[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

[the-404-error.livejournal.com]

In a general sense as I didn't have enough time to fully comment earlier (moving, starting new classes, etc = time consuming):

Pretty much all of the reasons for not wanting restrictions have been given already, but personally, if I write something from a lesser known game, I'm aware that it's probably not going to win. In this sense, I'm already setting myself up to fall at the start and am aware of this... As most of the other writers for more obscure fandoms seem to agree, there's no need to impose restrictions to ensure fairness in that regard. (... and as I mentioned in a comment above, people may still vote in a way geared towards favortism in that regard, so nothing is ever perfectly fair.)

It seems the issue here is that someone may feel guilty for voting for what they know instead of for a possibly better written fic, but... don't be. It seems we're all just writing for the fun of it, and as long as the substance and creativity behind the fic were taken into consideration, there's no real harm done. No one is going to go "Wah, I didn't win a contest on teh internets because I wrote about FFII. D: My life as I know it is over. Why do I failll"

... and I love how most are voting to not include KH characters, or at least that they don't care. XD

[arivess.livejournal.com]

XD I think the KH thing actually kinda reflects most of our position. It's kinda like, as long as you're not making me do something I don't want, then I don't really care. I'm for when in doubt, allow more freedom rather than less...

[thedrowned.livejournal.com]

Seconding this. We seem a pretty passive bunch, for the most part. Will that ever become an issue?

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I agree! Considering how many reasons there are for voting in the challenges, I really don't think people should feel guilty about voting what they do. As long as they're participating and enjoying reading at least some of the fics...that is awesome! I'm well-aware that if I write for something like FFIII I'm probably not going to place and I'm okay with that...and hey, if it does happen to place like my Tactics one did? Well then, that was an awesomely pleasant surprise! I am fine with either option and will not be crushed even if I don't place...considering the caliber of awesome writing in the challenge submissions, I don't think anyone should feel bad about their entries to them. I honestly haven't read a fic I dislike here and voting is always difficult to me, and that says a lot about the fan fic writers we do have currently. :D

Haha, I'm kind of the same way with the KH vote! I said I don't care because...I really don't. XD