Banner Contests

[Panzram]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this.

Ritatalia had a wonderful idea regarding banners and from that, I got another idea regarding such as well. 'Ere is the link to 'er idea.


Ay, so my idea was... Banner Contests.
Assuming the Staff would take this into consideration, I believe a lot of members would have a bit more fun now that they're able to not only create presets, but banners to be displayed up there and pop up by chance every time they refresh or switch to a different page on the forums.

I think I saw someone say that the site needed new and fresh banners, as they are the same screenshots and edits from perhaps the start of the game or later. This would be a wonderful idea and whether it's Feral-Heart related screenshots, edits, or drawings, it could be allowed up there if it takes the first place win. Multiple banners can be chosen as well, and cycle through randomly like it already does now.

Now, kind of merging in with Rita's idea- If there was an event coming up soon, I think it'd be fun for members to create a simple banner for that sole purpose. Or the Staff can make it themselves and use it as a default event notifier. Whichever works and of course, this entire idea is completely up to the Staff.

[ThrillexForLife]

Indeed we have had banner contests in the past and it would be nice to see them make a return however there have been a few draw backs as to why we haven't had more recently. For one most of the staff team is busy with their own projects as well as the numerous current contests and events we have. It takes a lot of work, time, effort, and planning just to set up for a particular event for instance. We also have been refreshing the site by cleaning boards recently and updating rules and stickies, thus if we did decide to resurrect the banner contest we would also have to rethink how we hold it, judge it, and what particular rules and themes will be set for it.

We have had a few discussions about resurrecting this old contest recently but as Vespian stated we haven't gotten to a solid decision yet due to a few issues that emerge each time we consider the idea. This isn't to say that we will never have banner contests again though. The main issue has been deciding upon themes that are mostly Feral Heart & Community related but do not focus solely on one particular group too much. The wider the audience that the theme relates to the better. The idea is that the contest shouldn't be held too often so that means that the banners themselves need to be fairly relevant for at least the time of a year. We are trying to avoid any seasonal themes although I do like the MOTS banner that you suggested. Also since most of our events & contests are now seasonal we may have to reconsider exactly how often we will be changing the banners and if we can keep up with it. Perhaps for the preset contest banner we can show the particular years winners instead of the seasons winners to cut down on the frequency need to change the banner.

Due to the amount of events & contests that we already have with a limited staff team we wouldn't want to exhaust our resources or the staffy themselves. We have had delays in the past with preset contest judging and prizes so we don't want that to happen again. We want that each of our contests and events are held in a timely and orderly fashion. For that reason we would need to formulate a steady schedule with the banner contest to assure that it doesn't impede with the schedule of any of the other contests or events. Although the prize of the banner contest is simply a banner and that shouldn't be to demanding on the staff it's the general organization, theme, and management that concerns us.

 I will definitely bring up the concept of banner contests again to see if we can perhaps get a little more progress discussion wise but it may be a bit of time before you see this type of thing making a come back. On a positive note though we did make a fairly good amount of progress on the structure of the contest itself as well as judging etc.

On behalf of the entire staff team we thank you all for your feedback and appreciate your efforts to suggest new and different ways to keep the community engaged and entertained.

Feel free to suggest more themes here if you like.

[Panzram]

I haven't been active on the forums at all last year and as a result, I've missed that particular discussion. Thank ye' for posting it 'ere for my viewing pleasure but considering it was brought around almost a year ago, perhaps some changes have been considered or made already? I'll still help by sparing some solutions and other ideas, and see what other members and perhaps the Staff have to think of it.

I can understand how creating events and contests such as this take a lot of time and effort to make it as successful as it should be. How to "hold it, judge it, and what particular rules and themes will be set for it" can very much be an obstacle but worked through nonetheless. I've held and seen banner contests before in different communities and it truly is a hassle to maintain, but it's still fun for the members and of course for those who are judging. I'd like to suggest a few ways to hold these contests, themes, and, of course, the rules that can be set up and altered by choice.

How often these contests should be held is entirely up to the Staff but I have a feeling that it is still an issue. I had an idea that a contest was held sometime at the beginning of the year, and would repeat the next year and so on. The only issue with that is that it's such a large pause between the first contest and the next. It's possible it could be forgotten about completely and those who have entered in their banners might lose their patience or interest as they wait to see their work displayed up there. This idea could be a flop, but I thought it'd lower the chances of exhausting the Staff members if it was only focused on once a year. To bring a theme in here- seasonal banners. I saw there in that quote that there seemed to be an issue regarding seasonals, as so many other contests and events are held at around the same time frame and things can surely get confusing. Ay, and when I see "seasonal," I think of the legitimate seasons such a Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Does there really have to be a set theme for these banners such as video games, activities, music or whatnot?

Perhaps these banners can just focus on the seasons. Presets could be for those various themes, and the banner can be completely up to the creativity of the member so long as it takes place in the corresponding season. When to hold these if such is the case:
- A Summer Banner Contest can be started on the first day of Spring [ March 20th ] and ended anytime before the first day of Summer. That way, all the Spring banners from before are displayed while the Staff collect Summer banners during Spring and be ready to place them up there at the start of Summer.
- Autumn Banner contest can be held on the first day of Summer [ June 20th or 21st ] to any time before the first day of Autumn. Repeat the same as before.
- Winter Banner contest held on the first day of Autumn [ September 23rd ] to any time before the first day of Winter.
- Spring Banner contest held on the first day of Winter [ December 22nd ] and so on.
I'm not too certain if this'll work and I believe the Preset Contests follow this schedule as well, ye?

As for rules, perhaps it could go something like this:
I. One entry per member.
II. Your entry must be your work only. Any stock images used from other sources must be credited to the owner.
III. Your banner must be Feral-Heart related of course. The season is [ Summer,Winter,Spring,Autumn ].
IV. No inappropriate or questionable items in your banner. No group advertising involved, either.
V. Late entries will not be accepted. They are to be submitted before or on the day of the deadline given.
These can always be changed if needed. I'm not too certain of these either but ay.

Of course these are just ideas. Suggestions. Perhaps the issues still remain today and there is just no luck in having banner contests reappear. There's no trouble in that. I honestly don't think what I suggested would be of any use or maybe it was thought of already. If I'm repeating anyone from before, then I do apologize. Feel free to lock this topic as well if deemed pointless at the time. I want to take into consideration how much is already going on at the moment and if Banner Contests will just cause trouble for the future, then please do dismiss this thread completely. I don't want to exhaust anyone.