Contests and Battles - Guidelines & Tips

by rabid squirrel Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:12 pm

Both contests and battles are open ended and user-run. This means that you, as members, will organize all contests and battles yourselves. Here is a list of what typically happens in a contest or battle, and some tips on how to run a good contest or battle.

Contests

Order of Events

You post a contest entry/info thread. It should probably explain:
- what the objective of the contest is
- what the constraints of the contest are (e.g. all blue)
- the prizes of the contest (award points be given to the winner by the staff after the contest is over if it is approved, additional prizes if any, will have to be provided by you.)
- about how long users will have to make their track
You get some entrants. You should probably have at least 5 or 6, and you will need to have at least 4 people complete the contest for award points to be given out. (once you start the contest, you should probably change the thread's title so people know entries are closed)
You get some entries to your contest. It is likely that some people who said they would enter will not actually enter, so don't wait for everyone.
You post a poll for the public to decide on the best video. Make sure to provide rules for the poll, and have it close after a given amount of time.
You PM a mod or admin and ask for them to give the contest winner award points. The mod or admin will give you 1-5 award points, based on the thing below. If the contest had a lot of good entries, the runner up may also get award points.

What the Staff will look for when giving out award points:

Creativity of contest
Number of completed entries
Skill and work involved in entries
Organization of contest
Length of contest (time)

Contest Tips:

Make your contest creative and new - nobody wants to enter a "best manual track" contest.
Make it somewhat easy to enter. An "all upwards blue Y axis contest" will likely not get many entries. (lol FC)
Don't make it too big of a task. A requirement of over 12,000 scenery lines is a bad idea.
Make it a reasonably long amount of time, but don't make it really long thinking that will get more entries. People will think they have plenty of time, and then forget about it.
Proofread your posts and think everything through!

----------

Battles

Order of Events

You post a challenge thread. It should probably explain:
- what the type of battle is, and what the constraints of the battle are (e.g. all blue)
- the prizes of the battle (trophies be given to the winner by the staff after the contest is over if it is approved, additional prizes if any, will have to be provided by you.)
- about how long your opposition will have to make their track
- who you would like to battle (a specific person, or a certain skill level)
You get someone to battle, and you agree on the constraints.
You both make your entries (you should probably change the thread's title so that people know the battle is underway)
You post a poll for the public to decide on the best video. Make sure to provide rules for the poll, and have it close after a given amount of time.
You PM a mod or admin and ask for them to give the battle winner award points. The mod or admin will give you trophies based on the things below.

What the Staff will look for when giving out trophies:

Creativity of battle type
Skill and work involved in entries
Equality of match
Organization of battle
Length of battle (time)

Battle Tips:

Don't make it too big of a task. A requirement of over 12,000 scenery lines is a bad idea.
Choose someone who is a good match for you in skill level.
Make it a reasonably long amount of time.
Proofread your posts and think everything through!

----------

Ask if you have any questions!