and Bald Eagle Tycoonworld is celebrated as the park with the best coaster ever, at least better than the crap they're building in Japan.
So the system isn't rigged. It's just incredibly flawed, giving the parks visited by the most eligible voters a clear advantage over anything else. If the park lies off the beaten track, it's almost guaranteed to fail. On the other hand, if the park is visited by enough people, you can build anything and still win. Wich clearly happens every year.
Each ride is given a set number of points per voter (for instance, 1 to 10. I'm not sure what it really is). So far, so good.
Though, while Mitch Hawker and the old ForceFactor system on CF was based on averages, the Golden Tickets are based on total score. This can - and does - favour American rides over rides anywhere else, regardless on how individuals rate the rides.
Say you've got a group of ten American enthusiasts going to Japan to ride the new coaster at Wacky Animestuffland, the Polkadot Express. The ride blows them all out of the water. With eyes running with tears of joy, and their intestines pressed up their throats because of all the airtime, they submit their ballots to the Golden Tickets. They all agree the Polkadot Express deserve a flat 10. None over, none at the side. It simply is the best coaster anybody have ever ridden anywhere. However, few if any Japanese have ever heard about the Golden Tickets, never mind being eligible to vote, so the Polkadot Express only gets those ten 10's.
Meanwhile, at Bald Eagle Tycoonworld in the US, the new Superman Batman Spiderman Spinecrusher 3000 (C)(R)[super]TM[/super] has opened. Pretty much anybody who rides it think it's a pile of total garbage. It rearranges the disks in your lower back, gives you a concussion and explosive diharrea, and plays Bieber at full volume in the queue. A hundred and ten eligible Golden Ticket voters all give it an unanimous 1.
This leaves the Polkadot Express with 100 points, as opposed to the Spinecrusher's 110. The Spinecrusher then wins, and Bald Eagle Tycoonworld is celebrated as the park with the best coaster ever, at least better than the crap they're building in Japan.
So the system isn't rigged. It's just incredibly flawed, giving the parks visited by the most eligible voters a clear advantage over anything else. If the park lies off the beaten track, it's almost guaranteed to fail. On the other hand, if the park is visited by enough people, you can build anything and still win. Wich clearly happens every year.