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Advice for new hosts and help from experienced hosts.
SenkoLight
Posts: 3,131 Member
Someone gave an idea and if you would like to participate- Post that you would like to mentor, be a judge or edit posts for contests leave a message here.
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This will be linked to this thread..
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/316595.page
-Make sure you have the Sim points to gift the winners- Don't count on having them in the future something could always happen.
-Be prepared to spend time checking your thread and answering questions.
-If you have a big contest and time consuming make sure you have a few judges to help. State your judges in your contest post.
-Make sure you check twice and have everyone that played.
-If you are going to disqualify some people let them know why.
-reserve forum posts 1-2-3 and even a forth for winners.
1. For Contest Rules
2. For Contest Entries
3. For an Example Post or Additional Information
-Let people know what they can't or shouldn't put in their entry ex; CC, some expansion you don't have or any other info.
-Always make sure your contests have a good time span for what you want.
-Make sure you prize is appropriate for your contest.
-Make sure your rules are clear. Make sure you have help to edit your post and has everything clear, a second pair of eyes is helpful in case you missed something. Sometimes it may be clear to you but not others. If you need to give info to a certain someone post it on their comments thread.
-Don't change the rules and drop winners prizes in the middle of a game. Plan plan plan and make sure you can pay the outcome.
-Verify the cost, sometimes your head doesn't calculate the total outcome. Write it down and check it.
As a player remember if you don't like something don't go off on the thread, contact the host on her comments page and work it out there. It is unfair to disrupt the thread because you are angry.
If you need help and want information about running a contest ask a previous host. Many had contests that ran smoothly and a willing to help you get yours off the ground.
Any advice you want to give to new hosts and players post below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This will be linked to this thread..
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/316595.page
~~~~~work in progress~~~~~~
-Make sure you have the Sim points to gift the winners- Don't count on having them in the future something could always happen.
-Be prepared to spend time checking your thread and answering questions.
-If you have a big contest and time consuming make sure you have a few judges to help. State your judges in your contest post.
-Make sure you check twice and have everyone that played.
-If you are going to disqualify some people let them know why.
-reserve forum posts 1-2-3 and even a forth for winners.
1. For Contest Rules
2. For Contest Entries
3. For an Example Post or Additional Information
-Let people know what they can't or shouldn't put in their entry ex; CC, some expansion you don't have or any other info.
-Always make sure your contests have a good time span for what you want.
-Make sure you prize is appropriate for your contest.
-Make sure your rules are clear. Make sure you have help to edit your post and has everything clear, a second pair of eyes is helpful in case you missed something. Sometimes it may be clear to you but not others. If you need to give info to a certain someone post it on their comments thread.
-Don't change the rules and drop winners prizes in the middle of a game. Plan plan plan and make sure you can pay the outcome.
-Verify the cost, sometimes your head doesn't calculate the total outcome. Write it down and check it.
As a player remember if you don't like something don't go off on the thread, contact the host on her comments page and work it out there. It is unfair to disrupt the thread because you are angry.
If you need help and want information about running a contest ask a previous host. Many had contests that ran smoothly and a willing to help you get yours off the ground.
Any advice you want to give to new hosts and players post below.
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Comments
However, as long as I like participate in the contests, I like the most contests which take more than one day to find out the winner.
I believe that prize should be fair if you are holding contest. I would like to say that I really appreciate all of the prizes even if they are really small. However, 25 SP prize for Create-A-World contest winner is not reasonable price. Do not understand me wrong but the prize should be reasonable.
Rules depend on how much of work and time it takes from me to evaluate all creations. I do not believe that you should let people to enter twice in Create-A-World contest. If I am going to try creations in my game, then it depends on the items which I have from "The Sims 3 Store" too. As long as I am really bad at CC, I would not like to get creations with them.
If you are working with other people, then you should not share any of their personal information which you will get during preparation with anyone else. Even with other sponsors or judges. If you desperately need to do something like this, then you should ask if it is all right for everyone.
If you have some other judges, then you should find out their time zones to make judging much faster.
Thread of the contest should be easy to read. There should be as less as possible grammar mistakes that people could understand what do you want from them. It is the hardest thing to do for foreigners. That is why you should find someone who could check your grammar.
If it is possible, then you should create templates for the contest before grand opening. In this way, contest will run at least a bit smoothly.
Hope I helped at least a bit with my starter's knowledge about all of this. However, do not forget that I have not started my first contest ever yet and I am not sure if all of this information is really helpful.
Sincelery, I believe that this thread will be really helpful for people who are hosting a contest. It is great idea to create something like this. Sadly, it was not created before.
However as someone who likes to enter contests, I would say for creation contests that I usually don't enter contests with excessive conditions...
I think trying to keep the rules short and concise is best.
Not created before but it is now. I will be building a list of helpful tips and favorite contests.
What contests do you like to run? I like when they is over so long a span of time that it is posible for people from the whole world to be part of it, both as participant and host.
What shouldn't you do? change rules half way. Say that to be part of this you need to add as friend, rec creations or give a gift. Disapier until do day, you need to be near to ansver questions.
For players what is your favorite contests, things do to etc. I like build and creat contest, but most if I'm not requret to downloade any thing. I like lotterys, but best if it is posible for me to pick a number and then go to bed, so it would be nice if the host just gave me an other number if it is a double pick. I love when it is a share with a friend, or nominat a friend game.
I love if the contest gives me a change to learn stuff.
and any other things they feel is important to help others create the almost perfect contest. It must be fun for the host, maybe get help if you need jugeding (and be an unecual number of jugeds)
That is why I am really happy. You are always so thoughtful.
By the way, I have updated my first post (added some new tips) and corrected some grammar mistakes.
I don't worry to much about spelling mistakes or grammer, just want a big list of ideas to help others and get others opinions.
This will also be a thread for other hosts to ask questions and get ideas.
I only set rules that are needed to ensure entries are not missed and fair.
What contests do you like to run?
Simple pick a number lottery, drawn with a random number generator.
- doesn't require any subjective judging on my part
- needs no extra effort for me to set up
- finished within hours
- easy for contestants to enter without needing to be a talented creator.
What shouldn't you do?
Run a contest when you do not have the prizes already put aside before starting. Make the contest too complicated to understand what is required.
For players what is your favorite contests, things do to etc.
Lotteries, guessing games like "I spy", some build and makeovers when I have time to create an entry.
For creation contests: if there is a problem with an entry not meeting your requirements you should tell the creator what they have missed and let them resubmit when there is time. People put a lot of work into their entries and get disappointed if they are just told it was disqualified without a reason.
I seen that most of the people on the board usually reserve the first few posts on the thread,
1. For Contest Rules
2. For Contest Entries
3. For an Example Post or Additional Information
For Creation Contests I really enjoy themed contests, especially holiday, book, movie, store set, stuff like that.
Personally I use custom hair in my game but I wouldn't allow people to use CC in my contests. I just think CC can cause too many problems, it can mess up your game, some of it overwrites default things in the game, and a lot of creators don't want their stuff on the exchange anyway.
Durations for contests should be reasonable. You can make a sim in less than an hour, but making a lot might take days. Most of us work or go to school, and have real life commitments, so I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to finish a lot in a week.
:XD: Personally I do not enjoy, lotteries and guessing games but that is my preference.
I think an important thing is to know how much you want to give away first. When I created my souble-up lottery, I knew I wanted to gift 500 points TOTAL. I also had the idea of sharing the prize with someone because I really like to see people nominate other simmers for a prize. I felt that the one who nominated deserved something as well, so after doing the math I came to the conclusion of having 4 levels of prizes, providing 8 winners. I also decided that rather than doing it as a "pick a number" lottery, I would enter entries in the order they are posted.
In regards to my build contest... I'm still learning, obviously. I made plenty of mistakes, and spent a lot of time answering questions that I hadn't thought about previously. I think a lot of trial and error is involved in contests too, because no matter how much YOU love the idea, if it doesn't appeal to players... Where's the fun? I think for firt time contest runners, there's an issue with getting over ambitious. Keep it simple to begin with.
I thought the pattern contest I am running would be easy and straightforward but I had no idea there would be so many technical questions. I'm just looking at it as when I run my next pattern contest [I hope.
:!: These two things noted by Simbologist need to be underlined and capitalized. These are critical to the success of your game and reflect upon your own personal integrity level, for good or for bad.
:!: As Storix said, find someone to edit and review your game/competition for things you missed and grammar correction BEFORE you post your game/competition. The less confusion and the less questions that have to be answered, the better. This improves the flow of the game. There is at least one editor on this website. (In my Charity Gift Shoppe giveaway Jarroda offered me feedback for over a week before we launched our "game" and I will also tell you that this giveaway was in the planning stages for well over a month!)
:!: The bottom line is planning. Planning. PLANNING! Before you begin, spend a good week or longer reviewing your plan. Get input from one other person with good English skills if you are posting on this board. Try to use simple words so you are easier to understand.
:!: Again, count the COST before you begin. Winners finish what they start.
If you can't afford to host a contest then maybe you should wait until you can. You might consider sponsoring a round of I Spy with your last 25 points or another way to be giving and supportive to those who can.
SenkoLight has found lots of ways to be giving and helpful on this site (without having SimPoints all the time). She sets a most excellent example of developing ways to give that COST her PLENTY of TIME.
Aww thank you beautiful made me smile big time. I enjoy helping out how I can and enjoy making things easier on boards for everyone if I can. It is a way to give back. *huggles*
Love you guys.
- Short contest: Be sure to spell out anything you find important and be as detailed about it as you can. I've made the experience that people think of many ways to interpret your post and then suddenly the contest goes in another direction then you intended. With the shorter ones, people usually don't ask a lot of questions but just post. When something is crystal clear to you, it does not mean, it's clear to everybody else. There are a lot of different cultures on here.
- Longer Contest: It might be a good idea to post your idea before you start and have people ask questions so that you can refine your rules BEFORE the actual contest starts. It might also give you some sort of impression if people are really interested in playing that sort of contest at all.
Important Don'ts:
- Don't change the rules mid-game unless everyone has still the same chance as they had before you changed it. If you do, make sure, everyone understands, WHY you are changing something.
- Always honor what you promised. I've made the experience that you don't have to promise a certain amount beforehand, people will still play. If you're unsure how much you can gift, just say so and maybe give them a minimum amount you're willing to give.
- Make your contests open to everyone. Don't exclude people by asking them to recommend your stuff or be their friend. You can't exclude someone just because you don't like them either.
I'll probably think of more when I've read the other posts.
Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
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Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
AHQ Tutorial
Hey no kissing my crush.
I feel really guilty about not having gifted the winners of my build contest yet. I've been sitting here for a few days now, trying not to draw attantion to that fact... But a responsible adult owns up to his or her actions. I have a great excuse for not having done so yet, but it doesn't change the fact that I should have resisted the urge to gift away the prize points during the New Year sale. Making my winners wait is rude, even if they haven't complained about the delay.
If we are going to play with a little twist one round, I try to make sure everyone knows so it isn't a surprise.
I try to keep the title updated. Since it's I Spy, this obviously changes with each round. I missed it once and a player had to point it out to me :oops: . But I get it most of the time.
Umm, the only other thing is that I plan in advance when I am going to run a game. It would be irritating to the players if I suddenly left because I had something to do. If something comes up, I wait until a round is completed to leave.
I hope people have fun when they play. That's always important.
But other than that, the nicest hosts and hostesses start something with at least some of their own resources.
Can you imagine "hosting" a dinner and asking the guests to bring ALL their own food because you can't get any? :shock:
I think you do a nice job with your I Spy games. I also noted you stay to finish the game and you don't wander off to do other things while the game is in play. :thumbup:
CREATE A SIM/LOT OF WHAT EVER TYPE,STATED AT THE START OF THE POST
PRIZES TO WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD TO REWARD SIMMERS WHO ARE THE WINNERS OF THE COMP!
JUDGES ALSO STATED FOR ALL TO SEE AS THEY MAY BE THE SPONSOR OF THE COMPETITION!
IF YOU HAVE SPONSORS TO HELP YOU AWARD PRIZES MAKE SURE YOU KEEP IN GOOD CONTACT WITH THEM AT ALL TIMES!
THESE ARE MY GENERAL THOUGHTS ABOUT HOSTING A COMPETITION THREAD!
I LOVE ENTERING ALL TYPES OF CONTESTS DEPENDING IF I CAN DO THEM,AS IN CAS OR LOT I CAN DO
BUT AT THE MO CAW CREATE A WORLD OR CAP CREATE A PATTERN I CANT DO AS IM NOT THAT COMPUTER SAVVY LOL!!
THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS ABOUT ENTERING COMPS!
We have great hosts and enjoy all they do so getting their advice helps host newbies.
I do like lotteries and random drawings and I participate on guessing games occasionally. Building/creating contests are really not my thing for first of all I suck at it and secondly I do not really have to time for it.
In the beginning when I first came here I also posted my wish list in the those threads but by now, I'm getting so many gifts, that it just does not feel right to do so anymore.
I like the shorter ones better for the longer ones have the tendency to get very long and since I'm reading so much else to be up-to-date with the bugs, I just don't feel like doing this here too.
Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
AHQ Tutorial
I am not a professional editor, but I am quite a stickler for grammar and spelling and I am usually pretty good at figuring out what someone is trying to say, so I am willing to offer my editing services to anyone who needs them for contest posts.
Maybe you could list willing editors, or other people offering types of assistance in your tips post.