Contests, Challenges ... and Changes. Help us out!

[Nathan Caroland]

Hey folks!

So, I've been thinking for some time that it is time to upgrade the Contests and Challenges around here and bring about some changes to the venue and see what we can do to make things even more interesting around here.

For three years now we have done painting contests and for the most part, have kept them more or less in line with a few themes as well as how the placement and judging has been done (voting, 1st through 3rd, etc) and while it has brought us a lot of enjoyment and community building, I think it is about time for some changes to occur in order to keep things interesting and to continue to grow the contests.

How should be go about doing this exactly? New themes, new rules, new judging avenues, new prizes, specific contest only prizes ... lets hear your thoughts on this.

The Iron Painter has become a staple here at Wyrd and I'm happy to announce we've prodded Jim into running another right round the corner as well. I can't see much in the way of changes there though I do know that we're going to start offering different prizes, if not this one, the next, in the way of some extra swag, maybe a cash prize, or a special miniature. Who knows, but I think its something that I would like to add onto an already fantastic contest that Jim has put together.

Prizes ... well we used to just send out random swag to folks, then we've moved on to gift certificates so that people can pick up what they want so that they don't have to have duplicates, etc. Does that work out well for ya'll or would you like to see something more? Granted it has to be within reason but it is something that I would like to change up a bit as well and I'm interested in hearing the good and the bad and some other ideas if you happen to have them.

Maybe we can throw something out there like having a custom avatar drawn up for you for the site or something equally funky. I know we've got some talented artists about and one in particular that I think is well suited to it is Illustrange with his great pieces whom I'm sure I can brow beat and work with for something fun (granted, I'm just pulling this out of the air - Melvin may tell me to stuff it!)

:D

It has been brought up before about trophies or contest specific pieces. What would ya'll like to see? Want to see an actual trophy? A bust of a character? A contest and convention specific miniature of one of our more iconic characters done up or maybe something completely new? Bust of the Mad Hatter of Seamus? Perdita done up as a Rotten Belle? Hell, want a glass etched plague singing 'We are the CHAMPIONS ....' (insert Queen song ..)?

Additional contests? Writing, Sculpting, Terrain, Conversions ... any of that sound like it would snag your interest?

Heck, we've even got a company contest that we're working on now in good fun where you pit a miniature from one company against another companies for a fun scenic piece which we'll be showcasing here in the near future which is the brilliant brainchild of Rob Cardiss (Demonherald).

I'm not looking to turn the Wyrd website into a 24/7 contest but I am looking for a way to continue to build the community, interest and the hobby in general and would like your input. Let me know what we've done good, what we've buggered up and what we should just leave well enough alone.

Speak up, one and all, cause changes are coming and your input would be greatly welcomed.

[Nathan Caroland]

Don't be shy, I can track ya'll reading this!

[EricJ]

Personally I'd like to see a bust of some sort as the Trophy, and Seamus would be a good candidate.

Also it would be nice to have a convention/special prize only piece/set done up, which was actually minis, usable in game, although, just a twist on another unit, you know, like the 3 guild masters done up like rotten belles...which is what might happen if Seamus has his way :)

[PaintMinion]

How about smaller Challenges occasionally-a short notice, quickfire battle between a select few, with a specific theme or "challenge" in mind. Sort of like Iron painter, but simply a straight one shot deal between just a few, say 5 people at a time, draw names or some such and put them all against each other. Maybe you want to see someone do Perdita at the New year's Party, or a Golem at the circus...I don't know, just really Wyrd stuff!

The Wyrd Quickfire Challenge.

[TheBugKing]

Personally I'd like to see a bust of some sort as the Trophy, and Seamus would be a good candidate.

Also it would be nice to have a convention/special prize only piece/set done up, which was actually minis, usable in game, although, just a twist on another unit, you know, like the 3 guild masters done up like rotten belles...which is what might happen if Seamus has his way :)

So says the professed Neverborn lover. Sheesh. Can't trust anyone who isn't an Arcanist around here!

I would love to see some sort of bust that has been worked on by Ramos or Leviticus personally. The Guild masters that have been improved upon with some nice steam and soul stone driven improvements to mitigate the removal of most of their brains would be excellent!

I'll be happy to throw my weight behind a terrain contest and I am sure Moa would love something like that too. It is admittedly a smaller portion of the hobby in general and most folks don't go quite as batty over terrain as I do but it is an integral part of the hobby at large.

Speaking from past experience, getting a terrain contest to run with a good number of entrants is very hard though. Something to think about certainly.

[Art-de-Vivre]

I'll be happy to throw my weight behind a terrain contest and I am sure Moa would love something like that too. It is admittedly a smaller portion of the hobby in general and most folks don't go quite as batty over terrain as I do but it is an integral part of the hobby at large.




I second that idea ! Plus, it would provide some interesting ideas in terms of terrain for Malifaux as well...

A trophy figure would be great, but instead of Seamus or any existing fig I would prefer an new exclusive piece that is only available during contests. It would be something specially wyrd !!!
Of course, it would have to be cast in gold, silver and bronze for respective placement ....;)

As an added bonus, I would even volunteer my face for the first model...just kidding; or maybe not...

[thetang22]

I'm all for having contests for categories other than just painting. Terrain, writing, concept drawing, whatever...

Painting is a big part of the hobby, but all too often it overshadows all the other great parts of miniature gaming and hobby. Terrain would be a great place to showcase this, seeing as how we have a number of excellent terrain makers here, and it might even bring a few more out of the shadows if it was a contest.

I'm down for whatever prizes, but the contests themselves are what I'm interested in seeing a fresh take on.

[thetang22]

I second that idea ! Plus, it would provide some interesting ideas in terms of terrain for Malifaux as well...

A trophy figure would be great, but instead of Seamus or any existing fig I would prefer an new exclusive piece that is only available during contests. It would be something specially wyrd !!!
Of course, it would have to be cast in gold, silver and bronze for respective placement ....;)

As an added bonus, I would even volunteer my face for the first model...just kidding; or maybe not...

A terrain contest based on Malifaux would be awesome. It would really give a chance to see it fleshed out since that content is still a bit sparse.

I'm not really keen on the idea of an exclusive mini, unless it was a resculpt with the same gaming profile as an existing character, or else a mini for the Catacomb Prowlers line that won't have a profile in Malifaux. I always hated rare/limited miniatures that had unique gaming profiles, because it always makes for a mad chase to get the mini in question. Then if you weren't one of the few lucky people to nab one you could be at a disadvantage within the game if the new profile was strong.

[Moavoamoatu]

I agree with the Bugking. A terrain contest would be fun but hard to do as large terrains take a very long time and many people paint miniatures but don't make terrains

If you want a kind of terrain contest it could be a little diorama with a few miniatures, like deadly duel entries may be.

I really like the Femme Fatale, Rotten Harvest and Total Testotesrone contests but you could change them with a specific theme, like you do for Iron painter. People could enter any miniature as long as it fits the theme.

You could also have a specific Wyrd contest with Wyrd miniatures only.

I like gift certificates but a trophy for the winners with a bust or a special edition miniatures would be fantastic( like the Forum of Doom contest).

[elzaeer]

+1 for Art-de-vivre ;)

[TheBugKing]

Heh.

How about exclusive dead models? Kind of like a marker that you leave on the table where the Master in question died? It would be especially fun if you killed your opponents master and had the sculpt of it dead. "See? I killed you THERE!"

[Thryth]

...want a glass etched plague...

Pretty-sure I don't want that. :)

My two cents...

I actually like the Classic Wyrd contests versus Iron Painter. I think that it is a nice balance (looks like there is no way to insert a table, please excuse the ASCII)...

--------------------------------------------------------------
| Classic | Iron Painter |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Anonymous | Known entrants |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Open Voting | Judged |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Decent time to paint | Little time to paint|
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Known categories | Random categories|
--------------------------------------------------------------
| One round voting | Marathon |
--------------------------------------------------------------

You get the idea. :)

I'm happy with the two contests the way that they are. :)

My preference would be to keep the two contests dissimilar (especially regarding anonymity and time scales).

The trophy miniature is a cool idea, but I would assume an expensive one.

The terrain, sculpting, etcetera doesn't really interest me, but I am sure that there are many here that would like those.

Not sure that helped much :)

[jsprenkle]

Ask yourself what would motivate people to participate.
A few obvious answers are:
* fame
* prizes
How will your prize(s) make the painter more famous?
Is the prize worth having in the view of the participants?

Further, If I compete there are a lot of people who paint for a living. I cannot possibly beat these people so why should I compete? Is there a random drawing prize for entry? Are there categories for something other than painting? If you want people to buy your product you need to sell them on the joy of painting, not the "agony of defeat" when they get slammed by pro painters.

My two cents.

[thetang22]

I suppose we could also do a sculpting contest. I suck at sculpting, but its always great to see people who are talented (as well as the attempts of the not-so-talented like me ;) ). You could offer up an idea and have everyone do their own version of it. No painting - just greens. I don't know if having the winner's entry actually go into the production line would be too risky, but it would be a neat prize none-the-less.

[Nathan Caroland]

Ask yourself what would motivate people to participate.
A few obvious answers are:
* fame
* prizes
How will your prize(s) make the painter more famous?
Is the prize worth having in the view of the participants?

Further, If I compete there are a lot of people who paint for a living. I cannot possibly beat these people so why should I compete? Is there a random drawing prize for entry? Are there categories for something other than painting? If you want people to buy your product you need to sell them on the joy of painting, not the "agony of defeat" when they get slammed by pro painters.

My two cents.

Well I would have to say in all modesty that I think our online contests are some of the best out there. We've never been exclusive and win or loose, lots of folks get free product.

[Illustrange]

nah, no need to stuff it ;) Im way behind on wyrd releases anyway :)

as for the question(s), I know I participate less in the contest than Id like (being that the only time I entered one, I bailed out >_< )
but as far as specifically sculpted prizes count, I personally dont really care alot for busts nor trophies (that would be different if I had a nice house and a nice showcase cabinet tough.) but tend more towards *usable* miniatures.
problem is that while I myself dont have a problem with it, people tend to be really grudgefull against miniatures with rules that are not available to all and everyone (rackham forums in regard to LEs, alkemy too has had this kind of feedback.) I also think it adds much more to the *prize* feel if it is an alternative sculpt for an exsisting character or minion.
(perdita as a rotten belle just using the rotten belle rules for example, this is allready a nice idea btw ;)) so Id personally go for that.

or offcourse casts of stephs goblinish monkeys !!!! :mad:

I dont really like the idea of cash as prizes. (while I do when it is about drawing contests.. but thats because its my job anyway, with a hobby I wouldnt want to *earn* money, I just want an excuse to get more fun stuff :), however I believe many of the wyrd-participants do their painting on a proffesional/paid level, so might be towards painting contests as I am towards drawing contest.) for me it would probably be less motivation for the contest, the value would likely be less than swag.. and it is also very likely that, to compete on the level of painting thats showcased in the contests, the time spent vs cash award is laughable for most, making cash a really pointless prize.
Other cool prizes (tough heaps of lead stays at the top of that ;)) would be, if its something thats not hard to do.. customized brushes, dice, paint racks... stuff that everyone in this hobby uses :)

as for contest ideas, the quickfire idea is nice (as described above.) but not really usable with larger prizes, but along this same line, would it be an idea to with every new release wave have a small painting contest for 1 miniature in that release (for example flesh construct for the latest.) it would be interesting to have various paintjobs close to the minis release ?

a more malifaux focused contest is welcome too I think, the simplest idea would be *paint up a group* as they appear on the store and in the game. but another possible idea would be *make up a group and paint it* judging also being made by how it fits in the world of malifaux.. how it all fits together etc. maybe allow other manufacturer miniatures, maybe not. the idea being that if possible people create a theme.
for example : the 3 pumpkin headed critters from rackham, add the big pumpkin golem from reaper, and add reaper's scarecrow as leader.
this can be combined with the next (and last idea.)
maybe have some sort of creation contest, there has been dozens of suggestions in the forum as for new groups/miniatures, and maybe it would be fun that people can design a group, with whatever means possible (draw, write, convert, paint up other manufacturers stuff, sculpt.. whatever.) maybe make this 2 contests in one, one having prizes per section (best story, best convertion etc.) and another being the one that will actually be made ;) (eventually.) tough not like the frothers sculpting competition (in other words, when you sculpt something, it might be possible your greens are wasted, as it probably will be redone by wyrd's sculptors.. same when doing it as concept art etc.)
one note to add, it may also be based around (or potentially it MUST be based around) an exsisting wyrd miniature that is not yet part of a group (including catacomb prowlers.. yes Im allready thinking about my entry :p ;) Goredoom ramses' Hell'skitchen group to complete the imps.)

offcourse we first need some more background info on malifaux to really work on contests like that

hint



hint





hint.....



Edit: damn.. when I started typing this there were only 2 replies >_<

[Amazon_warrior]

I think the thing I like best about the Wyrd competitions is that they're so welcoming: painters from ALL levels feel free to have a bash at an entry or two, and there's no restriction on manufacturers, which I really appreciate and which makes me think of Wyrd as the "good guys".

I think the vouchers as prizes is a really good idea - I had a lot of fun spending the one I won. It might be nice to have a special edition mini, tho, which wouldn't be available through the store but could be won as a prize instead. Perhaps an alt. sculpt of an existing figure or a new figure with downloadable rules so people could still proxy it if they wanted. Maybe have more than one (one for each faction?) so you can mix it up or so people could request a mini they haven't already won (assuming that people will win more than one).

Mixing up the competitions: Perhaps get forum members to choose some themes for competitions or have themes similar to now but choose something (e.g., a colour, the word "cold", a season, whatever) that each entry should incorporate in some way.

[Bren]

@ Illustrange: man you really talk too much (but I already knew that :laugh:)

About the contest, for me it's more about the competition than about the prizes. It might sound stupid, but I guess I have enough gift certificates to buy every Wyrd mini I don't own already. But still I want to enter. Just for fun, to push my painting skills and hopefully produce better minis every time.

For me personally it would be cool to try to win a limited edition model. It's really great to have something others don't have... especially when you worked on your entry for -fil in a proper amount- hours.

[johnboyjjb]

My biggest idea for prizes would be for the non-skill based winners - the random swag guys. The option to win a model that has been painted by one of the judges in the contest would be cool or my other idea would be to have a model sculpted by a professional sculptor based solely on input from the winner and the sculptor. Reproduction rights would have to belong to sculptor or wyrd. That would be a totally unique prize and would inspire me to try my hand at some comps.

[Nathan Caroland]

It's hard enough for me to get my painters on board for everything we've got going now (four ready for release, another twelve at the casters as of right now, six more just about done and ready for shipping for molds) so believe me, winning a painted mini isn't likely to happen often these days but I'll keep that part in mind.

I'll be up front, anything drawn by a Wyrd artist or sculpted by a Wyrd sculptor is going to cost money, which I'm fine with as its expected, but most obviously it would remain the property and rights of Wyrd.

[goblyn13]

To build on one of Melvin's ideas,

Have a piece of fluff put together for a few particular war bands and then have interpretations painted from the fluff. There are plenty of interpretations that could be inferred and make it a wholly wyrd contest with depnding on the fluff you can have specific character, deadly duel, and best warband interpretations.

[het]

i am new in this forum, and new in figure painting, obvioulsly new in contests.
Besides all those great veterans, what could push me to participate ?

- wyrd only figure contest : those figures are the reason why we are all here, i presume...
- opened contest, but based on a theme closed to wyrd new game values/mood
- terrain contest is a great idea, especially if it's on a small surface (for instance 9cm/9cm or 12cm/12cm sorry am french ) : this terrain is not what we usually called a diorama, and could be a part of a complete and large terrain.
- perhaps a special cathegory for newbies in this forum and first attempt to wyrd contest...
- gift certificates are great !

[TheBugKing]

i am new in this forum, and new in figure painting, obvioulsly new in contests.
Besides all those great veterans, what could push me to participate ?

- wyrd only figure contest : those figures are the reason why we are all here, i presume...
- opened contest, but based on a theme closed to wyrd new game values/mood
- terrain contest is a great idea, especially if it's on a small surface (for instance 9cm/9cm or 12cm/12cm sorry am french ) : this terrain is not what we usually called a diorama, and could be a part of a complete and large terrain.
- perhaps a special cathegory for newbies in this forum and first attempt to wyrd contest...
- gift certificates are great !

I may not be a good judge for terrain sizes as I tend to build larger things now but I find small bases to be really restrictive.

The issue does become the time necessary to complete larger projects though. I often spend 200 hours plus on projects (Though not consecutively. You are nuts Moa!) and the actual time period can span years for some projects.

This is obviously not practical for a terrain contest but I think a larger time period may be in order if Wyrd goes this rout. I'm thinking like three months to complete an entry.

Another issue with the base size that someone like me could take advantage of is making something with a small base that is in fact quite large. Wizards towers for example can have very small bases but be quite tall. There are other things that can be done of course but I think that illustrates the point.

[Brushmistress]

It's hard enough for me to get my painters on board for everything we've got going now (four ready for release, another twelve at the casters as of right now, six more just about done and ready for shipping for molds) so believe me, winning a painted mini isn't likely to happen often these days but I'll keep that part in mind.
I'm sorry.... :hangman:

Anyway, gosh, tons on great ideas have been kicked around. For the record, I've always loved limited edition minis, and one for Wyrd/Malifaux would be awesome as a contest prize. It doesn't have to have special rules, as has been said. Just a different look (bust are also nice, though they have next to no marketability).

I held a Mordheim extended campaign at my comic shop a couple of years ago where the winner received the "Silver Squig" award - just a squig covered in silver glitter and paint on a wooden plinth with plaquard, but the players really enjoyed the feeling of winning a trophy, moreso than when we offered cash prizes.

I'm totally game for writing/drawing...I suck at basing single models for the most part, so terrain contests seem way too out there for me (though they are certainly inspiring - just looking at some of the terrain members here have made make my jaw drop).

Nothing wrong either with gift certificates or the setup of Iron Painter. I loved the notion of pitting random forum members together in a "paint-off" (there's a photoshop nerd site called Worth1000 that does something similar - no prize there...just the self esteem boost from winning).

[waghorn41]

I like the comps the way they are and agree with evreything Amazon Warrior said.
For me it's the welcome of the site/group and the sheer fun of having a go at beating a pro painter (yeh, as if!). The challenges of time and theme are great, they push me out of my lethargy and comfort zone for the pure unadulterated fun of the hobby.
Prizes? Not really bothered, competing is for the fun - anything gained is a bonus.
The feed back is invaluable. If there was one change I'd make it's the 'select 3' out of the category with no input as to placing. This means a figure you rank, at say 3rd, can beat a more deserving figure. I know it would be more of an admin headache but wouldn't it be better to rank choices so the one with most 1st's wins etc. Or allocate points per place and the most points wins.
Just my thoughts.

The next IP just round the corner? I'm already doing four comps! Oh to hell with it - bring it on!

[lauth81]

Some notions, not in any specific meaningful order though ...

1) I would like to see the 3 classic Wyrd contests continued (Rotten Harvest, Femme Fatale, Total Testosterone)

2) I don't care for Iron Painter as far as actual entering goes. It just doesn't go down well with my overall busy schedule.

3) I hate cash prizes. The probability of winning cash brings out the worst in people and can destroy a community. For the exact same reason I would never ever enter a contest or tournament where a cash prize is offered.

4) I like vouchers as prizes. A limited edition mini would also be nice. Probably just a variant of an existing mini for the Malifaux game.

5) I would like to see a change to the "exactly 3 votes" rule in the classic contests. It creates much confusion for many voters and doesn't really work well with categories which have a low number of entrants. Maybe some weighed voting (1st, 2nd and so on) could be an alternative.

6) I would like to see the "Comment on everything" prize removed. There are lots of silly one sentence comments out there, which obviously have just been written to write something, anything to fulfill the requirments for that prize. It would also get rid of the awkward situation of commenting on your own entry ...

7) Mini contests, I like them. Low threshold, gets people involveld in the community. There are some on the Reaper Forums from time to time, like a speedpaint contest (you get 4 hours on a given day to paint a (specific) mini). Could be done with small prizes (5$ voucher or a special forums feature) or without any.

just my 2cents ...

[EricJ]

What I think would be a ton of fun, although not really a "Wyrd" contest specifically.

Industry Throwdown!!

Each mini company puts forward 3 staff painters, (or 1 painter, 1 sculptor, 1 terrain builder), and have a set amount of time to do their best entry based on their line of minis/world/system. At the end there is voting done by a panel of impartial judges (to eliminate the rabid fanboys of larger companies skewing results), and the total score of each 3 person team determines the winning company, who has bragging rights as the most "skilled" company and a Trophy with their name engraved on it until the next year, when it's done again, and the trophy is passed along.

Would be fun!!!

[TheBugKing]

WOOO! That could generate subcontests to select the 3 man team for the companies in question too.

Major bad assery there Eric!

[JakubT]

Id like to see a contest with just Wyrd minis and a winner would help design a new model for the Malifaux

[Amazon_warrior]

....

7) Mini contests, I like them. Low threshold, gets people involveld in the community. There are some on the Reaper Forums from time to time, like a speedpaint contest (you get 4 hours on a given day to paint a (specific) mini). Could be done with small prizes (5$ voucher or a special forums feature) or without any.

just my 2cents ...
Technically, they'll pretty much all be mini contests! :P Sorry, couldn't resist! (But to stop being silly for a moment, it's a good idea.)

[Hinton]

I really like the contests here since they not only display some wonderful painting, they also create a sense of community. Most of the feedback is incredibly helpful and is usually why I enter.

Things that I like:

*Iron Painter. Love the whole idea of the contest. Having an IP trophy would be a nice bonus, especially if it's contest specific (i.e. "Iron Painter Four Champion").

*Femme Fatale and Rotten Harvest.

*Anonymity with the rest of the contests. I've always enjoyed seeing who painted what after all of the voting and commenting. It also ensures that votes are based on the work, not the person that did it.

*The "Random Schmuck" prizes. Whether it's voting or commenting, it gives people an incentive to get involved, even if they weren't able to enter.

*Vouchers/gift certificates for winners.

Ideas:

*What about a point system for the contests? For example, each person that enters a contest gets a certain amount of points. If they win/place/show, then they accrue additional points. Those points can then be used for discounts on purchases at Wyrd or something special. It would probably be a bit of a headache to keep track of all of those points, but it could probably be done.

*A winner's gallery. Perhaps photos of the winning painter with their mini(s) in the following issue of Wyrd Chronicles.

*This is more of a "pet peeve" than anything else, but when the winners are announced on the front page, could they be linked directly to the entry?

Prizes (in addition to many of the ideas already put forth):

*How about a terrain piece/playing surface from the city/world of Malifaux? Probably a pain in the rear (and expensive) to ship, but might be very nice to have.

*Once the rulebook gets released, how about offering a signed edition? Or maybe a signed hard copy issue of Wyrd Chronicles?

[steeldragon]

I would love to see Sculpting and terrain contest, even if it's difficcult to get entries.

Also a special edition mini as prize would be my choice.

Andres

[Nathan Caroland]

I'm sorry.... :hangman:



Heh, that wasn't aimed at anyone in particular or even a critique Jess, just a fact of life, time of year and circumstances beyond the norm that have caused the delays. No biggie!

Oh, ya'll should see her latest one ..

:D

[Nathan Caroland]

Just a couple of comments, and believe me, I'm reading everything ya'll are putting up here, if I don't address it directly, its not useless, just I am still mulling it over.

Voting and a point system. I know for the longest time folks have gone on about about a weighted system for voting and while I really like that idea, as of yet, I have no way of implimenting it. It is probably down the road a bit but I'm going to go ahead and make an inquiry into the coding folks and see if there is a way to do something along the lines of giving everyone 100 points to distribute in any percentage of their choice, across the range of entries in a particular category. Idealy that would allow for folks to dole out their points and when its all said and done its done on a point system which tallies, etc.

Not sure how difficult that is to impliment. Beyond my abilites and might very well be beyond my pocket book at the moment, but I will look into it as a possible option.

Rest of these are all great suggestions, keep them coming as I'm getting some thoughts boiling on the matter.

[Peterdita]

My 2 cents
I’m still pretty new around here, but I rather like the way contests are set up. I like the themes with the sub-categories, the anonymous part, all of it really. I like the random participation prizes, as it encourages people to enter, vote, and comment. With the talented people on this site, the feedback can be very useful and encouraging. As for prizes, I would never want cash. Not from something like this. (not that I’d ever win ;) But Cash might draw in negativity and do what it does best. I’ve heard a lot of great ideas already, but a fun trophy, limited edition mini, gift cert. to Wyrd, fun feature on the forums, whatever, just not cash imo. T-Shirt?

I do think it would be cool to have more going on though. Art contests, Writing, terrain would be awesome! Sculpting would be cool. Maybe you should require wip pics/tutorial pics so we can learn how they did it. The winner of an art/writing contest could have wyrd make a mini based off the entry, or used as fluff in an ezine. Prizes could be a spot to do something related to the hobby in an ezine? That would crazy cool for the winner of that. I think some sort of partner job would be cool as well. Blind paring kind of thing, one person paints top half/front back, w/e, or makes a sweet base and the other finishes it. Random draw. Must take picture at passing off. Each person gets it for like 2 weeks? Something like that.

As far as the talent on the site I’m torn. On one hand I like entering against all the great talent, but on another I know I won’t win anytime soon. But that’s okay it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun, and I do. Maybe one contest you have different skill levels, professional, hobbyists, beginners. You enter whatever level you feel you are. Judges could boost people up if they thought something was too good for the submitted level.
I‘d love to see a judges only contest to. Let’s see FF, Ericj, Rob and Supervike paint something up for us and have us vote on them. As if you’re not busy already…
There’s my ramble. (Notice I will not be entering the writing contest.)

I like EricJ's idea: I'd love to see Wyrd challenge another manufacturer, that would be really cool. Or maybe a dual contest, say we challenge the infinity/reaper forums, we paint their minis and they paint wyrd ones? Something to mix it up a bit?

[Scorpio]

I'm not really keen on the idea of an exclusive mini, unless it was a resculpt with the same gaming profile as an existing character, or else a mini for the Catacomb Prowlers line that won't have a profile in Malifaux. I always hated rare/limited miniatures that had unique gaming profiles, because it always makes for a mad chase to get the mini in question.

Agreed on all counts. I'm a terrible painter, and don't have a shot at winning any contests against the competition here. Knowing that there was figs I couldn't get a hold of would only make me (more) bitter.

[Amazon_warrior]

Did anyone mention a conversion competition yet? Might be cool to take characters from the Wyrd universe and mix them up a little, as mentioned before, perhaps have Perdita as a Rotten Belle or somesuch. The only problem I can see is that it might start off as conversions and end up as sculpting, so perhaps you'd have to specify that maybe a maximum of half the model can be GS/scratchbuilt (i.e., not parts from a Wyrd mini), for example. It might be best to keep it soley judged on the conversion, or maybe have before-and-after pictures of the conversion and then the paintjob, so people can vote on the best conversion, the best paintjob and then you can have an overall winner (whoever scores the most when the categories are combined).

[ixminis]

Heh, by the time I get home to check the thread I see that all my meager suggestions are already here! I for one love the contests that have occurred to date anyway... sorry to be of so little help :-P

[Xenon_Wulf]

Awesome ideas in there. I'll agree with Hinton about the use of points for cool swag being a good idea. And that under no circumstances should money be involved. Wyrd contests should always be fun and friendly (albeit copmetitive) events.


(And yes, it's been a while - I've been kept busy).

[Hinton]

Nice to see you back on the forums, Wulf.

[Nathan Caroland]

Been awhile Eric, don't be a stranger.

[Jabberwocky]

I'm a bit late to the party as well. I think all of the ideas are great, but as with so much with this hobby, not every thing will appeal to everyone. I like the idea of a terrain contest, but as others have mentioned, it is a bit of a subspecialty within the hobby and may not get a lot of attention. The writing bit is of particular interest to me--I would love to see something implemented regarding Wyrd fluff; that has always been of interest to me since I am more of a painter as opposed to a gamer. I think the opportunity to be a part of something like this would be a great thing indeed and I was moved to do a little bit of writing (something I had not done for a good 20 years) a while back when there was a fluff thread going.

With regards to the painting comps, more is always better for those of us sitting in the wings--having something always coming up is nice. That being said, I would have two concerns for the Wyrd folks. One is participation. The more contests you have, I think the higher the likelihood of a (relatively) poor turnout. I recall one of the HH contests having a lower showing than usual (in the 30 range if I remember correctly) and there was at least transient concern that the contests were losing their luster. Adding more to the yearly mix may aggravate that. The second concern would be financial (not any of my business, but I'll voice it anyway). I have no idea how much it costs the Wyrd crew in swag and prizes, but 3 winners per category plus BoS and BoW and random schmuck prizes AND voting prizes would seem like it would add up. If you did add a contest or two I would have them heavily (or entirely) Wyrd based to help offset the generousness this site has shown time and again. The time and effort invested in putting these contests together also has to be considered. I think this site has the best online contests in the community, bar none. I would hate to sacrifice quality for quantity.

I understand the need to keep things fresh and I know that if the past few years are any indication, these new ideas will be well thought out and just add to the Wyrdness I visit every day!

*Edited for extra rabid fanboi appeal*

[lauth81]

Just a quick thought concerning writing contests ... I suppose the prerequisite language would be English (like the site). Non-native English speakers might feel left out. Communicating in English is nice and fine, spelling and grammar errors are politely ignored (unless you're a lolcat ...), but those points come to attention when writing or judging a shot story or any other piece of prose.

[Bren]

Just a quick thought concerning writing contests ... I suppose the prerequisite language would be English (like the site). Non-native English speakers might feel left out. Communicating in English is nice and fine, spelling and grammar errors are politely ignored (unless you're a lolcat ...), but those points come to attention when writing or judging a shot story or any other piece of prose.


As a matter of fact, I even have that issue with some of the IP themes. I've never entered, and this really isn't the main reason (it's more a time problem..). But I usually follow the rounds and entries and I'm always surprised what people come up with. Then I start thinking about how I myself would interpret the theme, most of the times that would be quite straight-forward. But some typical English things (jokes, typical expressions, I guess you know what I mean) I just seem to have missed, simply because English teachers in Holland never teach you such things :stupido:.

[Scorpio]

Just a quick thought concerning writing contests ... I suppose the prerequisite language would be English (like the site). Non-native English speakers might feel left out.

Well, not-great painters are left out of a painting contest. Someone with no love for making terrain would be left out of a terrain contest. You really *can't* please all the people all the time, sadly.

[TheBugKing]

Well, not-great painters are left out of a painting contest. Someone with no love for making terrain would be left out of a terrain contest. You really *can't* please all the people all the time, sadly.

Say it isn't so! We don't live in utopia???

You have just ruined my life forever!!!

I can paint decently. I can sculpt to the point where what I am sculpting is recognizable as the subject I intend. I can build terrain quite well. I can't write worth dog feces.

I'll let you guess what kind of contests I'll enter. That all being said, I greatly enjoy watching the very skilled painters compete. I love reading entries into writing contests. I am consistently amazed by what gets sculpted.

Even though I won't be entering those contests I gain a huge enjoyment out of watching the competition. There is almost a direct sports analogy here. There is an extremely small cross section of the general population that makes it as professional sports players. There is an extremely large cross section of the population that gets great enjoyment from watching those very same sports.

Just because someone doesn't feel that they are good enough to compete does not mean that they don't enjoy the competition process. I don't think that Wyrd needs to necessarily try to cater to everyone. As long as the majority likes what is going on I think that the status quo is fine.

[Scorpio]

I can paint decently. I can sculpt to the point where what I am sculpting is recognizable as the subject I intend. I can build terrain quite well. I can't write worth dog feces.

I'll let you guess what kind of contests I'll enter.

My dream is that there is eventually some sort of Wyrd karaoke contest, so I have some vague shot at victory.

[lauth81]

Well, not-great painters are left out of a painting contest. Someone with no love for making terrain would be left out of a terrain contest. You really *can't* please all the people all the time, sadly.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I think there's a significant difference between the skill of miniature painting and writing or judging a piece of literature not in your native language.

With a second language you'll always end up missing some cultural references, sayings, whatever ... no matter how good your "skill" in that language is. I'm actively speaking English for most of my life (and actually live in an english-speaking country at the moment), but some references, jokes etc., I still don't get.

[v22TTC]

The more different types of competitions, the greater the likelihood of allowing everybody to excell at something (it need be only one thing). This is where prizes should just be a bit of something (or nothing), so that folks don't feel too alienated. Under no account would I offer limited edition minis as prizes - or in fact make them at all!

As egalitarian and varied as possible community building, fun, inspiration, motivation and entertainment is cool: elitism of any stripe isn't. It can be a fine distinction and a rant, but I won't and LE is - by def - elitist.

I know the web mag asked for sculptors, writers and artists but competitions in all of those things, working to briefs with adequate background information, would be great - perhaps from there, Wyrd could headhunt and it wouldn't be a vague 'yeah, cool... I can do that... but what?' sometime never thing. I wouldn't promise that any winners be enroled in any way by Wyrd, because there might not be that many entrants and, frankly, all the entries might be crap - or at least not what the Wyrd folks envision for their universe. I don't want Wyrd Central's creative freedom constrained in any way: fun, not promises.

I'd offer the Random Schmuck prize for voting (if at all) but not reward comments on all entries (as Lauth said). Sometimes it seems like a parade relentlessly putting the boot in, all saying the same thing, to some poor bozo whose work obviously wasn't up to scratch, just to win a prize, which seems a bit distasteful.

PS: And if the site could refrain from logging you out if you spend more than a few minutes composing your post, that'd be cool.;)

Cheers for asking us all this, Nathan. Top banana!:)

[johnboyjjb]

I was thinking of a multipart contest with different genres. The competition being the average score of your submissions. You submit a fantasy, a sci-fi, a historical, and a terrain. 4 different submissions each individually scored and added up or averaged for a final score. You could also add an under 10mm or over 48 mm category and allow contestants to drop the low score from the average. The winner in each category would get a prize and the grand prize would go to the best average or total score. That way somebody who has multiple DNF's still has a reason to submit something. (the first DNF would be dropped as the lowest score)

[Xenon_Wulf]

My dream is that there is eventually some sort of Wyrd karaoke contest, so I have some vague shot at victory.

Only at Gencon, on the Saturday night after a lot of drinking...

[TheBugKing]

I'll bring a shotgun to the karaoke contest and shoot anyone who sings off key. I hate karaoke with a burning passion.

I am all about people learning to sing and develop their skills in school or at home but I DO NOT want it inflicted on me in any way.

[Nathan Caroland]

Hrmmm, my wife barred me from karaoke night ... but ... maaaaybee ...

Still mulling over a lot of what ya'll discussed here, thank you. Some things that I can certainly bring to the forefront though that has already been decided or put into action.



No Cash. I agree, its about community building and having a good time. We have thought about possibly adding that option for conventions but that is still up in the air and right now, not really on the table for giving a hoot.
Trophy, heh, do we have a trophy for you. Oh yes, and it came about in a conversation yesterday on some artwork that we've got made up and after we were all able to breath again due to laughing so hard, decided we're going to move on with our 'Golden XXXXXXXXXXXX'. We've got just the right guy to sculpt it too, right after I give him a holler.
Limited Editions, we're not fans of those in any fashion as I really hate the idea of folks not being able to get a hold of a particular miniature nor that you've got to pay through the nose in order to pick one up. And quite frankly, the fact that I've got to retire the model and mold after X amount sell doesn't sit well with me.

Now ... Special Editions, that's a whole 'nother fish to fry. Special Editions to me are new takes on old miniatures or ones that can take places of already existing miniatures. These would have the same stats in the game so that there wouldn't be anyone feeling shorted, just a new look. These would be available as prizes and most likely at Conventions. We've already got a couple that we're keen on and I've just given the go ahead to have them drawn up. Probably be some time before anything shows up as we've got the plates full right now but it is in the works.
Writing, Terrain, Conversions and Sculpting contests are very likely to show up throughout the year. I understand that not everyone has the same talents but that's life. I can't build terrain, make conversions or sculpt for the life of me .. heck, if I'm honest, I don't even paint that well and when I do write, its got to be spur of the moment because if I have to force it, never going to happen. Not sure what forms these are going to take but we'll figure something out.
Femme Fatale, Total Testosterone and The Rotten Harvest have been staples of Wyrd for three years now, and while I think they have been great, there has been a small decline in them this last year. I think primarily that is due to the fact that everyone and their brother is now jumping on the bandwagon with contests and while that is great, at the same time it draws focus away from one contest or another. Perhaps the trophies or the special edition prizes will make some differences but we'll see. This is still something that I want to mull over and make the best we're able.
Commenting on all entries in the contest galleries. Yeah, good points, all of them. We'll knock that part out of the contests and although it means less people get swag, it isn't much of a change and one that seems is wanted/needed so .... chop! Gone.
Sues idea of Quickmatches, or Quickfire .. heck whatever it was she called it (I gotta go back and look) is something that I was playing with anyhow but glad to see someone bring it up and looks like it is of interest to folks. Something I was thinking of doing is just doing little out of the blue contests that go for two or three weeks like 'Do a conversion on a Wyrd mini ...' whether that is a head, weapon or resculpt job on any piece, thought it might be of interest. We'll probably do a couple of these throughout the year for the giggles of it.
More Wyrd product related contests. Believe me, I would love to do more Wyrd specific stuff, at the same time we don't want to alienate folks or make them feel like they HAVE to buy our product in order to participate on this site. I don't think we really push our stuff as much as we could but then, I'm not an in your face type of fella. That said, we'll do something specifically Wyrd in the future and see just how it turns out. Won't every become the type of place that says you have to ONLY juse Wyrd stuff but I'm certain we can do something specifal for us and for the folks that make the effort to support us. We certainly appreciate it.


That's about it for now. Still chewing on some of the other parts here, and appreciate the time and effort that ya'll have put into letting me know just what you are looking for.

[Thryth]

I don't suppose that you would want to hold, say, a TT and/or FF while you are thinking about this, would you? :D

[Nathan Caroland]

Oh, one of them will come, certain of it. Just going to let the Iron Painter get under way for a few rounds first before I drop another one in there. I've found that running one almost side by side with the IP just drives some people insane.

:D

Might do another contest of sorts that has nothing to do with painting though.

[Amazon_warrior]

More Wyrd product related contests. Believe me, I would love to do more Wyrd specific stuff, at the same time we don't want to alienate folks or make them feel like they HAVE to buy our product in order to participate on this site. I don't think we really push our stuff as much as we could but then, I'm not an in your face type of fella. That said, we'll do something specifically Wyrd in the future and see just how it turns out. Won't every become the type of place that says you have to ONLY juse Wyrd stuff but I'm certain we can do something specifal for us and for the folks that make the effort to support us. We certainly appreciate it.

My thoughts on this are: Have a mix of Wyrd-only and anything-goes. Like I said, I really appreciate that FF, RH and TT are anything goes, but it's worth noting that I felt like I should have entered a Wyrd mini in them, even though I didn't have to. As a way of saying thanks or showing appreciation, I think. Because you didn't make me, I wanted to. Admittedly, I failed to do this in the TT and RH comps that I've entered so far, but in my defence, I didn't have any suitable Wyrd minis for TT and I tried to redeem myself by buying some for RH but still haven't got round to painting them! D'oh! Of course, this is just how I feel, but it may well be that others feel the same. I think if that's the case, it might be better to keep some competitions open and the goodwill this would hopefully generate towards Wyrd would show across all the competitions.

At the end of the day, Wyrd is a company and I'm sure everyone here knows that you can't keep a business running on fresh air and none of us want to see Wyrd fail, so I would sincerely hope that people are not averse to spending some of their hard-earned to support Wyrd-exclusive comps in gratitude for the open ones.

Another thought occurs: You might notice a decrease in Wyrd minis in open comps in favour of entering them in Wyrd-only comps. Keeping the "Best of Wyrd" prize might prevent that happening too much, tho.

[Jabberwocky]

I've found that running one almost side by side with the IP just drives some people insane.

:D


Only for those that enter...for those of us that are aluminum (or in my case paper) painters I see nothing wrong with running them simultaneously!

:vb_devil:

[lauth81]

Another idea for a community event: Annually legacy warbands

This idea comes from an annual event on the talkbloodbowl.com site (and the NAF as well). First, the community decides which team/race to paint, which colourscheme etc. Basically, everybody who then decides to take part paints a miniature of said team/race and sends it to the organizer. At the end of the year a draw is made and one lucky person out of the contributors wins the whole team.

With some adaptations, could easily be done with Malifaux warbands.

[Moavoamoatu]

Another idea. Morf did a drawing contest for Pulp City and the winner's drawing becomes a new miniature....BTW I can't draw :D

[AoM]

I'd love a contest/competition exclusive Effigy Doll of the Master of all Masters: Nathan himself. of course, he'd need some extra stuff to properly flesh out his feasibility as an Effigy Doll, but, y'know...

[Wren]

Commenting on all entries in the contest galleries. Yeah, good points, all of them. We'll knock that part out of the contests and although it means less people get swag, it isn't much of a change and one that seems is wanted/needed so .... chop! Gone.

If the number of comments really drops, particularly for the entries that aren't by virtuoso painters, I hope you'll consider reinstating this.

I understand the points people are making, and certainly I have seen (and probably made) a few comments that are kind of pointless or padding to make the numbers. (Although I hope I'll try to comment on most/all of the entries regardless of prizes now that I'm in the habit.)

But I've always felt that the encouragement of comments and voting accomplished two things that really added to the contests - community involvement in the contests even if you weren't able/inclined to enter, and giving a reason to enter even if you feel you have no chance of winning.

[Nathan Caroland]

If the number of comments really drops, particularly for the entries that aren't by virtuoso painters, I hope you'll consider reinstating this.

I understand the points people are making, and certainly I have seen (and probably made) a few comments that are kind of pointless or padding to make the numbers. (Although I hope I'll try to comment on most/all of the entries regardless of prizes now that I'm in the habit.)

But I've always felt that the encouragement of comments and voting accomplished two things that really added to the contests - community involvement in the contests even if you weren't able/inclined to enter, and giving a reason to enter even if you feel you have no chance of winning.

Rather valid point there too ... ya'll got me swinging on this one now.

[Thryth]

I'll second what Wren said about the comments. The comments are one of the important reasons for me entering the Wyrd contests.

[Jabberwocky]

I'd second Thryth's second. One of the reason I liked the contests so much was that I could get more comments in a single showing than I could posting that same mini at 3 or 4 sites. Yeah, you might get the "good job" quickie post, but I'd get that at most other forums as well, so I don't know if people are being all that much different than they might be anyway. Even if I got 5 out of 20 comments with some substance, I'd call that a win.

[Darklord]

how about a team contest? either say teams of 3 against each other with the scores added together, or maybe do countries - the wyrd world cup. you could use an average score from each countries entrants that way it matters less if one country has 20 entrants and another has one or two.

as for prizes, i think a mini or bust of jims avatar would be great or a cheaper option is a badge. (think blue peter!)

[Peterdita]

I'd have to agree with the 'comments' argurement. I think getting feedback is the most important part. Hearing what people thought about your entry is what its all about. Even if it is a one liner, sometimes its funny and it makes you laugh, smile, etc. Sometimes I don't have a lot to say, but I try and comment about one thing I noticed or liked at least.

So do what ya gotta do but I really liked that part of it all. Plus, it may be my only chance of winning anything. :o:

[v22TTC]

I would hope that people would make comments because they've got something helpful to say, not because they want to win a prize. But that's just me with my irrepressable faith in human nature....;) I guess the compromise would be drop the prize incentive, if we end up with no comments, reinstate it (as Wren suggested).

I also think the odd Wyrd-only competition (with a distinctly Wyrd flavour and quirckiness) certainly falls into the realm of fair's fair. Like reciprocity for all the other comps Wyrd organises and pays for. But beware the thin end of the wedge....

SE v LE minis ... not sure I get the distinction. I would most sincerely urge that every mini produced by Wyrd will ultimately be available to anybody who wants one, even if it's a few years down the line. I personally find permanent, artificial exclusivity about as offensive as anything, but I know most folks seem to groove on it. Perhaps have minis for Cons and prizes but the exclusivity angle is that this will not be available to buy by the unwashed for at least a year, or two, or whatever - folks get their exclusivity, the majority don't feel too alienated, if they have patience.

I suppose I should also add a worry of mine - what could easily happen to this forum when Malifaux comes out and becomes more widely known. If the Infinity forum was anything to go by, it's a cool, chill, democratic place to hang out. Game blows up, the creators' presence on the boards all but disappears because they're now really, really busy. Folks come in droves, talking about how they fell out with another system/company/forum and how this all seems to be amazing ... then proceed to attempt to turn this system/company/forum into the one they just left (i.e. a bag of crap, largely because of their attitude). A strong creator presence on the forum is necessary in this phase, if the forum is to be saved.

Not being all voice-of-doomy but in some respects I'm a little worried what will happen when Malifaux comes out and becomes successful (as I'm sure it will, and will deserve to be). Hasn't stopped me bigging it up on other forums though!...;)

[Nathan Caroland]

:D

I admit that we have seen a change in the forum over the years but to be honest I think that it has grown in the community sense and while there seem to be a lot more gamers about these days which is fantastic, everyone here is into miniatures and painting (skills aside) and I feel that it is a fairly good balance.

That said, 'I' like miniatures, painting and contests. Eric, the other half of this duo of course knocks my socks off in those areas but is seriously into the gaming as well and I think between the two of us we'll keep a presence in both areas. I can only say that we try and though I do hope for a success with the game and the company in general, I hope that we are able to keep it a very community friendly site that will have interests for everyone interested.

[Thryth]

...
I also think the odd Wyrd-only competition (with a distinctly Wyrd flavour and quirckiness) certainly falls into the realm of fair's fair. Like reciprocity for all the other comps Wyrd organises and pays for. But beware the thin end of the wedge....

SE v LE minis ... not sure I get the distinction. I would most sincerely urge that every mini produced by Wyrd will ultimately be available to anybody who wants one, even if it's a few years down the line. I personally find permanent, artificial exclusivity about as offensive as anything, but I know most folks seem to groove on it. Perhaps have minis for Cons and prizes but the exclusivity angle is that this will not be available to buy by the unwashed for at least a year, or two, or whatever - folks get their exclusivity, the majority don't feel too alienated, if they have patience.
...

1) I agree, I would also like to see the occasionally Wyrd-only contest. I remember entering one way back. What was it called? Totally Wyrd?

2) I really like what you are saying about the exclusivity for a period of time. I remember buying miniatures from the Wyrd booth at GenCon 40 because they hadn't been released yet. I thought that I was going to be able to get them painted before the studio work came-out (didn't manage that, though).

[TheBugKing]

:D

I admit that we have seen a change in the forum over the years but to be honest I think that it has grown in the community sense and while there seem to be a lot more gamers about these days which is fantastic, everyone here is into miniatures and painting (skills aside) and I feel that it is a fairly good balance.

That said, 'I' like miniatures, painting and contests. Eric, the other half of this duo of course knocks my socks off in those areas but is seriously into the gaming as well and I think between the two of us we'll keep a presence in both areas. I can only say that we try and though I do hope for a success with the game and the company in general, I hope that we are able to keep it a very community friendly site that will have interests for everyone interested.

I think that continuing to have contests like the IP and others that are not company specific will go a long way to keeping this forum healthy. Yes there will be a lot of gamers around that are total fanbois for the game. Heck I am one. The thing is, if the forum does not lose what makes it great already and simply adds to the mix a cool game I don't think you will have much to worry about.

What may be important is creating a few more admin folks that can help guide things or keep the game centric silliness to the correct areas.

[v22TTC]

Nathan: Some of my best friends are gamers ... (;)) but, you know....

[Hinton]

Not trying to get off topic, but one thing about this forum (and no, I'm not trashing others; just saying) is that it doesn't come across as "cliquish"; at least, not to me. Some forums I've been on, it's like you have to be...I don't know..."in" (I guess) to even get a response, let alone try to carry on a conversation.

Wyrd has always felt like a community, and still does to this day. Just a bunch of people coming together, mostly because of minis, but with enough variety to keep things interesting.

The pending game has already brought in quite a few people - and I'm sure that the release will being even more - and all of them have seemed like decent folks. I'm pretty sure it'll stay that way - or at least I hope it will.

[TheBugKing]

Nope.

We are alll DOOOOOOOMED Hinton.

May as well quit now. <grin>

[v22TTC]

Yeah, I hate cliquish stuff as well ... but I've remembered some of the names and opening gambits to watch out for - I'll be stood behind the door with my baseball bat....:vb_devil:

[Chameleon]

I totally agree with Hinton. I felt very welcomed when i joined the forum here and, as someone who's new to the painting world, places like cool mini seemed far too daunting so I really appreciated the fact that the forum was so open.

As for the contests, I tend to agree with the people that say you should keep at least some of the contests where you are allowed to enter any mini. The main reason is that i'd have probably not become involved in Wyrd if I had to enter a Wyrd mini. I appreciate that you're a company that needs to sell models, but if i'm anything to go by, I've now bought my first Wyrd models and you have gained a new customer, but that wouldn't have happened if I'd just wandered by the site and saw that I needed a Wyrd model in order to enter. I do, however, think that it's a good think to have a Wyrd only aspect to each competition.

I also agree with Wren about keeping the commenting aspect of the competition. I think that's one of the key aspects that really tears these competitions apart from other competitions that are on the internet. I appreciate that some of them are simply padding, but most of them contain really useful points. I think that if people don't comment on all the entries then you run the risk of having people only comment on the really good entries and that would mean that the slightly weaker entries which probably benefit more than anyone else from the comments would miss out. After the thing that makes these competitions great is that they're not just about winning but about development as well.

As for an idea for a sculpting competition, how about you choose a Wyrd model and everyone has to try and copy that model from scratch and whoever managed to copy it the closest wins?

[capcap]

Variety would be the best way to net new gamers. While a terrain building contest is great it is another Art aspect of the hobby. Some other contests/prizes which would be great are as follows:

-Leagues with some sort of League acknowledging patch, pin, certificate or trophy
-Tournament support kits with medals, certificates etc
-Large venue leagues and tournaments which happen at big places like GenCon etc with special minis available for participants and a special trophy for top 3.
-Demo door prizes for people to give out when doing demos

[LeopolddelaSolail]

maybe a random booby (http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=5tY9AA&search=booby) prize (http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=5tY9AA&search=prize) or some sketches for all participants ?

[higherbrow]

Well, I'm a brand new player. I just did a big gaming weekend with a few friends, and they had just picked up the Malifaux rulebook, and the Cult of December and Viktorias box sets, and we played a bit with those, and then used them as proxies for some of the other factions to try a bunch of things out, and I really appreciated what the game does for minis. I'm planning on buying a few minis (I have my eye on a hybrid Witch Hunter/Death Marshal squad) next week, and what I'd really like to see from Wyrd is distributor support.

I play Magic: the Gathering, and one of the best things Wizards does is their weekly tournament support. They foil up a promo card every month, and send them out to every sanctioned shop, and the shops hold small tournaments weekly, or twice weekly, or bi-weekly, or whatever. Prizes include packs and promo cards, which are really cool. I live kind of near Cavalry Games in Milwaukee, and I see they're offering gift certificates as prizes, but doing something promotional for the game might be neat too. Clearly, promotional minis wouldn't work out so well, but maybe do punch-out terrain to make towers, or buildings, or trees, or something, although I suppose most mini-hobbyists prefer to build there own.

I guess I don't really have a concrete suggestion of what would be feasible, but I would say working on some sort of unique tournament reward for small-scale tournaments would be really nice.

[nebiros]

Personally, I think that most of us tend to follow one faction over the others. I play Neverborn almost exclusively. While I've tried other factions, I think the Neverborn is the best fit for me. That being said, why not have faction specific challenges?

I'm in agreement that terrain contests would be very cool. However, I'd like to see faction specific terrain contests, as a way of narrowing the field. Plus, the terrain needs to be relatively small. You won't draw that many people into a contest that requires a 3 story building. But, if you had a contest that required a 3" x 3" piece, then it would seem a lot less intimidating for the people who aren't normally into terrain building.

As far as prizes go, tags for your signature line work very well on other forums for drawing people in. One other forum I'm a member of asks people to "vow" to complete a challenge and you get a tag for your signature line whether you complete it or fail. Of course, if you fail to meet the challenge, your tag line says that you failed and you have to wear the mark of shame. Speaking of which, I need to get to work so I don't earn the mark of shame.