Feedback: Challenges

Amassment-sponsored challenges, marathons and activities past and present. Join in on the fun today!
Todd
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Feedback: Challenges

Post by Todd »

Hey, guys!

The Events Team is starting to plan the next challenge that will be starting in just three months. For those working on Creature Feature sites, keep them coming! There is still time to sign up for new ones as well; keep in mind that most of our previous marathons ran for just three months each, so you have plenty of time to enjoy and partake in Creature Feature.

The reason for this post is I want to get your feedback now that Creature Feature has ran for several months. Do you like the new format of marathons as Challenges? Do you like plugging your own shrines in a sub-forum and seeing sites as they are finished rather than waiting for a reveal post at the end? Is there anything that was complicated that we could work on, or anything you didn't like about how Creature Feature was (and is currently) ran?

You guys' opinions are super important to us, and we will take your feedback into account when Sofia, Chibi, Cherri, and I plan our future events.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Larissa
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Larissa »

With the length of the challenge, I like being able to plug my site before the event ends. I don't know that I'd be interested in an event that required me to keep my site under wraps for six whole months, if I were to finish a site early into the event.

For a short event like the month-long one-page site challenges, keeping sites under wraps makes more sense, but for this, not so much. I feel like seeing everyone else's work has helped people to be more inspired for their own sites. I also prefer the individual feedback people are able to get by making their own topics for their sites as they finish them; in the larger plugging posts at the end of an event, people rarely got feedback, at least not back on LJ.

It would be nice if the event post was more frequently updated with links to the finished sites, given the number that have been completed by now.
tonight fate is the
Crystal
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Crystal »

I'm with Larissa. I found it really neat to see what everyone had done for their shrines and it has even given me some new ideas on what I can do with my next Creature Feature that I'm currently working on (if I can get over the stupid layout hurdle). The option of being able to show our shrines off as soon as we're done is nice too. I've gotten tons of feedback that I don't think I'd have gotten otherwise which has helped a lot in improving my shrines. Plus I'm always excited to show off a new shrine right away because I'm on a bit of a buzz from having finished something. xD

I can't really think of much else. I've 100% enjoyed the Creature Feature marathon.
There are shadows before us - but only because the light is at our back.
Todd
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Todd »

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I'm glad you like the changes.

@Larissa - One Page, One Month and possibly Clique Happy if we decide to run it annually or bi-annually (We're discussing it,) are the only two marathons that will run on a shorter time period. The idea is that everything else will run as a Challenge like Creature Feature, with an extended time frame. We've had some really great events that ran at the end of the year or at inconvenient times, and weren't active as a result. Members expressed that they wish they could have participated in those. With these Challenges running so long, and anyone being able to sign up at any time, there's more of a chance for people to participate. That's our idea, anyway. It seems to be working with Creature Feature. So many shrines!
Larissa wrote:It would be nice if the event post was more frequently updated with links to the finished sites, given the number that have been completed by now.
lol, I was just working on updating that a few minutes before I read this. We'll probably have to rethink how we do that for future challenges. We might possibly wait for a big reveal at the end, and let members' plugs and Monthly Rewind show off the current sites alone. I found actively maintaining sign-ups and subject changes, marking off completed shrines, chasing down buttons of the correct size, etc, is time consuming, and we can't do it all as quickly as we'd like because we're also planning new events, working on our own sites, etc. lol I'm with you though. I like seeing all the completed sites together, which is why I left a space for it in the post. I just need to think of a better way to do it for the future. Thanks!

Edit: Maybe we can install a plugboard on the Events page at the domain, and let Challenge participants post their buttons to the wall when they finish their sites. That can be optional, as the post plugging their site is the only requirement when finished. And we can still do a reveal post at the end.
Larissa
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Larissa »

Oh, I'd like to see the clique event come back, I wasn't around to participate last year and I've got an idea I've just been procrastinating on making. It'd be great to do it for an event.

Out of curiosity, are you planning on all marathons being this long? Six months is a long time, and while it works well for this one given there are lots of potential sites to be made with such an open premise, I wonder if 4-5 months would work better for marathons more limited in scope. Just a thought, since not every challenge is something people can make multiple sites for like this one.

I do like the idea of a plugboard. That'd be a good way for challenge sites to get more visibility.
tonight fate is the
Todd
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Todd »

Hmm, that makes sense. We could do 4-5 month challenges at the beginning of the year, especially for event ideas that are more limited, like you said. We have One Page, One Month coming around the end of Creature Feature, and the next Challenge starting then is very open in premise, too. Lots of sites can be made. Amassment tends to die down from around the end of October to January, and people go back to school in August, so having a longer marathon start in August and run through the end of the year makes sense. People will have more time to work on sites during their busy times.

I personally like the idea of running even limited Event ideas for six months, so members can participate around their busy lives. What we could do is run a couple limited events at the same time, staggered apart, so members who have time to finish early won't be bored, and can start a new event, and other members can still take their time or participate in either event later if they are busy.

So what we could do is start Challenge 1 in January and have it run through the end of June. Start challenge 2 in March and have it run through September. Challenge 3 starts in July and runs through December. That way the three overlap, and members can participate in all or any of the three, or focus on just one for a longer period of time if they are busy and need the extended time.

And of course we'll still have 1P1M, Clique Happy, banner trades, etc occurring throughout.
dubiousdisc
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by dubiousdisc »

Agree with Larissa as well, I very much liked the fact that you could post your result whenever it was ready and it seems to me like the Creature Feature is doing particularly well because it's longer and because people talking about it and showing what they're doing leads other people to want to participate. And yeah, it's much easier to have a thread for each site and discuss each site individually whenever it's made than have the giant reveal post with fifteen-twenty sites competing for attention and a single thread where it's hard to say anything more than "congrats everybody".

And I do agree on the need to have a more updated post about the current events, and I see how that is time consuming, but...speaking at least for myself, I think the Forum Team can do it. After all, we do take care of the "front-end" things while the Events Team deals with the "back-end". If you guys need a hand with that sort of things, I think we can help out. Or at least, I offer my help (wouldn't want to push Destinie and Sarah into this without their consent, haha).
The plugboard would also be a great idea! Just, while working on my site I did feel the need to have some specific thing to link to with all the completed sites because I would want to say on my site that this was made for Creature Feature, check out what it is and the other great sites people have made for this other than mine!, and while linking to the forum post in itself is okay, I think it would be better to have some more organized and readily understandable thing.

I did appreciate that Creature Feature was a long event (as shown by the fact that I'm not done with my site yet, haha). I'd be okay with shorter ones as well. My participation would depend on my unpredictable work schedule though, so don't take me as an accurate metric of anything, haha. But I know that I'd be more likely to sign up on something longer, yes.
Todd
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Todd »

Thanks, dubiousdisc! I never considered having the Forum Team help. We can discuss it for future events, but I think I'd feel bad. You guys already do so much! Maybe we can set me or one of my team members up to do it, and if we fall behind and you guys are on and have time, you can edit our posts and add the new shrines in? That might work. Do you guys have post-editing privileges? I know Destinie does. If not, we should set that up for you and Sarah.

From the feedback I've gotten before, there are a lot of people who prefer longer events. The secret is coming up with a plan that satisfies everyone. I think the staggered marathon idea I posted above would work for next year. This year is already really full. I think you guys will like the next challenge. There's a lot of room for a lot of different types of sites to be made. Trust me, nobody's going to get bored or not be able to make multiple sites if they want to. :D
dubiousdisc
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by dubiousdisc »

We can edit posts, yes. :)
And that would make sense - a double-team work! Ha!

I'm glad to hear that! More events for everyone 8)
Todd
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Re: Feedback: Challenges

Post by Todd »

Awesome, thanks. Well feel free to edit our posts if you see shrines finished that we haven't gotten around to, for this event or any future. Any help is appreciated! The list of shrines all together is nice.

I'll talk to Masao about plugboard scripts soon, too. She's still working on Amassment's revamp, so maybe she can add one to Amassment with it. :D
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