Contest Announcements

[Zombie]

Why announce contests?

For the most part, contests do not seem to gather very much attention. It seems as though, most contests receive very few votes, and makes winning seem trivial. Having announcements would most likely increase the activity for the contests, as well as the amount of votes.​

Where should the contests be announced?

I suggest an announcement section on the main page. Instead of having a category for Popular Threads this week (which seems useless next to the hottest threads) we instead have a "Contests in Voting."​

What are the benefits of this?

Most people enter contests to have their works seen by more people. By announcing the contests, even more people will see their work. Winning the contests will also be more difficult, as there will be a larger audience voting. People also complain of favoritism in the voting, this will also aid in abating that issue as people without a personal preference in the contestants will also be voting.​

In conclusion

By announcing the contests on the main page, overall activity will improve, more people will be voting, there will be less favoritism in the votes, and winning contests will seem like more of an accomplishment.​

Do discuss, add input, and correct me where I may be wrong.

 

[Nara..]

cool. + rep.

EDIT: You are right, cause for the most time, I don't even notice that there is going to be a contest or is a contest.

 

[-Avenger-]

Agreed. U_U We've some space left below Statistics! on main page, we can utilize that space & place the accouncement below popular threads this week section.

Edit: I know that space which i mentioned is used for advertisements, but we can make it visible only to the members i suppose. :shrug:

 

[Zombie]

Agreed. U_U We've some space left below Statistics! on main page, we can utilize that space & place the accouncement below popular threads this week section.

Edit: I know that space which i mentioned is used for advertisements, but we make it visible only to the members i suppose. :shrug:

Or we could just get rid of the "Popular Threads this Week" as most of the threads there are garbage and should die anyway. ;D

 

[-Avenger-]

Or we could just get rid of the "Popular Threads this Week" as most of the threads there are garbage and should die anyway. ;D

Yeah we can do that.

 

[Nara..]

I hope mods and admins should accept this.

 

[Escorpiius]

Yeah, I love the idea but first, find back some Mods/people who can take charge of some contest.

The Profile contest is becoming almost bi-monthly.
The AoTW is dead completely.
Some of the possible new contest that were discussed and seem interesting were never heard of again.
Even contests like SoTW takes more time nowadays.

 

[itachiintheair]

Perfect. Nuff' said. Clap. Clap.

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[Alternative]

Yeah, I love the idea but first, find back some Mods/people who can take charge of some contest.

The Profile contest is becoming almost bi-monthly.
The AoTW is dead completely.
Some of the possible new contest that were discussed and seem interesting were never heard of again.
Even contests like SoTW takes more time nowadays.

All the more reason to have something like this applied to the forums. For starters it will spark some more interest into the contests, and because they're not so active as of yet like you say, the moderators aren't going to have a hard time advertising them either at first. Then if/when they become more active Mods know exactly what to do when it comes to using announcements to advertise it, and then can do that more frequently.

I personally see no downfall whatsoever to this idea. It will benefit the site greatly, and will also provide with something more recreational to do instead of members getting off their tits because the new Manga chapter isn't out yet. :3

 

[Scorps]

A nice idea indeed. It would actually pull more people to the contest areas for both voting and to actually take part in them. ^^

 

[-Avenger-]

Yeah, I love the idea but first, find back some Mods/people who can take charge of some contest.

The Profile contest is becoming almost bi-monthly.
The AoTW is dead completely.
Some of the possible new contest that were discussed and seem interesting were never heard of again.
Even contests like SoTW takes more time nowadays.

I think the contest are taking long because more number of members are participating in these contest, especially in profile contest. And very few people vote in these contest, so i agree with Zombie's suggestion.

All the more reason to have something like this applied to the forums. For starters it will spark some more interest into the contests, and because they're not so active as of yet like you say, the moderators aren't going to have a hard time advertising them either at first. Then if/when they become more active Mods know exactly what to do when it comes to using announcements to advertise it, and then can do that more frequently.

I personally see no downfall whatsoever to this idea. It will benefit the site greatly, and will also provide with something more recreational to do instead of members getting off their tits because the new Manga chapter isn't out yet. :3

Exactly.

 

[Zombie]

I hope mods and admins should accept this.

Me too. Well, the mods don't really matter, just the admin. Though, moderator support would be cool.

Yeah, I love the idea but first, find back some Mods/people who can take charge of some contest.

The Profile contest is becoming almost bi-monthly.
The AoTW is dead completely.
Some of the possible new contest that were discussed and seem interesting were never heard of again.
Even contests like SoTW takes more time nowadays.

Good points, but raising awareness and interest in the contests would surely force the admin to recruit more moderators for said tasks.

All the more reason to have something like this applied to the forums. For starters it will spark some more interest into the contests, and because they're not so active as of yet like you say, the moderators aren't going to have a hard time advertising them either at first. Then if/when they become more active Mods know exactly what to do when it comes to using announcements to advertise it, and then can do that more frequently.

I personally see no downfall whatsoever to this idea. It will benefit the site greatly, and will also provide with something more recreational to do instead of members getting off their tits because the new Manga chapter isn't out yet. :3

Very well said.

A nice idea indeed. It would actually pull more people to the contest areas for both voting and to actually take part in them. ^^

Which would always be nice. ;D

 

[Xylon]

We need the moving scroll thingy back O_O

 

[Zombie]

We need the moving scroll thingy back O_O

Well if it isn't Xylonger.

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I personally think a static box where Popular Threads This Week is would be much better for Contest Announcements. And sexier. Scrolling text is overrated.

 

[Jupiter]

Perfect. Nuff' said. Clap. Clap.

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lol this
+rep to both

 

[Escorpiius]

Me too. Well, the mods don't really matter, just the admin. Though, moderator support would be cool.

Good points, but raising awareness and interest in the contests would surely force the admin to recruit more moderators for said tasks.

I agree with your idea completely but frankly, I'd like to see a mod to sure take the contests first before executing yours. The advertisement is a great idea but if the contests keep lagging behind their dates, it gets useless a bit.
By that, I mostly mean, one thing - Revive the AoTW.

If a mod don't want to judge due to being overload with works (and I understand that), then let a member be in charge of it like for the Manga Coloring contests. Now, with the Premium Membership, we can even close our threads just like Mods which is perfect.

 

[Zombie]

Yeah, but I don't actually think anybody will take that into consideration until people actually notice and partake in the contest and actively vote as well.

 

[Caliburn]

Why announce contests?

For the most part, contests do not seem to gather very much attention. It seems as though, most contests receive very few votes, and makes winning seem trivial. Having announcements would most likely increase the activity for the contests, as well as the amount of votes.​

Where should the contests be announced?

I suggest an announcement section on the main page. Instead of having a category for Popular Threads this week (which seems useless next to the hottest threads) we instead have a "Contests in Voting."​

What are the benefits of this?

Most people enter contests to have their works seen by more people. By announcing the contests, even more people will see their work. Winning the contests will also be more difficult, as there will be a larger audience voting. People also complain of favoritism in the voting, this will also aid in abating that issue as people without a personal preference in the contestants will also be voting.​

In conclusion

By announcing the contests on the main page, overall activity will improve, more people will be voting, there will be less favoritism in the votes, and winning contests will seem like more of an accomplishment.​

Do discuss, add input, and correct me where I may be wrong.

I've been organizing contests for a long time now on NB and based on I can say that the contests are doing extremely well now, it's probably one of the most prosperous times in NB contest history. SotW, Profile of the Month, AotM, FFotM...all of them are doing well. So I wouldn't say that don't gather much attention. In fact the admins increased the amount of poll options from 20 to 40 on my request solely for contest purposes as otherwise the poll wouldn't be enough for all the contestants.

The thing you're suggesting we actually had that, in fact it was even on the place you're suggesting. Before we had the Hottest Threads/Latest Threads/Popular Threads This Week we had two rectangular spaces there and on one of them there was a slideshow of different contests. However the admins removed it, I don't know exactly why, but I really didn't (and I sitll don't) mind it as I remember that the month we had that advertising, the amount of submissions skyrocketed. In the Art Contest the submissions got quadrupled from originally 10-15 subs to nearly 60. That was just too much. It was the same for other contests. Quite weird that no one has mentioned that so far.

Having a contest with barely any subs isn't fun, but too much isn't either. Now they are more or less perfectly in balance. We don't need to do much effort to get a reasonable amount of subs, while there have been times we had to bump our threads on a regular basis to remind people of the contests.

We also once had a scroll thingy at the top of NB where we posted important links and messages, for instance of the latest contest, an epic RP battle, someone's birthday, a new popular FF etc., however that required someone who continuously updated that and after a while that didn't happen anymore. It's useless to start advertising a contest there when the month's almost over. That one got removed too because it was a strain on the forums.

At this point I don't really see a need to advertise them as contests are doing well. This month's Art Submission thread has around a 1000 views, while there have been times in the past that in the same period there were only 300-400 views.

And the reason as why the Profile Contest and the AotW aren't held regularly anymore is for the simple reason that we don't have anyone who can do it for the people who mentioned those contests. It has nothing to do with popularity. We don't trust normal members with that due to very bad experiences with it in the past + they lack powers. And to find a mod who wants to do it isn't easy either. I already do Art Contest and SotW, this month I also had to do FF contest as Lawliet wasn't able to. Rei did the Profile contest even though that meant she couldn't participate herself. But every single one of those contests is doing pretty well.

 

[Zombie]

I've been organizing contests for a long time now on NB and based on I can say that the contests are doing extremely well now, it's probably one of the most prosperous times in NB contest history. SotW, Profile of the Month, AotM, FFotM...all of them are doing well. So I wouldn't say that don't gather much attention. In fact the admins increased the amount of poll options from 20 to 40 on my request solely for contest purposes as otherwise the poll wouldn't be enough for all the contestants.

The thing you're suggesting we actually had that, in fact it was even on the place you're suggesting. Before we had the Hottest Threads/Latest Threads/Popular Threads This Week we had two rectangular spaces there and on one of them there was a slideshow of different contests. However the admins removed it, I don't know exactly why, but I really didn't (and I sitll don't) mind it as I remember that the month we had that advertising, the amount of submissions skyrocketed. In the Art Contest the submissions got quadrupled from originally 10-15 subs to nearly 60. That was just too much. It was the same for other contests. Quite weird that no one has mentioned that so far.

Having a contest with barely any subs isn't fun, but too much isn't either. Now they are more or less perfectly in balance. We don't need to do much effort to get a reasonable amount of subs, while there have been times we had to bump our threads on a regular basis to remind people of the contests.

We also once had a scroll thingy at the top of NB where we posted important links and messages, for instance of the latest contest, an epic RP battle, someone's birthday, a new popular FF etc., however that required someone who continuously updated that and after a while that didn't happen anymore. It's useless to start advertising a contest there when the month's almost over. That one got removed too because it was a strain on the forums.

At this point I don't really see a need to advertise them as contests are doing well. This month's Art Submission thread has around a 1000 views, while there have been times in the past that in the same period there were only 300-400 views.

And the reason as why the Profile Contest and the AotW aren't held regularly anymore is for the simple reason that we don't have anyone who can do it for the people who mentioned those contests. It has nothing to do with popularity. We don't trust normal members with that due to very bad experiences with it in the past + they lack powers. And to find a mod who wants to do it isn't easy either. I already do Art Contest and SotW, this month I also had to do FF contest as Lawliet wasn't able to. Rei did the Profile contest even though that meant she couldn't participate herself. But every single one of those contests is doing pretty well.

Very good points, thank you for your input. Yeah, I imagine if the amount of people participating skyrocketed, it would get even more difficult. Especially with people accusing each other of cheating. I can definitely empathize with the moderators who have to deal with such immature behavior too.

So I guess you're right about the amount of contestants we have entering now. Now, what about driving up the amount of people voting? Granted, it's hard to gather reliable voters for the FFotM, as most people voting there have taken the time to read all of the fan fics that were submitted (while random people will probably vote based on pretty colors and whatnot). However, increasing the amount of people voting on say, SotW or other categories would definitely be beneficial. More voters would mean more opinions and I suppose a more accurate rendition of the overall opinion of the general mass.

Either way, I wouldn't mind seeing something different in the Popular Threads this Week (and probably hottest threads) sections as it seems people are just making outrageous threads to be featured on said sections (and it's really getting quite annoying). Granted, at times decent threads make it into those sections.