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How To Improve Building Contests [Meta]
BlockMageTheGray
The Reach
I'm new to the whole building contest thing, and let me say first: it's a really great thing! It really got me excited to build again, and I had a lot of fun with it.
But after this first experience I'm feeling a little discouraged.
For one, I went a little bit smaller, detail-oriented with my build, but judging from the results so far, it's the mega huge builds that get all the diamonds. It's like the bigger the build, the more diamonds you can expect regardless of aesthetics. In MOST cases, I really don't think it's physically possible to place that many blocks individually in the amount of time the contest has been going on. And there's pretty much no way for the judges to prove or disprove the use of unapproved building tools.
On the other hand, I feel like I really nailed it with my presentation, but getting my build done somewhat early I feel like other people are stealing my idea. After posting Silvanarus: Ward Of The Woods, people posted "Bubonic: The Black Plague" and "Taranox: The Predator King" both thumbnail picks formatted exactly like what I did. "Minotaur Camp" used the same exact font that I used. But because I submitted early and came up with a unique, good-looking presentation, others can steal my format and I don't think I'm going to get any credit for my originality.
My solution: Building contests should take place on an official building server. It would be super easy to give contestants access to approved building tools like WorldEdit while banning the use of other hacks. Added bonus: it would be a really good thing for the community to get to build together.
Just an idea. Let me know what you think.
But after this first experience I'm feeling a little discouraged.
For one, I went a little bit smaller, detail-oriented with my build, but judging from the results so far, it's the mega huge builds that get all the diamonds. It's like the bigger the build, the more diamonds you can expect regardless of aesthetics. In MOST cases, I really don't think it's physically possible to place that many blocks individually in the amount of time the contest has been going on. And there's pretty much no way for the judges to prove or disprove the use of unapproved building tools.
On the other hand, I feel like I really nailed it with my presentation, but getting my build done somewhat early I feel like other people are stealing my idea. After posting Silvanarus: Ward Of The Woods, people posted "Bubonic: The Black Plague" and "Taranox: The Predator King" both thumbnail picks formatted exactly like what I did. "Minotaur Camp" used the same exact font that I used. But because I submitted early and came up with a unique, good-looking presentation, others can steal my format and I don't think I'm going to get any credit for my originality.
My solution: Building contests should take place on an official building server. It would be super easy to give contestants access to approved building tools like WorldEdit while banning the use of other hacks. Added bonus: it would be a really good thing for the community to get to build together.
Just an idea. Let me know what you think.
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I see your point but I fear the logistics would be difficult to overcome...
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#makeaticket
Heya, I like your idea, and all but the main issue is resources. PMC had a survival server at one point and closed due to the lack of moderation, which inevitably will happen to the contest server regardless if judges were moderating or if the site team was moderating. Besides, we're all unpaid human volunteers, anyway.
Also, there are plenty of servers that offer what you're thinking, plus a bunch more. PM me if you want a few so you can build whatever you desire. It's not exactly the best solution to your idea, but it's close enough where everyone can use it if they wished.
Concept and originality, in my judging view at least, means that your build in itself is an original idea and has a reasonable idea behind it. It should not be affected by your thumbnails, and hopefully, no one will dock you down a point or two because of it.
It's probably just a coincidence that people are using the same thumbnail style, as I used it at one point, but I do see the concern you have.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ping me I'll respond ASAP.
Heya, I like your idea, and all but the main issue is resources. PMC had a survival server at one point and closed due to the lack of moderation, which inevitably will happen to the contest server regardless if judges were moderating or if the site team was moderating. Besides, we're all unpaid human volunteers, anyway.
Also, there are plenty of servers that offer what you're thinking, plus a bunch more. PM me if you want a few so you can build whatever you desire. It's not exactly the best solution to your idea, but it's close enough where everyone can use it if they wished.
Concept and originality, in my judging view at least, means that your build in itself is an original idea and has a reasonable idea behind it. It should not be affected by your thumbnails, and hopefully, no one will dock you down a point or two because of it.
It's probably just a coincidence that people are using the same thumbnail style, as I used it at one point, but I do see the concern you have.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ping me I'll respond ASAP.
