Animesuki Banner Contest - General Discussion Thread

[Solace]

Originally Posted by ShinMasaki

Why not just take the top ranking banners and set in a code for it so it cycles through them with every page refresh. Like load the page one time, it shows one banner, the next time you refresh the page, click a link to a sub-forum, visit another link on the board, etc, it loads a different banner each time? That way you get the best ones a spot for the forum.

That's how it works now. The banners are forum wide though, you won't find a section where only specific banners show. Also, the rotation is more than three banners, but the top three have the highest rotation while the others are only seen occasionally. This will likely be similar to how we handle the results of this contest too.

That's easily done, just time consuming.

The idea is interesting, but the issue is time. There's only so much of it, and it's all volunteer. There's a design philosophy that has some application here: "fast, cheap, or good - pick two".

You're welcome to start a suggestion thread and see what the admins say, but the contest as it is will not be changing, even if there are some who don't like that their favorite banners didn't make it to the top. The possibility is always on the table that future banners (and the contests to drive the creation of them) could be done in a different way.

[Whojive]

next one: end of '09 should be a holiday banner. run contest halloween to thanksgiving. start using winning banners after thanksgiving through new years.

[vandakiara]

Originally Posted by Whojive

next one: end of '09 should be a holiday banner. run contest halloween to thanksgiving. start using winning banners after thanksgiving through new years.

hmm but halloween and thanksgiving are really american traditions - people from other countries or cultures might not really have fun making them...

but a holiday banner sounds good - how about christmas?

or even, it'd be nice if banners changed every season - so there'd be a spring contest, a summer one, an autumn one and a winter one every year

[Whojive]

Originally Posted by vandakiara

hmm but halloween and thanksgiving are really american traditions - people from other countries or cultures might not really have fun making them...

but a holiday banner sounds good - how about christmas?

or even, it'd be nice if banners changed every season - so there'd be a spring contest, a summer one, an autumn one and a winter one every year

thats what i meant the entry, nomination, voting would take place between holloween and thanksgiving, new "winter holiday" banners go up on black friday(day after thanksgiving). i would love seasonal contests.top 3 roll for 3 months, then new season starts. have the contest start at the begining of the 3rd month, for the next seasons banners

[felix]

Originally Posted by Solace

The next banner contest will have clear provisions about what text is allowed. This will mean no non-english text or characters (like Kanji) and only the words "AnimeSuki Forums".

[...]

If anyone has suggestions or ideas about future contests, feel free to post them up in the AnimeSuki Banner Contest General Discussion Thread.

I would rather have just sent them to you in pm but as you wish.

The following is a compilation of all the rules in other contests.

---

Skip to Description

Banners submissions will end:
Friday, July 27th 2007 at 23:00 (UTC)
~20 days at time of posting...

Terms and Conditions
^{-- premalink}

1. All entries must have Kairin or a <theme> theme.⁸
2. Banners are 760 pixels in width, 100 pixels in height and a maximum of 60KB in size.⁸
3. Banners are a maximum of 760 pixels in width, exactly 100 pixels in height and a maximum of 60,000 bytes in size.⁹
4. Banners must blend into the supplied gradient as it will form the background of the whole top bar.
5. Entries must be non-animated images and in GIF, PNG or JPG format.⁸
6. The banner must have the text "AnimeSuki Forums".⁷
   1. Replacing "Forums" with "Forum" is not permited.⁷
   2. Extraneous text is not appreciated unless it is appropriate as part of the design.⁷
7. Banners may contain anime artwork from any source, including your own art. They must be anime related and appropriate for the forum.⁸
8. Each member may submit a maximum of three (3) banners. If you go over this number, your last entries will be used.²
9. You can enter as many banners as you like until the thread is closed.¹
10. Members will only have until February 14th, 2009 (Midnight, UTC) to create banners in this stage.
11. No moderators (of any rank) are allowed to win the grand prize. If by some stroke of brilliant artistry one of us does win, the prize will go to the first runner up.²

Disclaimer
^{-- premalink}

1. We may disqualify any banner deemed to be offensive or inappropriate and as such reserve the right to veto any entry.
2. All banners submitted shall become property of AnimeSuki and may be used now or in future years without asking your permission.
3. You might want to read Online Fanarts Protection if you're going to use fanart.⁸
4. Many people use fanarts in their banners and while we encourage you to ask the artist for permission many times this is just not possible even with the best googling skills. Consequently we wish all artists to know, if you see a banner that contains your fan-art and you haven’t given prior permission for its submission and would like its removal, please contact us.⁸

Materials and Resources
^{-- premalink}

• Banner Background Gradient (mandatory)
  
  
  
• AnimeSuki Font (Optional)²
  
  
• Banners can be previewed using: Test Page Animesuki Blue, Test Page Animesuki Default

Description

<tl;dr wall of text about the banner contest history>

Timeline

• Submission Stage
  ends at February 14th, 2009 (Midnight, UTC)
  <description>
  
  
• Nomination Stage
  from February 14th, 2009 (Midnight, UTC) to February 21st, 2009 (Midnight, UTC)
  <description>
  
  
• Vote Stage
  from February 21st, 2009 (Midnight, UTC) to February 28th (Midnight, UTC)
  <description>

---

end example

I've formatted with practical use in mind, as a example; you are free to ignore all the order and formatting. Note that text has been altered for clarity.

Recommandations:

1. People are not stupid, start with all the important information, everyone can tell what it is about from the title of the thread.
   
   
2. If at any moment you need to make reference to moment in time, it should be either making use of http://www.timeanddate.com/ or pivoting on a point known to us, like the datestamp on your post.
   
   
3. All the phases of the contest should not coincide with any important event like the end of a very popular series and should be set in stone for the conception. You can use http://www.mahou.org/Showtime/ for every piece of information you might need.
   
   
4. Polls should be public. I see no reason for them to be otherwise: private polls can not be checked even by moderators, and the counters can also be altered with out anyone knowing.
   
   
5. Any list should be an ordered list (to make reference easier).
   
   
6. Do not use region specific traditions in the name or theme. (thanksgiving? who am I giving thanks to?)
   
   
7. Put the fairytale like description, "This is banner contest... blah blah", after the rules and anything the people participating in it would be intrested to know.
   
   
8. Any rules need to be provided as a list for easy checking, do not hide them in phrases. Inner rules should be expanded into nested lists.
   
   
9. The rules need to be refined to be precice and accurate, no "common sense" factor. What happens if...
   
   
   1. Voting fraud is detected.
   2. People create more then one banner but all just share only a slight difference to each other.
   3. Characters are wearing T-shirts (or other cloathing) with messages on them.
   4. The banner is found to not conform to the rules; no clear message on the procedure currently exists even though it is almost always put to effect.
      etc
   
   
10. You need to have a statement to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties (eg. "The rules may be changed at any time and entries disqualified should they not meet the new terms.", "These rules apply for the time of this posting to the end of the competion.")
    
    
11. The phases need to be smart and few, no more: "Surprise extra phase! I want you all do to do what you just did again, you got this many days to do it. (if you miss this thread too bad tic tok tic tok)"
    
    
12. You have a section called "What happens next?", which starts with "Submission Stage", if that is what happens next what is it that happens now?

Hope this helps with your future planning,
Good Luck

ps. The gradient we are using is a large version of the one of the old contests. Do you want to forever use it from now on?
__________________
Contest list:
¹ (2003-12) Christmas Theme
² (2004-01) New Spring Banner Contest!!
³ (2004-09) Autumn 2004 Banner Contest!!!!
⁴ (2004-12) Winter 2004 Banner Contest!!!!
⁵ (2006-07) The Autumn 2006 Banner Contest ** Starring Kairin **
⁶ (2006-09) The Halloween 2006 Banner Contest! (Surprise! A new banner contest already!)
⁷ (2006-11) The Winter 2006-07 Banner Contest!
⁸ (2007-07) AnimeSuki Banner Contest - July 2007 - "Sky"
⁹ (2009-02) Banner Contest Entry Collection Thread AnimeSuki Banner Contest 2009 - Entry Thread
^Red Provisions that have been ommited last time.
^Purple Provisions that have been altered or conflict with new ones.
^Green Template text.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by vandakiara

hmm but halloween and thanksgiving are really american traditions - people from other countries or cultures might not really have fun making them...

We already had a Halloween competition and I don't remember people having trouble jumping on the fun back then.

I do agree with regards to Thanksgiving, though. I for once, would prefer something else as a banner theme. >_<!

[vandakiara]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

We already had a Halloween competition and I don't remember people having trouble jumping on the fun back then.

I do agree with regards to Thanksgiving, though. I for once, would prefer something else as a banner theme. >_<!

oh yeah halloween is kind of global isn't it?

still, I don't think it should be used as a theme - I don't know how it was when there was the halloween competition but, isn't the festive period short? I mean, after November, halloween banners don't really have much meaning anymore meaning there would be another contest right away or it'd feel a bit out of time...

well, that's just what I think but I have no idea how it was back then so I can be totally wrong...

[felix]

Originally Posted by vandakiara

oh yeah halloween is kind of global isn't it?

No it is not.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by vandakiara

still, I don't think it should be used as a theme - I don't know how it was when there was the halloween competition but, isn't the festive period short? I mean, after November, halloween banners don't really have much meaning anymore meaning there would be another contest right away or it'd feel a bit out of time...

well, that's just what I think but I have no idea how it was back then so I can be totally wrong...

No, you pretty much got everything right. Halloween comes and goes really quick, so the banners end up feeling old almost as they are placed on top of the forums.

Back in FC, I actually suggested to bring back the old set (if only for a week or so) and then return to the regular ones. Though, I did missed the date last year, so I'll try to remember a bit sooner comes Halloween to suggest the idea again.

[Whojive]

i'm in for limiting people to one entry period. if you can't choose the best one of your 3 entries why should we. also this should make things easier, not having to count votes for hundred+ banners, when 30ish is good enough. and hopefully with only having one entry, quality will go up due to focusing your time/efforts into one great piece instead of 3 good ones.

[vandakiara]

yeah, true... it is hard to choose only one entry to submit but it helps to narrowing down the number of entries and increasing quality which is always a great thing

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Whojive

i'm in for limiting people to one entry period. if you can't choose the best one of your 3 entries why should we. also this should make things easier, not having to count votes for hundred+ banners, when 30ish is good enough. and hopefully with only having one entry, quality will go up due to focusing your time/efforts into one great piece instead of 3 good ones.

It has always been optional to make or to nominate three banners. If a creator wants to focus all his/her efforts into one entry, they can esaily do so if they so desire.

Likewise, you can choose to nominate and later vote for the one entry that pleases you. I personally prefer to have several entries, if only for the sake of variety.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Cats

I would rather have just sent them to you in pm but as you wish.

PM's work too. I merely suggested this thread for public discussion. It's nice to have a condensed thread rather than six different threads on the topic, which tends to happen after people begin feeling that the current banners should be updated.

People are not stupid, start with all the important information, everyone can tell what it is about from the title of the thread.

There is a certain level of theater that is important. Simply listing rules doesn't make for a very exciting opening post. Regardless, yes, the formatting will be reviewed and cleaned up for the next round. As you know I based the rules and formatting largely on our previous contest. I will be working on a better format in the coming months.

If at any moment you need to make reference to moment in time, it should be either making use of http://www.timeanddate.com/ or pivoting on a point known to us, like the datestamp on your post.

I don't feel that referencing a time website is important with every single date mentioned. As you say, people are not stupid. If they want to know what a particular date coincides with according to their time, the links are provided. Dates haven't really been an issue with this contest, with the exception of the initial slow start.

All the phases of the contest should not coincide with any important event like the end of a very popular series and should be set in stone for the conception. You can use http://www.mahou.org/Showtime/ for every piece of information you might need.

I'm not sure on this. A popular series does not always equal a popular banner, if it did the Code Geass banner would be more popular considering the legion of fans the series has. It's also impossible to predict the popularity of a series in advance of setting dates. Just because something is based on a popular property does not mean that it will have a successful series. It's not always so cut and dry to predict something like that.

The only real way to prevent the problem would be to ban any entries from using images from currently airing anime that have a good likelihood of ending during the contest. That would probably cause more headaches than it would solve though.

Polls should be public. I see no reason for them to be otherwise: private polls can not be checked even by moderators, and the counters can also be altered with out anyone knowing.

Actually, I can check them. If you are worried about rigging or tampering, don't be. You should know by now that the staff is pretty good at catching that sort of thing and correcting it.

Any list should be an ordered list (to make reference easier).

Formatting is under review.

Do not use region specific traditions in the name or theme. (thanksgiving? who am I giving thanks to?)

I'm iffy on this too, but while not everyone celebrates the same holidays, many do. I'm not sure that more focused holidays such as Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July would be appropriate, but holidays like Christmas, New Years, and Valentines have a wider celebration base. Suggestions for Holiday themed banners would have to be considered by the staff before anything was agreed upon.

Put the fairytale like description, "This is banner contest... blah blah", after the rules and anything the people participating in it would be interested to know.

Again, a formatting concern. Under consideration.

Any rules need to be provided as a list for easy checking, do not hide them in phrases. Inner rules should be expanded into nested lists.

Again, a formatting concern. Under consideration.

The rules need to be refined to be precice and accurate, no "common sense" factor. What happens if...

1. Voting fraud is detected.
2. People create more then one banner but all just share only a slight difference to each other.
3. Characters are wearing T-shirts (or other cloathing) with messages on them.
4. The banner is found to not conform to the rules; no clear message on the procedure currently exists even though it is almost always put to effect.
   etc

Also under review.

You need to have a statement to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties (eg. "The rules may be changed at any time and entries disqualified should they not meet the new terms.", "These rules apply for the time of this posting to the end of the competion.")

Noted.

The phases need to be smart and few, no more: "Surprise extra phase! I want you all do to do what you just did again, you got this many days to do it. (if you miss this thread too bad tic tok tic tok)"

There's a lot of lessons to be taken from this experience. Such a thread will likely never occur in that form again.

You have a section called "What happens next?", which starts with "Submission Stage", if that is what happens next what is it that happens now?

Like I mentioned before, much of the formatting and rules were based on the previous contest and will be changed quite a bit after reviewing how this one went.

Hope this helps with your future planning,
Good Luck

I appreciate your efforts Cats, and your formatting was very helpful. <3

ps. The gradient we are using is a large version of the one of the old contests. Do you want to forever use it from now on?

The staff was provided with a mountain of gradients during the planning stages. This gradient probably will not be used for the next contest. We will probably choose something with more vibrancy.

Originally Posted by Whojive

i'm in for limiting people to one entry period. if you can't choose the best one of your 3 entries why should we. also this should make things easier, not having to count votes for hundred+ banners, when 30ish is good enough. and hopefully with only having one entry, quality will go up due to focusing your time/efforts into one great piece instead of 3 good ones.

It is never *required* that people turn in three entries. The choice is left to the contestant. Voters aren't required to vote for three entries either. Because there is no way to predict how many people will actually enter a particular contest, the three entry rule allows a degree of variety and flexibility for all participants.

[felix]

No, they are talking about quality over quantity.

For example why is the number 3 ideal for quality? Why would not 2 or 4 be better or just 1.
Variety is quantity most of the time. It is obvious everyone want quality not quantity.

It is important since if the limit was 6 you would be encouragin people to make 6 banners.
The question also has to be asked: if its all in the members choice why even have such a low limit.

[Whojive]

never said it was required to have 3, but as long as we are getting more entries than we could possibly use then limiting it to one isn't a problem. now if during future contest have a lack of entries you can up amounts to help provide variety. but judging by this last one it won't be a problem. having 25-40 is easier on those running the contest.

[Whojive]

another possible voting method is playoff brackets (in honor of march madness starting today)
have done this on other sites, but requires alittle more work. but has more head to head action

[vandakiara]

Originally Posted by Whojive

another possible voting method is playoff brackets (in honor of march madness starting today)
have done this on other sites, but requires alittle more work. but has more head to head action

what's that exactly?

[felix]

You'll have to explain it to those of us who are clueless as to what "playoff brackets" would refer to.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Cats

It is important since if the limit was 6 you would be encouragin people to make 6 banners.

I don't think there has ever been anything forcing people to make three entries. At the same time, making a single entry doesn't always determine the quality of said entry per see.

Many people can produce great entries in a short amount of time, whereas someone new to photoshop can have problems even if they go full time on a single banner.

More than the number of entries, this is all about the skill and the amount of time a banner maker is willing to invest in his/her creations.

Originally Posted by Cats

The question also has to be asked: if its all in the members choice why even have such a low limit.

A case by case scenario probably. If a good amount of people feel like making more than three entries, the mods will likely take that into consideration.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Solace

Actually, I can check them. If you are worried about rigging or tampering, don't be. You should know by now that the staff is pretty good at catching that sort of thing and correcting it.

On a standard vBulletin forum, by default: you should only be able to Edit a Poll (right top on a poll widget), when editing you are presented with the option of altering the counters as well as adding new options. You should not be able to change the polls status, such as multi-choice/single, private/public (public can be converted to private; but not visa versa); but the option to close or otherwise set a date of auto-close should be there. I am not sure but provided you spend some time editing a poll while it is open you may risk cancelling votes since upon saving old counters may be applied.

The only way to view who has voted in a private poll as far as I know is though Admin CP / Threads & Posts / Who voted , however this will only show the names attached to the option (with a link to their profile), no ip check, no how many votes per option. You could have a option with 0 voters but 20 votes and it will not show up at all or generate a warning.

I know the admins could create a small db query to search for fraud, such as accounts who have been active only at the time of the contest, are from the same ip, voted and never posted (anywhere). They could, its in the end just reading the database... doubt they actually did any such thing.

But how can you check as I see no opions available to you by making it private?!