CHASM - contest idea

Alrighty, with the latest FArt contest kind of, sort of completed, I was thinking of a different sort of similar contest. I wanted something still CoH centered and themed but I was hoping for something a bit more flexible…

*So below is my idea. *

At this point it is JUST an idea…

Please feel free to comment on what you like or do not like about any or all of the rules. If you don’t like something, please explain why and offer suggestions on a better rule if you have them. This outline is just a quick idea I had at work and is not meant to be airtight and perfect.

And artists - Let me know if you are interested in this kind of contest or not. If not, there’s really no point, right? You’re thoughts, ideas and suggestions will be even more valuable for without your participation the whole thing is moot.

And with that, I present for your consideration…. **

CHASM - City of Heroes Art Scramble Marathon

General Outline of Contest:

This contest is structured so that anyone can enter at any point from the first month until the last. Obviously being in from the get go will give you a better chance to win, and after some point you’ll be mathematically eliminated, but the main point is fun so join in whenever is good for you.

The contest will be a series of Head to Head matches between the artists competing. Each month all artists will be working on the same theme as all the others but their entry will only be voted on in relation to one other artist’s entry. Each month’s winner of the individual Head to Head matches will receive points for that month, no points awarded for not winning. At the contest’s stated end the artist with the most points will be declared the winner. If two or more artists are tied in points there will be a Sudden Death Theme declared and all those tied with the most points will have a chance to complete an artwork based upon that theme. The winner will be decided in an open vote pitting them all against the others rather than head to head.*

Which artist is competing against which other artist each month will be determined randomly. I’m leaning towards names in a hat unless I think of something better. This means artists may square off more than once or even multiple times in a row. Them’s the breaks of letting chance have a role…

If there is an odd number of contestants then one head to head match will randomly be a three way match but with the rule of only the winner getting that months points still applying. Again, them’s the vagaries of chance…

If there is a tie in a Head to Head battle (or three way) then the points for that month will be split evenly amongst the competitors tied.

Points:
The number of points each month is worth will be predetermined to the start of the contest but NOT made public. No one month will be worth enough points to catapult someone to a win since obviously there would have been other head to head matches that month. Months will each be worth between 1 and however many months the contest is running. If it’s a year long contest than each month could be worth between 1 and 12 points. The idea of this is to keep anyone from dropping out because they feel they have no chance to win due to some early losses or such. **

I haven’t thought too deeply on this yet but I want to keep it something similar as I like the idea of entrants having no idea where they are until the end…

Schedule:
I will announce each month’s theme on the first of the month. Entries will be due on the last day of the month by noon Eastern time. Failure to post a working link to your entry by that time means you are not competing that month. There is no penalty for not competing in a month except for the inability to gain points that month. I will randomly decide whose piece is up against whose sometime after the noon deadline (so I know how many entries there are) and hopefully before noon of the next day. Real life may interfere but I don’t have much of one so it usually shouldn’t. Voting will commence immediately after I announce the match ups and last for 7 days. *Give or take a few hours… (If it starts on a Monday I will announce voting closed sometime on the next Monday - I’m not going to worry about exact times so vote early!)

Artists will not need to wait and see if they won before starting to work on the new theme as there are no eliminations.*

Themes and Content:
All themes would be CoH related. My intent is to keep them very vague so that the artists have as much room to maneuver as possible. As long as the artist can somehow make some kind of coherent verbal argument as to how his piece is applicable to the theme then it will be a valid entry. Whether or not the piece fits the theme enough to get each individual voters vote is up to that voter.

As far as content, each piece MUST contain at least one character that actually exists in City of Heroes. It can be an NPC (though if you choose the newsman, a pedestrian or the like the MUST be recognizable as such.) or a player’s character. It can be the artists personal character or someone else’s (with permission, of course) - I’d prefer the artists spread the art love but that is up to them. *The only characters which cannot be used to meet this requirement are those of the person running the contest (me) and those who you do not get permission from - tacit approval is fine for those who are always open to free art but get explicit approval if there is any doubt.

This is my Spread the Love rule - originally I was going to make every entry include a player’s character but decided not to force that issue, just to nudge them towards it.

Content of the piece in other regards is totally up to the artist. If you are going adult themed then remember about CoH’s two click rule.*

Misc:
Artists are responsible for hosting their art and providing a valid link (or two-click link) to it. I’m going to have links posted instead of the actual art so as when the voting post is put up those going head to head will be next to one another and the random placement of the art being posted in entries won’t confuse the matter…

Voting will be open to anyone who has a valid CoH account as voters will be required to post their votes on the CoH forums. Voters must vote in each of the Head to Head competitions for it to be a good vote.*

More may be added as it’s suggested or thought of, this is a work in progress.

Anything not already covered is at the person running the contest’s discretion… I will be as fair as possible and try to write up a rule covering any situations that may arise that hadn’t been thought of before… But my judgment is the final ruling in those cases no matter what public or private opinion may be.

Prize:
Yes indeed there is a prize for the winner! *

My intention is for there to be a prize for each run of this CHASM contest. Ideally it would be an annual thing but realistically it may end up being a sporadic or one time thing. *shrug* *It’ll mainly be up to the entrants.*

The winner for each CHASM I run will be a trophy and some other prize to be determined… (may be cash, may be a commission from someone for the winning artist’s character, may be a DA subscription… I just haven’t decided yet.)*

I like the idea that artists can come and go as they please but it does have Marathon in it’s name for a reason… I like the idea of there being a reward for the artists who was there and there with quality often enough to win it all.




So there you have it… No feel free to rip it to shreds or ignore it altogether.*

I don get it. youre saying you want to battle me?

I think this is going in the opposite direction. If you have an even more cutthroat competition and a prize with monetary value at the end, then take the current FArt dramah and magnify it by a large factor. If people are willing to get catty over something that means nothing, just imagine what it'll be like when it's a fight over cash.

OMGosh I'm going to say it..... I agree with Suichiro.

Just make it a monthly Art Jam type thing with a theme and be done with it. People can join or not. If it burns out it burns out and maybe this type of thing just isn't viable here anymore....

I have to say one of the things I used to like about Nazghul's costume contests was the fact that he chose a winner and explained his reasoning behind it. I really don't remember much drama from that. Also it did have a prize but it was a prize that he personally did as opposed to just giving money or awarding art from someone else. Which I realize that isn't an option for people like me with no talent but it's also one of the MANY reason's I wouldn't run something like this that has a prize attached to it.

Just my $.02.

Alrighty, cash prize equals the ultimate evil. Is the consensus against contests altogether now or would it be worthwhile to continue trying to discuss the best format?

Art Jam.

It goes good on toast and hot babes.

I'd be cool with that - to me it's all about seeing cool game arts by the artists who play the game and contests just seemed a way to prompt that... But regular jams would be awesome. I just suspect they'd be better led by someone who could contribute to them...

But yeah, if it took off I think a regular CoH Jam. Would be best... (sides, I like the fact I pronounce CoH Jam to rhyme with Toe Jam in my head.. Yeah, I am easily amused...)

Personally I prefer jelly, grape jelly. But I guess Jam works. I also thought this was the "Caem Has A Small Mind" Contest Idea thread so I was dissappointed to see it was "so serious"

Pfffft!

Remember, it's not the size of the mind, it's the drugs you use to kill it that counts!

Ya, but all those things mentioned have cash value.

For me it's not just the CASH prize possibility as it is the prize in general. I really only come to this section for the arts and usually cool attitudes, not the drama. If you don't think adding tangible prizes will cause added drama then I don't know that I could say anything to change your mind. Personally I think it will. I haven't watched enough of the prize giving "contests" on DA to be a judge. But I have been witness to enough people in this world to know it is a high possibility.

I know Caem's intention with the prize is more than likely thought of as a "thank you for joining" type prize and appreciate the sentiment. But if what we/you are looking for is bringing people together to showcase art of a semilar theme why does there NEED to be a prize?

I think I'm rambling now and in the end have no bearing on this as I don't have art to contribute so I'm probably done with this now. Contest on, Garth!

ANYWAY... Not running this so we may as well all move on!

PS - You're right, too much drama no matter what...

VexXxa - I've NEVER mooned anyone on these boards... Unless they happened to be dressed like a nun and riding in a bus down route 33 last Friday night around 3am. And if that is the case, sorry


And why am I still awake???

Terribly sorry for agreeing with someone else's comment on a message board. And thinking the prizes would be of cash value since every one of his example WAS something of value...

And also, this contest is NOT quite the same as what Caemgen's done before. Yes, he's generously given away a lot of prizes.. but these would involve quite a fair bit larger commitment on behalf of the participants. It makes a difference.

Just because I agree that it wouldn't be a great idea is NOT me just crapping all over something to be rude. Its because I just ran a similar contest with LESS stakes and it wasn't exactly a walk through the park. I see where Suichiro is coming from, and I added my agreement in an effort to spare Caemgen WORSE problems than I was just dealing with. Since I had a bit of experience doing something similar, I felt it was the friendly thing to say "Yeah... this has a lot of potential for blowing up in your face." He even agrees!

Of course he can do whatever he pleases... but I find it much nicer to give someone a warning rather than letting them learn the hard way.

how would you go about giving someone a cash prize anyway?? eerrrr..just assuming someone ELSE had any questions about such a thing.

Money order, cash transfer, Paypal, there's plenty of ways.

I'm gonna just put my hat in the ring here to be given the cash prizes for no effort.