New Admin, New Contest, New Prizes...

[Teddog]

Hey everyone! The name is Rach and I was an early admin over at Ad Astra. Steff invited me back to keep the peace and to run contests!

I have one in the works now - details will come later, but I'm curious what prizes people would be interested in. There are the ideas I'm thinking over:

- Featured author. Like the Featured Story, but for an author, not a fic.

- Custom cover. A cover for the story you pick.

- Custom Avatar set. A matching set of an avatar, a sig and a custom title for the forums!

Or... maybe you have something else, something better in mind. We'd love to hear what prizes would interest you.

[MDGarcia]

I like the custom cover idea.

MDg

[Miranda Fave]

The custom cover and avatar are cool ideas but bound to be way too time consuming for those concerned. No point setting up future headaches. Especially with the fortnightly turn over of the challenges. Perhaps as a special award coming up to special occasions.

[SLWalker]

The custom cover and avatar are cool ideas but bound to be way too time consuming for those concerned. No point setting up future headaches. Especially with the fortnightly turn over of the challenges. Perhaps as a special award coming up to special occasions.

Nah, not really.  Teddog and I both do graphics or have done graphics for our living, so we're pretty good at it, and Mike's awesome at rendering models for covers if someone wants something ship-based.  This looks more like it's gonna be a monthly thing, instead of the 'every two weeks' like the current set I'm running.

[MDGarcia]

Yes, I'm rendering like a madman these days.

MDg

[SLWalker]

Yes, I'm rendering like a madman these days.

MDg

And you're really good at it.   (Have I ever told you how much I love you?)

[Miranda Fave]

Well in that case I'll vote for the custom cover! You guys are awesome. That not a bribe - unless it works of course  ;D

[MDGarcia]

And you're really good at it.   (Have I ever told you how much I love you?)

Are you going to break out into a Rod Stewart song?

I really wish I could do textures as well as you do, though!

MDg

[SLWalker]

Well in that case I'll vote for the custom cover! You guys are awesome. That not a bribe - unless it works of course  ;D

LMAO!  We are unbribable, but we love you too.  It's a loving place.

Seriously, though, half the fun of running an archive is fostering excitement and creativity and interaction, and having a bit of contest variety can only be a good thing.  The challenge/featured story/fanart/review hunt is a really good one that works well, but having another monthly treat that people can have fun with?  It'll be good stuff.

[SLWalker]

Are you going to break out into a Rod Stewart song?

I really wish I could do textures as well as you do, though!

MDg

Oh, yeah!  That's right, I have to go try'n do those Connie-originals, don't I?  I'll give that a shot tonight when the house is quiet, see if we can't spruce 'em up and lighten them a little.  Man, with all of the different awesome meshes out there, we're gonna have a whole FLEET before long.

[MDGarcia]

LMAO!  We are unbribable, but we love you too.  It's a loving place.

Seriously, though, half the fun of running an archive is fostering excitement and creativity and interaction, and having a bit of contest variety can only be a good thing.  The challenge/featured story/fanart/review hunt is a really good one that works well, but having another monthly treat that people can have fun with?  It'll be good stuff.

Plus, we love rendering.  I just need more RAM.

MDg

[SLWalker]

Plus, we love rendering.  I just need more RAM.

MDg

Man, tell me about it.  My computer sobs whenever I open one of those.  But it's so worth it when the cover comes together and is beautiful.

[MDGarcia]

Agreed.

MDg

[Terilynn]

I like pictures.  I voted custom cover. 

[SLWalker]

I like pictures.  I voted custom cover. 

::hides the ass-kicking Titan mesh from Terilynn, snickering:::

[Teddog]

Well in that case I'll vote for the custom cover! You guys are awesome. That not a bribe - unless it works of course  ;D

Yep, like Steff said, this is probably going to be a monthly contest. It's going to take a bit more planning than some of the other ones, but that means that we can give out a bigger prize.

I hear everyone on the computer issues. I can't wait to get a new setup this summer - my current compy is a laptop that's going to be repurposed as a video machine and I'm going to build a new machine that'll make programs cry and maybe get a new desk.

Oooo... I have a new custom title!

[Nerys Ghemor]

I like the idea of a custom cover.  But I also like the random fanarts that aren't necessarily covers--seeing what scene or character strikes someone's fancy is also a lot of fun.

[SLWalker]

I like the idea of a custom cover.  But I also like the random fanarts that aren't necessarily covers--seeing what scene or character strikes someone's fancy is also a lot of fun.

It is; the regular review hunt covers that pretty well, though.  ::grins::  With this one, it's an attempt to offer something new and different to go along with the tried and true.