Feedback on Contests

[caro_gordon]

I would like to make a suggestion for a change in the categories in the monthly contest here in this forum. I purpose you have 3 categories to make it most fair to all who enter.
1- Realistic
2- Artistic
3- Novice
The first 2 categories were used in the previous competition in this forum run a few years back and the last one was not used then.

Categories Explained

1- Realistic Design ... a farm designed to the scale of what can be bought at the store such as barns, people, trees etc .... some 3D can be done with buildings, bridges , waterfalls etc ... BUT they must fit within the scale of the store bought items. (Slashkey competitions call it a Traditional farm).

2- Artistic Design .... a design done with things from the store to create a picture like a box or a window, a large building and things like a designed flower or birds etc. (Slashkey competitions call it a picture farm)

3- Novice Design ... those designs entered that are not as advanced with designing as the other 2 Categories.

I also think these 3 categories will be easier for the judges to pick winners.

Thank you for letting me make this suggestion

[Kimmie H]

I also think this would be a good idea to use, it would make it much easier for the judges to pick the winners from.Hope the Mods gives this idea some thinking on..

[Taz D]

Originally Posted by caro_gordon

I would like to make a suggestion for a change in the categories in the monthly contest here in this forum. I purpose you have 3 categories to make it most fair to all who enter.
1- Realistic
2- Artistic
3- Novice
The first 2 categories were used in the previous competition in this forum run a few years back and the last one was not used then.

Categories Explained

1- Realistic Design ... a farm designed to the scale of what can be bought at the store such as barns, people, trees etc .... some 3D can be done with buildings, bridges , waterfalls etc ... BUT they must fit within the scale of the store bought items. (Slashkey competitions call it a Traditional farm).

2- Artistic Design .... a design done with things from the store to create a picture like a box or a window, a large building and things like a designed flower or birds etc. (Slashkey competitions call it a picture farm)

3- Novice Design ... those designs entered that are not as advanced with designing as the other 2 Categories.

I also think these 3 categories will be easier for the judges to pick winners.

Thank you for letting me make this suggestion

Originally Posted by Kimmie H

I also think this would be a good idea to use, it would make it much easier for the judges to pick the winners from.Hope the Mods gives this idea some thinking on..

I am sorry this might seem to be a good idea, but we are not expanding the contests. First thing is we are only authorized to award the amount of farm cash we do now and I don't think making the prizes smaller is a good idea.
Second is it would not make it easier for the moderators, but would make it harder as we would have to determine 3 different categories for the entries to be placed in as well as determine more winners. The contest is difficult enough for us to judge and determine winners without expanding it.

[caro_gordon]

I am sorry to hear that this is forum is not authorized to give more FC prizes I did not realize that or think in terms of FC when I made the suggestion. I was only thinking what would be most FAIR to the members entering. I am also sorry that the moderators find that judging the farm contest to be difficult and to determination winners. I do know that the members who enter this contest put a lot of their time and thought into their designs .... tkz Taz D for your prompt answer.

[Debbie Lee C]

I agree with Carolyn and Kim,,but I do understand where you guys are coming from also, but to be honest, judging creative and realistic designs against each other is unfair and have voiced this same opinion in groups for a year or so now, so really it's not a new idea. I read your response and like Carolyn, didn't realize about the prize money, so you know what you can and can't do. I do know that a lot of other farmtown designers feel the same about this as Kim, Carolyn and I, just wanted to voice my opinion on the subject also.

[AussieGecko]

Reading the last few comments has prompted me to respond.

Personally I think having TWO categories is more than enough. Making three is just giving advanced designers an extra chance to win because they are competing against less people in their chosen category. The novices have only one category and that is "novice". So let's keep it as simple and as fair as possible which I think they are doing right now.

Something else to think about are entries being allowed from a secondary account. This is fine provided they state who they really are. The reason for this is that the judges might think they are giving a novice designer a prize when in fact it is an advanced designer using a secondary account. People will do all sorts of things to gain FC.

Hopefully an IP check on all entries might prevent this from happening and meanwhile we should appreciate the fact that there are extra prizes already compared to what it was many years ago. Which reminds me . . . Does SK still have a copy of the old competition threads? I would love to see them again and see how the designs have changed over the years.

Meanwhile if you don't win something, smile and think "there's always the next competition to try in". Happy farming everyone and thank you SK!

[memarissa]

Greetings,
I was disqualified from Dec 2015 contest due to a discrepancy between the farm data & the photo data.

I wanted to see this for myself, and discovered that NOT only did I get disqualified, my post was ELIMINATED completely.

This is an UNFAIR AND illogical practice.

How are people going to learn to check their work to see what went wrong if the work is erased from (public) existence? How would you like to have all your work suddenly gone?

For me it would have been better to stamp it disqualified & leave the post so I could learn to see what you saw.

The animals mentioned also move around... they were not frozen in place.

I have no other reason to be unhappy here.

[marymarcel]

Originally Posted by memarissa

Greetings,
I was disqualified from Dec 2015 contest due to a discrepancy between the farm data & the photo data.

I wanted to see this for myself, and discovered that NOT only did I get disqualified, my post was ELIMINATED completely.

This is an UNFAIR AND illogical practice.

How are people going to learn to check their work to see what went wrong if the work is erased from (public) existence? How would you like to have all your work suddenly gone?

For me it would have been better to stamp it disqualified & leave the post so I could learn to see what you saw.

The animals mentioned also move around... they were not frozen in place.

I have no other reason to be unhappy here.

Hi memarissa

I understand you are not happy about the disqualification but we always delete the entries or the moderators and helpers could vote for a disqualified farm. Also, other users will send us reports about the photo is not an exact replica of the farm as the rules state.

This should not be a problem for you to check, as the photo must be in your FarmTown album and you can check it and your farm.

I check every farm and take my own photo when something has been added. If you want, I can send you the photo of your farm posted in the contest and the photo I took when I visited your farm and you will see the holiday animals in the left down corner as I told you by private message.

[Mischief1]

Reading the previous post, does this mean if you have animals in your entry and they are not in the same place when you visit you are disqualified? I don't think you can freeze animals.

[marymarcel]

Originally Posted by Mischief1

Reading the previous post, does this mean if you have animals in your entry and they are not in the same place when you visit you are disqualified? I don't think you can freeze animals.

Hi Mischief1

You have the option to Freeze animals in your preferences (the wrench) and we are able to see if you have this option checked or not.

Every farm is deeply checked. I try to do this as soon as they are posted or when I log into the Forum. If I find something wrong between the photo and the farm then I ask another Administrator to check and then we take a decision.

And if when I visit your farm the animals are not in the same place, you are not disqualified, but we check if they are the same animals and the same amount.