[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

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

It's alright. I just feel like everyone (except probably breyzyyin <3) is dismissing my concerns as not valid. I do like fic challenges, I do like reading fic; but I hate reading fics I don't know about and having to judge based on that.

Why is context so big of a thing? If you don't know what a Tonberry is, Ari's winning limerick would not have been funny to you. If you don't know who Tifa or Reno is, or what they look like, Zydoxis's runner-up limerick would not have been funny. (this is, of course, assuming that people voted based on funniness.)

What about the drabbles? Would I have won if only three people here knew who Sephiroth was (extremely unlikely, but just for an example)? His name was not mentioned; neither was Zack's, yet from context, you understand who he is.

The reason why I mention this is because if judging from the polls, FFX is the most loved and known game, it's really not a coincidence that most FFX fics gain at least a placing in all of our challenges thus far.

I'm not saying to restrict to ONLY GAMES THAT LIGHTOFEILIA KNOWS BECAUSE she's almighty and important, like I said to Ari above; "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."

I understand and agree with the participation problem though, and that definitely seems to be no way around it. But I still feel that if things continue the way they were, I won't be confident in voting at all.

[glacialphoenix]

I don't think they're invalid, and I wish we could find a way to give you a compromise (especially since there are 7 people who want 'limitations' - IDK what their definitions of limitations are, but the vote's there for all to see).

Unfortunately I think there's always going to be a difficulty with fic, especially in a large fandom like a generic Final Fantasy community - so many FFs, so no matter what you pick there's going to be someone cut out? And if the community was a large one, then I think limitations would work, maybe help, even, but as it is I see only the same few people participating in the fic challenges.

I'm really sorry. I can't help the confidence in voting, and I do feel that way sometimes when I see a lot of things I don't know - I guess I just feel surer of myself when it comes to voting.

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

I wish there was a better compromise too; and also for the people who voted to come out and at least help to clarify what they want or help to suggest something.

I'm sorry I'm causing so much trouble. I hope no one is angry at me :(

[glacialphoenix]

Eh, I'm not. Frankly, right now you're the only person who's supported restrictions to come out and say something, and I'm more ticked about that fact than anything else. Because if all of them agree with you about the fic, then yes, we've got a substantial number of people who think something needs to be done. That's fair enough.

But if they ALL have different ideas on 'restrictions' and which segments to be restricted, we have a mess on our hands.

*hugs* I know I've been pretty vehement about my opinions, and they've mostly been opposed to yours. No hard feelings, I hope?

[lightofeilia.livejournal.com]

No hard feelings, of course :D *hugs*

[glacialphoenix]

<3