Case Competition rules (last updated 02-28-2022)

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Case Competition rules (last updated 02-28-2022)

Post by Meph »

Case Competition rules
These rules affect all case competitions in this forum.
  • You must not create a new Case Competition unless you have won the previous one, or the winner has allowed you to host it instead. There must be only one competition active at any time.
  • All hosts and entrants are responsible for following these rules and should not expect exceptions, short of exceptional circumstances that significantly impact the competition as a whole.
Rules for entrants
  • Entrants must post in the thread before the end of the deadline to join the competition. The post must declare their intention to join the competition.
    • All collaborations must declare all their members.
    • All collaborators should confirm they are part of the collaboration.
    • If entrants withdraw from the competition at any time, and later change their mind, they must post their intention to join the competition again.
  • Entrants must PM the host with a link to their entry on or before the day of the deadline.
    • Entrants must not playtest other entrants' cases.
  • Entrants must not submit more than one entry.
  • Entrants must not show their entry to anyone other than the host or playtesters until the end of the deadline specified in the custom rules.
  • Entrants must not edit their entry after submitting their entry until the hosts' review has concluded.
    • The only exception is to fix a game-breaking bug.
    • The hosts' review may not conclude any earlier than the hosts posting their review of the entry, or any later than the end of the competition.
  • Entrants must not create an entry that is an episode in a series of other cases. However, this does not include independent prequels/sequels of previous cases, where having played previous entries in the series is not required to enjoy the case.
    • Judges should judge an independent sequel as if they had not played other entries in the series.
  • Entrants must not use large amounts of written content from their previous cases in their entry.
  • Entrants may collaborate with other members to create their entry.
Rules for winners
  • Winners should host a competition if you are the winner of the previous competition.
    • If winners do not want to host it, they must choose another contestant in the competition to host it. The contestant may decline, in which case the winner picks again.
    • If winners would like to, they may choose the theme of the competition for the chosen new host to use.
Rules for hosts
  • A host may select one other contestant from the last competition to judge with them, if there is only one host.
  • Hosts may impose custom rules, more restrictive than those given here.
    • In particular, hosts may allow cases made on engines other than AAO. This rule is subject to change.
    • If judges wish to change their rules or grant an extension, the change must be approved by all hosts.
    • Moderation may override a rules change to prevent abuse.
    • If rules changes have been used to push a deadline back two or more weeks, moderation can declare the competition ends in a week if the new enddate is two or more weeks after the original deadline
  • Hosts must make the deadline be between one and three months after the competition starts.
  • Hosts must not enter their own competition.
  • Hosts must post a list of submitted entries to the competition the day after the deadline has passed. The list must include the title of each entry, and its authors/collaborators.
  • Hosts must give a short review when judging each entry, no later than announcing the winner. Each entry must be judged on at least four categories; for example, "presentation", "plot" and "relation to the theme".
  • Hosts must judge the entries to the competition after the deadline has passed.
  • Hosts must post an estimate on when to expect results, after they have finished playing all competition entries. Short of exceptional circumstances, this should be within two weeks.
  • Hosts must present the final results. If the hosts choose to present them via an "awards ceremony" trial, they must also post a summary on the competition topic, including the published rankings and any other awards.
Creating a Case Competition
Follow these instructions if you are creating a Case Competition:-
  1. Create a new topic.
  2. Think of a fun name for the Case Competition that relates its theme.
  3. Write an introduction to the competition.
  4. Write the following headings:
    • Task
    • Conditions
    • Deadline
    • Entrants
  5. Under the "task" heading, write about what sort of case the entrants must make, and how they win.
    • Explain the characteristics that a winning entry should have.
    • Give a list of the categories you will use when judging each category. Explain them in detail.
  6. Under the "conditions" heading, list the rules and conditions that each entrant must abide by.
    • One of the rules must be, "The entry must have been created between [insert date 1 here] and [insert date 2 here]". Date 1 should be the day that the competition starts, but may be an earlier date. Date 2 must be the deadline.
    • One of the rules must be, "The entry must not be showcased until [insert date 3 here]." Date 3 must be sometime between the end of submissions, and the end of the competition. It may be a condition, such as "after judging," rather than a specific date.
    • One of the rules must state which types of case can be submitted (trials, investigations, comedies or miscellaneous).
    • One of the rules should explain whether or not you are OK with entries containing spoilers for an AA game.
    • One or more of the rules should be a condition and/or limitation to make the competition fun, which would relate to the theme. An example of this would be a rule where the entry must be a comedy. Another -- less simpler -- example would be a pirate theme, where the defendant must be a pirate and the victim must have been killed with a cutlass.
  7. Under the "deadline" heading, write the date for the last day that entrants can send their submissions.
  8. After the deadline, ask entrants to send you their entries and judge the entries to see which one meets the winning condition and announce the winner.
  9. PM Enthalpy to tell moderation that the competition is over.
Last edited by Enthalpy on Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:21 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Case Competition rules (last updated 12-28-2015)

Post by Enthalpy »

The new rules will be in effect for the next competition.

Changelog:
* Changed a clause (unintentionally) preventing early submissions.
* Removed all notification requirements regarding playtesters.
* Replaced Meph with Enthalpy for the moderator to inform.
* Allowed post-submission editing to fix game-breaking bugs.
* Clarified what happens if the person a winner asks to host the next competition declines.
* Formally allowed a single co-judge, in the event of a single entrant winning.
* Formally allowed custom rules, and changes to custom rules, with moderator permission. This includes deadline extensions.
* Changed the rule from "grade on up to five criteria" to "grade on at least four criteria."
* Clarified that the list of entries hosts are required to post includes the author/collaborators, and the titles.
* Changed the rule requiring that competitors be allowed to post their entries after submission, to giving the judge arbitrary freedom to set the the release date. This is to avoid public opinion influencing the judges, if they think letting others comment on the case would be too much pressure.
* Added a guideline that the general minimum for a "reasonable" time to judge entries is roughly one entry a three days, subject to circumstances.
* Removed a rule saying that all entries that weren't reviewed were disqualified, regardless of if the entrant was pushing for a review or not. The burden needs to be on the hosts to do the review, and as written, the rule gave hosts the ability to disqualify entrants by fiat.
* Clarified that the reviews need to come before the winner is announced.

EDIT: A rule forcing 3+ collab winners from choosing only two to become judges, introduced in the rewrite, has been removed.
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 1-1-2018)

Post by Enthalpy »

The new rules will be in effect for the next competition.

Changelog:
* Made clear that exceptions to rules are likely to be denied, short of circumstances that affect the competition as a whole.
* Added a rule forbidding hosts to promise or imply rule changes before a decision was made.
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 4-21-2018)

Post by Enthalpy »

The new rules will be in effect for the next competition.

Changelog:
* Made extra clear that delaying results while preventing entrants from showcasing until after the results is bad.
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 5-13-2021)

Post by Enthalpy »

The new rules will be in effect for the current competition.

Changelog:
* Removed "must get moderation approval for rules changes" and restrictions on rules changes.
* Made explicit that hosts' ability to set rules includes ability to accept cases on non-AAO engines.
* Made explicit that moderation can override a rules change in event of abuse.
* Added ability of moderation to modify a deadline in event of abuse.
* Changed requirements for prompt reviews from "three days per entry, awards ceremonies discouraged" to "post estimate after playing them all, please keep it under two weeks."
* Added requirement for any long awards ceremonies to be summarized in-topic
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 12-5-2021)

Post by Enthalpy »

Updated the rules to elaborate on independent sequels: what it means to be an independent sequel, how they should be judged, and clarifying that prequels count too.

Let me know if any entries for the current competition are affected by this. It's not quite an update but not quite a clarification either.
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 12-13-2021)

Post by Enthalpy »

Updated the rules to elaborate on how "must declare intention to join" affects collaborations.

Again, this isn't quite an update but also isn't quite a clarification. Let me know if any entries for the current competition are affected by this.
[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: Case Competition rules (last updated 02-28-2022)

Post by Enthalpy »

Updated the rules to give the hosts extra freedom on when entrants can revise their entries. Under old rules, submitted entries can only be revised after the competition ends. Hosts are now free to allow an entrant to edit their entry any time after the review is posted: it can be after that review is posted, after all reviews are posted, when the winners are announced, or any time in-between.

Naturally, any abuse of this rule to prevent specific users from editing their case will get me involved.
[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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