What determines new songs ?

Re: What determines new songs ?

You can expect new songs once every two weeks, loosely. (could be 12 days, could be 15 days, etc.) There are also certain periods where the regular releases will be paused.

Re: What determines new songs ?

I said that in my post. My question is why. What's the reasoning behind 2 songs per 2 weeks ?

Re: What determines new songs ?

A combination of available songs in the queue, the number of judges available to review submissions, and the availability of game manager staff is likely behind the reduced number of regularly scheduled releases. Back when I was managing the release of files many years ago, there used to be 4-5 files released each week! But the general flow of things from steppers submitting files to judges reviewing files to game managers preparing files for release have all slowed down in recent years. Perhaps that may change in the future, but overall my guess is that 2 biweekly files is the manageable rate at the moment.

Re: What determines new songs ?

Expanding on what bmah said, the frequency of song releases is situational. Near the end of last year for example, the releases weren't every two weeks -- they were on specific days. It was a combination of several factors, including but not limited to:
- Having enough songs in queue for future releases, but also keeping some songs to potentially use in a future Official Tournament
- Lower judge availability
- Time needed to determine and check files (e.g. is the file is more suited towards an Official Tournament? Should it be a token?)

Last year was slow for judgments, so when I went and looked into a sustainable release rate, two songs every two weeks was a suitable guideline to go by to provide new content in the game while still keeping around some files to start the process of a potential Official Tournament. Of course though, this is just a guideline and it changes around sometimes; the Weekly Batch Updates thread is an excellent place to get information on when the next upcoming releases may be and what decisions are being made in relation to submissions and releases.

If you look at the Accepted Songs Queue you'll see 46 files as of now, and probably wonder why there aren't more frequent releases. A good analogy is to think about finances: would you want to spend a lot of money in a short period of time and possibly put yourself in a position of not having enough resources, or consider keeping around a sizeable stash in case of an emergency or some other situation comes up and you're better off?

In short: The guideline of two songs every two weeks provides enough time to determine and check what files will be used for a release, and if there are going to be changes in the releases dates it'll usually be specified in the Weekly Batch Updates thread.