Dear All
Thanks for taking the time to give us some feedback in the last thread. We (the judges) have talked it over amongst ourselves and I think we've all independently come to the same conclusion.
It was plain, as is not uncommon on the forum, that everybody had pretty polar opinions and ideas. We have those who:
- like it as it is and wouldn't want any change
- don't like the specific themes
- would prefer rolling themes
- would prefer a voting system
- would be interested in prizes
- think the scoring could be altered
- would want separate categories for ability
- would want separate categories for equipment
- wouldn't want critique on certain elements (e.g. processing), because they haven't bothered
At the end of the day, I think whatever we would choose, most people aren't going to be impressed enough to start entering. As the judges, we all feel that the competition is there to stretch people as much as anything else. Hence, although it seems the most common gripe, we all like the theme system as it stands and have always attempted to get people to consider things that are outside of their comfort zones. This is, after all, how you learn. It's obvious that people would prefer a dumbed-down (in one way or another) theme system, which is both disappointing to us and rather boring to mark. We've dedicated a lot of time over the years (Ichabod Crane started doing this in 2007!), and we too have to have some enjoyment out of it. For those that were after generic themes, 'circles' doesn't get that much more generic, but we still only had 8 entries - thanks to those who submitted something - despite the competition never having had a higher visibility on the board.
So, we have all come to the conclusion that after this round of marking, we'll give the competition a hiatus. How brief or permanent, who knows, but we think it would benefit from taking a break. Hopefully that would perhaps allow it to return with some fanfare when the time is right. If people are that put out (which we doubt, given the numbers entering), then perhaps someone could trial a voting-based competition in its place?
It's been fun while it lasted, but watching it die on its feet is starting to feel very morbid for us. Hence, 'so long and thanks for all the fish.'
A.N.Other, Ichabod Crane & Oxygen
Thanks for taking the time to give us some feedback in the last thread. We (the judges) have talked it over amongst ourselves and I think we've all independently come to the same conclusion.
It was plain, as is not uncommon on the forum, that everybody had pretty polar opinions and ideas. We have those who:
- like it as it is and wouldn't want any change
- don't like the specific themes
- would prefer rolling themes
- would prefer a voting system
- would be interested in prizes
- think the scoring could be altered
- would want separate categories for ability
- would want separate categories for equipment
- wouldn't want critique on certain elements (e.g. processing), because they haven't bothered
At the end of the day, I think whatever we would choose, most people aren't going to be impressed enough to start entering. As the judges, we all feel that the competition is there to stretch people as much as anything else. Hence, although it seems the most common gripe, we all like the theme system as it stands and have always attempted to get people to consider things that are outside of their comfort zones. This is, after all, how you learn. It's obvious that people would prefer a dumbed-down (in one way or another) theme system, which is both disappointing to us and rather boring to mark. We've dedicated a lot of time over the years (Ichabod Crane started doing this in 2007!), and we too have to have some enjoyment out of it. For those that were after generic themes, 'circles' doesn't get that much more generic, but we still only had 8 entries - thanks to those who submitted something - despite the competition never having had a higher visibility on the board.
So, we have all come to the conclusion that after this round of marking, we'll give the competition a hiatus. How brief or permanent, who knows, but we think it would benefit from taking a break. Hopefully that would perhaps allow it to return with some fanfare when the time is right. If people are that put out (which we doubt, given the numbers entering), then perhaps someone could trial a voting-based competition in its place?
It's been fun while it lasted, but watching it die on its feet is starting to feel very morbid for us. Hence, 'so long and thanks for all the fish.'
A.N.Other, Ichabod Crane & Oxygen
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