08-13-2004, 12:40 PM
I will probably be leaving before the deadline for my not-yet proposed Autumn Contest ever comes around -- assuming all goes according to plan, I could be gone by mid-October. Many of you may realize I've been doing the site contests for a fairly regular basis lately, but there are a few factors tha lead to my decision to cancel the contests indefinitely.
The first is quite simple: I won't be here. Without me, the only regular judge, the source of the contests, and possibly the largest motivating force in them, will be gone. I'm not trying to be egotistical, but I have a contest ready in time for every start date, and I worry I may be the only person involved with the site who cares about it moving on at all.
The second is related: All summer I've gotten either 0 or 1 contest entry in these contests -- Default victories aren't fair to the authors who receive them or to the authors who don't participate. At least with 2 entries there's some degree of competition, but it seems there's no real interest in the contests any longer, which means it's time for the contests to move out before people complain about the lack of competition and/or interest in them.
The third is more of a site issue. The site doesn't seem to update more often than simply "when Chibi Rena feels like it", and that leads to a bit of bad feedback for the site, which means people may tend to avoid the forums and contests, thinking nobody will ever notice. Honestly, it seems as though the contests aren't the only thing disappearing around the DaD, but everything about them.
If updates could become regular, routine -- even as little as updating once every month -- authors and artists would certainly feel more inclined to send in their work, knowing it would show up on a regular basis. If I put a story on Mediaminer it's immediately up, no delay for the webmaster to handle it. If I send a story to the DHZ, it goes up the next day, or else I get an e-mail telling me why. There's a reason the DHZ may be more popular, and I'll be honest about it right now -- regular updates.
Anyhow... this is about the contest that will not be, however I will still include the rules here, because the concept is, I hope, still a good one.
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Autumn 2004 Contest
The first is quite simple: I won't be here. Without me, the only regular judge, the source of the contests, and possibly the largest motivating force in them, will be gone. I'm not trying to be egotistical, but I have a contest ready in time for every start date, and I worry I may be the only person involved with the site who cares about it moving on at all.
The second is related: All summer I've gotten either 0 or 1 contest entry in these contests -- Default victories aren't fair to the authors who receive them or to the authors who don't participate. At least with 2 entries there's some degree of competition, but it seems there's no real interest in the contests any longer, which means it's time for the contests to move out before people complain about the lack of competition and/or interest in them.
The third is more of a site issue. The site doesn't seem to update more often than simply "when Chibi Rena feels like it", and that leads to a bit of bad feedback for the site, which means people may tend to avoid the forums and contests, thinking nobody will ever notice. Honestly, it seems as though the contests aren't the only thing disappearing around the DaD, but everything about them.
If updates could become regular, routine -- even as little as updating once every month -- authors and artists would certainly feel more inclined to send in their work, knowing it would show up on a regular basis. If I put a story on Mediaminer it's immediately up, no delay for the webmaster to handle it. If I send a story to the DHZ, it goes up the next day, or else I get an e-mail telling me why. There's a reason the DHZ may be more popular, and I'll be honest about it right now -- regular updates.
Anyhow... this is about the contest that will not be, however I will still include the rules here, because the concept is, I hope, still a good one.
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Autumn 2004 Contest