I just got done listening to this episode. A few days ago, I sent private messages to both Ngamer and yoblazer with some possible discussion topics for the next Game of the Decade contest. They did talk about most of those topics at some point during the episode, but this was never really discussed in any way:
4. When to run the contest - Early 2020 (before April), or mid/late 2020 instead?
The poll I linked to has some implications for a GotD contest. Looking at the entire history of that poll, we clearly see that a growing percentage of the site does not buy new games at launch anymore. The "on sale/used" option has also gone from about 30% in 2011 to 45% in 2018. The "on sale/used" option also had an impressively low 11% in 2002, so there's been a huge jump for that option even between 2002 and 2011. This means it takes longer for newer games to take off on this site, and longer for newer games to build up a large playrate. It could also be a telling sign that a larger percentage of the site is less willing to pay the full $60 price for a major game release.
Running GotD in mid/late 2020 could be a good thing because it gives games from 2019 more time to build up a larger playrate. Another positive is that any games from 2019 which have serious rally potential would be less relevant by the time GotD starts in mid/late 2020, and it would be harder to rally them.
There is also a case to be made for running GotD in early 2020. Major games released in 2019 will be more relevant at the time of the contest and they'll be more fresh in the minds of the voters, so they might do a little bit better than expected. The early part of 2020 will probably be dominated by other websites discussing Game of the Decade for 2010-2019, so running the contest in early 2020 allows GameFAQs to be part of this discussion. The contest might also get more outside attention from other websites if we ran the contest in early 2020 when the "trendy" thing at the time is getting into heated discussions about Game of the Decade for 2010-2019.
During the episode, Ngamer did mention that he would prefer an early 2020 start date for the next GotD contest, but he never discussed the pros and cons of early 2020 vs. mid/late 2020. I don't think yoblazer even expressed his preference for early 2020 or mid/late 2020 during the episode.
I'd like to get your opinion on the issue of running the next GotD in early 2020 vs. mid/late 2020. I already laid out some pros and cons for each option. ---
Luster Soldier --- ~Shield Bearer~ | ~Data Analyst~ Popular at school, but not as cool as Advokaiser, Guru Champ!