[Finished][Discussion] Official Monthly YCM Cardmaking Tournament

[Maeriberii Haan]

Basically, title says it all. We're planning to hold a monthly tournament, and now, we are interested in hearing about your ideas and suggestions regarding this.

 

We already have things in mind, but to make this monthly tournament more interesting, your inputs will be greatly appreciated.

 

So yeah, discuss about what you wish to see in a monthly cardmaking tournament.

 

I'll update the OP more and more later on.

 

(credits to Toyo for the idea of this)

[Trebuchet MS]

This reminds me of the Weekly Deckbuilding Competitions I held at the Wikia. Considering that this concerns cardmaking, naturally the entire premise and works would be different...

 

For starters, how would the winners of each tournament be decided? Through a panel of appointed judges or by public vote?

[Maeriberii Haan]

Appointed judges, just like the usual contests.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Just for safety, our judges would have to be certified by the Judging Exam, which still exists (but is an optional thing).

So yeah, if you guys would like to enter, now is a good time to get your certification.

 

Also will need to devise a standardized grading rubric that all of us will use; would recommend a 100-point one since it factors nicely to percentages later on.

 

 

Ideally, prizes will be a moderately high amount of points and/or some GFX prizes.

An example would be similar to what Gadjiltron has in his signature from SCS 8 (if that happens, design will be different), or whatever Leaderboard winners receive.

[Maeriberii Haan]

What about themes, and the gimmicks of the competition itself? Anyone has any ideas to share about that?

[DivineDragonKnight]

I would like to see one contest where contestants must create a card with a determined effect. (for example, instant win would be epic)

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Considering that instant win cards are looked down upon in RC, no.

 

As for specified themes, I suppose choosing a random one every month could do the trick.

We've gotten retrained stuff (see Voltex and 1-2 others), animals (see SCS 3 and 8; and I guess 9 if you consider MPBs to be as such) and some others.

[Darj]

A different challenge every month, like the 1 vs.1 would be fine.

Prizes? Points and likes/reps as usual. Personally I'm not really into prize sigs but if someone is willing to make them every month, then I see no problem with handing them out.

On the other hand, certain privileges would be great. For instance, granting the winner a 1 month of profile header if it doesn't have it unlocked yet. A special title would be cool as well, like the Crow thing from Halloween event.

 

May add more things later.

[Yemachu]

Existing cards with weird gimmicks (or at least in my opinion) are "Convulsion of Nature", "Respect Play"/"Ceremonial Bell" and "Senet Switch".The gimmicks supplied by these cards can form a nice base  for a contest. Otherwise you could opt for a Toon-contest; Toon monsters - for as far as I am aware - haven't received any support in a long time. Gemini and Spirit monsters have gotten new members not too long ago, but could still benefit from some support. 

 

These are just a few suggestions on what you could use for a contest; I hope they help getting a ball start rolling.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Let's keep it short and sweet, yes?

 

Judging

[hr]

At the minimum, 3 judges and 5 at maximum. Too many judges cause too much arguing and not much being done. As for the judges, it should ideally be 1 permanent judge and 2-4 other judges that get switched around every month to make sure everybody gets a chance. There will be a standardized grading rubric, as different scales only cause unneeded problems, and so that people have a rough idea of what to make. The rubric should follow the usual trifecta of Balance-Flavor-Design, though that may change depending on the turnup of people. Since this competition would be advertised on the Cardmaker, there will be more than just the usual YCMembers joining, and as such the rubric can be simplified should such an occasion occur.

 

Theme

[hr]

This is a monthly competition meant to be accesible for everyone who uses YCM and not just the most diehard Yu-Gi-Oh fans. Keeping with the monthly idea, I think the themes should correspond with what month it is. For example, December is associated with Christmas so the theme should be cards that "give". October would be halloween-based cards, and so on. Months with no real theme can be used to make contests that go out of the box. Basically, allow as much creative freedom as possible while still being somewhat controllable. This is not supposed to be a contest only for active YCM Members, people who use the cardmaker and is interested in joining will join as well.

 

Prizes

[hr]

Points, Custom Member Group (along with VIP privileges) and a sig item is enough. Reps/Likes are optional, i guess. Judges should also be rewarded for their work.

 

Timing

[hr]

Open the contest early and close it a week before the end of the month. Depending on the amount entrants, it may be shorter than that. The amount of maximum entrants is better left for the judges to decide, but a cap of 50 is enough, I guess.

[Nathanael D. Striker]

And if a month calls for a 1v1 tournament, you are more than welcome to make the matches Leaderboard eligible depending on the timing. Just keep me in the loop, okay?

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

That can be done, Striker.

 

Incorporating Leaderboard into these things might be something we can pull off; again you should continue to give opinions + Nai/I should continue discussing the specific crap in PM.

 

(Also including Zex, but I assume it's finals)

[Nathanael D. Striker]

Seems that Toyo may have some competition with this, since I'm working on my own twist on this atm. So I think this will boil down to how this is going to be done instead of if this is going to be done. I did have some notes with an idea in 2011, but I'm redoing them since I lost those notes after finishing the Leaderboard. So, stay tuned folks.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Seems that Toyo may have some competition with this, since I'm working on my own twist on this atm. So I think this will boil down to how this is going to be done instead of if this is going to be done. I did have some notes with an idea in 2011, but I'm redoing them since I lost those notes after finishing the Leaderboard. So, stay tuned folks.

This isn't a competition, Strikey. My idea was to get new members who sign up to make cards interested in the forum, not really a full-on CC-level contest.

 

EDIT: Anyway...

 

My plan for this isn't actually of a monthly tournament held for YCMembers, but an open contest for members who sign in just to make cards, in hopes that they may gain interest in the forum. For that reason, the contest needs a lot of exposure, I'm thinking banners on the cardmaker page itself and on the forum that links to the contest thread.

 

It needs to feel more like an event than a contest is what I'm really getting at.

[Nathanael D. Striker]

Hmm, fair enough. Perhaps we can work together on this seeing as both can be accomplished.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Hmm, fair enough. Perhaps we can work together on this seeing as both can be accomplished.

Shoot up some ideas here, then. We're always open for input~

[Nathanael D. Striker]

One sec. Let me dig up what I have so far. It may not fully fit the bill given that I'm more of a big prize guy and such, but it can be molded into something more fitting.

...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19W1qp5h6tFO7HizIzj9Czk0vN7jC7eblyBkzVf4AU9U/edit?usp=docslist_api

Not finished yet, but this is what a day of trying to recreate a 2011 blueprint will do. XD

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

There's one huge problem with it- Entry fee.

 

Entry fee defeats the point of the tournament entirely. Additionally, a max contestant cap of 16 is far too small for the scope I'm hoping this would reach. Instead of using a pot-based system, it would be easier for moderators to give a fixed number of points to all contestants. Yes, even the ones that didn't win anything. If your card gets approved by the judges and entered into the competition, that should warrant giving a small bit of points awarded. Remember, this is an event, not a competition. Also, I dislike the rubric you made. First off, using OCG as basis to judge is a big no-no. Second, general usability and balance does not encourage an open and healthy contest. Instead, a simplified rubric of Design-Flavor-Creativity should be accessible enough to most people, while also hitting the key notes in cardmaking.

 

Also, having it as a series adds nothing and only makes things more complicated. Far easier to have the contests be separate.

[Nathanael D. Striker]

As I said before, nothing is in stone with this. And while my philosophy is usually competition first, I can make an exception and concede the prize part of it. Though, the prize payout is something that must be discussed and I may be able to work with that.

Also, Card Grammar was there as a "can we understand the card" type thing. Forgetting about that aspect is foolish, young one. Though, placing that in Design could suffice. Also, Balance and Usability are a part of Design, yes? One can still be judged on those with a casual card since basic design and usability will be taken into consideration, which is something you overlooked. Granted, the rubric is up for changing since I had to out something down and my experience with contests resulted with that.

And about your "series is useless comment", I wholeheartedly disagree. A series would push people to their limits. Knowing that there are dozens of people striving for the same thing can push someone farther than they would have otherwise. We can have something that draws new people in and can be competitive for all. And if you are afraid of things being too complicated, just let me handle it. I've done it before and I can do it again.

Suprised you didn't mention the hosts and judges getting paid, but I guess there is little to argue there.

[Aix]

Walking in here because Toyo is ranting a storm out of this.

We don't need competition first philosophies because first and foremost, the goal here is to attract and encourage people. No one wants to walk in and just get destroyed by my god-tier card making. We want to pat them on the back and tell them to make more cards.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

As I said before, nothing is in stone with this. And while my philosophy is usually competition first, I can make an exception and concede the prize part of it. Though, the prize payout is something that must be discussed and I may be able to work with that.
 
I never said anything about not giving prizes. But the concept behind your idea and the one that I proposed is very different indeed. Yours appeal more to YCM regulars, while what is needed is a contest that can appeal to everyone, and especially those who are not active in the forum. 

Also, Card Grammar was there as a "can we understand the card" type thing. Forgetting about that aspect is foolish, young one. Though, placing that in Design could suffice. Also, Balance and Usability are a part of Design, yes? One can still be judged on those with a casual card since basic design and usability will be taken into consideration, which is something you overlooked. Granted, the rubric is up for changing since I had to out something down and my experience with contests resulted with that.
 
OCG shouldn't matter beyond "Is the card understandable?".  If the card uses non-Konami lingo, just reject it. Just that simple. It is very much an unneded aspect especially if you're getting into detail where to place the fifty million colons and semicolons Konami seem to be pushing nowadays. Balance and usability are very dependant on the theme, and restrains creativity. One cannot be judged on usability if its a casual enviroment, and balance purely falls into design. A well-designed card won't be broken, but a badly designed card can be broken.

And about your "series is useless comment", I wholeheartedly disagree. A series would push people to their limits. Knowing that there are dozens of people striving for the same thing can push someone farther than they would have otherwise. We can have something that draws new people in and can be competitive for all. And if you are afraid of things being too complicated, just let me handle it. I've done it before and I can do it again.
 
No. That would only mean the people who are active in CC will keep getting in, and you get a turnup of the same people month after month. Remember, event not competition.
Suprised you didn't mention the hosts and judges getting paid, but I guess there is little to argue there.

EDIT: Aix predicted my rant storm. gg.

[Aix]

OCG is unneeded. In fact, if intent is unclear, I would go as far as to ask the competitor what they meant and let them fix it because OCG is difficult for newbies.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Indeed, OCG is one of the things competitors usually get shot down for; though part of it can be attributed to Konami switching to PSCT + using all of these phrases.

As much as we redirect them to Zazu's guide, how many of them actually understand the content?

 

(Basically it's [If/When (action) occurs]: [You apply this effect, such as a cost or some other effect]; [When that completes, what do you do next?])

 

 

Yeah, I shouldn't be talking since I still factor that into any grading scores, but that's in conjunction with proper spelling/punctuation and other things standard to English grammar. At the most, it's about 10-15% (and most of them do fine, except for some rare cases where it's difficult to understand it; either their spelling is off or a variety of other things). It's understandable if they get some things wrong, especially if English isn't their primary language.

 

Like everything, we want this section to be open to ALL members; not just the lot of you who frequent CC often.

 

I think some of you recall a few newbies some time ago throwing a fit that all we care about in CC is "is this card broken with (insert Archetype/series here)", "Can this work for the metagame?" and some others. We really want to get rid of that assumption; hence why the section got split into two. Idea is that newbies have a place to call home, instead of being subjected to what we hold Advanced to.

 

 

Nai and I will discuss final ideas about what'll happen with this idea, but we are keeping your input in mind while doing so.

[Cool Girl]

I love the prize awards in the Sakura Contest Series! Not only do you get points for wining, but you also get a cool prize award! How about doin' that in the monthly contests!

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

That can be arranged, although it's going to be a pain in the ass for whoever's making the logos to do them every month.

If anything, they'll probably be simplistic versions of whatever I got for the SCS; probably changing the design or something.

 

Points are do-able, but remember that it's just me manually editing the points via the ACP.