User:Fiddler/Avatars

Artists compete to draw new pre-defined avatars for the main forums

 = Details =

Event Description
Artist will be invited to create new pre-set avatars for the YPP forums. Artists will compete in two divisions: Professionals, which includes anyone who has ever sold an avatar or won an avatar contest, and amateurs. There will be four categories for avatars to be created in: pirates, scenery, puzzles, and miscellaneous.

Judging
Winners will be chosen by having judges complete a ranked selection of four choices. The three entries with the highest point totals in each division and category will be chosen for use on the forums. In addition, artists who submit eligible entries will be invited to vote for an "Artist's Choice" award. This award will be an additional cash prize. Artist voting will involve the same anking by category as the judges and will be e-mailed directly to myself.

Eternal fame and glory
Winning entries will be installed as the new pre-defined avatars for use on the main forums. Each avatar image will be listed with a description and an artist attribution. For example: "Crossed swords by Mercano."

Material Goods
A fancy ribbon for the first-place winner and an easel to each of the top three.

Volunteer Assistance
Three players have already agreed to act as judges.

OM Assistance
Three OMs have also agreed to act as judges. OM creation of trinket prize is a necessity.

Potential Problems

 * Professional artists may create new accounts in order to sneak into the amateur division.
 * Since winning avatars will be identified by the pirate that submitted them, professionals may win the material prizes but the prize of fame will be denied to them.

= Announcement post = Are you sick of seeng the same drummer boy or Bob the Builder or walking tiger avatar on dozens of posts? Would you like to see something different?

Here's your opportunity to flex your creative muscles and change the face of the forums forever: Draw a new avatar for use by everybody. If you win, eternal fame and glory (and some prizes) will be yours.

Artists have three weeks ( until 11:59PM PST, Wednesday March 8th) to create a new avatar to be used in the list of pre-defined avatars that the forum allows. Professionals will compete in one division and amateurs will compete in another. Entries must be posted to this linked entry thread in the Mariner's Muse; questions can be asked in this announcement thread.

For the purposes of this contest, professionals are any player that have either sold an avatar for PoE or won any previous art contest. Anyone else is an amateur. Regarding professionals sneaking into the amateur division with alt accounts: we hope that most players have more honor than that but we realize that there is little that can be done to prevent cheating. However, as the largest prize is the fame one will receive by having their artwork as an integral part of the forums, we hope that the refusal of said fame will be enough to deter any cheaters.

The rules

Your avatars must be original work (no editing of portraits or screnshots of the game). They must fit into one of these four categories: pirates, scenery, puzzles, and miscellaneous. Avatars must of course fit within the technical limitations of the forum: 150 pixels or less across and down and under 60KB in size. Images must be submitted in either GIF, PNG, or JPEG format. Multiple entries can be included in the same post. Additions, deletions, and edits can be made at any point until the closing of submissions.

Three winners will be chosen from each category and division, providing 24 new avatars for use here on the forums.

The first line of your entry post must include:
 * Your pirate name
 * The ocean you would like to claim any prizes on
 * Your division (professional or amateur)

Next, include your avatar as an image in the post

Finally, include:
 * A title for the image
 * The category you are entering

For example, my entry post would look like so:

Orsino, Viridian Ocean, professional



Sitting on the dock, Pirates

The Prizes

The judges will vote for three winners in each category/division. All three will receive a piece of easel furniture and will find their avatar installed on the YPP forums. The avatars will be listed by both the image title and pirate name you provide, so choose well. The top winner in each category/division will also receive a ribbon trinket in recognition of their accomplishement. Additionally, there will be an "Artist's Choice" PoE prize.

Judging

There will be two parts to the judging of this contest. A panel of judges has been convened and will judge each category and division when the contest has concluded.

Artist's Choice - Each artist who has submitted a valid avatar can vote for their favorite entry in any category (both divisions) that they didn't enter in. In my above example, I would be excluded from voting in the Pirates category. Artists will compile a list of their four favorite entries, seperated by category and division, in order of preference and e-mail that list to me by 11:59 PM PST on Sunday March 12th. After tabulating the votes the winner of the "Artist's choice" will receive an additional PoE prize.

If there are any questions please ask them here.

Entries to this contest must be submitted (by 11:59PM PST, Wednesday March 8th) to this linked thread in The Mariner's Muse.