Building Competition

[TheClockArm 52]

Hey guys,

Building is one of the fundamental aspects of Ylands that so many of us love, and in an attempt to bolster community spirit and activity I was considering attempting to organize some sort of (recurring?) building competition. A few of the ideas I jotted down while brainstorming the idea:

•  Several events, spaced out by weeks/months
  • Maybe a large event which spans each month with smaller competitions in between?
  • Or small 24-48 hour events?
• Solo & Team Build events
  • Each to be specified by the organizers/community prior to the start date
• "Theme-based building"
  • Theme released a few days prior for prep
    • Could cause issues with early start
  • Or (a method which I prefer) Similar to Game jams (like Ludum Dare), there could be a theme that is kept secret and announced at the very beginning of the competition via a forum post.
• The community as a whole vote on the winners (as opposed to an individual choosing a winner, or a small group of people)
  • (Or maybe only people who submit may vote, just not for themselves? I still think the more people that vote the better)
  • Maybe a panel of judges
    • Judges are winners of last competition or people who don't submit work?
  • Voting done via forums, or strawpoll. (Logistics to be determined later)
• As for the prizes, mainly just recognition
  • Start a "Winners" forum where pictures of the winners are posted as recognition
  • Maybe getting the developers to congratulate or give recognition of some type?
    • Feel as if it would be cool if the developers would interact with the community in that sense

 

Idk, just a few thoughts. Would love to hear feedback on the idea of the game and any details I addressed here or missed.

Thanks  

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

I like the idea of organized build competitions. From my perspective, it would be best to have a week or two for a build. More people will join than in the 24/48 hour competition and one whole month sounds too much for me. I don't quite understand how the theme would be released a few days before the competitions itself starts. What would people stop from building in preparation? Or did I misinterpreted anything? I think that everybody should have the ability to vote. The more votes, the better. And I believe that forum is the main place where ylanders are. So let me do a recap of the way how I see it (feel free to discuss).

• Forum post in Community Creations called something like "Official Forum Building Challenge [26/3 - 9/4]"
• In the post, there would be
  • List of the winners of the past OFBC
  • An announcement of the winner of the last challenge
  • The new theme
  • And of course rules
• Then the players would start to build their entry build
• After completion, they would present their build as a comment to the OFBC post
  • They could provide few screenshots of their build or even add it to the Workshop
• People would vote for the best builds through the reaction buttons
  • Every reaction apart from the downvote would count
    • Downvote shouldn't count as -1, it brings negativity to a friendly competition
  • They could vote on multiple builds
    • It would be hard to assure that everybody votes just for one
    • It motivates the builders for quicker completion and presenting because the last one will not be seen by as many people
• This system needs a person in charge of creating the post and coming up with new themes
  • (Maybe the winner could choose the next theme?)

[TheSparkPlug 128]

It sounds like a great idea.

It may be worth alternating between  editor and explore based builds. 

For the explore based builds the creator cube could be used but, unlike with the editor, the resultant builds would be something that other players could replicate in the normal game.

[V-Alfred 367]

Interesting.. Sounds good, we need this kind of things to make our community alive and more active. Your idea is supported buddy!

[TheClockArm 52]

One thing we have to think about is what happens when there is a tie. Any suggestions for that? Dual 1st place winners? Sudden Death Challenge? Or a re-vote via Poll?

[TheClockArm 52]

4 hours ago, Miguel Preguisa said:

 

• • It would be hard to assure that everybody votes just for one

 

We could do forum based voting?

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

Just now, TheClockArm said:

We could do forum based voting?

I meant for one build/comment.  

[Kage'd 9]

In the event of a tie, the two winners will have a set amount of time to improve on their build at free will. That will give time to really express their creativity as well as breaking the tie.

[TheClockArm 52]

What section of the forums do you think we could start this under, and also- how would people sign up?

[TheSparkPlug 128]

I would wait to see what the devs think of the idea first, and see if they want to create a sub forum for it maybe.

 

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

I thought that Community Creations would be the best section for it and people would sign up just by adding their build.

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

Hey you all!

I think that I could create the first round of the build competition so our words could change to deeds. It would be just a test open to any changes. At least we would see how many people would join. Do I have your permission @TheClockArm? 

[TheClockArm 52]

@Miguel Preguisa I was also going to start one, want to DM me and see if we can work together on formatting, theme, etc in order to try and keep some level of consistency?

[bojo2736 1016]

As a fledgling builder, I would like to suggest skill levels. I am not sure how that would be determined. But I would never try to compete with some of the best builders here. Way too intimidating.

[TheClockArm 52]

12 minutes ago, bb cakes said:

As a fledgling builder, I would like to suggest skill levels. I am not sure how that would be determined. But I would never try to compete with some of the best builders here. Way too intimidating.

One of the good things about this building competition is that it is a friendly competition which takes place in a small community. People are encouraged to submit their work, not to try and win, but to display their interpretation of the theme and receive constructive feedback regarding their creation. You may not win the overall competition the first time around but you still receive attention and feedback from everyone involved in the competition, whether it be the other people who submitted work, or people just observing the competition. Using that feedback, one would hope to improve their building skill. The intention was never to try and get only the best builders to submit their work but to try and get as much of the community as possible involved in the event. That being said, I have also been considering the idea of having categories that are scored separately which contribute to an overall score. This means that raw building skill wouldn't get you all the way, and even if you are not the best builder, you can still exceed in other categories. Categories such as Originality/Uniqueness and Aesthetics could exist (along with technical skill) which give chances to people with less experience with the actual building mechanics in Ylands. This, however, is a bit complicated and would probably appear in a later iteration of the event. All that being said, the point isn't to win- it's to have fun. Everyone, no matter what skill level, is encouraged to submit and participate in giving feedback to other submissions. I am going to be working with @Miguel Preguisa to hopefully formulate a fair system in which everyone can participate and have fun. When the competition is being released all the details will be found in the forum post.  

Edited April 3, 2018 by TheClockArm

[bojo2736 1016]

The point may not be to win. But I am not likely to put my color crayon scribbles next to the Sistine Chapel. 

[TheClockArm 52]

Just now, bb cakes said:

The point may not be to win. But I am not likely to put my color crayon scribbles next to the Sistine Chapel. 

I would argue that if you submit your color crayon scribble, the person who created the Sistine Chapel would give you advice on how to improve and submit something progressively better the next time, and the next time, until eventually you achieve or surpass the level you once thought unattainable. The atmosphere we want to create is entirely constructive and there isn't necessarily a downside to submitting your work. I am the first to admit that my work is NOT the best, but I can say with absolute certainty that looking at other people's work and having them critique my own increased my proficiency immensely. My point being, there are only good things to come from submitting your work, and you won't be discouraged from submitting your work because it's bad. We all started somewhere  

[bojo2736 1016]

I don't think my work is bad. It just isn't close to what I have seen. I would feel weird appearing in the same competition as @SyxtySyx. I sometimes wonder if we are even in the same game.

[TheClockArm 52]

1 minute ago, bb cakes said:

I don't think my work is bad. It just isn't close to what I have seen. I would feel weird appearing in the same competition as @SyxtySyx. I sometimes wonder if we are even in the same game.

I'll let you in on a little secret. @SyxtySyx is a great builder! You shouldn't omit your work because you don't want to appear next to someone who has a high proficiency @ building. I imagine most of the people who will submit are of a lower-skill level than him, and that's okay! There is always room for improvement, including for Syx himself. Going back to your original suggestion of "skill levels" I'm not sure how we would fairly classify or rank people's skills to be put in different sections of the competition because "skill" is a very abstract, amorphous, subjective thing.  And like I said if your work isn't as close to what you want it to be, who better to get advice & critiques from than the people like Syx whos work you hold above yours? The best way to get that advice would be to submit it! Additionally, I am in no way pressuring you to submit your work if you don't want to. I am only doing my best to relieve all pressures and stress that you otherwise formulate in regards to negative feedback or feeling insufficient about your work.

[TheSparkPlug 128]

9 hours ago, bb cakes said:

As a fledgling builder, I would like to suggest skill levels.

Let’s keep it simple... just ban everyone with a username beginning with “S” 

(Yes, you three know who you are!)

[Ane 1213]

Sounds like a cool idea, guys!

[TinyMonkey 33]

This sounds like fun. Interested in seeing what people create.

[V-Alfred 367]

Looking forward to this kind of event! @Ane you might need to discuss with Ylands Team, maybe you guys can come up with greater idea to fill in the gap between updates. 
@bb cakes don't worry, all builders always need to improve their "skill". 

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

I have already sent a message to @TheClockArm

And to your concerns @bb cakes, let me just tell you that literally anyone has a chance of winning. I took part in some building competitions already and it's more than often the idea that wins the crowd than the execution itself. So even without any suspiciously good building skills, it can be your own style that will on its own shape the idea of perfection. 

[SyxtySyx 184]

Without cheaty editor, I'm not that good of a builder. I havn't really built much in survival mode or multiplayer that stands out from all of the other builds I see.

spyler.1989

is a building GOD!

Edited April 4, 2018 by SyxtySyx