I noticed today that the winner will get their win recorded, along with a count of how many consecutive wins they have. This seems to go against the spirit of the beginner game jam. 

Since this game jam is for beginners, and is advertised as a place for people who have felt like they were not taken seriously in other game jams, it seems odd to keep track of, and reward people for beating a bunch of beginners over and over. At some point they should no longer be considered beginners. 

I believe that once you have won this jam, you have probably moved a bit past beginner status. I don't think that means you know everything there is to know about game dev, but you are probably experienced enough to move on to more competetive jams.

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way, but I saw that, and thought I should put this out there.

Yeah I see your point. It seems unfair to new developers.

How about this? people who won X consecutive times, can't be selected as winners, but they'll have their rank.

Basically, "You were ranked first in this jam, but since you've won the previous one or X consecutive times, we could not award to you this time".

So people who are here with the sole desire to boost their ego / beat up beginners, won't be here for long I guess... I just think that there's not many people like that. It's too much effort for little return... Also imagine their itch page, won 30 beginners jams or something like that ... it probably doesn't look very good, does it?

And though Learning should be the focus for beginners, a little competition helps. Seeing how your peers are doing can give you a glimpse of what's possible if you continue to work hard, it lets you know too how far behind you are.

So my thought are, if you're beginner, don't bother too much with who wins. As you learn more and become more experienced, you'll eventually join a "harder" jam yourself, in order to surround yourself with more skilled people and continue to improve...

after all, it's not fun being the super smart top student at first grade for 10 years..

Cheers ;)

I wouldn't say I am a beginner. I have been programming now for quite a while and have created some games. However, while I totally hear what the poster is getting at, this game jam is not ONLY for beginners, like he said. I don't care if I win or how many times, that's not why I am here. I am in this game jam for the community and because I wanted to be in a game jam where the owner is not just trying to promote himself, like all the other good game jams I have seen where they are.

I will probably stick around for the future jams but I have no interest in winning more than once or at all, I am just here for the fun of it and to improve my skills :D.