Staging a contest?

[Sivert3]

How about staging a contest? Just have a few prizes from the community put into a prize pool (could be anything, like a game on steam, a commission, a gift card, etc). Then compete on some arbitrary branch. The winner may pick a prize first in the prize pool.

What do you think of it?

[Corva]

Go for it.

What sort of contests were you thinking of?

[BeneathTheStarlight36]

this could be interesting! i'd like to hear more about your idea.

[Sivert3]

I was thinking of something like whoever manages to most consistently make 1 or more posts per day over a period of a month wins. This might send the wrong signals. But it's better than "make a creative work", as not everyone here believe they have artistic talent.

There are not set dates for when the contest begins. Nor have not concluded on a rule set for this either (it must exclude content less posts, penalize post made for the sake of making a post, and be timezone independent). But I think it could work.

[Forgotten Dragon's Ire]

That sounds like a good idea.

[asdf]

Sounds like good incentive for me to actually post instead of just looking when the teacher isn't behind me.
Also what's the prize?

[Drakel]

This is a great idea for bringing up our activity here again.

[Sivert3]

This is a first draft for the rules of the contest

Dragnix Posting Contest (draft)
This is a draft and does not represent the rules for the actual contest

To create some activity to an otherwise dead forum I've decided to run a contest. The basic idea is simple, you get a point for having posted over the course of the day. You will not normally get more than one point per day, and the contest ends after a month.

Rules

1. Participation
Anyone who makes a post during the period of the contest is automatically in the contest. Members of the forum that does not want to participate can choose ignore all the buzz, and decline the offer to receive a prize if they win anything.

2. Duration of the contest
The contest starts at 2013-09-01 0:00 UTC and ends at 2013-09-30 23:59 UTC (this is the entire September month). Posts made outside of this time period does not count in the scoring.

3. Scoring
The main scoring is one point per day of posting for a particular user. This scoring is called the daily points. Extra points are rewarded for creating popular topics.

3.1. Daily Points
This is the main scoring and the maximum achievable score is one point per day in the contest. It is calculated by choosing an hour boundary for days in the contest that will most benefit the user in question. More precisely the score is calculated in the following way:

1. The post times of all edglible post of the user to score is spread across the 30 day period of the contest.
2. A 24 hour border divides this period of time into 30 segments.
3. The segments with an eligible post is then counted.
4. The time period is rotated one hour such that the first hour from this is removed from the front and appended to the end. Resulting in all other hours to be shifted by one hour.
5. Step 2 to step 4 is repeated 24 times, so that every hour of the day has been used as a border.
6. The count from step 3 with the highest value is the daily score.

3.2. Extra Points
An extra point is awarded to the creator of a popular thread. A thread is popular when it has replies from at least 4 different users and has at least 10 replies. Only threads and post that are eligible are counted.

4. Non-Eligible Posts
Posts that fall under the following categories are excluded from the scoring.

• Tests posts, made for trying out a specific feature of the Message board
• Content less posts. Post with no real content to anyone.
• Forum games of the kind "do X with the post above you".
• Posts made with the clear intention of gaming the rules to get an unfair scoring. If you find a hole in the rules, please report it.

I have not defined the prize pool yet, but the way it works is that members here come up with prizes that are delivered either digitally or via snail mail. The latter would require a postal address to send it to. When the contest is over, the participants are ordered by score, and each may pick a prize from the pool in order until there are no more prizes left.

If you have any opinions please let me hear about it.

Edit: forgot to mention that I'll be throwing a few steam games in to the prize pool.

[asdf]

What are the necro boundaries on this?

[Forgotten Dragon's Ire]

I would say that necro boundaries are pretty much negated at this point as long as there is more relevant information that you feel could be added to a thread.

Btw I am perfectly fine with the rules as they are. I wouldn't mind also pitching in on some games, I have several extra steam keys and such that I could give to the winner.

[Sivert3]

The contest does not specify a limit on resurrecting old threads. But the Message Board Guidelines do:

Rule #11: "Resurrecting" Old Threads
It is discouraged to post in a topic that is more than three weeks old. This is especially true for the General and Dragon Discussions forums, as this clutters up the forum. Any user bringing these threads to the front will be warned, and the thread may be locked. Useful threads will be moved to the Archives.

It should be noted that due to the inactivity of the board, it is accepted to post in 3 months old threads, instead of the 3 weeks specified. As FDI said, if you have significant to add in a thread then you'll probably be okay, even with threads older than 3 months. It should be noted however that I don't think resurrecting threads made in another era of the board is a good idea.

[BeneathTheStarlight36]

i like the rules as they are, though i think the dates should be changed a bit, since we're still ironing out details and September's just a few days away.

i may not be interested in many of the prizes, if they all end up being games and physical items. (i don't even fully understand what Steam and "Steam keys" even are.) i could throw in a free drawing/art commission from me as a prize... would that be okay?

[Kojack]

Wow, that is a creative idea on how to bring life back to the forums.

[Sivert3]

i like the rules as they are, though i think the dates should be changed a bit, since we're still ironing out details and September's just a few days away.

i may not be interested in many of the prizes, if they all end up being games and physical items. (i don't even fully understand what Steam and "Steam keys" even are.) i could throw in a free drawing/art commission from me as a prize... would that be okay?

Ah yes, the deadline might be a bit close. Would 5th of September be good date to start? It's a week from now. The contest will last 30 days, so it will end at 4th of October if it starts then.

I have not worked out the rules for the prize pool. However you may have commissions as a prize, provided you can deliver them in a reasonable amount of time.

Lastly Steam is an online service for games. It allows you to buy games to a steam account. This account may then download and play the games that it has in its library. A Steam key is a digital purchase of a game and can be redeemed to a steam account. Usually you get a steam key when you buy a game as a gift, the key can be sent to whomever you want to receive the gift.

[Forgotten Dragon's Ire]

I think the 5th would be a good starting date.

[Corva]

Maybe I'll actually have Steam by that point, since I'll be getting a new laptop soon...

[asdf]

Maybe I'll actually have Steam by that point, since I'll be getting a new laptop soon...

friggin lucky. I dont think steam works on WinXP or NOOKcolor, and i also dont think mom would like me polluting her new new laptop with games, thats my sisters job.
Back on topic, the 5th sounds good, and even though i dont have much use for some of the prizes, Im ready.

[Forgotten Dragon's Ire]

Actually I'm fairly positive that steam is supported on Windows Xp. Though you are correct about the nook.

[BeneathTheStarlight36]

tomorrow's the start of the contest! is everyone ready?

(or should we try to work out stuff with the prizes before we start?)

[Sivert3]

tomorrow's the start of the contest! is everyone ready?

I hope so, because the contest has started already. My apologies for being 11 hours late with the announcement. But, you'll still have 13 hours left to get todays point (depending on what time of the day you usually posts).

I'm confident that we will be able to work out the prize pool before the end of the contest (which is 5th of October).

Anyway, I've got my first point already. Looking forward to see how this will progress.

[Sivert3]

I've decided to make a separate thread for the prize pool. This is the current draft of the prize pool rules.

Dragnix Posting Contest - Prize Pool (draft)
No contest is complete without a prize. For the posting contest this will be achieved using a prize pool. This thread details the prizes that will be offered in the contest, for the actual contest see contest thread

1. Prize Pool Rules
Anyone can submit a prize to the prize pool. After the end of the contest the participant with the highest score may pick first. Then the participant with the next highest score. This continues until there are no prizes left, or until all participants has picked their prize.

1.1 Submitting Prizes
You can submit a prize anytime until the end of the contest (October 5th). The rules for prize submissions are:

• Prizes must be deliverable either digitally via email or sent as a package/mail. If you are sending an item you must cover shipping costs, and be prepared to deliver it internationally.
• Commissions are allowed
• Combinational prizes such as pick 3 out of the following 5 items are possible
• No illegal materials
• Cash prizes are discouraged
• You must be able to deliver the prize within 30 days of it being claimed

1.2 Withdrawing a prize
If for any reason you can not deliver a prize that you have offered you may withdraw the prize. Please contact me first, so that I can remove it from the prize pool.

1.3 Claiming prizes
When the contest is over the user ranked first (by having the highest score) may pick the first prize from the prize pool. Once this is done, the user ranked second (by having the next highest score) may pick the second prize. This continues until either no prizes are left, or everyone that participated has had their chance to pick a prize.

1.4 Unclaimed Prizes
If there are any prizes left in the prize pool unclaimed after everyone has had their chance to pick a prize, then the persons who offered them gets to keep them.

2. Current Prize Pool

• Metro 2033 (steam gift) - offered by Sivert3
• Gary's Mod (steam gift) - offered by Sivert3

As you can see I will begin the prize pool with an offer of 2 games on steam.

Section 5 of the current contest rules will be modified to

5. Prize Pool
After the end of the contest the participant with the highest score gets to choose a prize from the prize pool first. Then the participant with the second highest score gets to choose a prize from the prize pool. This continues until there are either no prizes left or all participants have had their chance to pick a prize. Prize pool submissions and claims are found here <- (link to prize pool thread)

[BeneathTheStarlight36]

my art could be added to the prize pool.

[Sivert3]

@BeneathTheStarlight36: You'll have to elaborate a bit more on what you want to submit to the prize pool. You should also notice that this is not the right place to post submissions to the prize pool, but rather a discussion on the rules for the prize pool. I realize that I probably wont get much input on this, but I post it here anyway.

I will start accepting submission for the prize pool (in a separate thread) either tomorrow or the day after that.

[BeneathTheStarlight36]

ah. well in that case, it looks fine to me!

and what i meant was an art COMMISSION, but i forgot that second word.