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The future of AOS contests

Is there any further interest in the modeling competitions on Age of Strife?

Poll ended at Sat Aug 31, 2013 8:08 pm

Continue the Painter of the Month Event
4
31%
Cancel the Painter of the Month Event
1
8%
Don't care / Not interested in the POTM event either way
1
8%
Go ahead with the "BER" event
4
31%
Don't run the "BER" event
1
8%
Don't care / Not interested in the "BER" event either way
1
8%
Prefer a new contest (suggestions below)
1
8%
 
Total votes : 7

The future of AOS contests

Postby timewizard » Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:08 pm

The interest of the members of this site in the AOS site contests seems to be waning. Before we go through all the work to run these events and to keep trying to get sponsors and prizes and the like, we want to know if anyone is still interested or if it's just a huge waste of time at this point.

We went from a high of 9 entrants and 6 finished entries in April and July, to this month where we had 5 entrants and so far only 2 finished entries.

So the big question is where do we go from here? Is interest down because it is August? Because it's summertime? Or is it something else?

Please take the time to vote in the poll. (And please don't vote to continue and cancel the same event! :D )

Maximum of 2 votes per registered member and any comments are welcome.

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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Darklighter » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:29 pm

The fact PotM is a roll on event puts me off trying it. It's already late in the year so building up enough points to win would be difficult, and if it was just starting now I'd be put off becauseof the 12 month comitment.

If it was a split into three month segments with prises at the end of the three months I'd be much more tempted. You could then have the winning models from each month put up for a vote off to decide the overall winner at the years end for a larger prize.

I'm also still really excited about the 'BER event and have been holding off on starting my next project in anticipation of it.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Ljundhammer » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:57 pm

I like the idea of the BER contest & I hope to enter should I be moved in time.

PotM, not so bothered. I like it in principle, but I struggle to get too excited by it all. I do like seeing what you all come up with though - there's been some really good stuff (although I haven't voted for a winner yet).
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Talus » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:24 pm

Darklighter wrote:If it was a split into three month segments with prises at the end of the three months I'd be much more tempted. You could then have the winning models from each month put up for a vote off to decide the overall winner at the years end for a larger prize.



i appreciate what you're saying there, and i do agree that 3 month runs would be better suited to more people and their time commitments.

but i feel the need to raise a point

where do we get the prizes?

when we were setting up the POTM contest, i sent begging letters to every model and bitz supplier ive ever used, and called a few i hadnt, Joel at Anvil Industries was the ONLY one to reply, and the most he could offer was a £15 parts voucher

the ltd ed model is coming from Spacks own stockpile, as are the AoS stamped dice

i offered to buy parts and kits to put up as prizes, but was instantly shot down for it, we all agreed that prizes would be donated, not bought. the principle behind that being that its good advertising for the persons/company behind the donation, and that we shouldnt have to pay for prizes for a community contest

i'm still opposed to spack entering models from his own stocks, but you try convincing him otherwise

so, while i would like to offer up more prizes, and frankly with it being an end of year prize after a 12 month commitment we NEED more there, without people willing to put kits forward, and companies unwilling to support it, how will we get them?


With regards to the BER contest, that is entirely independant, with funds being donated from a pre-allocated source, one we have no control over, and cant even guarantee being available to us again in the future
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Darklighter » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:18 pm

Obviously physical prizes are hard to come by for things like this, but it doesn't have to be like that (at least not for the start up) It could be a Badge of honour in your SIG or a ranked title for your profile info with the end of year prize still being the same as now. That way if you only manage to enter once you could still go on to win best of year without the full commitment.

I didn't mean to step on any toes or ruffle feathers. I just don't like to put an idea down without at least trying to come up with an alternative.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Angelwing » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:33 am

I'm happy for both competitions to continue. Its no doubt been slow over summer as people have been outside enjoying the sun while it lasts, or on holiday, or looking after kids on school holidays.
I don't enter as often as I'd like as the painting bug comes and goes. I'd also point out that the majority of my armies are now finished and I won't be adding anything to them, so I have less to paint.

I like the painting contests as I like seeing the good work everyone comes up with and the variety of kits, but I'd like to make it clear that I personally don't care about prizes. I know full well that there are some excellent painters here who quite rightly be the only ones in real contention, and I have no problem with that. I can see how it would put others off entering though. I'd personally prefer the prize to be simple kudos, a slap on the back and a great painted model in your collection. If the great painters genuinely wish to win a 'real' prize, then there are enough competitions out there that cater to this.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby KInG » Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:35 am

We offered the gw advertising budget they give to us to promote the shop and hobby. It is something we can do again and is something I like to do, as it gives the community here something back. Angelwing is right though, it's not for the average joe really. We, average painters, are not likely to enter as we think our skills don't cut it. I personably envisaged it would attract new members to this community, ones who were pretty damn good at painting obviously. This section of the site is definitely one worth expanding as we have some enthusiastic contributors and mods in that department.

So your question is possibly aimed at the wrong people TW. Maybe it should be put to the painters elsewhere on the www.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby KInG » Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:38 am

If the current painter of the month is an accumulating points thing for the year, that is off putting to me. I don't know the details, maybe they allow me to join in at anytime, but that would require someone reading the details.. They may not get to reading the details as they are put off by the first impression of the contest.

I think a contest that has a start and end and is done over a time period is best. Not an ongoing thing.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Cain Tiberius » Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:42 am

I have said before, the PotM competition started out as "Just for fun". No prizes involved. And I'd be happier it stayed that way. The more people stress about prizes, the less I want to enter either competition.
As a result I've deliberately not even worked on my PotM entry this month, and I probably won't enter again as it stands. I don't believe I'll enter BER either to be honest.
I agree with Darklighter and Angelwing that the prizes should be more along the line of Kudos.. A line in your sig etc.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby mattjgilbert » Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:14 pm

I struggle for time for much painting these days but I think the PotM should stay.

Personally, I'm not that interested in the BER event.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby BANE » Wed Aug 28, 2013 1:12 pm

I think the question should be, do you enjoy organising and running these events, if the answer is yes and you want to continue despite the low numbers then do so. Like I have said before its not a painting forum, the people who enter will does so without prizes, you will be very lucky to attract any new members to the site who contribute outside of just coming to enter the painting contest. As far as prizes I didn't even know they was one for the Potm thing.

The BER event I will enter, not because of the prize, because Nige has challenged me and I will use it to get a unit finished in the time allowed.

Also don't take things too seriously, as I said before it seems as tho feedback/banter can be taking to heart by the organiser/s, this is because you are are passionate about what you want to achieve and sometimes communication by digital media isn't the best so stuff gets misunderstood, but understand that because this is not a painting forum the interest will wax and wane.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby timewizard » Wed Aug 28, 2013 3:37 pm

Some very good points there gents. Thank you.

@KInG - I posted the contests on DakkaDakka twice and the event was posted on Warseer. We tried to get it posted on B&C but received no response from the site admin. I'll give it another shot with the 'BER' event, see what happens.

As far as "average" painters not wanting to enter, take a look back at some of the month's competitions. There are a variety of skill levels entered. Plus, I've posted many times that I hope when people vote, that they take the entire project into consideration (i.e. scratchbuilding, conversions, basing,, etc.) rather than just a "museum quality" paint job.

@Darklighter - When the contest was in it's planning stage, Spack suggested;

Spack wrote:As to the proposed "Model of the Year", rather than scoring points each month how about simply putting all the winning entries into a vote and deciding that way? Then if someone only paints only one outstanding model they still stand a chance of winning the 2013 event, and isn't biased more towards someone who enters every month.


The only problem we had with that was which "winning entries" do we put in? First, second and third each month? That would give 18 entries so far. Only the first place winners? That would narrow it down to 6 so far, but would shut out the person who does a great job, but only manages to come in second each time. Should we include all the finished entries? That would mean at this point going through 25 finished entries. I doubt anyone here could be bothered looking through multiple pages of entries just to pick out 1 overall winner.

When the contest was started, we looked for input on how it should be run. The thread for that is here.

In that thread I said;

timewizard wrote:I like the idea for the voter of the year selection being voting on any winning entry, but my 2 thoughts on this are:

The idea behind this competition is to get people to do more modeling and keep themselves going on a monthly basis and,

I would hate to see 1 or 2 stellar entries blowing out someone who puts in tremendous effort month after month.

Maybe the painter of the year could be voted on by the site taking the winners from each monthly competition, but in the event, that would lead to 36 entries being voted on! If we only took the 1st place winners from each month, the person who places 2nd month after month has no chance at the title. I think we'll have to give that a bit more thought, but I'll remove the criteria for Painter of the Year from the rules and replace it with "Input to decide the painter of the year is requested".


Unfortunately, we never got any real input on this at that time, so we kept it at the cumulative point system. This doesn't mean it can't be re-vamped at this date. But we do need some suggestions and input, and I thank all of you for your input.

@Bane, it's not a question of taking it too seriously. I am serious about making sure the rules are followed, but that's to keep the whole thing fair for all. I do this for fun, and I don't mind doing the work (along with Talus) involved in running these events. I just wanted to make sure that there was sufficient interest in these events to keep them running. The feedback and banter I have no problem with and in fact it is vital to running this type of event. I also fully understand that this is not a painting forum per se, but again, the purpose of this contest was to get people working on their hobby, generate some interest in and traffic on the site and hopefully gain some new members to help the site grow. That aim has not changed.

The purpose of this particular thread was to find out if the members of the site wanted to see the contests continue. I was concerned due to the sudden lack of input and/or interest. The secondary purpose was to get some feedback from the members of the site to see how the contests could be made better. The responses here have helped us by giving ideas to make the contests better.

The poll will tell the tale, but judging by these early comments, it seems that the majority are in favor of keeping both events. We'll just have to tweak a few things.

Thanks again all!
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Darklighter » Wed Aug 28, 2013 4:00 pm

I'd envisioned 12 entries for the final vote and them being the best of each month. As why would second place all of a suden be good enough to beat the same model it lost to earier in the year.... Unless some sort favoritism is involved in the voting. Another way would be if the winner of each quarters log went up for a forum vote or alternativly a judges desision.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby Herne » Sat Aug 31, 2013 10:34 am

Personally I love the ide of the competitions - o.k. i'm having a nightmare time trying to get any painting done, but that's life getting in the way - and I'm sure it's the same for many. I fully intend to have a go at some point, but can't commit to completing projects every month. WHat little time I get at the moment seems to be spent sticking new releases together. Have to say the idea of accumulating points every month doesn't interest me - i've missed the first several competitions so what's the point trying to compete - Spacks ideas of having a 'vote off' at the end of the year sounds great - perhaps even a 'best of 1st places, best of 2nd places and best of the rest' categories?

Prizes are hard to come by and perhaps make the competitoon overly stressful; and competitive - I like the hnourium sig idea - other sites have done that and it's about competing for honour rather than 'to win the prize' which strikes me as much better.
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Re: The future of AOS contests

Postby hunter101 » Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:15 pm

With my self its not about the prizes. Its about the curiosity on what others paint up. Don't realy care about Painter of the month tho is amusing to read progress reports and espeshaly total derailment every now and then. Eg Cats.

BER is a challenge. It has set ruels, No Resin and has the incentive to make a project last 3 months instead of 3.6 weeks.

With what GW is producing at the min in the way of large plastic models, Im finding the amount of work to produce a kit to do it justice has increased. Eg The Eldar wraithknight. Even an experienced modeler like my self is struggling with that kit. 5 weeks now on it.

End of the day. Some of us can paint very well, Some are ok and Some should no better and improve. Its a community and I joind to learn new things or to pass on what I have learned in 20 years of painting.
I feal this has passed a little. I have not done a new painting thred for ages and have gone to GW are crap bashing instead. So im guilty as well.

"Prizes are hard to come by and perhaps make the competitoon overly stressful; and competitive - I like the hnourium sig idea - other sites have done that and it's about competing for honour rather than 'to win the prize' which strikes me as much better."

I agree.
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