Ok, we're in a slump. We've had very few challenges in the past couple months with more than one or two entries, and even had a significant number end in 0 entries. We need to figure out how to turn this around.
In week 274 we had a nice chat about what might be the cause, and how we could address it:
The more abstract themes typically are meant to give some more leeway for individual interpretation and thus give a wider spread of entries. The problem obviously is that it can backfire.
GR, using an example that I think you can appreciate: consider the rounds of the CDCC where the card was especially difficult. Sometimes this would kill the round, while other times this would give some of the most interesting and different submissions. The problem is figuring out which the outcome will be.
We're still trying to get a hang of where the line is for when a difficult prompt strikes a creative chord verses feels too imposing, but we'll try to stay to a bit safer territory for the next couple rounds.
I'd also like to mention that we'd love any input on which rounds you felt were especially good or that you didn't like and why. Whatever we can do to make these challenges better for you guys is what we want to do.
I see your point quite well ER. My suggestion would be to alter them more. One week take something very much MTG related, then the other go a more abstract/not necessarily MTG route.
That way all kinds of artists can find grounds to thrive. If its too long of a stretch with one extreme then some artists just give up on it for a while.
Also last week Batman got in the way...for me at least.
I don't know if I can speak for everyone, but I would personally like to see a random single card challenge...make a sig out of some card nobody has head of
After implementing these suggestions (generally more straight-forward themes, alternating MTG with non-MTG themes, and a Single Card Challenge) in the last two weeks, it doesn't appear to have generated any increase in activity, with only one lone courageous competitor taking part.
So, I'd like to once again open this to discussion: What would make these Challenges something that you would participate in? What can we change? how can we improve this? We run these for you guys, so we want to figure out what we're missing.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
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ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
I was just going to say the same thing. The Magic card only art restriction in some challenges deters me. I don't mind abstract themes.
Thirding this.
I'm not interested in trawling through Magic art, finding art that's nice, finding a higher resolution version of that art, repeating this process N times, and then slapping a caption on it.
I love abstract themes, personally. Something that let's me interpret it how I want to interpret it, and that rewards thinking outside of the preconceived notions of what is and what is not a "sig".
Speaking of, challenges for sets, avatars, horizontal banners, primer banners, wallpapers, inset images, and various other non-600x100 image formats would be amazing, if only to add variety and break the monotony.
Guys from Disappointing signets want abstract themes? You don't say !
The problem I have been seeing is that we have had a variety of themes lately, there are simply not enough participants. Even you crazy Disappointing guys have not shown up in quite a while even on the more abstract or at least non-mtg weeks.
I believe there was a vertical banner week once, but i missed it and it was MTG based.
I seem to remember it being anime-based, actually.
I think the problem with poor turnout for the Weeklies these days is that there just isn't a genuine interest in it like there was in the old days. Back then, the shops were absolutely thriving, I remember having three or four shops going at once at one point, and there being at least 10 different shops all producing work with two to five requests daily.
I think expanding outside of just magic-based art alone is a good idea, but I don't know what else could really help... I have been out of the whole digital art thing for so long now (I studied Photography at university so my Photoshop knowledge just revolves around editing for print now) that I can't really think of any good ideas.
Which is good otherwise Spiderboy would just beat everybody forever.
That really surprised me when I came back to this website. For a good six months I was at the top of that list.
Edit - I'd say the best solution is to just spam the rest of the forums with a call to come and make entries, post in yr clans, and elsewhere... encourage patrons of your av/sig shops to come here and vote, or to participate themselves.
There are a lot of offtopic threads that have cropped up as well which these weekly contests could be mentioned in. I know Cube and Commander both have an offtopic page where we could try to get users in to vote and such.
Would it be possible to secure some room on the front page for the winner each weak as well??? That might be a nice incentive for the winner. Plus we dont get new info on the main page nearly often enough anyways so having something rotate every week would be nice.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
There's a fine line between "getting people to vote" and "getting people to vote for you". Obscurity is built into the rules in that they actively discourage advertising (which is certainly a good thing considering the KCW debacle of yore, and more recently, "the Megiddo Incident").
I'm not sure anybody actually reads the front page - I know I don't - but this is more due to a lack of meaningful site content rather than a lack of pedigree signature banners. I do know the WMTC contest in CCC&G pulls a lot of activity, but I can't tell the horse from the cart here.
I'm not interested in trawling through Magic art, finding art that's nice, finding a higher resolution version of that art, repeating this process N times, and then slapping a caption on it.
I'm not interested in doing a random google image search and slapping a random phrase on it to pass off as abstract. This is a MTG site. If mtg art is not used, at the very least the subject matter should be mtg related.
I love abstract themes, personally. Something that let's me interpret it how I want to interpret it, and that rewards thinking outside of the preconceived notions of what is and what is not a "sig".
I agree to an extent but how have the previous themes prevented this?
Speaking of, challenges for sets, avatars, horizontal banners, primer banners, wallpapers, inset images, and various other non-600x100 image formats would be amazing, if only to add variety and break the monotony.
I'm not interested in doing a random google image search and slapping a random phrase on it to pass off as abstract. This is a MTG site. If mtg art is not used, at the very least the subject matter should be mtg related.
That is my entire creative process in a sentence.
I have no problem with MtG-related themes, or even the occasional MtG-only art restriction. There's a point between the two extremes that everybody can be at least mostly happy with. I'm merely suggesting we find it.
I agree to an extent but how have the previous themes prevented this?
They don't necessarily prevent it, but most are object or subject oriented, in that "Theme: Innistrad" expects art from Innistrad cards, rather than "Theme: Fear" which is vastly more amorphous while still largely treading the same ground. Again, I'm not suggesting a complete switch from one to the other, but a mix of the two.
Keep in mind.... users get to vote and if the submission is so far from the target subject then they might not get many votes. I dont see a reason as to why we shouldnt open up submissions a little. The votes can always decide who stuck to the theme and did the best job in the end.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I love sigmaking.
I enter in many weekly contests, but I couldn't do this one.
I agree with everyone above. There are too many restrictions.
Here are a few of the following reasons:
1.The theme is really hard and strongly restricts.
2.One of the biggest put-offs for me was MTG-related cards only. I've only been playing since M12, so I barely know any of the vast amount of previous cards. Many themes require knows some of the old cards.
3.Every thread mentions to post sources. This is the only signature competition that has this requirement. This becomes very difficult for me because I work with many images for a single signature and I usually forget the source by the time I complete it. I don't know too much about copyright, but I believe whatever is posted online is up for grabs for anyone.
4.Avatar requirements is also a hard requirement for me, because I have almost never worked with avatars before. I think a competition should either host avatars or signatures, not both.
5.Size restrictions is the main reason I stopped producing signatures for this site. I'm used to working with art that is 400x200 pixels or greater.
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Thanks to Rivenor for the sig. Check out her shop Here!
while there's disagreement what topics should be, there's consensus that you'd like different picture formats, use any art and maybe want to choose from a set of options that revolve around a topic?
Advertising the contest better to get more public attention to increase incentives to particiapte is also noted.
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Each reality is but the dream of another, and each sleeper a god unknowing.
We define the boundaries of reality; they don't define us.
In week 274 we had a nice chat about what might be the cause, and how we could address it:
After implementing these suggestions (generally more straight-forward themes, alternating MTG with non-MTG themes, and a Single Card Challenge) in the last two weeks, it doesn't appear to have generated any increase in activity, with only one lone courageous competitor taking part.
So, I'd like to once again open this to discussion: What would make these Challenges something that you would participate in? What can we change? how can we improve this? We run these for you guys, so we want to figure out what we're missing.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
One thing to note is that in general, there are few sig makers around these days.
You cannot outrun the beast within.
[Clan Flamingo]
I'm not interested in trawling through Magic art, finding art that's nice, finding a higher resolution version of that art, repeating this process N times, and then slapping a caption on it.
I love abstract themes, personally. Something that let's me interpret it how I want to interpret it, and that rewards thinking outside of the preconceived notions of what is and what is not a "sig".
Speaking of, challenges for sets, avatars, horizontal banners, primer banners, wallpapers, inset images, and various other non-600x100 image formats would be amazing, if only to add variety and break the monotony.
The problem I have been seeing is that we have had a variety of themes lately, there are simply not enough participants. Even you crazy Disappointing guys have not shown up in quite a while even on the more abstract or at least non-mtg weeks.
You cannot outrun the beast within.
I seem to remember it being anime-based, actually.
I think the problem with poor turnout for the Weeklies these days is that there just isn't a genuine interest in it like there was in the old days. Back then, the shops were absolutely thriving, I remember having three or four shops going at once at one point, and there being at least 10 different shops all producing work with two to five requests daily.
I think expanding outside of just magic-based art alone is a good idea, but I don't know what else could really help... I have been out of the whole digital art thing for so long now (I studied Photography at university so my Photoshop knowledge just revolves around editing for print now) that I can't really think of any good ideas.
[Clan Flamingo]
The Mirrodin wallpaper week met a similar fate.
I'm thinking back around the 75 - 85 mark.
Yep, this contest has been running for a long time. Sadly, none of the guys that entered back then are around anymore.
That really surprised me when I came back to this website. For a good six months I was at the top of that list.
Edit - I'd say the best solution is to just spam the rest of the forums with a call to come and make entries, post in yr clans, and elsewhere... encourage patrons of your av/sig shops to come here and vote, or to participate themselves.
Would it be possible to secure some room on the front page for the winner each weak as well??? That might be a nice incentive for the winner. Plus we dont get new info on the main page nearly often enough anyways so having something rotate every week would be nice.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
I'm not sure anybody actually reads the front page - I know I don't - but this is more due to a lack of meaningful site content rather than a lack of pedigree signature banners. I do know the WMTC contest in CCC&G pulls a lot of activity, but I can't tell the horse from the cart here.
I'm not interested in doing a random google image search and slapping a random phrase on it to pass off as abstract. This is a MTG site. If mtg art is not used, at the very least the subject matter should be mtg related.
I agree to an extent but how have the previous themes prevented this?
I completely agree.
I have no problem with MtG-related themes, or even the occasional MtG-only art restriction. There's a point between the two extremes that everybody can be at least mostly happy with. I'm merely suggesting we find it.
They don't necessarily prevent it, but most are object or subject oriented, in that "Theme: Innistrad" expects art from Innistrad cards, rather than "Theme: Fear" which is vastly more amorphous while still largely treading the same ground. Again, I'm not suggesting a complete switch from one to the other, but a mix of the two.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
I enter in many weekly contests, but I couldn't do this one.
I agree with everyone above. There are too many restrictions.
Here are a few of the following reasons:
1.The theme is really hard and strongly restricts.
2.One of the biggest put-offs for me was MTG-related cards only. I've only been playing since M12, so I barely know any of the vast amount of previous cards. Many themes require knows some of the old cards.
3.Every thread mentions to post sources. This is the only signature competition that has this requirement. This becomes very difficult for me because I work with many images for a single signature and I usually forget the source by the time I complete it. I don't know too much about copyright, but I believe whatever is posted online is up for grabs for anyone.
4.Avatar requirements is also a hard requirement for me, because I have almost never worked with avatars before. I think a competition should either host avatars or signatures, not both.
5.Size restrictions is the main reason I stopped producing signatures for this site. I'm used to working with art that is 400x200 pixels or greater.
Thanks to Rivenor for the sig. Check out her shop Here!
Feel free to visit my Signature shop and request something.
The difference between Pokemon and Magic!
Advertising the contest better to get more public attention to increase incentives to particiapte is also noted.