Signature of the Week contest reaches 100th competition!

[† poetictragedy]

Next week's Signature of the Week marks Kametsu's 100th competition since the Graphics Team restarted the weekly contest in 2010! The contest will keep on going strong, don't you worry. However, after the 100th competition, some changes will be implemented.

• A new contest banner! It's similar to the current one, but I figured we could freshen things up a little.
  
• Pre-made signatures will now be allowed! This means that any signatures made for purposes other than Kametsu contests can be entered. Signatures previously entered in our SOTW competitions are still invalid entries. And watch out, I've got a pretty good memory. I will find you.
  
• Themes will be reset! I know some of the recent contestants have been complaining that all the good themes are taken. Well, your prayers have been answered! Starting with SOTW #101, all themes will be fair game! You're welcome.

If anyone has any other suggestions to improve the competitions (or anything in the Graphical Division, for that matter), let any of the Graphics Team members (me or Apollo) know, and we'll take your ideas into consideration. One thing that always bothers me is closing the poll. Is deleting the poll the best way to go? The only other option would be to close the whole thread, and we've been asked before not to do that. So I don't even know.

And also, thanks for all the time spent and hard work that everyone has put into these competitions. We couldn't keep them going without willing participants.

So now that it's going on 4am, I'll catch you on the flipside.

Edited December 31, 2012 by poetictragedy

[† Emotional Outlet]

There's a hook for closing polls that Koby would have to implement, but it doesn't seem compatible with our current software. Maybe Java or one of the more savvy folk around here might be able to get things together better than me, haha.

One of the things another forum I visit on occasion does is have a separate discussion thread from the actual contest thread. To be more exact, you'd have a thread for entries only, and all discussion goes into a separate thread. This way you can close the actual entry thread with the poll, but people will still be able to discuss the contest in a separate thread. For larger contests, this is pretty much a must, because the people who are judging don't want to scroll by fifty pages of chatter. It's not a problem here since it's a smaller community, but it's something to keep in mind.

But yeah, sweet deal on the changes. Here's to another hundred SOTW contests~

[Alice]

I think fine are fine the way they are on the voting poll issue. Just taking out the vote section and putting the result down on the thread seems to be just fine to me.

I'll always, for as long as I'm able to, will be a participant. I like the new changes being put in. It'll be a nice to use those themes that were already used before I started into participating.

[The Welsh Paddy]

Well, this isn't SOTW related, but how about maybe holding a GFX of the month contest? It would cover a wider variety of graphics such as posters, book/magazine covers, etc. I think it would be pretty neat adding a bit more variety to the graphics section. Other than that, I think everything is dandy!

[spidey5443]

I can suggest you guys a different method of voting which helps in solving the given problem. But, it's a little different, you need to post to vote and you can vote for three signatures in giving them first place, second and third. And first place gets 3points, second gets 2 points and third gets 1 point.....sort of makes the competition more competitive, imo

Like example:

First place: Dreamcaster

Second place: Poetictragedy

Third place: EO

So by my vote, Dreamcaster gets 3pts, Poe gets 2pts and EO gets 1pt.

And in this type of voting also you can't vote for yourself. If you have any doubts in the above crappy explanation I've given let me know and I'll try to explain further.

@poe: The second rule should have been applied earlier for the SOTW99 I could have entered my mugetsu sig ;(

lol

Edited January 1, 2013 by spidey5443

[lolrawr]

Congratulations guys! I wish I was good with the wand and be able to participate in these types of things, but alas I am not. Instead I will continue my duty of voting and giving really bad rational for why I did so!

Also it's fitting that we get to 100 by the end of the year.

[† poetictragedy]

I can suggest you guys a different method of voting which helps in solving the given problem. But, it's a little different, you need to post to vote and you can vote for three signatures in giving them first place, second and third. And first place gets 3points, second gets 2 points and third gets 1 point.....sort of makes the competition more competitive, imo

Like example:

First place: Dreamcaster

Second place: Poetictragedy

Third place: EO

So by my vote, Dreamcaster gets 3pts, Poe gets 2pts and EO gets 1pt.

And in this type of voting also you can't vote for yourself. If you have any doubts in the above crappy explanation I've given let me know and I'll try to explain further.

No, I know what you mean. Another forum I used to visit did this type of voting and it did help eliminate ties most of the time. Maybe we can try it out and see how it works? I believe what they did was have like four separate threads: Entries, Voting, Results, and Discussion. Now, I thought that was a little cluttered, but I could see maybe doing two threads: Entries/Voting/Results, and one separate for Discussions, like EO mentioned. Then I could just edit the main post in the contest thread for votings and results. I think I might give this a try... I'll outline all of the details when the time comes. If there are no staff objections.

@poe: The second rule should have been applied earlier for the SOTW99 I could have entered my mugetsu sig ;(

lol

SORRY. You could win, use the theme, then use it.

EDIT: I just had a thought. Banner of the Month. What if we only did BOTM competitions semi-regularly? Like when there's a season change or holiday? I, for one, hate making banners, so I tend not to enter every single contest, simply because I run out of ideas. Also the new banners aren't always added regularly anyway.

Just a rough list:

• January: Valentine's Day?
  
• February: Spring
  
• May: Summer
  
• September: Halloween
  
• October: Autumn? I thought we'd need to get the Halloween ones out by November, but I dunno.
  
• November: Christmas
  
• December: Winter

I know there could be other holidays, but I didn't know how many global holidays there are. So I didn't add like Thanksgiving or July 4th, because those are strictly American. Also, we've been doing the holiday banners a month before the actual holiday, to give them time to be added and admired; I just kept that going for all of the months. There is a blaring problem with my list: Between September and January, that's still a competition every month, whoops. So yeah, maybe this is just me babbling nonsense at you, and it won't actually work.

EDIT #2: I just realized that changing the BOTM like that wouldn't give us any general banners. I don't know what I'm talking about. My brain doesn't work when I'm sick.

Edited January 1, 2013 by poetictragedy

[Alice]

Well, this isn't SOTW related, but how about maybe holding a GFX of the month contest? It would cover a wider variety of graphics such as posters, book/magazine covers, etc. I think it would be pretty neat adding a bit more variety to the graphics section. Other than that, I think everything is dandy!

Instead of having the banner contest monthly, have it more on those days you listed, Poe...but instead...doing this idea. Something more grandiose and challenging. It also would be easier to accomplish. Wallpapers, posters. book/magazine covers, etc., and like the SOTW contest the theme/idea for the next be chosen by the winner.

I can suggest you guys a different method of voting which helps in solving the given problem. But, it's a little different, you need to post to vote and you can vote for three signatures in giving them first place, second and third. And first place gets 3points, second gets 2 points and third gets 1 point.....sort of makes the competition more competitive, imo

Like example:

First place: Dreamcaster

Second place: Poetictragedy

Third place: EO

So by my vote, Dreamcaster gets 3pts, Poe gets 2pts and EO gets 1pt.

And in this type of voting also you can't vote for yourself. If you have any doubts in the above crappy explanation I've given let me know and I'll try to explain further.

@poe: The second rule should have been applied earlier for the SOTW99 I could have entered my mugetsu sig ;(

lol

I like this idea as well. It would help to eliminate ties more frequently. This is something I would like to try as well.

EDIT: I just had a thought. Banner of the Month. What if we only did BOTM competitions semi-regularly? Like when there's a season change or holiday? I, for one, hate making banners, so I tend not to enter every single contest, simply because I run out of ideas. Also the new banners aren't always added regularly anyway.

Just a rough list:

• January: Valentine's Day?
  
• February: Spring
  
• May: Summer
  
• September: Halloween
  
• October: Autumn? I thought we'd need to get the Halloween ones out by November, but I dunno.
  
• November: Christmas
  
• December: Winter
  

I know there could be other holidays, but I didn't know how many global holidays there are. So I didn't add like Thanksgiving or July 4th, because those are strictly American. Also, we've been doing the holiday banners a month before the actual holiday, to give them time to be added and admired; I just kept that going for all of the months. There is a blaring problem with my list: Between September and January, that's still a competition every month, whoops. So yeah, maybe this is just me babbling nonsense at you, and it won't actually work.

EDIT #2: I just realized that changing the BOTM like that wouldn't give us any general banners. I don't know what I'm talking about. My brain doesn't work when I'm sick.

Instead of having the banner contest monthly, have it more on those days you listed, Poe...but instead...doing this idea. Something more grandiose and challenging. It also would be easier to accomplish. Wallpapers, posters. book/magazine covers, etc., and like the SOTW contest the theme/idea for the next be chosen by the winner.

...but also as you said that wouldn't give us general ones...

[Breathless]

I can suggest you guys a different method of voting which helps in solving the given problem. But, it's a little different, you need to post to vote and you can vote for three signatures in giving them first place, second and third. And first place gets 3points, second gets 2 points and third gets 1 point.....sort of makes the competition more competitive, imo

Like example:

First place: Dreamcaster

Second place: Poetictragedy

Third place: EO

So by my vote, Dreamcaster gets 3pts, Poe gets 2pts and EO gets 1pt.

And in this type of voting also you can't vote for yourself. If you have any doubts in the above crappy explanation I've given let me know and I'll try to explain further.

@poe: The second rule should have been applied earlier for the SOTW99 I could have entered my mugetsu sig ;(

lol

I don't think this will increase competitiveness. Let's say 10 people vote for Dreamcastor as #1 and Welshpaddy #2 and finally #3 for EO. The points become 30-20-10. The difference between first and second is still 10points with those 10votes. It does eliminate ties though, so that's good enough of a reason to try it I guess. ^^,

'snip'

Instead of having the banner contest monthly, have it more on those days you listed, Poe...but instead...doing this idea. Something more grandiose and challenging. It also would be easier to accomplish. Wallpapers, posters. book/magazine covers, etc., and like the SOTW contest the theme/idea for the next be chosen by the winner.

...but also as you said that wouldn't give us general ones...

As for the banners, I think how the system is now is fine. Having special themes for the holidays (Christmas, Halloween and Valentines Day), and then the rest - generic. Naturally, if someone wants to do a seasonal banner on a generic month that's fine.

Also, having something like a GFX sounds awesome! The only thing I can see is that people might get too busy with each SOTW, BOTM and GFXOTM that some competitions may end up as a ghost town. Perhaps each GFX competition should be for each holiday? That might be too restrictive though.

If we are changing the voting system of SOTW to a first-place, second-place and third-place thing, maybe we can put some more importance on the places other than #1. For example, let the themes #1 and #2 picked be available next week. Or maybe if someone comes first two or three times in a row, #2 can pick the theme. and if #1 and #2 are the same the following weeks, #3 picks?

Having a discussion thread sounds okay! True Kametsu isn't the biggest forum so it may seem a bit redundant but I think it would be good to have. For example, with the BOTM we could discuss changing certain months to themed-months beforehand. "Oh, Valentines Day is next month, do you guys want a generic month or a valentines BOTM?" - Haha.

Anyway, the changes so far sound great! Thankyou for your hardwork Apollo and Poe. (and contestants, admins and voters)

[spidey5443]

@Poe: Four Separate threads would be too much. The second option is better. Entries/Voting/Results and Discussion, ftw. Glad everybody liked the idea!

Use the theme and then use it? xD

Btw, poe where's the SOTW winner button? lol It's been almost 2yrs, huh? lol. We could make 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place buttons for the winners to use 'em in their sig place?

I can't really help with the BOTM discussion........I sort of like the way it is.....but I can't be so sure.....plus I don't have any ideas for it.....

@Breathless:

Agreed! Too many competitions and people tend to leave them as ghost town. But, I don't know if it will be good to keep "each GFX competition should be for each holiday".

"The importance on the places" sounds a little complicated....think the staff will remember it? xD

[† poetictragedy]

Oh goodness, this discussion is getting so complex. @_@

I guess for now we'll just leave the BOTM as is.

Btw, poe where's the SOTW winner button? lol It's been almost 2yrs, huh? lol. We could make 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place buttons for the winners to use 'em in their sig place?

I used to make userbar-type thingies for people to use in their signatures, but they were difficult for me to make (because apparently, I can't do long, skinny things, rawr), and people didn't really use them. :/

For the other GFX of the Month contest, if you guys want it, I'd be happy to host it for you. It's obvious that our SOTW is the most popular contest. I used to do a Signature of the Month poll (using all the winning SOTW entries from one month), but kind of stopped. And many of the people that enter the SOTW also do requests, so I could see having a SOTW, BOTM, GFXOTM, and also doing requests could get a little out of hand. But hey, I may not enter, but like I said, I'd host it.

If we are changing the voting system of SOTW to a first-place, second-place and third-place thing, maybe we can put some more importance on the places other than #1. For example, let the themes #1 and #2 picked be available next week. Or maybe if someone comes first two or three times in a row, #2 can pick the theme. and if #1 and #2 are the same the following weeks, #3 picks?

The forum I mentioned that used to use the point system? Entrants also used to request a "prize" (usually pertaining to their account settings, i.e. colored username, sparkly username, large avatar picture, etc.) to be used for a week. Now I wouldn't mind doing something like this, but I don't know what options we have on the forum, the Graphics Team has no way to edit those options, and I wouldn't want to make some other, busier senior staff member do it for us.

As a side note, this forum has now switched to giving out points (similar to our old Gil system), that can be used to buy various modifications.

As far as the theme thingy Breathless mentioned, what we could do is like a lottery. Y'know, put the numbers 1-3 into a hat, so to speak, draw one out, and that place number is the theme we'll use. That might be an even fairer way to choose themes, because sometimes one person will win like three weeks in a row.

Edited January 1, 2013 by poetictragedy

[The Welsh Paddy]

Well, from what I hear, I think Dreamcastor was suggesting something along the lines of mixing in the BOTM contest with a general GFXOTM contest. So rather than having a monthly banner contest, it could be mixed in as part of a contest involving making various other kinds of graphics?

[† Emotional Outlet]

I was going to say, you could alternate general graphics competitions (things like wallpapers, &c) with the banner competitions, so you wouldn't have to make a banner every month--so something similar to what Paddy and Dreamcastor are saying. You can still have themes, and it'd give the banners up top a bit more air time since they'll be up for two months instead of swapping out every month.

I'd help out more with forum stuff like sidebar trophies and the like, but I don't have lots of power, haha. I know Koby has his hands full with a baby on the way, but Ren still pops in.

The point system sounds good to me--it may or may not increase competitiveness, but it can help people see where they stand. How it is now, you only really see people's first choices. Sometimes people will discuss their second and third choices in a post, though not everyone does it.

[The Welsh Paddy]

Maybe making feedback mandatory? Or would that put people off from voting? I know I haven't been one to do this as often as I'd like, but I guess it would help if more people left feedback in these contests, especially for the entries that they don't vote for. I can imagine some people finding it quite daunting/demoralising if they enter such a competition, get no votes whatsoever and not a single positive remark about their entry.

[† Emotional Outlet]

I don't like mandatory feedback, because that can quickly dissolve into feedback about the feedback and people disagreeing with each other. And honestly, I don't like it when people put feedback and crits in the contest threads. Not everyone is soliciting crit.

Maybe if people can opt out of receiving crit, but even then you can't demand that people have to say something nice about someone else's work. Mandatory fun, so to speak, doesn't work, haha.

[Breathless]

The point system sounds good to me--it may or may not increase competitiveness, but it can help people see where they stand. How it is now, you only really see people's first choices. Sometimes people will discuss their second and third choices in a post, though not everyone does it.

Oh, you're absolutely right. That never even crossed my mind!

And about the mandatory feedback - I agree with EO. I mean, personally I don't mind people giving me feedback in the contest thread but when I'm out for feedback I'll post in my showcase and would like the feedback in the showcase, not the contest thread.

[Alice]

I was going to say, you could alternate general graphics competitions (things like wallpapers, &c) with the banner competitions, so you wouldn't have to make a banner every month--so something similar to what Paddy and Dreamcastor are saying. You can still have themes, and it'd give the banners up top a bit more air time since they'll be up for two months instead of swapping out every month.

I'd help out more with forum stuff like sidebar trophies and the like, but I don't have lots of power, haha. I know Koby has his hands full with a baby on the way, but Ren still pops in.

The point system sounds good to me--it may or may not increase competitiveness, but it can help people see where they stand. How it is now, you only really see people's first choices. Sometimes people will discuss their second and third choices in a post, though not everyone does it.

That sounds excellent and what I was trying to get at. BOTM has pretty much been abandon it seems. Mixing GFX and BOTM together would work wonders. Do BOTM every other month and GFX the other months. Say having the BOTM On January, March, May, July, September, and November...so it would still work out for the holidays Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's day. Then have the GFX contest on February, April, June, August, October, and December. This way it keeps all happy. Koby doesn't have to as constantly keep up with putting the new banners into rotation, brings more life into the monthly contest, and provides new and exciting challenges. Putting that extra spice into it would help to improve since the BOTM seems so barren the last few months.

[EDIT] It would be fun to also implement the theme choice system that the SOTW contest has into the monthly contest...provide a challenge. This part is not as important.

I really love these contest and care about them a lot. So I'm trying to suggest what would make all happy.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Dreamcastor