Jatopian
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coppro's Meta Contest entry, in which architects imitate each other, struck me as a reasonably good idea, so I'm thinking of running something like it as an unofficial contest. Basically I'm thinking it would go something like this:

First, there would be a period of time in which contestants would announce their intent to enter. We would have to restrict entry to those with published holds, possibly to those with holds rated >5 - so that they've something to imitate. If we don't get, oh, 6 or so, it probably won't be worth running...

Next, once the architects know whom they can imitate, there would be a submission period of maybe two weeks, tops. We would enlist the aid of a moderator or the Bureaucracy's contest people - trusted third parties, in other words - to create a submission thread for entries. The entrants would have to create a separate player profile to make their entries, to preserve their anonymity.

Finally, the contest runner would compile the entries, and people - anyone, not just entrants - would vote for who they think the architect. Possibly who they think it was supposed to be, as well, although if we did that I don't think it would count toward the actual contest. The person who manages to fool people the most would win.

Thoughts?

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[Last edited by Jatopian at 04-24-2008 10:42 PM]

Dex Stewart
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I don't have any specific thoughts, but I would definitely enjoy such a contest, so I say go for it!

NiroZ
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Jatopian,
I suggest you get in contact with Coppro and see what can be done. I've got no problem with this idea from my end.

Chaco
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I think it's a wonderful idea. I would enjoy this contest and, if it were run, I would most likely enter and allow myself to be imitated.

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Jatopian
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What do you mean, NiroZ? I've coppro's permission to use his idea, and you seem to be the person to contact for prizes, scheduling, &c.

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NiroZ
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I mean that I don't have any power over unofficial contests (I assume that's what you're planning), so you're allowed to do what you want. If you need anything, ask me.

There's also a bunch of information in my sig, if you're interested.

hartleyhair
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Well, I'll certainly sign up for this contest.

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Znirk
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Call me a suspicious bastard, but I'd suggest an actual submission thread (or some other private mechanism) to get holds to the organizer. With the public method Jatopian suggests, voters can identify (at least some, if not all) entries by their file size.

Jatopian
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Znirk wrote:
Call me a suspicious bastard, but I'd suggest an actual submission thread (or some other private mechanism) to get holds to the organizer. With the public method Jatopian suggests, voters can identify (at least some, if not all) entries by their file size.

Hm. What if they're compiled into one hold? Or would the presence of custom stuff still be a giveaway?

The reason I was thinking of this not-quite-private submission is to prevent anyone from trying to thieve levels or manipulate results. It would be easier than usual what with the architects trying to remain anonymous.
But maybe we could further impose upon one of these official persons.

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coppro
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*stamp of approval*

Someone Else
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I will enter.

Tahnan
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Jatopian wrote:
Next, once the architects know whom they can imitate, there would be a submission period of maybe two weeks, tops. We would enlist the aid of a moderator or the Bureaucracy's contest people - trusted third parties, in other words - to create a submission thread for entries. The entrants would have to create a separate player profile to make their entries, to preserve their anonymity.

Finally, the contest runner would compile the entries, and people - anyone, not just entrants - would vote for who they think the architect. Possibly who they think it was supposed to be, as well, although if we did that I don't think it would count toward the actual contest. The person who manages to fool people the most would win.

I'd love to see someone try to imitate my style!

Idle thought: is it worth allowing people other than the Unique Style Architects (henceforth, USAs) to submit imitation holds? That is...OK, here's a kind of variant.

Step One: Announce, oh, some number of USAs, who agree to enter the competition.
Step Two: Anyone may now submit a hold in the style of an USA. They say up front whose style they're imitating. No more than one hold per USA from each entrant; but each entrant can imitate as many USAs as they like. In addition, each USA submits a hold in their own style. (They're welcome to also submit imitations of other people.)
Step Three: Holds are posted. People then vote, for each USA, which hold they think is by the actual architect. Person who gets the most votes in each category wins the category; perhaps the overall winner is determined by multiplying percentage of votes by number of entrants in the category (so that, e.g., someone with 35% of the votes among three entrants scores 35*3 = 105, and thus higher than someone who gets 100% of the votes among one entrant).

Just brainstorming.

Jatopian
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I'd like to come up with some better criteria for being an imitated architect - the criteria I have allow even people like Tahnan (no offense, Tahnan, but even you admitted not dr0d 2 wasn't quite a real hold) and Kevin_P86 (Holds Al Dente compilation). I'd really like to just do it subjectively, but I have a feeling that'd breed some resentment, right?

I do like the idea of others being able to submit imitations as well... a bit afraid of repeating the Cheap Trick scenario though. "LAWLS IT'S IMPOSSIBLE CLEARLY IT'S A DOOM/LARRY/CHACO/ETC."

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Jatopian
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Thought I'd bump this thread since I was talking to 12th Archivist about it in chat the other day. Apparently I'm not the only one who quite enjoyed the guessing of who did what entry in the recent Cramped Confines contest.

There are a few directions to take this idea...

Have a list of famous architects who can be imitated, entrants try to imitate them, we vote on who we think was being imitated by each (anonymous) entry, and the architect who gets it most spot-on wins.
Problems: Everyone could pick one architect and make it obvious, and we'd need to have enough voters.

Limit participation to architects who have 2 or so holds, let everyone know who entered, we vote who think did each entry, he who gets identified by the fewest people wins.
Again, we need enough voters, but the problem this time is that the more entrants we have, the less the results actually mean. Also, this contest is completely closed to newbies, which is never really desirable.

Have some famous architects make small holds trying to imitate each other's styles. Everyone can vote on who they think made the holds (and just for fun, whom they think it was meant to imitate) and the person who identifies the most holds correctly wins.
For starters, this idea requires several architects to donate their time. How are we to compensate them for this? Is it enough that by doing so, they would have an advantage in the contest itself, knowing whom they themselves imitated? Is that fair, and if not, how do we deal with it? Finally, this still favors veterans.

Find one(1) architect who is DROD Famous(tm), one who's done a bunch of Smitemaster's Selections and whatnot, to volunteer to have no chance whatsoever of winning. Have anyone who wants try to imitate his style, vote based on who did the best imitation.
It's open to anyone, but we'd want a longer period between contest announcement and closing of submissions, so people can play the work of the architect. And what if it's bloody Doom?

There's probably a better way I'm not thinking of. I just feel like it would be cool to see some imitations, especially well-known architects imitating each other. And hopefully it can happen as a contest. Not that I wouldn't still love to see what happened in a non-contest setting. I'll come back to this thread later, when my headache subsides a bit; hopefully this sparks some discussion.

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12th Archivist
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All the entrants are trying to make a room that best resembles an architect who has a number of visible holds. The entrants' submissions will be anonymous. Voters (which can include the entrants, of course) will vote on which entry best imitates the architect. A fun side-game might be to try to identify which entrant made which room.

The architect whose style is being imiated should probably be excluded from the contest, unless they give good reason.

You know, this might not be a bad idea...

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Dischorran
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I'm in - but only if minimike is the architect to be emulated.

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Jutt
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First of all, I'd love to see a contest where you either guess the architect, or mimic other architects. I've thought about it myself, but never worked out a proper contest concept. However, Jatopians 4th contest option may be—like 12th Archivist noted—not a bad idea at all. I would probably participate, or even volunteer to be imitated (though maybe people will object if they have to play through my holds first).

An non-contest option for doing imitations is just making a collaborative hold with a few architects. Every architect creates one room for every other architect mimicking their style. The rooms get combined in a hopefully awesome hold afterwards. The problem may be that it turns out rather incoherent because of so many architects trying to do so many styles. Also, the number of participants would be limited, because you don't want to force architects to create more that 10 rooms or so, and the size of the hold quickly explodes when adding more people.

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Jatopian
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I will note that there's nothing stopping an unofficial contest that's limited to veterans. It's just not good for official contests to have huge entry barriers.

Jutt wrote: Also, the number of participants would be limited, because you don't want to force architects to create more that 10 rooms or so, and the size of the hold quickly explodes when adding more people.

Before the architecture commences, community vote to see who should be included? Or vote among yourselves?

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