Pattern notability guidelines?

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praosylen
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Pattern notability guidelines?

Post by praosylen » December 29th, 2015, 10:56 am

There is a significant problem on these forums with (mostly) new users posting patterns they have found that are either long known or not notable in the slightest. I think that this problem could be solved by a set of clear notability guidelines akin to the one in the wiki.

Here's a start:
  • Methuselahs are not notable unless they last at least half as long as the longest lasting methuselah that has the same [number of cells, bounding box, etc.] and are not trivial spaceship collisions from far away.
  • Still lives are not notable unless they form naturally or can act as catalysts/eaters in a way that no smaller one can.
  • P2 oscillators are also not notable unless they form naturally or can act as catalysts/eaters in a way that no smaller one can (ASIDE: but I've only ever seen three p2s that can act as a catalyst in a non-trivial fashion: blinker, toad, and the griddle variant in the p22 TL hassler).
  • P3-6 and 8 oscillators are notable if they have an interesting property (natural, sparks, etc.) or are a reduction of something already known; other such oscillators should be relegated to the Useless Discoveries thread.
  • P7 and P9+ oscillators are generally notable, unless they are composed of two lower-period rotors.
  • P2 and P3 spaceships are not notable unless they have sparks or are edge-repair ships.
  • P4 c/2 spaceships are not notable.
  • Other P4 and P5 spaceships are not notable unless they are small, have sparks, or are edge-repair ships.
  • P6+ spaceships are generally notable.
  • Conduits are notable only if they turn one reasonably common active object into either another reasonably common active object, a reasonably uncommon stable object, or any spaceship; and they are not a trivial modification to something already known (except catalyst reductions).
  • Syntheses are notable only if they are for a reasonably uncommon object and they either cost at most two gliders more than the current best or they have some remarkable property like being slow, edgy, one-sided, etc.
  • No pattern deserves its own topic unless there is no topic available where the pattern could be posted or it is a major discovery that has been awaited for some time.
Obviously, this is not comprehensive. I have no idea what makes infinite growth patterns or spatially periodic patterns notable, for example. I have also broken these rules on occasion. However, a complete list of guidelines would probably make some difference in relation to the ongoing problem.
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drc
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Joined: December 3rd, 2015, 4:11 pm

Re: Pattern notability guidelines?

Post by drc » December 29th, 2015, 7:20 pm

Support, although I'm not sure with some of these.

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