243 replies to this topic

[ZeroTigress]

The most common issue with contests on iRO is that the hosts don't outline their guidelines for judging entries until after the fact, making participants feel bitter because they aren't told ahead of time what would hinder them from becoming winners.

Art contests are a different beast due to the subjectively of art itself. You can't have overall winners (how one artwork is better than the rest will ALWAYS differ from person to person), but you can have categories of winners for the same contest like Best Character Design, Best Concept of Theme, Best Use of Palm Trees, etc.

It is a shame you weren't able to confide in anyone to help you with the contest. I can understand the stress of being an event host for the first time and it's difficult to figure out a way to balance things that would make things fair for all. Nobody is perfect. Take this as a lesson and learn from mistakes to become a better host, but don't dwell on it and let it stop you from being a host again.

[KamiKali]

With these responses it seems like we can easily tell who is an actual artist in this community by those that understand what constructive criticism is versus those who sees objective critique as "salt" or "negativity".

[Oda]

With these responses it seems like we can easily tell who is an actual artist in this community by those that understand what constructive criticism is versus those who sees objective critique as "salt" or "negativity".

Kamikali, you have already let your feedback regarding this contest be known. Move on. 

[Xellie]

It's nice to see different artists, congrats everyone <3

[mrricebox]

I was a little disappointed that some of my favourite pieces weren't chosen, but it is Akreis's contest and she does have the right to judge how she feels. It's been stated before that a clear judging criteria should be layed out beforehand so I won't expand on that any further. I also agree that selecting a group of judges to critique the pieces along side you would be best, but what's done is done and all she can do is take these into consideration during the next contest, if she hosts again. I definitely thought there were some clear-cut winners that were left out, but take nothing away from the winners; like Akreis said, not everyone is as artistically gifted and story/use of theme should indeed be judged, just stated so next time is all.

 

Take this from a guy who lost to fried chicken.

I'll take that monkey over my fried chicken all day bro lol I didn't expect to win myself tbh.

[Anshin]

When this contest was first announced it was for a Jawaii themed Valentine's day artwork and it had a deadline. Then someone wanted it to be Lunar New Year themed too. So Akreis made it both. Then artists had commissions they had to finish, Akreis changed the deadline to accommodate them. Lets don't forget the withdrawn entry that should have been handled privately not to cause drama. Now the fact people are complaining about the judging is just taking this too far. Winners will always be in the judges opinion. That's why the same people don't always judge or win, thus making it a contest. I think we maybe need to have a good sportsmanship contest next.

 

[ChakriGuard]

Just as the drama in the luna shadow set thread finished and I was sad! Here I found another thread for daily funny lols! Thanks WP forums Haha It is hard to be a judge <3

Well done and good job on all winners. You all deserved it >.<

Edited by ChakriGuard, 02 February 2016 - 09:14 AM.

[Pandiwi]

Kamikali, you have already let your feedback regarding this contest be known. Move on. 

 

This made my day, thanks Oda. 

 

Congrats to all the winners! You guys should know that even if someone it's having a tantrum, your art was amazing. There was a lot of other lovely entries, and they all could have won.

 

Moko, thanks for hosting this event, I hope this don't discourage you to keep hosting events. 

[1392140604170018137]

When this contest was first announced it was for a Jawaii themed Valentine's day artwork and it had a deadline. Then someone wanted it to be Lunar New Year themed too. So Akreis made it both. Then artists had commissions they had to finish, Akreis changed the deadline to accommodate them. Lets don't forget the withdrawn entry that should have been handled privately not to cause drama. Now the fact people are complaining about the judging is just taking this too far. Winners will always be in the judges opinion. That's why the same people don't always judge or win, thus making it a contest. I think we maybe need to have a good sportsmanship contest next.

Lol keep beating that dead horse

[Demeris]

Kamikali, you have already let your feedback regarding this contest be known. Move on. 

[xXFrankoXx]

Congratulations to everyone! (Winners & participants)

Specially to Larasayas, who i have the placer to meet and i know how hard she works.

Also, Lillies too, her works allways amazed me. The way she use the watercolor is... 

 

Im not ignoring all the discussion back there. I took my time to read everything and see the point of view of everyone, and i found right and wrong thinking. But im not gonna quote anyone because im still new in the community, I dont know everyone so well to do that,  and maybe I may be missunderstanding.

 

As a participant, i must say Akreis did a great job hosting the contest and judging too.

I allways keep in mind that art is a way of expression, and try to understand it or judging it has been hard since people have the freedom to express themselves as they want. 

 

Thank you so much for this experience! Congratulations to everyone again, and I be waiting the next contest. ^^

 

 

[hotel]

I think it's just important to recognise there will always be disappointment, regardless of whether judging criteria was laid out beforehand, a panel of judges was used etc. You can try to make it simple and straightforward but art is often anything but.

So congratulations to all the participants, and remember that there's never going to be someone that 'wins all the time'. Please keep entering contests like these so we can see and appreciate more of your creativity

[WarlockFier]

I'm sorry to see these disputes happening a lot in art contests, having hosted the last contest myself, I did learned the difficulty of hosting these contests on a gaming community where guild rivalries/ petty disagreement exist. I do put my differences with guild rivalries aside when I hosted these contest.

 

When this contest was first announced it was for a Jawaii themed Valentine's day artwork and it had a deadline. Then someone wanted it to be Lunar New Year themed too. So Akreis made it both. Then artists had commissions they had to finish, Akreis changed the deadline to accommodate them. Lets don't forget the withdrawn entry that should have been handled privately not to cause drama. Now the fact people are complaining about the judging is just taking this too far. Winners will always be in the judges opinion. That's why the same people don't always judge or win, thus making it a contest. I think we maybe need to have a good sportsmanship contest next.

 

Hi Rose, I know you are from Smokies and you are taking a stab at me. I was originally going to host this Valentines contests, I am that 'someone' that would like to make it a double themed to make the contest more interesting, Due to a miscommunication, Oda allowed Akreis to take over instead. He asked me to host the Lunar New Year contest separately, bit that would simply clashes with Akreis' contest and I don't want to rival against her contest either, so I suggested it instead Akreis was kind enough to accept it. I don't see what is wrong suggesting it to be double themed when Lunar New Year? I wasn't going to take part in it either to benefit anything out from it or to make Akreis look inadequate. I hope that clears up why the suggestion for Lunar New Year and it had no ill intentions to it.

 

As for the withdrawn entry, I was civil with the call outs. It is not fair for other artists to compete against a plagiarism piece. If I never called it out, they would never learn it is not okay to do so too. He didn't seem sincerely apologetic about it as well and only alter the picture as call outs were made. I actually know that aside from that piece there were others that were just blatantly traced and copied. I just hoped that one specific artist would learn from this mistake because I did looked up to his work a lot and thought he had a lot of potential. The fact he also changed the background to one he draw originally was a step in the right direction. Him being disqualified wasn't something I wish to see happen either. I do look forward to his future art works though.

 

If I have known Akreis had dilemmas and questions about running these contests, I would have offered advise. I know the hardship of hosting these contests, and I applaud her flexibility and willingness to accept suggestions and extending deadline for others as well. Sure having multiple judging panel would have been a better, but she didn't know. When I hosted the last contest, I did not judge for it at all. I found 5 people, including some that is from the rivalry guild to pick their favorite 3 and let me know. I then had Oda do the final tie breaker as there was more than 5 entries that got top votes. I try to be as fair as I can so if people question my judging, I can explain how the judging went and it wasn't one sided. 

 

Regarding the argument that it is 'nice to see other artists' that won, while shunning the artists who are more skilled and have won multiple times in the past... While I understand the good intention to try and allow others to have a chance to win, this will deter some artists from taking part in contests anymore. :/ I will discuss with Oda about how to go about this. Or if other contest organizers would like to discuss with me to come up with ideas on finding a solution to this issue, feel free to pm me too.

 

All in all, I do hope to see these art contests improve and encourage people to take part in them with good intention, not greed over the prizes. In all my years of taking part and hosting art contests, I honestly never seen them to be this difficult to host without a ton of disputes from the community. =x

[UrekMazino]

congrats kylieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

[Rythen]

Honestly if there's only a few highly skilled artists in a community it's boring seeing the same styles, plus newer, less talented, or disabled artists would get looked over because they're ~not good enough~.

 

That's never how art should be.

 

I very much appreciate that creativity and concept are judged just as much as talent, it gives a good variety to the loading screens and encourages the entire community to make an attempt instead of saying "if you aren't as good as X you'll never win sorry." Absolutely let some MS paint entries win, so long as they're creative and an attempt was made.

 

Thank you, Akreis, for a great contest and picking some great loading screens for us.

[tshin23]

I'm sad that none of the Paint arts like Myz or Erin's won.

[Anaestasha]

Since its Valentine's, what if everyone's a winner? 

[KamiKali]

I'm sad that none of the Paint arts like Myz or Erin's won.

 

yea me too

[kingarthur6687]

So this was causing a ruckus over in a place I frequent and I had to see what the god damn commotion was about.
 

Art is an inherently subjective and fluid medium, so it's difficult to quantify 'skill'. Especially given that these artists are all unique in terms of their style. It's why, like music, the value of art isn't always based on just how well it's drawn or the intricacies of the detail. Music contests aren't judged by how mechanically perfect the musician plays the notes, and art contests are similar. I'm no artist but I can see that there's often a lot more to consider than simply the realistic quality of the piece.
 
Those things - like expression, tone - are purely subjective and is why we have judges. The judge has come to a decision in this contest, and like anything subjective there will be dissenters. But that's reality, not everyone will agree. Doesn't make it any less of an art contest though, just not your art contest.

A thousand times this, I don't see what the problem here is about. Someone decided to host an art contest and judged the entries based upon their own opinion, the entrants can either take it or leave it; this wasn't their contest and they can choose to not participate in Akreis's next contest if they are displeased with the results here.

This is all a bunch of needless salt and drama if you ask me.

Edited by kingarthur6687, 02 February 2016 - 06:03 PM.

[ChakriGuard]

Please allow commissioned arts in next event because apparently my ""-_-ty" artery skills wont make the cut and I will therefore and automatically will never win lol xD
I also want to submit and win the prize too because I am greedy.

 

Oh wait! nvm, thanks for not choosing winners purely based on "so-called" skills. I thought art was subjective haha D:<

 

Edited by ChakriGuard, 02 February 2016 - 06:44 PM.

[kokeshicat]

congrats again Kylie for winning (yay for your 1st art contest here ) and to everyone who won ^^ 

 

[WarlockFier]

So this was causing a ruckus over in a place I frequent and I had to see what the god damn commotion was about.
 
A thousand times this, I don't see what the problem here is about. Someone decided to host an art contest and judged the entries based upon their own opinion, the entrants can either take it or leave it; this wasn't their contest and they can choose to not participate in Akreis's next contest if they are displeased with the results here.

This is all a bunch of needless salt and drama if you ask me.

 

I think both side has made valid points. One wanted to see more artists that hasn't won before win, the other side wanted more solid judging system that aren't one sided to win. I think it is constructive discussion and you don't have to dimiss it as 'salt' and drama. I find it appalling that the people in this community can't seem to take suggestions/ feedbacks/ criticism very well either and will just dismiss everything as 'salt'. It is constructive criticism that can help improve and shape things better. Shutting down other people's opinion isn't good either because this isn't the first time that some members in the community (aside from Kami) that got really unhappy with a 'one judge' contest result. I know of a member that took it into pm with the CMs and also voiced out to me personally about it. It just doesn't work. The contest is held for the public and shouldn't be seen as 'their contest' and they get to do whatever they want as well. That just leads to dictatorship and unfairness to happen. But Akreis isn't like that, she just didn't know that it would have been better to involve more judges. Otherwise, I think she did tried very hard to make this a successful event. And having attempted to host an event before myself, I know Oda can be a little bit difficult to work with too. So I can understand some of her frustration.

[Abdee]

 

Well, Happy Valentine! 

 

 

 

^Requested by a dear friend*

Edited by Abdee, 02 February 2016 - 06:26 PM.

[Anshin]

I'm sorry to see these disputes happening a lot in art contests, having hosted the last contest myself, I did learned the difficulty of hosting these contests on a gaming community where guild rivalries/ petty disagreement exist. I do put my differences with guild rivalries aside when I hosted these contest.

 

 

Hi Rose, I know you are from Smokies and you are taking a stab at me. I was originally going to host this Valentines contests, I am that 'someone' that would like to make it a double themed to make the contest more interesting, Due to a miscommunication, Oda allowed Akreis to take over instead. He asked me to host the Lunar New Year contest separately, bit that would simply clashes with Akreis' contest and I don't want to rival against her contest either, so I suggested it instead Akreis was kind enough to accept it. I don't see what is wrong suggesting it to be double themed when Lunar New Year? I wasn't going to take part in it either to benefit anything out from it or to make Akreis look inadequate. I hope that clears up why the suggestion for Lunar New Year and it had no ill intentions to it.

 

As for the withdrawn entry, I was civil with the call outs. It is not fair for other artists to compete against a plagiarism piece. If I never called it out, they would never learn it is not okay to do so too. He didn't seem sincerely apologetic about it as well and only alter the picture as call outs were made. I actually know that aside from that piece there were others that were just blatantly traced and copied. I just hoped that one specific artist would learn from this mistake because I did looked up to his work a lot and thought he had a lot of potential. The fact he also changed the background to one he draw originally was a step in the right direction. Him being disqualified wasn't something I wish to see happen either. I do look forward to his future art works though.

 

If I have known Akreis had dilemmas and questions about running these contests, I would have offered advise. I know the hardship of hosting these contests, and I applaud her flexibility and willingness to accept suggestions and extending deadline for others as well. Sure having multiple judging panel would have been a better, but she didn't know. When I hosted the last contest, I did not judge for it at all. I found 5 people, including some that is from the rivalry guild to pick their favorite 3 and let me know. I then had Oda do the final tie breaker as there was more than 5 entries that got top votes. I try to be as fair as I can so if people question my judging, I can explain how the judging went and it wasn't one sided. 

 

Regarding the argument that it is 'nice to see other artists' that won, while shunning the artists who are more skilled and have won multiple times in the past... While I understand the good intention to try and allow others to have a chance to win, this will deter some artists from taking part in contests anymore. :/ I will discuss with Oda about how to go about this. Or if other contest organizers would like to discuss with me to come up with ideas on finding a solution to this issue, feel free to pm me too.

 

All in all, I do hope to see these art contests improve and encourage people to take part in them with good intention, not greed over the prizes. In all my years of taking part and hosting art contests, I honestly never seen them to be this difficult to host without a ton of disputes from the community. =x

 

This has nothing to do with guilds. I have only tried to put my bad art in three contests. 1) The Day of the Dead later changed to all kinds of ways to celebrate Halloween. 2) The Comics Contest, the guidelines of that was changed and 2nd part never happened. 3) This Valentine/Jawaii/Lunar.

 

All three the Host/Hostess has been asked to change the event. I think people need to let the Hosts do their contest as they intended it to be. I hate that this one happen to be you, what I said was not intended to be against you personally and I'm sorry you took it that way.

 

The entry thing, in the future maybe a pm to the Host of the event would be a better route. That way someone making an innocent mistake could correct, learn and still participate in the contest.

 

I think we are all trying to think of ways to make the contests run smoother.

[kingarthur6687]

The reason some of us call/dismiss the complaints as salt is because at the end of the day they only come off as "my favorite artist(s)/work(s) didn't win, contest sucked". This is an art contest and art is extremely subjective, even if one loading screen was very well drawn it simply won't be picked as the winner if the judge(s) in question simply don't like it for any reason whatsoever.

As far as I understand, Akreis decided based on their sole opinion and discretion which loading screens won. There is absolutely nothing wrong about this, at some point in our lives we have all judged and dismissed so-called "works of art" based solely upon whether we liked it or not. To this day I still don't understand what the appeal is behind Picasso's art, for example; not everyone shares my enthusiasm for anime either.

The classy thing to do would have been to simply walk out ("leave it", in other words), making a big fuss just rubs some of us the wrong way.

Edited by kingarthur6687, 02 February 2016 - 06:37 PM.