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


Nathan Caroland

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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.

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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 :)

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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.

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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 Leveticus 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.

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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).

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...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 :)

Edited by Nathan Caroland
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 >_<

Edited by Illustrange
uhmm
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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.

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@ 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 !

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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.

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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).

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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!

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