Rules and Damned Good Suggestions, READ OR YOUR GENITALS WILL ROT OFF.

[janelle]

This thread was accidentally deleted when shifting forums early on. Most of you know this already, but please give it a second glance for the new/improved/removed stuff. (Ohh my rhyming skeelz are niceee.) KTHX.

Also, I don't really like the terms of mod and admin for this place, because I feel that this is OUR forum, all of ours, as a collective. So when I say staffperson or staffer, etc.. I mean any of us- myself, Proff, and whoever else may join our Thread Management Team in the future. ^.^


Hosts:

1. You must have a post count of 100 or more to start a contest. This is not to discourage newbies at all, it’s just that most abandoned/unsuccessful contests are held by very new members, and we want all our contests to be successful ones. If we know you to be a reliable host from other forums, please PM one of the staffmembers to ask (*ask*) to be excused from the postcount limitation.
2. You cannot host multiple contests at the Lounge until you have hosted at least one contest successfully to completion. This rule seems fairly self-explanatory.
3. Find your judges (including an emergency backup judge) before the contest starts. Any staff member can point you in the direction of several great judges if you’re having trouble finding one. You spent time and effort on your contest, and putting thought into your judging panel should be a part of a good host's intrinsic responsibilities. Also, it’s your job to screen your judge’s comments for appropriateness before they are posted publicly.
4. To get a judges’ forum, PM Janelle with your contest name and the password you’d like to use for your forum. When the contest is over,
5. There is currently no limit on how long a contest may be casting for, but keep in mind that people's circumstances and availability may change if you're starting the contest a month and a half after they initially signed up. As soon as applications are closed, PM A STAFFER to move your contest to the appropriate section.
6. When you open your contest, choose an approximate number of participants and rounds and STICK TO IT, so that your judges aren't overwhelmed by judging 16 pics each round when you said only 8 initially, and that your contestants don't sign up for a 6 round contest that ends up being dragged out to 10 rounds or more. Of course, plans change, so if you do want to make big changes, check with your judges/contestants to see what works with them before you decide anything.

Damned Good Suggestion:
1. We strongly suggest that you reserve a post for each round of your contest in addition to whatever other reserved posts you had planned. This just makes it much easier to look back on the contest and each rounds photos and results later, after it’s over. Or, linking to each round’s description and photos on the front page also works.
2. We would also really love it if you could give a general idea of the expected skill level of your contest: is it technically challenging, is it beginner-friendly, is it for the more advanced pose-maker, in-game set maker, is there going to be technically challenging editing, etc...


Participants:

1. Respect the time the host have put into the contest and judges have put into the critiques. You can disagree all you want, if you do it in a constructive, respectful manner. If you have a problem with the contest host, or a judge/comments, then either talk to the host privately or talk to a staffer about it and we can discuss your concerns with the host/judge ourselves if you'd prefer.
2. Drop-outs will be whipped. And possibly added to a possibly public drop-out list.
3. Let the host know of any scheduling issues like vacations you may have pop-up as soon as you know about them so they can plan accordingly.
4. Respect your fellow participants, especially in role-play. You can play your character how you choose, but make sure that it isn't all about the bitchery. Many people feel forced to RP as catty, petty characters because it's more "interesting." Watch me roll my eyes now please and thanks. Sometimes people actually get along with one another, or at least manage to stay civil while sharing a house together. Shocking, I know. You may need a lie-down now.
5. Enter contests because you like the host's ideas or perspective for the contest, because it'll be a challenge, because you'll be competing with people you know and like or don't yet know and want to know better. Enter because you're bored and it sounds like fun. Enter contests because you enjoy the experience, because you want to stretch your abilities and continue to learn, for the love of editing, for the love of the game, but not because you desire winning above all. Check your priorities. After all, there's no cash prize for winning. And when you get all tense and uptight about things like that, no offense, but you start to get really bad in bed.
6. Do not, in ANY circumstances, whine about entering a contest with someone who you believe is going to win automatically because of their editing prowess. The first thing you should do is reread number 5 just above, and then kick your pillow, withdraw from the contest, or suck it up and look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve your own skills. Some of the best members of our community have been driven from other forums because of such immaturity, and it will not happen here. Period.


Judges:

1. Please try to get your comments in within two (2) days.
2. Even if you like nothing about the picture, respect the time the contestant put into it. After all, that's probably the type of person who could use your help the most, no?
3.All comments must be constructive, roleplaying or not. If you want to have 'character' judges, it's up to you. But judging is, at the end of the day, supposed to be constructive criticism.
4.Don't use roleplay as an excuse for being an asshole. If a contest has to rely on bitchy judges to provide the entertainment... the host should probably rethink that contest, or else consider if this is the right place to host it.
5. Let the host know about scheduling conflicts/vacations/etc as soon as you know about them so that either the host can plan around that or so that the back-up judge can be notified.



We can't promise to make all the changes people want, but as always, you're welcomed to give us feedback on these rules and/or offer your own suggestions or modifications as well.

This post has been edited by janelle on May 29 2008, 11:23 PM

[janelle]

added #6 to Hosts on the inadvertent recommendation of Ash, Jaz, and Lena.