The Next Contest: A Poll

[Idolon]

Hey all,

As Guardian Dynamica is entering its later phases, we (staff) are starting to talk about what the next contest will be. We have some ideas, but we wanted to get a feel for what the community wants: Do you want a major contest, with a timeline of multiple months and the expectation that maps are fully detailed and finished, or a minor contest, with a timeline of a month and no expectation of detailing?

I will likely be the one running the next contest and I prefer to run gameplay-only contests. However, I know some people have been itching to do a major contest, so I wanted to open the floor for discussion.

 

[Skylark]

Major so mental health issues are less likely to take up the whole contest timeframe, stopped me from the past minor contests

Also haven't done one in a while, and it's fun having the whole mapping experience.

 

[Bonk Co]

As a new mapper, a minor contest might work better for me

 

[DoctorDoomtrain64]

Being a newer mapper, a minor contest would be better for me, and personally, I like seeing what people can come up with in a shorter time frame and definitely prefer more gameplay oriented stuff in general! :3

 

[Fakerac]

I think that a minor contest will fit better and will encourage newer mappers to participate in it, this has been observed on Map Labs to be the case where newer mappers enter Atoms due to the shorter timeframe and don't get the "my map isn't gonna be good anyways so why should I enter" feeling

 

[pont]

2020's minor contests with microcontest lead-ins were a lot of fun and allowed a springboard for getting over the first hurdle - making something from nothing - to get right into the playtesting and revision. i'd enjoy seeing more along the same lines this year

 

[seth]

I can't detail, so I vote minor. I wouldn't have joined the last minor if I thought I needed a well-developed beta.

 

[Skylark]

Could just do both, same contest but you can stop on the earlier minor contest deadline and a while later have the major contest deadline.

Newer mappers get to just focus on gameplay while more experienced mappers can detail it, and it could even be that you can only enter one of them, which would take the mappers who were obviously going to win the minor contest out of the running as they're in the major contest and actually gives other people more of a chance and less intimidating.

And to start it off we have a micro contest

 

[Izotope]

Could just do both, same contest but you can stop on the earlier minor contest deadline and a while later have the major contest deadline.

Newer mappers get to just focus on gameplay while more experienced mappers can detail it, and it could even be that you can only enter one of them, which would take the mappers who were obviously going to win the minor contest out of the running as they're in the major contest and actually gives other people more of a chance and less intimidating.

And to start it off we have a micro contest

That's actually very interesting, I'd like to see how something like this might play out.

 

[Another Bad Pun]

Collaborative minor contest please I beg you

 

[Idolon]

Could just do both, same contest but you can stop on the earlier minor contest deadline and a while later have the major contest deadline.

Newer mappers get to just focus on gameplay while more experienced mappers can detail it, and it could even be that you can only enter one of them, which would take the mappers who were obviously going to win the minor contest out of the running as they're in the major contest and actually gives other people more of a chance and less intimidating.

And to start it off we have a micro contest

One of the hidden benefits of a minor contest is that it has an extended testing phase, which is a pretty valuable tool for map development. If I was entering this contest, I would probably be one of the "obviously going to win" entrants, but I'd rather enter into the minor contest just to get all that playtesting. Maybe it's just me, but I consider detailing a finished map to be its own reward.

This could maybe be resolved by giving bigger prizes for the major contest, but I'm not fond of that idea. I don't want people to have to sacrifice testing or take weird risks because they want money or a medal.

I think this format would work best as a long major contest (5-6 months) with a minor contest at the very start (1 month). Participation at the beginning would not be required to participate in the major contest, but it would be encouraged to springboard map development. A longer major contest format would allow maps that did not do well in the early phase to be reworked and have another shot when it comes to the major contest judging, and it would also allow people to work the contest into their schedule more easily.

This still isn't a perfect format, since an extended major contest more or less stops us from running any minor contests in the interim. I wouldn't want to distract major contest participants with a shiny new minor contest, forcing them to weigh their options. This might be a non-issue when you consider that we don't currently host contests at that rate, but maybe the answer is "host more minor contests."

 

[Maid]

im fully in the camp of major contest, not because im itching for detailing but because the incredibly short time frame of only a month has in the past felt much too restrictive for me - if i want to take a week off for any reason im forfeiting a quarter of the contest time, and i feel very pressured to push out a rushed map that im still unsatisfied with at the contest deadline, rather than being able to take the time to make something that will work long-term. i want to be able to make and improve something over a long time frame, and the pressure of rapid iteration feels so stressful that ive dropped out each time ive tried minor contests in the past.

by no means am i saying minor contests should be stopped, but please continue to do both major and minor instead of just minor, since different people benefit from different formats.

 

[Aapelikaeki]

I like the idea of both very much, lets do that.

If you however go for major, make it long, like 5-6 months.

 

[Diva Dan]

I’d like a major contest a lot! I wanna get back into mapping but don’t find myself often having the time, and the mini contests usually have a theme I’m not personally invested in

 

[DrDapper]

I feel like it should be both, since when I map I get worn out fast and end up dropping it; if it were only a small map contest then people are more likely to drop the map immediately after the contest. And a large scale contest would result in less participants over all, and people will also be more likely to drop the map part way through working on it.

 

[Generalisk]

I Would Like To See A Contest Once I Fix My TF2 Hammer!

 

[Billo]

In my opinion a minor contest would fit better here. We have beautiful maps already in tf2maps and in the game, but some of them are one of the same and become a little repetitive sometimes. If we focus on gameplay predominatly, I can see some new and exciting ideas get implemented. That's the point in the end of the day, but the visuals but the fun to be the main focus.