The Next Gift Swap Type Thing! Read and comment!

by Charn

Happy New Years To Ya!

I have been wanting to do another event for some time, but I have been completely unable to get things together enough to start or run one. I think as a result, my motivation and muse in general has suffered, and I have gotten some requests to run one again. So I'm going to.

So, let's discuss this! I've done regular gift swaps, ala Secret Santa, I've done themed gift swaps, ala Charnival, I've done the more specific, character-driven swaps, ala Masquerade, and I've done just regular writing swaps and group writing events.

What would y'all like to do? I believe that while Masquerade was the biggest of the events, that the Charnival had the highest entertainment value for those participating. I've also had a few suggestions to have some sort of 'entrance bar' - a litmus test of quality that people have to pass in order to participate. While it goes against every grain in my own fiber (or however that's said) to be exclusive to ANYONE who legitimately wants to participate, regardless of skill, I would be willing to allow people to restrict the people that they interact with, so if you want to join with your own particular circle of friends and only allow each other to choose each other, I can do that without any real issues.

I've also been asked by artists to not be given stories - which makes some sense in that some of the participating artists do not speak english as a first language and thus can not enjoy written work in the same way as others. (Haven't had any blind authors yet, though.)

I'm not going to allow anyone to say, "I only want to be able to be given gifts by A-list artists!" though.

So what are your thoughts? Would you prefer a completely blind swap? would you like to be able to choose "circles" to be in, such as, "giving and receiving art only", "castration only", "artists with more than 1000 watchers only", etc?

I do these things for YOU Guys, so PLEASE give me any feedback or criticism you want. Or note me with it and I'll anonymously post it here for you!

Viewed:	32 times
Added:	12 years, 3 months ago 02 Jan 2012 01:24 CET

6 Comments on this Journal

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Krechevskoy

12 years, 3 months ago

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I certainly am for entrance exams, but not intended to exclude anyone, but more to balance the input/output of the event.  If you get a really high quality writer or artist, it would be nice for them to be paired up in a way that ensure they get a high quality return, so they don't feel cheated/shorted by the event.

At the same time though... it is always a nice surprise if you are a lower level or creator and you get a gift from a more prestigious creator...

I would recommend asking during sign-up what degree of quality they are -hoping- to receive, and then paring people up largely based on the input/output ratio.  Obviously if a fairly lack luster artist asks for nothing but the greatest return from an A-lister, then they are a bit deluded.  I'd just suggest putting a disclaimer on there that there is no guarantee that you will get the quality of gift you've asked for.

I actually am extremely fond of the idea of being able to mark what type of reward you would like to receive (Art, story, both, etc...) for a rather large list of reasons, so I do hope to see that take effect in this event.

I personally really enjoyed charnival, a bit more so than masquerade, if only because of the way the theme of the event turned out.  Something akin to either of those would be wonderful to participate in!

I don't want a blind swap, just because it leaves too much up to chance.  I think it would be best to ask each entrant their preferences and do a manual pairing, randomizing where possible, but making sure everyone meshes as well as possible.

Looking forward to it! >:3

Charn

12 years, 3 months ago

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@ Krechevskoy

The thing, the BIG thing with the "quality rating" is that, well, I might think I'm the best author in the world. I may say that. And I may be deluded. How is someone else going to tell?

I was thinking of maybe having a ranking system, using basic guidelines, along the lines of, Ranking A would be professional artists, people who make a living (or supplement it) off of their work. Ranking B would be those who are intermediates - maybe they've been asked to be commissioned, or have done trades and the like, but wouldn'tconsider themselves professional. Ranking C would be people who have never done anything like this but would like to enjoy the challenge. I completely agree that it is awesome when you get a surprise gift from someone that you say, idolize, or whatnot, and it sucks when people (not just the professional artists, ANYONE) buts time and effort and care into their side of the story to receive nothing in return.

I'm all for doing a sort of theme - since this is a wintery type event (planning on it being done by leap year), ,what would be a good theme to follow that?

And as for being able to select what you are willing to do (art/story) or receive (art/story), I'm actually pretty happy with that. It's a bit more intensive but it leads to better results. I was thinking of having "circles", too - Genres that you would be willing to be part of. This can allow people to be paired up with those with similar interests while still being random.

What do you think about Characters? In the tournament, everyone was using premade characters, which allowed everyone else to have a lot more freedom with the characters - there was no backstory, so you could make any universe you want. There have been instances in the past where someone's character that was used in their gift wasn't completely researched or correctly portrayed, which is a bummer for both parties, because it's never intentional. So should already-existing characters be allowed, should new characters, or character stereotypes (IE "I like jock hyenas getting buttraped") be allowed to be submitted, should ANY characters be allowed to be used, or should it be wholly based on the user's page on what their gift should be based on?

Krechevskoy

12 years, 3 months ago

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Edited 12 years, 3 months ago by Owner

@ Charn

Tear down this wall! >:U

I rather like the idea of grouping rather broadly into "Inexperienced", "Experienced", and "Professional", though the big thing I catch on there is the fact all the best work stays in the best pools, and so on.  It would discourage non-professionals as they are barred from getting high quality rewards.  Which is why I had mentioned asking what people would be happy with recieving.  Yes, it is the case that a total newbie will say they won't be happy without getting some top quality smut, but at the same time you may have some pros that might not care too much about the quality of what they get back.  In that case you could randomly pair a pro up with a non-pro, giving a great reward and encouragement to a lower level artist/writer.  It isn't likely to happen often, but it does leave hope for new comers to get high yield rewards.

As for a theme, I think personally I'd like one which has more to do with the coming of the spring, as the holidays are past and if people are like me, they are burnt out on holiday spirit.  Given the nature of most of these stories, "Easter Egg" hunting would be fun, but not general and free enough.  Perhaps something akin to thanksgiving, but for the spring.  A festival to celebrate the end of cold weather.  In my mind it is playing out as a "Spring break gone wrong" scenario.  Large groups of people come out for some innocent fun at a festival held by an illustrious tiger that is new in town.  I am not sure I'll get support for this, but I really would love an even that takes place outdoors during the daytime.  I'm a bit bored of dark back rooms at night.  Let's see some exhibitionism! >:3

As for characters, that is a truly tricky question... Things do go a fair bit smoother with pre-gens, but the gifts aren't really that personal at that point.  When I am getting a gift story or artwork, I rather expect that it will feature my fursona.  With pre-gen characters it goes from "I made this for you, about you" to " I had you in mind when I made this". Both are nice, but one feels more genuine.

My suggestion then, would be to ask during registration if they would like to use their own character.  If they do, then you should ask for a full bio and references on the sign up sheet.  That way there isn't any need to go profile surfing or hoping they find the right information.  They get exactly what you give.   If they don't want to use a character of their own making, then you can maybe ask a few preference questions, like species, gender, etc... then create a character to give to the one targeting them.

The added perk to having the user put in the whole bio in one place, is that you can give targets out anonymously if you like, so nobody really knows for sure who they got or who got them, unless the character is a give away.  I really like that feeling that my target has no clue that I'm the one that got them >:3

AshtonHunter

12 years, 3 months ago

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I think I agree with Kerchevskoy on all points. Having a sample writing thing sounds like a good plan to balance skills across the board and such. Also to be perfectly honest? I loved doing the charnival, even though it was a bit outside my usual comfort zone, and double loved the results I got back. This might be an odd thing to ask.....but as the charnival would keep moving around, why not make a yearly charnival thing?

Charn

12 years, 3 months ago

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@ AshtonHunter

That would be fun, a sort of Winter Faire of sorts? Oh wait, isn't Mardi Gras in the winter/ :)

What abuot the artists, though? I'm not sure how to rate art skills and to be honest it just seems elitist to try

AshtonHunter

12 years, 3 months ago

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@ Charn

and yeah a mardi gras or winter faire sounds good. As for the art stuff.... maybe don't make the 'art' ones based on quality (since writing is easier to judge in this sense I'd think) but more on what said artists are keen to draw. ie. one doesn't wanna do vore, one does, separate groups. I dunno just bouncing some ideas :3

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