GothiComp Evaluation

[AndrewChristlieb]

I dont know about multiple pics on the main thread but I do think it would be nice to see one large "money" shot on the thread.  Then maybe have a link to a file sharing site where they can show the details for those of us that would like to see them.  I deffinatly do not like the multiple pics in one thing that you guys have been doing tho, it almost feels like a tease, I know theres something there they want me to see... now if only I could  .

[Dan_Lee]

Next year I am intending to drop the anonymous part. So the gallery will mention the painter (eg 2E. Rogue Trader Cruiser - Horizon). Submissions will still go through e-mail at taccompetitions - I'm not fussed either way, as I'm sure almost everyone wouldn't let the artists name sway their vote.

Shall we keep the idea of revealing votes after the deadline has passed? I've received mixed feedback on it. - I think its best to hide the total votes until the round is over, then let people know. It stops people voting for who they can see is already winning.


Voting period, admitted 14 days is too long. So I want to shorten it to 7 days. That seems a fair number of days. - I'd say 14 days isn't too long. Anything over that is too much.


Tiebreaker worked good and I'll keep it; however this all depends on number of entries. I liked this (because my entry got into it).


Extra categories: I have received requests/ideas on the following category ideas: Open category, seperate Escort category, Defences category, Picture from a Battle Report category. Viable? Needed? More? Other? More categories means more prizes needed/or the badge of honour. - Escorts probably need their own category as they seem to struggle when put up against bigger ships. Defences can just be entered as either escorts or cruisers (depending upon their size). I wouldn't have pictures from a battle report, as they don't really contain any artistic talent beyond the painted models. You could have an open category that allowed celestial phenomena or dioramas.


Picture format: upping it to 1024 x 768. - I don't see why not.


Allowing more pictures of an entry in a thread? - I find it can take long enough just to download and view the one picture per entry. This will take even longer if you up the file size or add more categories. Allow montages perhaps, but not more pictures.

[canucks fan]

Hi,
I doubt I'll have anything to add that hasn't been said yet.  But....
I think the most important decision to make is what is the main purpose of gothicomp?  Is it mainly for fun, or is it mainly a competition?  If its mainly a competition, then to make it the most fair, you should have anonymous entries, and ban all blogs, pictures, threads etc.. of the submission on all sites.  This is of course impossible to do.  Thankfully, for me gothicomp has been mainly a fun way of getting me to paint, and sharing my work with the BFG community.  So, include the artist's name!  Encourage discussion, and posting of entries in other forums!  Since its going to happen (and did in every gothicomp I've seen to date), you may as well encourage everyone to do so.

If someone doesn't want to post their name for the entry (a good point zhukov makes), the artist could just leave this field blank, allowing for an anonymous entry.

Also, if artists names are attached to entries, I think people are less likely to trash it publicly. 

Otherwise
- keep votes hidden until deadline!  Adds to the suspense
- 7 days voting period!
- I hate the tiebreaker.  I think it just prolongs the competition and should have little impact on the final result.  But clearly I'm in the minority.
- Extra categories:  The problem with these IMO is that there might not be enough entries to make a reasonable competition.  Hopefully I'll be wrong.
- Yes increase the picture size limit!!
- Multiple pictures.  With the new size limit, this should be unnecessary.  A composite picture should be fine.  And, as said above, encourage participants to show off their work in blogs etc...

[AndrewChristlieb]

On voting why not set up a ranking system where each voter ranks the entrants from highest to lowest with each rank earning that entrant that many points?  For example.with 5 entrants if 10 people rank them from 1 (least liked) to 5(most liked) the entrants would have a possible 10-50 points with 11 voters it would be 11-55 points
 

[horizon]

Hey,
I'll update the first post thanks to all your feedback.

Andrew,
that would make it an unwieldy polling system, I'd even doubt it is possible. Plus it is not funny to see that your entry has gotten '1' from everyone. Better to leave that in the dark. The winner gets his credits, the others know that they'll have to work harder. Not needed to throw salt in the fresh wounds.

So far the best argument against anonymous entries has come from Schwager. As an artist you want your name attached. And lets see if we are mature enough, right?

[AndrewChristlieb]

My intention for that was to address the issue that schwager brought up about having multiple entrants you would like to vote for. I didn't consider that the forum may not be setup to handle that style of vote.

[fracas]

Originally I thought as Andrew suggested, that voters rank the top 3, or 5, etc.
My entry was in the same heat as the ultimate winner, but then I realized that the one winner would have risen to the top regardless of the heat it is in
So the ranking would not have produced a different winner

[Wintermans]

Everything anonymous, ask people to not show models anywhere to anyone

I want to be sure i cleary understand: that mean we can't post on a forum pictures of the model(s) we are preparing for the competition ?, like work in progress or/and  the final picture ?

Nothing anonymous, names included in gallery, people may show it wherever they want

As an artist you want your name attached. And lets see if we are mature enough, right?

I agree.
 

Mixed: people may decide if they want to see their name in the gallery or not

No, every entries at the same level.

[Sigoroth]

I would have it anonymous for the voting, but not attempt to restrict people from posting it elsewhere. That way there's no onerous restrictions placed upon the entrants and no automatic biasing. Only those that decide to search out pictures elsewhere or happen to have seen the ships before will have any potential bias. Once the competition is over, amend the names to the entrants ships.

[Caine-HoA]

For me Gothicomp is rather a small fun competition to show (and get motivated to paint) bfg models. So i would rather keep it open, fun, not too serious.

Am i motivated to paint new models if i cant even show them before the next gothicomp?
Shoulnt gothicomp be a motivation to paint more and more minitures and show them to the community (so we all have more fleets and ships to look at and talk about) actively?


To the other questions only a quick reply for now:

Escort category totally makes sense for me. Either dont make a prize for the new category or split up the pizes more depending on how many you could collect that year. I think its cool to win something but its not necessary to be happy to win ;-)

[Zhukov]

I would have it anonymous for the voting, but not attempt to restrict people from posting it elsewhere. That way there's no onerous restrictions placed upon the entrants and no automatic biasing. Only those that decide to search out pictures elsewhere or happen to have seen the ships before will have any potential bias. Once the competition is over, amend the names to the entrants ships.

I am in absolute agreement on this. In terms of revealing the names, I would say that should be a choice by the artist, not an automatic thing.

-Zhukov

[AndrewChristlieb]

If someone wants to attach their name to it I don't see why this would be a problem. If I like or don't like something is not going to be changed by the name on it. Put pepsi in a coke can and its still going to taste like poo.

[Sigoroth]

If someone wants to attach their name to it I don't see why this would be a problem. If I like or don't like something is not going to be changed by the name on it. Put pepsi in a coke can and its still going to taste like poo.

Exactly. The psychological effect of drinking from a Coke can will cause even Pepsi to taste bad. You prove my point. Anyway, you can't say that you won't be influenced by the names. In fact, I can say with almost certainty that having names attached will influence the results. There has been a good deal of research into subliminal effects, which is why scientists strive to conduct double blind studies.

[AndrewChristlieb]

While sig clearly did not understand my example I would say that the names should be left off, if only because some feel that they would not be able to make an accurate decision if they have a name to attach to the photo.

[Sigoroth]

While sig clearly did not understand my example I would say that the names should be left off, if only because some feel that they would not be able to make an accurate decision if they have a name to attach to the photo.

Of course I understood your example! You're saying that dressing up Pepsi as Coke makes Pepsi taste bad. There can be no other sensible interpretation of what you said.