Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

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Enthalpy
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Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Enthalpy »

I'd like to make two proposals regarding case competitions.

The first is an extension of an idea that DWaM proposed on the Discord: mini-competitions.

Mini-competitions are one to two week long case competitions, separate from the competitions that are a full three months long. Unlike full competitions, these will be infrequent events, two a year at most. These competitions will emphasize creating something rather than on creating a highly polished work amid heavy competition. As such, judging will be informal, and winning mini-competitions has nothing to do with hosting the next one.

More technical details:
  • For those of you with DWaM-speed, entry length will be capped at 3500 frames. Entries above 3000 frames are discouraged.
  • The host may choose a theme, like in full competitions.
  • To start a mini-competition, an interested host must PM moderation with the rules for the mini-competition, if a theme is in play. If accepted, a mini-competition interest topic will be posted, and if at least two people sign up, the mini-competition will go forward.
  • The competition start time will be decided by the entrants and host collectively, and then accepted by moderation. Consequently, this should self-regulate against conflicts with the full case competition.
If we'll be having mini-competitions, then DWaM will host the first one for us with a "AA character protagonist shuffle theme!" I'll let him elaborate on what he has in mind.

The second proposal is increasing competition deadline toughness. We've had enough loose deadlines to the point that it's become memetic. In the interests of predictability and preventing dependency on extensions, I'd rather stop that with the following:
  • Hosts may not promise or imply rule changes before a decision has been made.
  • All hosts and entrants are responsible for following these rules, including deadline rules, and should not expect exceptions, short of exceptional circumstances that significantly impact the competition as a whole.
These changes clarify the standards for exceptions and prevent unintentionally pressuring others into rule changes.

Please leave your feedback here about these two proposals, including any tweaks! I intentionally did not set up a poll so that we would have deliberation among those interested in joining competitions.
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by clcman »

Hmm...

Mini-comps: So... "Short and Sweet" all over again? It seems like it could be fun. We should try it at least once, and then if it's not a total disaster, maybe do it again. Time-wise, it seems like it should either be done between the end of this comp and the start of the next, or, potentially, could the mini-comp happen during the judging phase of a regular comp, so everyone has something to do in that period and the judges have plenty of time to do their jobs? (The comp entrants would also have something to do while they can't work on their big comp trials.) Or would the two just distract from each other?

I'm also curious how effective partnerships and collaborations would be on such a time limit, though that might just be because I tend to start a collaboration with a long discussion period that can last two weeks to get everything planned out. So that might just be my problem.

Deadline Tightening: As someone who has both authorized multiple deadline extensions and benefited from them, I think this is probably a good idea. Combined with relatively long judging times (something else I am guilty of, and which fortunately doesn't seem to be happening this time around), it's made certain competitions drag on and on and ruin everyone's enthusiasm.

What's critical here is what the phrase "exceptional circumstances that significantly impact the competition as a whole" means. I know that'll have to be worked out on a case-by-case basis, but would, for example, the reason for the original N.O.T. extension (a judge was going to be completely unavailable for almost two weeks) count? I'm just thinking about possible situations before they happen and totally not trying to retroactively justify starting all of this.
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by TheDoctor »

I'm okay with mini-competitions, just because the competition gives me motivation to make cases sometimes. For example, I'd been thinking about how to make Turnabout of the Golden Witch for a while, but I didn't do anything about it until the competition motivated me. Prior to that, it was something I really wanted to do, but not anything I was able to commit to.
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Bad Player »

Mini-comps: let's just try them
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by DWaM »

Bad Player wrote:Mini-comps: let's just try them
there is something very suspicious about this

the BP I know would never just say "let's try it" without dismantling the idea to little bits

especially not when the idea comes from me

or maybe the attempt WILL be the dismantling???
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by clcman »

DWaM wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Mini-comps: let's just try them
there is something very suspicious about this

the BP I know would never just say "let's try it" without dismantling the idea to little bits

especially not when the idea comes from me

or maybe the attempt WILL be the dismantling???
Didn't you see his avatar? That's not BP. That's Preppy Player. He's the exact opposite.
What do REAL, NON-BRIBED people have to say about HTB!?
"This really changed the way I thought about Phoenix as a character. ...Wow." - Reecer6
"HTB! contains truths that might be hard to stomach, but had to be unveiled nonetheless." - Blackrune
"This deserves a best plot twist award." - Evo
"It changed my life, and it can change yours too. For the better, I mean." - Calvinball
"I will never look at Phoenix Wright the same way again" - PhoenixRises123
"omg best thing on aao" - AceAttorneyMaster111
DISCOVER THE TRUTH YOU NEVER KNEW YOU DIDN'T KNOW IN HTB! PROLOGUE AND PART 1, AVAILABLE NOW!!


"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
"For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." -H. L. Mencken
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by kwando1313 »

DWaM wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Mini-comps: let's just try them
there is something very suspicious about this

the BP I know would never just say "let's try it" without dismantling the idea to little bits

especially not when the idea comes from me

or maybe the attempt WILL be the dismantling???
when is bp never not suspicious
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Bad Player »

clcman wrote:
DWaM wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Mini-comps: let's just try them
there is something very suspicious about this

the BP I know would never just say "let's try it" without dismantling the idea to little bits

especially not when the idea comes from me

or maybe the attempt WILL be the dismantling???
Didn't you see his avatar? That's not BP. That's Preppy Player. He's the exact opposite.
actually i'm Preppy Builder. or PB for short.

i like to build trials with Pinkk White and Phoenix Bright, and where all the music is brittney spears songs
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Enthalpy
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Enthalpy »

clcman wrote:Time-wise, it seems like it should either be done between the end of this comp and the start of the next, or, potentially, could the mini-comp happen during the judging phase of a regular comp, so everyone has something to do in that period and the judges have plenty of time to do their jobs? (The comp entrants would also have something to do while they can't work on their big comp trials.) Or would the two just distract from each other?
Either of those sound good to me, but if there was enough interest now, I'd be fine with that too... as long as we waited a bit for people to make up their minds over whether they want to join the main competition.

Now that you're hosting, do you have any more thoughts on the matter?
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by clcman »

Enthalpy wrote: Either of those sound good to me, but if there was enough interest now, I'd be fine with that too... as long as we waited a bit for people to make up their minds over whether they want to join the main competition.

Now that you're hosting, do you have any more thoughts on the matter?
Well, now that I have an actual stake in the matter... I definitely agree that we should not start a mini-comp RIGHT NOW, because that would just be an utter mess. Actually having it between the comps would have been fine, but that didn't work out, so...

I would say at a minimum, we should be a month into the big comp before a mini-comp comes up. And honestly, with this one, I feel like the "do it after the big comp submission deadline" might work (since our comp's deadline is Christmas, so people will have time off, plus, what a great way to celebrate 2017!). But then, it seems like Acid and I shouldn't release judging results until after the mini-comp entries are in... Perhaps it really would be best to have it after the I Want To Believe results are announced, but before the next comp starts... the big comp winner gets two weeks to set-up/prepare, get co-hosts, etc.

Though, let's be honest, are we even going to remember this idea in three months?

(If it sounds like I'm rambling, it's because I really don't know, beyond "should be at least a month from now.")
What do REAL, NON-BRIBED people have to say about HTB!?
"This really changed the way I thought about Phoenix as a character. ...Wow." - Reecer6
"HTB! contains truths that might be hard to stomach, but had to be unveiled nonetheless." - Blackrune
"This deserves a best plot twist award." - Evo
"It changed my life, and it can change yours too. For the better, I mean." - Calvinball
"I will never look at Phoenix Wright the same way again" - PhoenixRises123
"omg best thing on aao" - AceAttorneyMaster111
DISCOVER THE TRUTH YOU NEVER KNEW YOU DIDN'T KNOW IN HTB! PROLOGUE AND PART 1, AVAILABLE NOW!!


"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
"For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." -H. L. Mencken
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Enthalpy
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Enthalpy »

I am currently intending to nix mini-competitions for lack of interest and go forward with the changes regarding deadlines.

The latter change will be effective starting with the next competition. Discuss here if there is any disagreement about either of these.
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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Re: Proposal: Mini-Competitions, Tougher Deadlines

Post by Enthalpy »

Apologies for being so late with this!

The new rules will go into effect for the next competition, seeing as there was no disagreement on the matter.
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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