Please don't forget to submit any points for Year 11

before March 15th, 2019 as we will cut off submission on the following day
 
 
https://www.evga.com/folding/MyFolding.asp
 
You Must - Request Your EVGA Bucks




 
I got my EVGA Bucks locked already --> Total Year 11 Points: 3,120,674,508 and counting



 
 

Folding for EVGA is a loyalty program first and foremost. Since there is no one stopping folders from breaking with EVGA and just folding alone or with a different team, I think EVGA Bucks plays a huge role, and it does for me. The 21M Tier 2 is impossible for my 980 Ti to achieve. And even if I were to buy a 2080 Ti it would take me more days per month to hit Tier 2 in Year 12 than with my 980 Ti in Year 11 and I am unwilling to live with the noise, heat, electricity costs, lost gaming/work time and increased greenhouse gases for what is frankly a research program with few huge breakthroughs.
 
It is a purely a economical decision. I expect EVGA's thinking to be the same. If EVGA is making a loss on the loyalty program they should end it. EVGA Bucks is a big part of me buying EVGA hardware and since folding is the only way I get them I will probably be stopping, I will eventually have to consider taking my actual money elsewhere, probably to the lowest bidder.

EVGATech_LeeM
After discussions today, here are the final numbers for the entire Year 12:
 
Tier 1: 7 million (5 EVGA Bucks)
Tier 2: 21 million (5 EVGA Bucks)

I like those numbers.  A couple day's folding then my GPU's are free for other things.  I swear I'm like the only turd around who's "work" machines are more powerful than their game machines lol.

I am pretty sure the goal of the program was to reward those that already folded without any reward.

The issue was the goal numbers became so easy, others joined just to hit the minimum and get rewarded without continuing to help others. I don’t think the program was started strictly to attract new folders, but then again, I wasn’t around at that time either.

It is very unfortunate that the folks that only did it for the bucks may decrease, but again, the program seemingly started to reward those that were already folding to hopefully find cures, not to find rewards.

I absolutely 100% admit I started folding strictly for the bucks, and there have been months where I couldn’t do more than the minimum due to work and traveling. If work and travel aren’t interfering, then I do my best to fold as much as possible, especially finding out that a close friend recently lost her battle, and only days later we found out that someone else very close is starting a battle against cancer.

the_Scarlet_one
I am pretty sure the goal of the program was to reward those that already folded without any reward.

The issue was the goal numbers became so easy, others joined just to hit the minimum and get rewarded without continuing to help others. I don’t think the program was started strictly to attract new folders, but then again, I wasn’t around at that time either.

It is very unfortunate that the folks that only did it for the bucks may decrease, but again, the program seemingly started to reward those that were already folding to hopefully find cures, not to find rewards.

I absolutely 100% admit I started folding strictly for the bucks, and there have been months where I couldn’t do more than the minimum due to work and traveling. If work and travel aren’t interfering, then I do my best to fold as much as possible, especially finding out that a close friend recently lost her battle, and only days later we found out that someone else very close is starting a battle against cancer.

We still Fold for throes who have passed away and it should not apply to the above post.
Added
We Fold Under Folders who have passed away and it should not apply to the above post.

bcavnaugh
We still Fold for throes who have passed away and it should not apply to the above post.

Preach it.  As well as for those that might be saved or at least lessen the suffering.  I know we all have our own reasons for doing this thing we do, but as I have said before, each and every point is appreciated  

bcavnaugh
Yes to all Past And Future.
I should have said We also Fold Under Folders who have passed away and it should not apply to the above post #161 Rule.

LOL so i stink at reading, but I think we're in agreement here hehe

 

the_Scarlet_one
I am pretty sure the goal of the program was to reward those that already folded without any reward.

The issue was the goal numbers became so easy, others joined just to hit the minimum and get rewarded without continuing to help others. I don’t think the program was started strictly to attract new folders, but then again, I wasn’t around at that time either.

It is very unfortunate that the folks that only did it for the bucks may decrease, but again, the program seemingly started to reward those that were already folding to hopefully find cures, not to find rewards.

I absolutely 100% admit I started folding strictly for the bucks, and there have been months where I couldn’t do more than the minimum due to work and traveling. If work and travel aren’t interfering, then I do my best to fold as much as possible, especially finding out that a close friend recently lost her battle, and only days later we found out that someone else very close is starting a battle against cancer.

The thing is, I don't think anyone folds strictly for bucks, because it'd be kinda dumb.
 
The bucks program is a bit like setting up a money booth on the side of the road in some out-of-the-way place, where drivers get $10 for making the trip, but gas and mileage would cost about $20. The guy in the money booth loses $10 (unless he's getting something more out of it) and the guy driving loses $10 (unless he's getting something more out of it). Yeah, sometimes the drivers might look out the window and see all the happy people dancing on the side of the road enjoying the flowers and kittens and rainbows coming out of his tailpipe and get a little happier too. But, those drivers are also effectively paying $10 to sit in their car for hours every day, to lose french fries between their car seats, smell their own fast food burps, and pee in energy drink cans. When they finally arrive at the money booth, some will need a breather, some will use their car for something else (or get it detailed) and others with hearts made of pure 24 karat gold will be totally happy to keep driving so they can look out the window at all the bunny rabbits and sunshine they're spreading, because to them, that's the whole point and it's worth it.
 
It's totally natural in life to get to "where you're supposed to go" and then stop. Of course, some people will push it to the limit because for them, that's where they're supposed to go (cure & competitive folders). Others let pragmatism determine where they're supposed to go (bucks folders/casuals), and some lack knowledge or interest, so they let others determine where they're supposed to go (new/non/prospective-folders). eVGA points tiers tell certain types of folders "where they're supposed to go". They can be used to influence the behavior of these last two groups to be closer to the cure folders and more in line with the "greater good".
 
The idea is to make goals such that the max points are produced, while min-maxing the costs and benefits for eVGA. But, in order to do that, eVGA needs to take into account the various motivations and costs and abilities of the folders and set goals with those in mind. If they're too arbitrary about the goals and make a mistake, the program can run over-budget or it can dry up participation, in either case hurting total points produced in the end.
 
For instance, last year, a mistake was made and the points tiers were set way too low. While folders benefited, the program cost more for eVGA and probably produced less total points towards cures than it could have if the goals were higher. This year, I think that mistake is being over-corrected. I'm sure eVGA will lower its total folding program costs this year because of difficulty making the numbers, but that savings necessarily comes at the cost of the folders. The big question is whether, again, a mistake in the points goals will be accompanied by a loss of total points produced towards the cures, this time because the net costs to the folders are too high.
 
Although the 3 different parties to this whole transaction have way different motivations, a Nash equilibrium definitely exists where everyone's costs and benefits are well-balanced and which will produce a maximum amount of points with a minimum amount of costs for both eVGA and folders.
 
7M/21M is definitely not that equilibrium and I think the total Team eVGA output for March 2019 will be tellingly low.

bcavnaugh
"The thing is, I don't think anyone folds strictly for bucks, because it'd be kinda dumb."
You would be surprised at how many do, but at least they do Fold.
               Again not that it Matters.
 

Yeah, I'm basically one of those guys too, but I wasn't thinking "Nice! Did the bare minimum and now I'm $10 richer!"
 
It was more like, "OK, it cost me $10 in electricity and I beat up my card some, but I hit my quota, and recouped some of that cost in store credit, so it's not that bad. Now I can use my card for all the other goals I have with it or just give it a break before I blow my VRM." Hell, those fears turned out to be founded when my 980ti started artifacting right after the warranty period.
 
When this program started, it was a way to encourage casuals to commit idle compute resources. Now it's turning more into the hard sell of the latest gen hardware. The thing is, selling casuals on using unused cycles for a good cause is WAYYYY easier than selling them a new GPU every year or selling them on the idea of noticeably raising their power bills. The fact that I'm even considering folding costs when I never really have before, shows how the program has changed.
 
My level of commitment was such that I was going to build a rig for the 980ti and let it fold 24/7/365 for as long as it would have a chance to hit tier 2. That would have cost me $30 a month just for the electricity to run the GPU at 100% (not including the cost of buying and running the other hardware, or wear and tear). Doesn't make much financial sense, I know, and some months I know I wouldn't hit tier 2, but I would have at least tried and gotten close. It just would have been satisfying to do, like scratching an itch. This points scheme though, is just giving me a bigger itch than I'm able to scratch. So now I can either scratch half of the itch or find another itch to scratch.
 
I guess these days you have to be kinda hardcore about folding for it to be worth all the costs. I salute anyone who has that level of commitment but my feeling is that there aren't too many like that, and a different kind of recognition would probably be better suited for them anyway.

lol. you notice the peak for Feb was Feb 4th and yet you took a pic comparing Feb 4th with march 1st... Feb 1st was only ~6M points higher than March 1st. wait another 3 days for a fair comparison.

Power is 12 cents/kWh here as well, and it is definitely not easy to afford a full month of folding when summer comes around.

During the summer time, I typically fold much much less because of the extra added costs.



This next part have nothing specific to do with year 12, but I found it interesting..

I remember a couple years back, as a team during the yearly folding competition, many folders for the team worked their equipment as hard as possible and dedicated all of our equipment and resource for the full month trying our best to hit the 4 billion points as a joint effort.. this last year, there was only two months went didn’t go bulldozing past that without most of the team making it a focus. The speed at which the hardware can complete a work unit is fantastic these days.

Looking normal to me so far.

Henjam
I just looked at the daily points chart for the team and it looks like people are stepping up to the plate. Hope it holds for the whole month and beyond.

This is Normal for the First of Each Month.
"stepping up to the plate" are mostly the "Buck Folders" (But as I keep saying that is OK)
Now for all the "Buck Folders" that do not read the Forums or even look at the Forums we will see a very large Jump in this Thread in about a Week.

I imagine when people go to hit the 2 and 4 million buttons to claim points for the month and see they are not even close, then they will come look in the forums to see what the heck is going on.