[POLL] Rule Changes

[chacusha]

Please take this poll to determine rule changes for Game 2.


[PROPOSAL 1] Alliances in Game 2
A reminder of the alliance system -- The six teams here at ff_land get divided into pairs (alliances). The point values of allied teams are added together and the alliance with the highest total is declared the winner. Last game it was the Thief/Monk alliance.

For the next game, the new alliances would be Soldier & Thief, Monk & White Mage, and Black Mage & Dragoon. The individual team comms would all be combined as well, meaning that Thieves would be invited to the Soldier comm as members without posting access and vice versa. Of course, individual members can still choose whether or not they actually want to join/interact with their allied team but it seemed to help team morale overall last game.

• Rationale: Creates larger "teams" and allows uneven teams to be balanced.
• Arguments Against: I'm not sure if anyone brought up arguments but I can see it being more motivating to compete if you don't have to worry about the performance of your allied team. It also may interfere with building up individual team identity.


[PROPOSAL 2] Vagrant Story
While not a Final Fantasy game in name, Vagrant Story is officially part of the Ivalice Alliance along with games like Final Fantasy XII and Tactics (Advance (A2)). Originally intended to be separate from the Final Fantasy series, it was later purposely connected back to FF by references to it in later Ivalice Alliance games.

For more information see the FF Wikia.


[PROPOSAL 3] Kingdom Hearts original characters
Currently ff_land allows any KH fanworks that prominently feature the FF characters. However, things featuring ONLY KH original characters (I'm talking Sora, Riku, Namine, Organization XIII, Hayner, Aqua, Ventus, Eraqus, Ansem, etc. here, NOT Disney or imported FF characters) have always been a vague grey area.

I can see arguments both ways. While KH and FF are strongly linked and many people are fans of both, to me it's always seemed like a separate fandom. And while I love the KH games something fierce and even my mod icon and tag banner feature Aqua, I can see how allowing fanworks that only feature KH characters could be a slippery slope. So yes, please let me know your opinion on this one!


[PROPOSAL 4] Raising stamping and referral points
For this, I'm proposing to raise the points given for sorting an applicant from 5 to 10, and the points for referring someone from 50 to 60.

• Rationale: About 1/3 of the voters in the polls said 5 points was too low, and only 12% of last game's points were earned in FF Classchange (this includes referral points). FF Minigames and some scales in Moogle Workshop are getting a boost, so it might be good to inflate the sorting points to match. 60 is also a more easily divisible number than 50.
• Arguments Against: A majority said they were okay with 5 points per application, and 10 points might be a tad high for voting on an app... (but I don't want to use a non-round number, so it's got to be either 5 or 10). roax brought up concerns about too-high referral points here


[PROPOSAL 5] Occasional restrictions on games in contests in ultima_arena
For this proposal, there would be occasional restrictions on games allowed for contests, particularly fic contests. Currently, nearly all challenges in ultima_arena allow you to submit an entry featuring any FF game. The proposal here is to have challenges where the games you can choose from are limited in order to even the playing field, as not everyone is familiar with every game.

For example, a fic written for a highly obscure game might not get the same amount of attention as one with very recognizable characters. To solve this, there could be challenges where only obscure game fic is allowed, and other challenges that are focused on a particular popular game such as Final Fantasy X. See this thread for arguments for/against.


[PROPOSAL 6] One fewer short contest in the second half of the month
Currently, the contest schedule is: one month-long challenge, two half-month challenges in the first half of the month, and two half-month challenges in the second half of the month. The proposal here is to have only ONE half-month challenge during the second half of the month instead of two, for a total of 4 contests in a month rather than 5.

• Rationale: At most two challenges would be due at a time. Right now the max is three, with one of them being the big month-long challenge. It would also tone down the end-of-the-month point bonanza that happens in ultima_arena.
• Arguments Against: Not as many contests in the second half of the month to keep people occupied.



[Poll #1744111]



Thank you! :)

Comments

[arivess.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Eilia, I'm going to have to disagree with you too... As I've said before, my concern is more that if we restrict games, we're going to get less submissions, and we already don't get many submissions to begin with.

Consider: It might be a bit harder to vote on things from a game you don't know well, but it's next to impossible to write for it. When I vote, I go by technical aspects more, even when I've no idea what's going on. Whereas if I have to write for the ever-so-popular FF7 or 8, for example, no amount of pretty writing is going to help.

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you here. ♥ I do feel bad that people who maybe aren't familiar with a game feel like they have a hard time reading and/or voting on entries associated with it, and I can understand being afraid to read a synopsis of a game for fear of spoilers...but, at the same time, I don't necessarily feel it is fair to tell people they can't write about what they want to write about either. I mean, for submissions (or at least for me, at any rate!), I think people have an easier time writing what comes to mind first for a given challenge and what they're familiar with: to restrict the games they can write for a given challenge almost seems like stifling the creative process in a way.

I know it can be hard to judge fics based off of games one doesn't know, but I think it is possible so long as you focus on how it is written (case in point...I have voted for FFV and FFVI fics, and I haven't played either game yet and I even comment on fics for those games over at MWS). I don't think it is simply a matter of context as I've read fics for games I have played where I kind of thought the characters were OOC, but I could still appreciate how the fic was written. I guess I'm strange in that I don't necessarily feel like you need to really associate the original story with a fan fic since it is often up to the fan fic author's interpretation and their own thoughts on the game (for example, a lot of authors like to write about pairings that aren't in the actual game itself or do AU plots, which would take out the context of the original story anyways).

If the restrictions do take place, I only feel it would be fair to have challenges devoted to all of the games in the series instead of just the most popular ones. Still, I fear that restricting them will limit not only the number of submissions to given challenges, but will also limit voting as well since most people will not vote on what they're not familiar with (especially if they're separated from the other titles).

Unfortunately, the more obscure titles will probably get overlooked regardless as I've noticed that with graphic comms as well...but, I guess I'm not sure it is fair to tell people they can't write or make graphics for what they like since this is an overall FF comm. I know I've submitted obscure FF game based fan fiction here for challenges (it is actually the majority of what I write, oddly enough!) and I know that I'm probably not going to get that many votes for them partially just because of that, but I write them because that's what first pops into my head for the challenge prompts at that time and I have fun writing them.

Would I have fun writing for, say, a FFVIII-based challenge? Sure! :) I've actually written one for a prompt here and had fun with it, but that's because the idea just came to me naturally. I'm not sure how often that would be the case for every game-specific challenge though (and then there would be the ones I haven't played that I wouldn't be comfortable writing about, because it is nearly impossible to WRITE for a game you don't know...even with a plot synopsis as aid). That would be a problem with the game restrictions too, because it would be impossible to do every single game in a round, so that runs the risk of limiting what someone can submit to.

I apologize if this comes across as me complaining! Truthfully, I can see where everyone is coming from here: both the writer and the voter have very different reasons for why they write or vote for something, and I think there's very sound reasoning behind voting for what you're more familiar with for a few voters...as I know most individuals gravitate towards what is familiar even if they can see that something is well-written because they already have an idea about the characters in their minds. ...I'm just saying my own thoughts as someone who has written a lot for the fan fic challenges and try to explain why I sometimes write for the more obscure games. Perhaps dividing the challenges as thedrowned suggested would be an ideal solution, although I would definitely leave that decision to the very capable mods here. ♥ XD

[arivess.livejournal.com]

*nods* I think it's kinda like this, yeah. When I write for obscure games, I'm not expecting people to pick them. I know people won't unless they're spectacular. But I want to write them, y'know? So, it's not like I'm saying anyone has to vote for them if they don't know them. Votes can happen for any reason, so what does it happen what the reason is?

And I was just thinking, the other problem is, if you start restricting fandoms, then you might as well start restricting pairings, too. Because given the same fandom and similar qualities of writing, people are going to go for fandoms they like more. Or characters they like more. Things like that.

People are always going to like something for some reason or other. So, if we're knowingly and willingly creating things we know not many people will appreciate, what's wrong with that?

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly...I like writing what I want to write at a given moment, so regardless if it is for an obscure game or for a more popular one--if I have an idea, I'm going to give it a shot and enjoy myself! Since votes can happen for any reason, I'm okay with that. :D

...I can understand that concern too. Pairing and character restrictions could easily start happening as well if games are restricted (and people will probably gravitate more towards the characters or pairings they themselves personally like and perhaps not pay attention to other entries as much).

People are always going to like something for some reason or other. So, if we're knowingly and willingly creating things we know not many people will appreciate, what's wrong with that?
~I think that's a very good point! :D

[the-404-error.livejournal.com]

I'm in agreement with this. Even if a contest were to only have FFIX characters involved, it's highly likely that a fic or icon about Quina or Eiko is more likely to be overlooked than one about Vivi or Zidane. Favoritism will always play a small part for those who vote that way now anyway.

... and, as I said in an earlier thread, it's not really too hard for me to put aside bias and vote based on content otherwise? I even remember voting for a Squall/Rinoa fic for the Valentine challenge, and I can think of nothing in FF I should dislike more.

I also definitely agree that it would limit the already low number of entries. While I marked games like VII in that ultima_arena poll, it's been ages since I've played it, so I wouldn't feel comfortable writing a fic about it... nor would I really have any desire to.

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I agree! I think favoritism is just unfortunately a reality of voting for quite a few people (not everyone does it, and I know quite a few awesome people who don't here at ff_land ♥), but I think that there will always be a small amount of people who will tend to gravitate and vote more towards characters and games that they personally like more. And I think writing restrictions just kind of opens up more of a "playing to favoritism" kind of mindset when it comes to other aspects of fic writing too: if someone writes a story about a person's least favorite character or pairing from FFVII for example, does that automatically mean that the story won't be worth considering either? To some, that might BE a case where they're not going to appreciate the story or vote on it...but to others they will look at it and maybe even take more appreciation of it as putting a new light on something for them or just take into account that it is very well-written. I think the reasons why people vote vary greatly from person to person, so I'm not entirely sure there's any one solution to that conundrum.

...I could see giving up bias to be extremely hard for some, unfortunately I think that's just a reality of fandom stuff in general. But I've honestly been impressed so far with non-super-popular characters or games that I have seen exhibited in challenges and getting votes. If someone honestly gets inspired to write a story about ANY game or character, I think that's something that they should feel free to write and be happy submitting.

If you ask me to write about even a game that I maybe have written for in the past but for whatever reason just don't have as much of a desire to do so now (for instance, I tend to find it harder to write for FFVII...I did it recently for the letter challenge, but it was only because that was honestly the first idea that popped into my head for that challenge--if I was TOLD that I could only write for FFVII, I would probably be having a hard time of it since I normally don't get inspired to write about that world...and if I was told to write a story about a game I haven't played, I'd just not submit and then I'd feel guilty about losing points that way). I think personally it would really limit the amount of entries in challenges to begin with for that very reason: people won't write for games they haven't played or they don't feel inspired to write about...and people are probably not going to vote in the challenges that are focused on games they're not interested in themselves (I could so see a challenge for Crystal Chronicles getting pretty much ignored on both fronts, for instance).

[cowturtle.livejournal.com]

And I was just thinking, the other problem is, if you start restricting fandoms, then you might as well start restricting pairings, too. Because given the same fandom and similar qualities of writing, people are going to go for fandoms they like more. Or characters they like more. Things like that.

I have to disagree with that. If I've played through an entire game (or read the whole thing online, however people chose to get the story) then I know all of the characters and can understand any story concerning them. For instance, I love Fran and Balthier from FFXII, but don't really like Penelo. It's not that there's no way I would ever vote for a Penelo fic. Someone could write something about her that could make me see a scene with her as being different, or pair her up with someone I never imagined her with in a different way. The point is that I would be able to understand her, her feelings, her world, etc, and thus be aware of how cool a fic is.

On the other hand, I've never played FFII. So, let's say there's a story about Character X and he's looking out the window, contemplating the beautiful Character Y. I think it's a pretty ok-writting fic. No spelling errors or anything, but meh. It's about a guy watching a beautiful girl. It's been done. So I vote on something else. Secretly, though, X was actually Y's stalker in the game, and this is the point in the game right before he leaps from the window to assassinate her. It's the act that will later ultimately make him switch over to the good guys' side right before the epic last battle. Well, I probably would've voted for that fic, had I known the context of what I was witnessing.

I will always know when Penelo is well-written and when an FFXII story is good because I've played it and understand the game and characters. An FFII fic might be well-written but not strike me as terribly interesting because I don't know the story of the game.

In the end, if someone paired Penelo with Balthier I might not like the pairing, but at least I would be able to understand the characters, maybe why they ended up together, and understand the little things that go unsaid between them. The pairing doesn't matter, because I understand the game. The difference is that unless you write me a really blunt FFII fic, I'm probably not going to get your point. If you want to write something subtle-yet-amazing, I'm not going to get it and I'll probably vote for something else simply because I understand it better. I don't think that fair to the writer who puts a lot of time and effort into crafting a really near plot.

Urm. I hope that all made sense. :S

[arivess.livejournal.com]

I understand the concern there, but if it's unfair to anyone, it's unfair to the person who wrote the obscure FFII fic, in this example, right? But whoever writes that is not going to assume everyone will know what they're talking about. They'll know most people and will vote for the FFXII fic instead. But they still chose to write FFII instead of XII, knowing they'll get less entries because of game. So I don't see what's wrong with it.

When I write FFXI fics, for example, I know no one is going to know what I'm talking about aside from Breyzy and Yin. But I feel the prompt lends itself to this specific idea really well, and I know Breyzy and Yin will appreciate it, and that's all the reward I need, so to speak. I'm not asking anyone to understand it, and it's okay if they don't.

[thedrowned.livejournal.com]

I dislike the idea that a cleverly-made icon with, say, Luso on it, wouldn't get picked over an unappealing icon with Squall on it. I strongly believe creativity, structure, and good-heartedness speak to the work more than a favourite character. Even an image program the calibre of MS Paint could make an icon worth voting if the user made it creatively and we judge it on its respect to the prompt.

If I could write a lovely Valentine's story with characters no one knew about, I would hope they'd vote on the way I'd written it, rather than skipping over it because it's got people like Sherlotta or Delita in it.

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I agree in a way...I do feel bad that favoritism towards certain games or characters can sometimes sway votes or cause certain comments (I do know that if someone does graphics in an icon comm for a lesser-known game, they are less likely to receive as much comments as a more popular title would)--though I definitely hope that most would vote purely on the creative intent of the maker either in regards to a fan fic or an icon. I know that a lot of people like icons with Photoshop filters and the like...but I have been JUST as impressed (if not more) by some of the more simple icons that weren't made in fancy programs and just have a neat crop or an interesting color scheme (Breyzy uses FastStone and Gimp for her icons, and considering how I have hardly any graphics-skills...I'm always surprised by how well her icons can turn out despite the fact that she's using "simpler" programs). I think judging an entry in respect to the prompt that it is being created for is the best way to handle voting for any challenge be it a writing or graphics one: it shouldn't matter the game or character.

If I could write a lovely Valentine's story with characters no one knew about, I would hope they'd vote on the way I'd written it, rather than skipping over it because it's got people like Sherlotta or Delita in it.
~I would hope so too! ♥ And there have been a few occasions here at ff_land where I have been pleasantly surprised in that regard. It really just depends on how people interpret an entry. :)

[the-404-error.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I don't know many people who use photoshop filters on icons? I know I usually just deal with the color alterations (levels, curves, etc), and the only filters I use are blur and sharpen, which many other programs have as well. I'm always impressed by icons in really simple programs, but I believe most programs (aside from MS Paint, and if anyone can do anything with that, they're amazing by default) now have levels and the like, so I'm not sure if the program is too much of a factor in voting.

Although now that it has been mentioned, I was thinking back... and I don't remember seeing many obscure characters winning icon challenges. It may just be coincidence, but I'd be less opposed to having a game restriction on icon challenges than on fanfiction. I'm still not necessarily for the idea, but it wouldn't bother me when it comes to graphics as no prior knowledge is necessary in most cases.

(I do always like Breyzy's cropping and coloring, by the way~ In that Amano art one, I remember voting for one of hers from FFI (?) that I loved the cropping on, but it didn't place... which could be used as an example of the above.)

[arivess.livejournal.com]

I see your point about the icons and such, although so far, I've just been going "Ooh, pretty!" when voting for those. *coughs* But, yeah, something like graphics (or even art), I feel, would be fairer if restricted than fic, at least, because those are at least possible without having intimate knowledge of the game. But this kinda almost runs counter to Eilia's reason for wanting the restrictions. XD;

I see your point about fic, but at the same time, I'd rather write a heartfelt fic about Sherlotta, knowing some people will skip over it, because the idea struck with me, than try to half-ass a fic about Squall, because I have no choice if I want the points.

Plus, thing is, winning entries for the last game haven't been an FF7/8 sweep. The more obscure games took plenty of places, and even gave those games a bit more exposure. I feel like the restrictions are kinda trying to fix a problem that doesn't... mm, shouldn't say "doesn't exist", but "isn't very prominent", at least.

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I agree so much with your thoughts on everything--your first two comments had me head-nodding as I read them! ♥

Plus, thing is, winning entries for the last game haven't been an FF7/8 sweep. The more obscure games took plenty of places, and even gave those games a bit more exposure. I feel like the restrictions are kinda trying to fix a problem that doesn't... mm, shouldn't say "doesn't exist", but "isn't very prominent", at least.
~I agree here too, I wasn't even personally aware this was such an issue until I saw this post. I feel bad that it is an issue to a few members, and I'm probably not helping the situation by writing what I do write sometimes...but I couldn't imagine having have done a different fic for that fight scene fic beyond the Tactics one or doing my FFIV/The After Years drabbles--it's hard to explain, but that's just what came to me first for those challenges. And I do think there are quite a few stories from games that aren't as well-known that have done really well in the challenges, and it does help to get more exposure to them too. To me, I would much rather continue reading really good stories from all over the FF series than to see people feel like they can't submit for certain things. ♥

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

Still, I fear that restricting them will limit not only the number of submissions to given challenges, but will also limit voting as well since most people will not vote on what they're not familiar with (especially if they're separated from the other titles).

"Since most people will not vote on what they're not familiar with" - the problem is right here. I have to vote for challenges containing multiple fics I don't know about; I might be more likely to vote for the fic that I DO know about. What I'm trying to get here is for the process to be so that the voting is fair. All FFIV fics will be voted on by people who have played and understand the game. People like me won't have to be forced to read through it and judge it with the rest of the other fics.

(You're not complaining, I am, so don't worry about it. Lol)

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I definitely see where you're coming from here, and to be honest I think for the more well-known games (where maybe not everyone has played them, but there are quite a few people who have...such as FFIV) that would probably be an ideal solution (especially if all of the games were given the same prompt and people could write for any of them if they felt up to it). Unfortunately, I do think with some games that are far more obscure (FFII or FFXI, for example) that might be more of a detriment to any game-restricted challenge...not as many people are going to submit, and while I do know there are some members who like to vote on all of the challenges--there probably won't be as many who will want to do so for the games they really don't know about. I know that the argument could be made that "well, not that many people care or know about those games so it shouldn't matter": which I don't think you're doing, by the way as you're trying to get more votes in general for all of the games from the sound of things...but I think that's maybe the main fear for the few writers who do like writing for those types of games. Since this is an overall FF comm, I don't think it's fair to perhaps imply to people that the games they like aren't as relevant just because they haven't been played by as many people in the comm (which is perhaps what people are fearing will happen if the restrictions are allowed, even though that isn't really why people want them in the first place). At the same time though, I do agree with you and cowturtle that context is important for voters and subtle fics for games that you haven't played probably won't have as much of an impact for you. I think people should be able to vote for what they want and they shouldn't feel bad about it...and I wish that could be the case for you and everyone else who votes. I really want there just to be a solution that will be agreeable and appease a majority of people.

And truthfully, I read a later comment you made in this post...don't worry, no one hates you, I promise! Truthfully, you're vocalizing why you voted what you did and giving your reasons which is the purpose of the poll to begin with and you're entitled to them (and you're definitely not the only one who feels that way, and I think having input from your side has made me see it in a different perspective because at first I did kind of panic and go "But I write those fics!" and worried some, but now that more dialogue has been opened up I'm not as worried or opposed to the suggestions that are being brought up)--I think you've made some very valid points. It's awesome that you felt confident to do that. *hugs* ♥

Truthfully, it's a very complicated problem and I'm really hoping that we can find a solution that will appease the majority. I'm not entirely sure it will appease everyone because it is so varied, but I think everyone who has been talking and the very capable mods here will come up with something that is satisfying for most of us...you included (and it's awesome that you're trying to come up with solutions as well and you are concerned with fairness to writers and voters alike). :D

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

Alright, what about spoilers then? What if I'm currently playing FFVI, and there are two fics containing some spoilers? So if I am supposed to be voting fairly, am I being forced to read those two fics as well? Of course I could just not vote; something I am probably going to do if games are not restricted and I find myself in no position to vote unbiasedly (and this is totally my problem lol).

I'm probably going to have to concede regarding the matter of game restrictions, but something should be done about spoilers maybe?

_{LJ ate my comment =.=}

[arivess.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I think Tako does usually mention when a fic has spoilers, at least? I won't speak for anyone else, but when I write a spoiler, I know it means people who don't want to see the spoiler potentially won't read the fic, so I'm okay with it...

The thing with spoilers is kinda the same with restrictions, though. Say the restriction is for FF7 and 8, since that's the most likely. What if I don't want to see spoilers for one/both of those games? And if most of the fics contain spoilers, would I just not be able to vote, period? Even though I was already unable to enter, even, and I don't mind reading what I don't know? Or, heck, what if the restriction is for something like "SNES era games" and there are FF6 fics? Then your point would kinda still be unresolved.

I think you're right something should be done about spoilers. Not sure what, though... Tako already puts spoiler warnings, I think. Maybe we can do something like, just put a warning for minor spoilers, and put fics with heavy spoilers into a separate post altogether? But I dunno if that kind of singling out might have too detrimental an effect. You're the psych major.

[chacusha]

I'm not sure what to do about spoilers either. The rules as they stand right now are that you have to read ALL the entries in order to cast a vote, because I don't want people picking and choosing what entries they read and then have their vote count as much as anyone else's.

So basically, I can warn about spoilers but it doesn't really serve as anything other than a warning. And Yin's idea below to allow people to admit they didn't read all the entries because of spoilers -- I think that also has the same problem of allowing people to pick and choose the entries they read. :/

I don't know, this whole spoiler business is messy.

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

The thing with spoilers is kinda the same with restrictions, though. Say the restriction is for FF7 and 8, since that's the most likely. What if I don't want to see spoilers for one/both of those games? And if most of the fics contain spoilers, would I just not be able to vote, period? Even though I was already unable to enter, even, and I don't mind reading what I don't know? Or, heck, what if the restriction is for something like "SNES era games" and there are FF6 fics? Then your point would kinda still be unresolved.

I wasn't asking for restrictions to be put for popular games only. I don't mind what the restriction is as long as there ARE restrictions. If the restriction is for a game I haven't played, then I would know, period, not to go read it for spoilers, nor would I be forced to vote unfairly for it. Or if I do vote for it, it would be fair because ALL of the fics I probably wouldn't get too much about, and I can vote based on writing style purely.

Whereas throw in an FF4 and FF8 fic, if both are equally well-written, I'm probably going to pick the FF8 just because I understand it better. I'm sure if I had played FF4, I would be able to judge more than that, but to me, well-written + context helps me to appreciate a fic more.

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

Ah, that I can definitely understand too! ♥ Everyone has different comfort levels with spoilers: I personally don't really mind them (for most games I tend to actively seek spoilers out in order to see if I'll really enjoy playing a game...as I usually tend to view knowing what happens and actually experiencing it for myself as being something different thus why I probably know far too much about most of the FF games, lolz), but I know that is definitely is not the case with everyone and there are quite a few people who WOULDN'T want to have a plot point revealed to them before they see it. And that is perfectly understandable and something that should be respected.

...Personally, whenever I submit a fic myself and I know there's going to be some pretty big plot spoilers in it--I'll make a point of warning about that right after the title even in the cases where it isn't MWS where they have that option (I actually did it for my FFVII: DoC letter fic because I knew I was spoiling part of the ending in it). I'm well-aware that might get people to avoid reading it, but I totally accept and understand that as I wouldn't want to inadvertently spoil something for someone who didn't want to know a plot point beforehand--I was actually quite happy that spoiler warning remained on the entry when all of the challenge submissions were posted. :)

I kind of wish there was a requirement for listing possible spoilers when submitting for challenges similar to the system set up in MWS for that very reason...so that people who don't want to see spoilers for a certain game's plot can avoid them. I think in those cases, it is completely understandable in my book to perhaps avoid voting on fics that you feel would have spoilers in them and only read the fics that you're more comfortable with (as there would hopefully be other entries that would either not have the spoilers or would be from games that you would already be familiar with)--you could even mention that in your vote to the mods as I am sure they would understand even if you weren't able to vote for the number of entries they were asking people to vote on (such as if it were five entries submitted, two were required for placement, and four or something had massive spoilers so you only felt comfortable voting on one). That way hopefully you could still participate and get voting points for your team without feeling like you couldn't vote entirely because of that. I think writers understand that when they do enter fics that are either spoiler-heavy or are from games that aren't too well-known (that's why there are such things as spoiler warnings in fic writing, fan fic writers know that they're giving people a head's up not to read a story if they don't want to be spoiled)...so even without the game restrictions, I think people wouldn't have a problem with you picking and choosing fics in that regard at all (it is your vote, after all! ♥).

So yes, I do agree with you that at least there should some of sort of form/guide-line for warning potential readers about spoilers in the challenge fics similar to the one in MWS. :D

[cowturtle.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure how setting up voting works here, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense, but I'm just trying to come up with a different kind of solution. I understand that it would suck to either have to write for games you don't necessarily like or want to write for, or wait until the game you actually want to write for comes along.

As a different solution, would it be possible to divide the voting? So, you would give the prompt, and anyone could write for any game they wanted. Come voting time, you divide the fics up into game-based groups (so... FFI-FFIV are all together, FFV-FFX are all together, or however it would be divided) and then people vote within those groups. That way, everyone can write for the game that they want, but then voters can choose within which groups they want to vote. Some people might go through and vote once within each group (effectively reading all of the fics submitted to the challenge) while other people might only vote within one or two groups (the ones containing the games that they've played). You'd end up with a couple of winners for each game, instead of just one, but this way it seems like everyone could participate.

I know it doesn't solve the spoilers problem (which is definitely a tough one) but... I tried...? (gives big puppy dog eyes)

[arivess.livejournal.com]

I think I like this idea! But again, I think the problem is just... really limited amount of entries/entrants. For the big fight scene fic contest, for example, we had 5 fics. Even for multi-category things like the drabbles, we only got about 10 per category. Dividing it up further would have people voting between 2-3 things.

[cowturtle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I can see what you mean... (sighs, puts lab coat back on, and heads back to drawing board)

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I really like that idea too! That's probably the best solution to the issue at hand. I sort of thought of a similar one where the games were grouped together and every month the same prompt for each grouping would be handled separately...but I think yours sounds less complicated! And probably easier for everyone involved in the long run, lolz!

Unfortunately, I do agree with Ari that the limited amount of writers currently would perhaps be an issue with that idea still...but I think if we ever get a larger pool of writers that would be probably the ideal answer to the problem. Great suggestion and it's awesome that you came up with it when everyone else has been debating without really having any solutions. We'll figure something out! *crosses fingers* ♥

The spoiler problem is definitely a complicated issue since people have such varying views on what a spoiler is or their comfort levels with them, but hey...trying to figure out solutions is always welcome!

Also, VERY cute Balthier icon. :)

[virago-queen.livejournal.com]

The only way I see us having enough entries for that suggestion to work properly is to allow writers to submit something for each voting category. This introduces new problems, like one person being able to get way, way too many points, or the individual winners not getting a many points as compared to the participation points. Maybe we could make it work, maybe not. But it's an idea, and thank you for trying to think up a solution. ^^