To be constructive, I’m trying to work out what my ideal user experience change would look like.
(Possibly the topic of IFComp transcript collection should be split to a new topic…)
Starting point: here’s what the ballot page looked like last year. At the head of the game list there’s a note (presumably the one that @CMG caused to be added):
Please note that some entries, when played online through this website, collect anonymous transcripts of player input for the benefit of those entries’ authors. You can opt out of this by downloading and playing these entries offline. Read this note for more information.
with the explanatory note (which is available all year) saying:
A note about transcripts
Interactive fiction works created with Inform offer the ability to record and store a complete transcript of play-sessions, including all player input and story output. Through the use of certain add-on features, this ability extends to Inform-based work played via web-based interpreters. As a service to competition entrants, this website (ifcomp.org) enables this style of transcript-recording for the Inform-based entries that it hosts.
Therefore, authors of Inform-created works – including Z-code and Glulx entries – can read full, anonymous transcripts of sessions played via the ifcomp.org-hosted copies of these entries. If you, as an IFComp judge, wish to play these entries without having your input recorded, please download the entries and play them that way, rather than playing them directly on the ifcomp.org website.
If you have any questions about transcripts, please contact the organizers.
but, I think, nothing visible in the path from looking at a game on the ballot page to entering your first command into the parser.
(It’s more difficult to explore this via the Wayback Machine. I’m taking A Smörgåsbord of Pain as an example where the author used IFComp-provided infrastructure, since what ended up on the Archive was just a .gblorb file. But it and another similar example aren’t playable via the Wayback Machine, so I’m not 100% sure what a player sees.)
Very easy to miss that it’s happening; no way to opt out while still having the convenience of web play; and no way for authors to opt out of transcript collection, which at least one author wants.
My personal position: in general, on the web, I minimise the data that’s collected about me as much as possible (and accept quite a lot of inconvenience to do so); but in this case, I trust that transcripts are going only to authors, who are using them to learn and improve their work / craft, and find them super useful; and in many circumstances I’d happily participate in that.
First, opt-out or opt-in?
- There’s an argument that unless it remains an opt-out, authors won’t receive enough transcripts to be worth having the feature at all. Many authors have said how helpful access to transcripts is.
- On the other hand: back in the day, some players went to the effort of emailing transcripts to authors. So maybe enough players would still click on a low-friction opt-in version of the same for it to be worthwhile? (Particularly if the choice was presented when the player might just have run into a problem, like when they end the session / close the window? Dunno if that’s practical.)
I think ideally I’d want:
- To be told that transcript collection can happen, sometime after I’ve clicked on a specific “Play online” link. (With a brief but clear explanation of what that means – like, one sentence – and a link/expand for full detail.)
- To be asked whether I’m okay with that, probably, at least once a year (because I might forget this is a thing by next year’s comp).
- To be reminded, on an ongoing basis, (a) that transcript collection is a thing here, and (b) whether it is currently happening for the game I am playing.
For Parchment… I could imagine a red “recording” dot in the corner of the window, without getting in the way too much? Which can be hovered over or clicked on to explain what it means and to allow changing that. (And similarly for e.g. the Dialog aastory web player.)
Anyone doing layout fancy enough for this to get in the way is probably using their own Vorple/Bisquixe/whatever setup, so none of this applies. (edit: oh, huh, maybe that’s not true, judging by this)
- To be able to express “don’t record ever” or “I’m fine with any recording”, and have it remembered (for at least the duration of a comp).
(Does ifcomp.org already use cookies, or is all its statefulness dependent on being logged in? You shouldn’t need to be logged in to be able to control transcript collection.)
(But not suppress the display of the previous point, in any case.)
- To know when the recording will be submitted and at what granularity. (Is it live? Or if I turn it off during a play session, will that prevent the submission of commands I’ve already typed?)
- (If this version of Parchment-or- whatever supports recording transcripts for the player) not to have my transcript-collection preference interfere with my ability to save transcripts for my own purposes.
(I don’t think allowing authors to say they don’t want transcript collected has many UI implications for the play interface, it’s presumably a Small Matter Of Programming™. Except I suppose for the recording indicator always being off and showing something like “This game never collects transcripts” when poked.)