Post by Admin on Mar 4, 2008 20:41:17 GMT
The New Battle Board
Welcome to the brand spankin' new Battle Board. Apologies in advance for this extremely long post, but please make sure you read all of it or you won't fully understand the new battle system.
An Important Preface
The important part to note about these battles is that they are very structured in their format. You must abide by these specifics or your art will be removed. Sizes and length are set with each battle from the beginning.
Types of Battles
Our new system has narrowed down battling into a more structured arena. As such, there are now only two types of sponsored battles a member may take part in.
Themed Battles
Themed battles are exactly as the name implies. All entries revolve around an assigned theme. When two people agree to participate in a themed battle, a Battle Administrator assigns the pair a theme from a pre-made list. All entries must relate to the theme, and the participants alternate in posting their images.
These battles are obviously geared more towards photographers, but include other digital artwork as well. Vector artists, for example, would probably tend towards these types of battles.
Specifics:
- Length: There are three length options. Battles are either 3 images each (6 total), 5 images each (10 total), or a full 10 images each (20 total).
- Sizes: All images must be either 500x700 or 700x500 - a size that is chosen from the beginning and consistently applied throughout the battle.
- Animation: No.
- Format: Preferably .gif, .jpg, or .png
The best way to understand this is to look at the provided examples of both active and completed themed battles.
Also, the idea isn't to empty out your old photographs but instead to create new images. Use this for practice, not showing off. The examples were created under time constraint but would normally have been new images, taken after being assigned the theme.
Tennis Battles
Tennis battles are a bit more complicated. The battles start with an assigned stock image. When two people agree to participate in a tennis battle, a Battle Administrator assigns the pair a piece of stock from our pre-approved stock compilation.
The first to go uses this stock to produce an image. The two of you then alternate in producing a manipulation - with this key element: you use each other's last piece as a stock for your own image.
Specifics:
- Length: There are three length options. Battles are either 3 images each (6 total), 5 images each (10 total), or a full 10 images each (20 total).
- Sizes: All images must be either 500x700 or 700x500 - a size that is chosen from the beginning and consistently applied throughout the battle.
- Animation: No.
- Format: Preferably .gif, .jpg, or .png
Remember that the carry-over should be clear. Part of the importance in this practice is working with a stock you might not ordinarily have chosen... and finding ideas from someone else's work.
The best way to understand this is to look at the provided example of an active tennis battle.
That's nice, but how do I start a battle?
This is actually fairly simple, but please make sure you cover all of these steps:
- Create a new thread: If you are looking for a partner, ask for one. If you already have one and just want to get something started, state this from the beginning.
- Choose your orientation: All images will follow the same orientation throughout the battle. You must decide this at the beginning. If you are taking part in a tennis battle, the stock you are given will follow this orientation. If you are taking part in a themed battle, each member must upload images following this orientation.
- Provide the website usernames of both members: The cool part about these new battles is that they're hosted on the website so that you can upload straight to your battle's folder. In order to provide this to you, we need all participants to have accounts on the website. Once you have an account on the website, be sure to include your username in your post. The battle administrator will update your battle folder so that you will have the ability to add images for the duration of the battle.
- Take turns: It is important that you move in rounds. Particularly in a tennis battle, you must wait for the person before you can even create your image.
- Post your contributions: Use your thread to post updates on your images within your thread.
Technical Difficulties
The nitty gritty:
How to access your battle album:
The Battle Administrator who sets up your battle will PM both participants a link. It will appear within the Community Art Gallery on the website via: Community Art Gallery > Battles > either Active Themed Battles or Active Tennis Battles.
How to upload completed images into the album:
These are very important steps. Please follow each one carefully.
- First, make sure you are logged in: You must be logged into the account username you provided to the battle administrator.
- Access your album: Follow the link provided by the Battle Administrator.
- Scroll to the bottom left-hand section and click on "edit"
- On the left hand side of this window, click "Add Items": Do not edit any other part of the album. Sizes, etc should all stay exactly as the Battle Administrator set them.
- Select the file via "Browse": Make sure the format is .jpg, .gif, or .png
- Title the piece in the "Caption" field: For the sake of coherence, please follow this format for titles:
Title of piece - username - Seriously important- In the drop down menu, select "Caption" instead of "Base Filename": Don't forget to do this. It's annoying for us to fix.
- Seriously important- Uncheck the boxes beside "Summary" and "Description": Again, please please please don't forget this step as it's so annoying to fix.
- Leave everything else as it is: Yes, we want to create thumbnails now, etc.
- Click "Add Items: Voila, it should be added to your gallery.
From here, copy the URL and paste it in your battle thread so people can comment on it.
Also, just a side note - it is the correct size. It may look smaller because the preview is scaled to fit within the border of the page. Click on the window icon beneath the image while viewing to make it pop up into a new screen for fullview.
But who wins?
Okay, so here's the second ground-breaking change: no one is technically going to "win." This is a learning experience and is more for practice than any sort of battle competition.
However, there is a small incentive to help you get some feedback.
At the end of the battle, both participants choose their favorite contribution to the battle. The public then votes on these two images, choosing the crowd favorite. The voting continues for four days after the two are chosen. At the end of these four days, the image with the most votes becomes the highlight of the battle folder.
To reiterate, in handy list form:
- Both participants choose their favorite contribution: Simple enough. Once the last image is posted, each of you must state which piece of work you are most proud of.
- Populace votes: Members each contribute thoughts on which was better.
- Four day of open voting: Any registered member on the forum can vote.
- Lastly, the winner: At the end of the four days, the piece with the most votes becomes the highlight of the battle album.
What else?
As you probably noticed at the top of the Battle Board, we also have a nice place for Featured Battles.
These will be updated - probably biweekly, though it really depends on the activity within the board. The Battle Administrators will work together to choose them. These are primarily only going to be active battles, but if one has just recently finished, an archived battle may be chosen.
Two Participation Rules
All right, here's the other kicker. I know that we all get a bit excited about new things, but please understand these battles are very time consuming. Not only does each piece often take a long amount of time to create (photographers may have to find time to pick up the camera), but they are much longer than a single shot battle like this board hosted before. For that reason, there are two important rules:
1. You may not participate in more than two battles. Of either type.
2. You must take your turn within 5 days of your opponent's submission.
You may ask for an extension on extreme occasions, but these should be few and far between. If the battle continues to drag on, an administrator will intervene to declare it inactive.
Battle Administrators
For right now, I will be serving as the main battle administrator, with some help from the rest of the current staff. I will be looking for full-time administrators later on, but until I know how much activity this section will get, I can't exactly give out positions.
That said, please be patient with me. I will try to get your battles set up as quick as possible, but it is obviously not an instantaneous thing.
Questions? Suggestions?
I know this may seem like a lot to take in, but if you have any questions, please either ask them in the Questions thread or PM me. Similarly, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them in the same thread.
Questions? Suggestions?
Thank you,
urbancinderella
**There may be edits to this later.