About Level Judges

[Raster]

Personally, I think the level-submitting system should be reorganized. I'm saying this because some of the current mechanics don't really work well.

For starters, have the levels reviewed in an order, from oldest to newest. Some levels are probably stuck in the level submission forum for weeks. Having your level ignored by the judges for such a long period of time can be really irritating (I'm saying this from the PoV of someone who dealt with this problem before.)

Secondly, being a judge can be really stressful. Why not let normal users post their reviews until a judges chimes in and approves the level? Judges shouldn't have any time constraint because that really kills their motivation. Being a judge gets tedious fast. Judges are supposed to play and review levels because they want to not because of their job on this forum.

Thirdly, all the reviewing styles of the judges can be pretty confusing to some. Why not have an established layout for reviews? Not only will the reviews have the same judging criteria but it's a lot less confusing to readers and level makers.

Edit: Here's the review template I've been thinking of:
The judge begins by talking about the level's theme, music and graphics, and the rest of the review is based entirely on gameplay. End the review by posting what is good and what needs improvements. Personally, I don't think the theme and gameplay parts of the review should have a score; just put a score at the end based on the level's overall quality.

[Shadow Yoshi]

I agree with having the levels reviewed in order.

I don't really see the need for having normal users review until the judges review, at least at this point in time. That could be used as as a last resort.

I don't like the idea of an established layout for reviews - it causes a lack of individuality among the judges.

[Raster]

I don't like the idea of an established layout for reviews - it causes a lack of individuality among the judges.

I see what you're getting at, but is that really a concern? Judges have different reviewing styles anyway and the review template I proposed is very broad.

[Keddy]

The idea of an established layout makes sense, so everyone has a fair chance in all these established categories and as Raster said judges have different reviewing styles which means different base scores(as in out of 10, 20, or 100), also no one knows how much you need to score to get your level approved.

[Shadow Yoshi]

Actually, we do regulate the reviews to be out of 10. Or at least, we did so with the last application process (and should still now).