PIC:barclip2.ilbm

CL9:              NEW CHARTS
PIC:barclip2.ilbm

CL1:This   is   the   last  issue  of  the
Eurochart  with the present charts, in
the  future,  a  radically  new way of
presenting   the   charts   will   get
introduced.   To that effect, we would
like  you  sceners  to contribute with
suggestions,  to make sure we have the
charts  you  want.   This is the first
major  rehaul of the charts in the EC,
and  as  such,  we want to be sure, we
have  your  support  in  doing  it (to
avoid  a  storm  of  angry letters, as
when   Depth   tried  to  abolish  the
swappers chart).

CL0:Let  me  tell  you a bit about what we
think  will  be  in  the charts in the
future.

CL1:First  off,  old Amiga productions and
inactive   people,   must  move  to  a
Legendary   Production  and  Legendary
Scener chart.  I do not like this move
myself,  indeed,  I do not like moving
the  charts  to  PPC, but it is either
this  or  having  really  outdated and
wrong  charts.  In short, it is PPC or
death.   It  might be death anyway, if
we  do not get enough sceners on those
platforms,  but  that  is  the risk we
must  take.   In  time,  when  the new
scene  has  fully  emerged,  we  might
phase out these two old categories, if
people  do  not  vote on them anymore,
but personally I hope they will.

CL0:To  replace  our  old  charts, we will
have    charts   for   all   the   new
productions,  68k  aswell  as PPC.  It
will  be  sort of a clean slate, where
you  can only vote for productions and
sceners active around the start of the
next  EC including a chart.  Let's say
that everything goes close to perfect,
the new scene thrives, and the next EC
will  be  out in the last days of 2004
(somebody better produce a new PPC and
68k  engine fast then).  Then we would
say  that  you  might  only  vote  for
sceners who have produced something in
2004,   aswell   as   for  productions
released  in  2004.  This is the clean
slate  we're  talking about.  However,
it  might  be  ok  to vote for all PPC
productions released in the past, just
not  for  any  old 68k production, nor
for any scener not active in 2004.  We
will have to see about that, and value
your input on this too.

CL1:In  the  start,  you  will thus not be
able  to  vote  on very many people at
all,  and  the  charts  will look very
empty.   We  will reflect this by only
having  3  people/things  to vote for,
per  category, and only displaying the
top 10.  Later, we can expand this, if
things    work   out   for   the   new
68k/PPCboard/AmigaOne/Pegasos   scene.
I  refer  you to my article about this
new  scene  we  have  to create, if we
want  to  keep  any  form of the Amiga
scene alive.  We will have most of the
same categories in the new chart, with
the  exception  of  the swapper chart.
Yes, it is sad, but now it is clear to
everyone:   swapping  is  dead, and it
will  definately  not get a revival in
the  near  future.   So, that chart is
dead,  as  are all swappers.  I do not
expect to get any angry denying letter
as  a  consequence  of  this,  because
there  is  no  one left with a will to
send  it,  though  there  are some who
might   get   the   beginnings   of  a
nostalgic tear in their eyes.

CL0:Apart  from  that,  the new chart will
probably  start  by  only having a few
categories, depending on what has been
released   in  2004.   Naturally,  the
intro,   demo,   coder,  musician  and
graphician  charts  have  to be there,
but  it  will  probably take a year or
more  before  we  have  enough 4k's to
vote  for,  and  probably it will take
even  longer  before  we  have  enough
musicdisks  and  slideshows,  but that
remains   to  be  seen,  and  we  will
naturally     adjust     the    charts
accordingly.    We  might  even  start
producing  a  list  over releases from
2004  and onwards and put it up on our
homepage,  so that people can see what
has been released, and by whom, before
voting.   As for diskmags and editors,
well  if we have 3-5 diskmags released
in  2004,  then I guess we have enough
material   for   both   charts.    But
otherwise  it  is better to wait until
there  is  something to vote for.  The
same  goes  for demo and intro, but we
hope  these will be there right at the
start,  because  otherwise  the  scene
would be dead.

CL1:Extra  categories, like best wilddemo,
best  musicpack  (if not combined with
musicdisk,  like  it is now) might get
introduced,  depending on what happens
in  this new scene.  This is very much
an  uncertain  frontier; the year 2004
will    decide   what   happens,   the
possibilities  are open, and the risks
are  high.   But  so  too might be the
rewards.

CL0:Also,  we  might need a new definition
of  what a demo is.  These definitions
must be created by someone, so this is
probably  the best place to settle it,
the  EC hopefully also being the forum
of  the  new  scene.  How big should a
demo  be?   What IS a demo?  Can it be
an animation, must it be code?  How do
we  want our scene, what is important,
hardware   or  pure  artistry?   These
questions  are  better  debated in the
next  EC though.  And in any case, the
EC   staff  might  need  to  make  the
decision  for the rest of the sceners,
at  least  in  regards  to our charts,
unless  you  write  us,  or compose an
article  describing  what  you want to
happen  with  the  charts.   Afterall,
this  is  a once in a lifetime change,
we want to do it right, and we want to
get feedback on it.  However, a system
such as that I have just outlined will
be   used   from  the  start,  if  the
majority  accepts it, and then we will
have  to take it from there, adjusting
as  we  go.   We  only hope that there
will  be  a  scene ready to jump in on
the  new  charts,  and this is an open
for all opportunity, now that we reset
the  charts.  The charts must still be
Amiga  related  though, meaning charts
for  productions  or people working on
something  Amiga,  AmigaOne or Pegasos
related.   With this tight grouping, I
hope we can create a new scene and new
charts,   and   have   a   fresh,  new
beginning;  there  is  no  alternative
anymore.

CL4:                Darkhawk

