[CONTEST] How can we make future contests BIGGER and BETTER and MORE EXCITING?? 💥

[Yperio_Bricks]

54 minutes ago, Mazin said:

It's like with drawing and painting realy, these days a lot of people constantly differentiate between digital and "real" drawings, and i don't get that.

Both are art but one is a painting on one is "just done with the computer" Maybe in 200 years the perception will change but it also may happen that a Rembrandt is even more valued then.

As always it comes down to ones personal preferences. A digital moc is not build with Lego bricks, obviously it was done with the computer. Are both the same?

I brought this quote from Brickscalibut up to fuel the discussion here because i already know what will happen: Nobody is interested in this until the next contest is held some day in the future and then everybody criticize the very same things than last time

[Yoggington]

I think this goes back to being limited by Prize count. If there are only six possible prizes at most, and we're already dividing into three categories by size - and there's a winner and runner-up in each... well then there's no way for further sub-divisions - be that physical v digital, adult v child, or any of the other subdivisions mentioned.

Maybe if the physical v digital split is more important than the size split, or more important than having a runner-up prize, then it can be a runner.

Personally, I don't think it's more important.

[Mister Phes]

11 minutes ago, Yoggington said:

if there are only six possible prizes at most

A maximum of five recipient addresses to be precise.

[Alexandrina]

19 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

As always it comes down to ones personal preferences. A digital moc is not build with Lego bricks, obviously it was done with the computer. Are both the same?

I think the specific nature of a contest plays a role too - and some contests are more likely to lend themselves to digital entries, whereas for others it might be practicable to not allow digital entries. For instance, one of the subcategories of this last one was to design a classic style set (including, as I clarified at the time, designs that could conceivably have been sets in eras where there was no Lego Pirates) - for a contest like that it seems to me that you definitely want digital entries to be allowed. My entry for instance made use of certain parts in colours that never really existed, but which could realistically have existed in a world where Lego Pirates sets were available in the early 2000s (specifically, I used a slope panel in white which was very common in larger builds during the 'interregnum' years between 1998 and 2008 where there wasn't a Pirates theme). The problem with limiting digital designs in this sort of contest is that Lego have had periods where they've used certain pieces extensively before completely retiring them from the catalogue - and when those parts weren't in use during the Pirates theme, often they don't really exist in appropriate colours.

On the other hand a future contest might be geared towards prioritising stability or implementing a certain function rather than emulating the Lego set design style of the past. In such a contest it might be more prudent to curtail digital entries because the contest is interested in how the build holds up physically. Without knowing what the future contests will be, it seems premature to rule out digital entries.

(And for what it's worth, I think digital entries have a value equal to the actual bricks. You could even make a rule within a contest that digital entries must be physically possible, or some other limitation. Others have mentioned cost being a limiting factor for some people, but you could also have situations where people have the bricks but can't access them. For instance, I spent a chunk of this year working in London, 150 odd miles away from my bricks, and living in a single bedroom. I knew exactly what bricks I owned but they weren't accessible to me. It would have been totally possible for me during that period to build a digital design knowing that I'd be able to build it physically as soon as I was able to go home and access my bricks again.)

Anyway, in regards to the thread as a whole (I completely missed this; life happened in September so I didn't have much time for forums, and I guess it had been buried by the time I came back) I thought the contest was handled quite well. Much respect to @Mister Phes for the organisation of it. I think future contests could be very effective if done exactly the same way, just with more personnel behind the scenes. (The only minor suggestion, and I don't know if it was implemented towards the end as I was inactive by the end of the contest, would be to possibly collate a list of entries so it's easy for people to find them all - apologies if this was actually done and I'm just saying stuff that you'd already thought of!)

[Mister Phes]

2 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

Much respect to @Mister Phes for the organisation of it. I think future contests could be very effective if done exactly the same way, just with more personnel behind the scenes. (The only minor suggestion, and I don't know if it was implemented towards the end as I was inactive by the end of the contest, would be to possibly collate a list of entries so it's easy for people to find them all

Thank ye, yes it was implemented on July 29 and updated every couple of days until entries closed.  You can view the entries index here.

[Alexandrina]

Just now, Mister Phes said:

Thank ye, yes it was implemented on July 29 and updated every couple of days until entries closed.  You can view the entries index here.

Ah, so just around the time I was less active on the forums! Must have missed it 

In that case I think you covered all the bases admirably.

[Yperio_Bricks]

33 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

I think the specific nature of a contest plays a role too - and some contests are more likely to lend themselves to digital entries, whereas for others it might be practicable to not allow digital entries. For instance, one of the subcategories of this last one was to design a classic style set (including, as I clarified at the time, designs that could conceivably have been sets in eras where there was no Lego Pirates) - for a contest like that it seems to me that you definitely want digital entries to be allowed. My entry for instance made use of certain parts in colours that never really existed, but which could realistically have existed in a world where Lego Pirates sets were available in the early 2000s (specifically, I used a slope panel in white which was very common in larger builds during the 'interregnum' years between 1998 and 2008 where there wasn't a Pirates theme). The problem with limiting digital designs in this sort of contest is that Lego have had periods where they've used certain pieces extensively before completely retiring them from the catalogue - and when those parts weren't in use during the Pirates theme, often they don't really exist in appropriate colours.

On the other hand a future contest might be geared towards prioritising stability or implementing a certain function rather than emulating the Lego set design style of the past. In such a contest it might be more prudent to curtail digital entries because the contest is interested in how the build holds up physically. Without knowing what the future contests will be, it seems premature to rule out digital entries.

(And for what it's worth, I think digital entries have a value equal to the actual bricks. You could even make a rule within a contest that digital entries must be physically possible, or some other limitation. Others have mentioned cost being a limiting factor for some people, but you could also have situations where people have the bricks but can't access them. For instance, I spent a chunk of this year working in London, 150 odd miles away from my bricks, and living in a single bedroom. I knew exactly what bricks I owned but they weren't accessible to me. It would have been totally possible for me during that period to build a digital design knowing that I'd be able to build it physically as soon as I was able to go home and access my bricks again.)

There can be good arguments for either side i guess, but is it fair to have digital and physical entries in the same category? And why digital builders would want to win physical prizes?

I will not participate as a builder in any contest so there is no conflict of interests anyway, but i ask these heretic questions to get a better understanding of what the community thinks is the best solution. It's quite an interesting topic (for me at least ).

With only 5 prizes there is not much leeway for enhanced categories anyway and it is not possible to have more but smaller prizes. Just as an example ( i am not suggesting such a category ), personally i am a fan of figbarf categories and always like to see with what people come up with. Just 5-7 cool minifigs and a small side build or some accessoires, etc. But if a figbarf category eats up one out of five prizes, then there would be only four left. And would digital builders be allowed to choose from a thousand heads, torsos, helmets, utensils, etc. while physical builders have to work with the stuff the have?

[Alexandrina]

37 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

And why digital builders would want to win physical prizes?

I mean, at least for me when I use digital tools it's not because I don't like physical bricks but because either:

1. I don't currently have access to my bricks (such as when I'm working away from home for a few months)
2. It's a build I'm likely to need to assemble and reassemble exactly the same way multiple times (such as when I'm designing film sets; I need to be able to recreate them exactly if the need for a reshoot arises)
3. The purpose of the build requires parts that don't really exist

None of these things would dissuade me from wanting a physical prize! In any case, could there not be a provision for people to decline the prize if they're not interested - for instance, someone who only uses digital tools and has no interest in physical bricks, but who wanted to enter anyway to show off their work - and the prize then go to the next-placing entrant?

41 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

And would digital builders be allowed to choose from a thousand heads, torsos, helmets, utensils, etc. while physical builders have to work with the stuff the have?

Depending on the duration of the contest, I don't see that this would be an issue. Financial reasons excluded, most if not all minifigure parts would be easy enough to acquire on Bricklink over a period of a couple of months (and even in the case of hard to come by parts, such as Chief from Rock Raiders or Quikky the Bunny - in case someone really wanted the Nesquik Bunny aboard their pirate ship - just because they're hard to find now doesn't mean people don't already have those parts)

[bingowaldorf]

I think segregating digital builds would diminish the creativity of this community. And considering that only 1 of the entries out of 4 winners were digital entries the idea that digital builders have an advantage does not hold water.

[F1stzz]

13 hours ago, bingowaldorf said:

[...] only 1 of the entries out of 4 winners were digital entries [...]

Mate. 3 outta 4 winners were digital entries. To be specific, all of the W spots for the Main Building category were occupied by digital entries & the remaining winning one was a small physical build for the Mini Set Building category. Kinda the exact opposite of what you've stated