Roblox Innovation Awards Drama 2024

Jul 8, 2024

Roblox Innovation Awards Drama 2024

Overview

  • Yearly award show for Roblox, akin to the Oscars or Emmys.
  • Community votes for best games, creators, developers, etc.
  • Multiple categories and voting types.
  • Current year marred by significant drama.

Voting Mechanics

Types of Voting

  • RDC Voting: People's Choice, Best New Experience, Best UGC Creator, Best Video Star, Best Branded Experience, etc.
  • Predictions Voting: Predict winners to earn points; points redeemable for UGC items.

Predictions Voting Issues

  • Encourages voting for popular choices over personal favorites.
  • Points matter for redeemable items.
  • Shows total vote count for each game, influencing voting behavior.

Developer and Game Bribery

  • Developers incentivizing votes in exchange for promised in-game updates, titles, leaks, etc.
  • Examples:
    • Strongest Battlegrounds: Promised faster updates.
    • Blox Fruits: Promised new in-game title and update leak.
    • Souls RNG: Promised special rewards.
    • Dress in Press, Piggy, Doors, etc.: Similar promises.
  • Result: Games with larger player bases get more votes.

Community Fallout

  • Dress in Press vs. Catalog Avatar Creator: Death threats to Muneeb (developer of Catalog Avatar Creator).
    • Dress in Press fans upset due to broken promises from developers if they didn't win.
  • Piggy vs. Doors: Piggy promised updates if they won; didn't win, leading to player backlash against Doors.

Specific Incidents

  • Virality of aggressive social media posts and backlash.
  • Example of a viral tweet attacking Catalog Avatar Creator and influencer KreekCraft.

Conclusion

  • Drama stems from competitive nature and added element of developer promises for votes.
  • System flaws: voting mechanics, bribery, transparency of votes.
  • Result: heightened community tensions and significant backlash.

Personal Takeaway

  • Drama isn't entirely unexpected given competitive and fan-driven nature of awards.
  • Issue exacerbated by flawed voting system and developer bribes.