[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]

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. ♥