Rarity forum

[deathtrappomegranate]

The rarity forum is now open!

Please post your thoughts on the subject, and let's get some discussions going!

[osgorth]

Great idea!

How about we create a thread for each publisher, and focus on getting the big ones sorted first?

Secondly, would it be possible to add the R-value on the list of games that pops up when you click a publisher in the database? Right now you have to open up each page to see the rarity value, that's rather tedious.. Pretty please?

[Atari Frog]

I'm afraid we're a bit limited in what we can do in this area

If we cram in more information in the tables, people will have a hard time figuring out what all the symbols mean.

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

[osgorth]

Can you make the table wider then? It's so narrow right now..

[Atari Frog]

That's pretty much impossible, we'd have to change all the rest as well and that would be a nightmare... Though rarity ratings are important to us, it's really the basics we need to keep for the table.

How about we create a thread for each publisher, and focus on getting the big ones sorted first?

That should be fine. If we concentrate on the big ones first, maybe it would be a good idea to have less than five threads active at the same time.

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

[Andre]

That should be fine. If we concentrate on the big ones first, maybe it would be a good idea to have less than five threads active at the same time.

First we should clarify what rarity values from 1-10 actually mean. Should we use a linear scale of the rarities or a non-linear one like Osgorth has proposed ?

[Atari Frog]

I don't think the scale should be changed. Let's keep everything simple and explicit like it is now.

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

[deathtrappomegranate]

It would be difficult to implement the type of scale that osgorth suggested, because we have relatively little information about who has what.

There are few A8 collectors who publish lists of what they have at the moment. Trying to tell whether there were 10 or 20 or 30 complete copies of a game would be tricky. We would need to have several of the major collectors contributing to the cause in order to get a good idea of the numbers.

For the moment, I think it's simplest to hear what people think.

[osgorth]

So if we don't know what's out there, what is the basis for the current figures?

It brings us back to the original question I posed: can you explain what 1-10 means, so there is a clear definition of what is a 5, an 8, a 9 and so on?

[Atari Frog]

So if we don't know what's out there, what is the basis for the current figures?

The ratings are not necessarily based on accurate figures. I know this is going to sound awfully pretentious but I'd say research, personal knowledge and experience count a lot more here.

It brings us back to the original question I posed: can you explain what 1-10 means, so there is a clear definition of what is a 5, an 8, a 9 and so on?

This has been answered already but here they are again:
1 = incredibly common
2 = very common
3 = common
4 = not that hard to find
5 = getting scarce...
6 = not readily available
7 = rare
8 = very rare
9 = extremely rare
10 = unbelievably rare

Note that we're clearly open to suggestions on the subject of these definitions. Maybe "rare" is too strong for a rating of "7" for example so feel free to discuss the semantic issue as well.

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

[JamesTheOrangeCat]

On the one hand, I see Osgorth's point, that the difference between "rare" and "very rare" is not clear or precise. On the other hand, I see some of the others' point, that trying to identify the number of copies or complete copies is still pretty subjective and we will likely have to rely on experts like Frog, Osgorth, Deathtrap, etc.

My opinion is between both; I agree that it would be nice to (please) ask the experts to use their expert opinion to rate based on a more precise and specific quantitative metric (e.g., the *estimated* original copies in existence), but perhaps if we can essentially agree on one or a few example title for each rating level, that will be good enough.

For example, if we have a familiar example title each for a rarity 6 and a rarity 7, then when it comes to re(rate) a new title that is either a 6 or a 7, we just need to decide if it is closer to being a 6 or a 7 based on which example title it is closer to in rarity. The expert raters won't have to explicitly think in terms of the # of copies (or whatever metric is being implicitly used) if the experts are not comfortable doing so, but if the example titles are common/familiar enough, it should be possible for readers to xref to their own estimate of the number of titles in existence using the baseline examples.

It's just an idea, and as much as I like to be precise and systematic about things (I suspect like Osgorth), I'd also hate for us to be overly analytical about this to the point where we take the fun out of it.

Sorry if that was unclear or I have misrepresented anyone's opinion... I very much appreciate the hard work everyone has put into making this site as great as it is - thanks!

[deathtrappomegranate]

So if we don't know what's out there, what is the basis for the current figures?

It brings us back to the original question I posed: can you explain what 1-10 means, so there is a clear definition of what is a 5, an 8, a 9 and so on?

Ideally, it would be great to base the rarity scale on known numbers. We know quite a lot about some very rare cartridge games, those that hardly ever appear on ebay or anywhere else, and we try to keep track of how many are known.

Unfortunately, it becomes more difficult to do this when larger numbers are involved.

At this point, I think that the personal experiences of collectors are the best source of information. The rarity of "Queen of Hearts", for example, would only be known to someone who had been looking pretty hard for it for some time.

[MR ATARI]

hi it says in the games list that mindwheel is 7 and essex is 8 in rarity but how much would they make if they were sold??

[deathtrappomegranate]

hi it says in the games list that mindwheel is 7 and essex is 8 in rarity but how much would they make if they were sold??

It's very difficult to put monetary figures to these.

The A8 market is very volatile and unpredictable, and the rarity does not predict the price well at all. The demand for particular games is based on a large number of factors, many of which are prone to change very rapidly.

I did sell a shrinkwrapped Essex a little while ago. It didn't get a high price, but it did go to a good home [img::]http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emot ... /smile.gif[/img]

[bf2k+]

Maybe 10 ratings is too many. Less would make it much easier to differentiate... just my $.02.