I don't think there needs to be an incentive to write long and detailed awards. That only increases the barrier to post an award. If anything we need an easy "+1" button people can click if they like the track (and instead of integrating with aseco, aseco could integrate with MX so online +1 votes go to MX). Also giving criticism in an award is often not appreciated anyway.

I already suggested separating a rating system and a feedback system, but it seems clear to me that we, in fact, do not need any rating system, because there's just too many different genres. Nobody would give another genre a fair voting. We could make it even more complex, letting people who has driven 'x' Fullspeed track within y days are allowed to vote on Fullspeed-tracks. It's just an example, but it's hard to make a fair voting system, without making it somewhat complex.

The +1 concept won't work as it would be the same as today, maybe just with more voters. It is a system that is very biased, and certain track styles are often left out because of that.

Until someone comes up with a simple and fair(One that isn't biased against different track styles) rating system, I'm against all kinds of voting systems. I think we should instead focus on how to encourage people to give better feedback.

There you go again, eie, posting whole bunch of very sensible thoughts +1

... says:
instead of integrating with aseco, aseco could integrate with MX

dont be childish, this isnt a pissing game. work together to find a mutual solution thats good for everyone.
as for award by genre thats easy. people who like full speed tend to migrate to that type of server and the same with tech. within that frame work you get a fair idea of the tracks qualities.
and the problem i see isnt the quality of the feedback but the lack of it in regard to the downloads.
lets take my tracks for example. i have 3 tracks with 6 awards in total and 188 downloads. those 6 awards say the tracks are good but those 182 downloads (ignoring server and non registered dls for this example) dont tell me anything other than someone couldnt be arsed.
tying aseco to tmx would give you a better idea of how your track has been received and that information would encourage more downloads and hopefully more awards. plus if its badly received you can ask in the forums for someone to check it out and tell you why, making you a better builder.

if your interested tell me why im doing badly.
easy rider
mediocrity
twiddles

scala says:

... says:
instead of integrating with aseco, aseco could integrate with MX

dont be childish, this isnt a pissing game. work together to find a mutual solution thats good for everyone.

Please read the rest of the sentence.

eie says:
I think we should instead focus on how to encourage people to give better feedback.

Totally agree. People like me, who is starting on building tracks needs feedback from the comunity. I have posted two tracks, both have about 30 downloads. Maybe my tracks don't deserve any awards, I'm just a noob in canyon. But after 30 downloads I was expecting something like "This is a poor track because..." or "I don't like your track because..."

Anyway, awards are some sort of rating, and feedback at the same time. Almost always if a track has a lot of awards, you can say this is a good track, and you can say comunity liked the track. (But sometimes you "discover" a track without awards, or just a few awards and you get a nice surprise...)

It seems there's a kind of fear on trying a new system because the "This will became in abuse" reason. You can't tell this untill you have tryed. Awards, just my impression, are the oposite stiuation: People don't give enough awards. They "reserve" awards for the very best tracks by a few skilled guys... This is why I think it would be nice another system: There's a lot of fun tracks wich aren't the best tracks but are better than bad tracks. And with this system(or this way of using awards) you can't see the diference betwen a "decent" track and a crap when listing tracks. But, if we award any decent track we download, we would not see the very best ones... And maybe my tracks deserve a or ... I think awards works nice with the best tracks. Problem is the rest of tracks. (the most)

The fact is: We have this system and, after discusing in others threads before, this system will stay. That is Ok for me. I respect the decision of the experienced users and I can understand their arguments.
So, how can we encourage people to give better feedback?
(I guess someone will say: this has been discused before too XD) Please link!

at Enai Siaion
i did read your whole post and the sentiments are good and solid. but telling a outside agency (aseco) that they need to change for you or the other way around puts someone on the defensive. rather than a right or wrong battle we need a joint solution that both partners can live with. remember a pissing contest denotes that there will be a loser and thats not good for what we are attempting.

How to get more feedback about your track(s):

The Track Review Thread² (why the hell does nobody use this thread any more? )
Monthly Track Contest (coming soon)
PlayPal (coming soon)
Playpal Online (well, we'll see if it will come or not)
ask others if they'd like to test your track(s) (some users explicitely tell on their account pages that they'll be happy to try your tracks if you ask them)
implement an mt message like 'remember to give feedback on tm.mania-exchange.com' or 'award if you like' to avoid that people simply forget to do so

Remember to be careful when soliciting your track. Don't just go around messaging people, asking for their opinions. This is known as trackspam and is not often welcome.

I would also be wary about adding solicitous MT comments. Asking for awards or feedback might just be dismissed as amateurish, and therefore ignored. I don't think it will make a big difference.

I once put "AWARD" on the track itself as scenery made out of lights. Earned me at least two awards.