Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Winner Spotlight and Challenge 1 Reflection
elemmele
Posts: 689 Member
Ahoy! So the winners have finally been announced, and I gotta say...huge congrats to all the selected Top Spark'd Creators! I'm always floored by the talent in this community~ Which are some of your favorites? Have you learned anything that might help you improve your chances of being selected in the next challenge? What did you think about the first challenge and the process overall? Let's rap!
Also just to say, please do not attack or be cruel to the winners! That is not what this thread is for. Only positive vibes for those who were selected, please! ✌
I’ll start with some of my personal favorites from each category! Feel free to share which entries you like the most and why~
For the Stylist category, Ron & Ethel: Casino ReWed are just packed with character! You can tell so much about them just by looking at them, and I love the description, too! A Witch & Her Doll Bride is another favorite of mine. Their story is so unique, and I just love that their outfits don't have to match exactly, and they still look like they belong together. Love this couple!
For the Builder category! To be fair, I don't have much say on this one 'cause I know plum-all about building, but! Sky Lantern Beach Wedding has got to be my favorite by far. Such a creative use of the lanterns -- it truly leaves me breathless! Sixam Space Rock Wedding also sticks out to me for obvious reasons! Unique concept, and I just love the colors.
For the Storyteller category (my favorite), I... Well to be honest, I really enjoyed every single one that I watched! But if I had to pick some favorites... Till Death Do Us Part is great on so many levels. I really admire that they needed absolutely zero narration to tell this beautiful and heartbreaking story. Not to mention it was filmed really well! My First Love Story is also a simple and sweet story with no narration needed. Also filmed really well! Again, it’s hard to pick just a couple. I recommend them all!
If there’s anything I learned from all this, personally, it’s that I shouldn’t wait until the last minute! I think that’s where I really hurt myself -- what I should have spent two weeks on, I wound up having to spend roughly a week (including two, count ‘em, two nights without sleeping a wink) getting done what I needed to get done. Next challenge, I’ll be sure to start straight away so I don’t put as much stress on myself as I did this time around. Nobody’s fault but mine! 🤷♀️
I think that overall the challenges are fun, but could certainly be improved moving forward. For example, lots of users had problems submitting their Storyteller entries via the appropriate site. Super stressful for all involved I’m sure, so I hope this is something that can and will be resolved in future challenges. Also, as raised in this thread, the gallery itself (I think) could do with more moderation. I feel terribly that I couldn’t vote on a lot of great entries because, unfortunately, they were buried amidst the rule breakers. This makes it hard not only to vote on, but to get your entry seen as well! That being said, however, I still think that the challenges are a great idea overall, and I hope we can all participate in and enjoy all the challenges to come!
On a potentially related note, I can’t help but notice that a lot of the winning entries are ones I didn’t even see in the gallery (could just be me, o’ course). I only recognized one Storyteller entry, but this can easily be explained by the fact that you could submit an unlisted video (which I have no problem with btw). Still, I wish I could have seen these amazing creations long before they were selected -- I would have loved to have voted for them!
Now! Enough rambling from me. I opened with these questions and I’ll close with them: What are some of your favorite winning entries? How will you change your own submissions moving forward (if at all)? And what did you think of the challenge process overall?
Editing to add a ✨ brand new super-duper bonus question ✨ (that I didn't think of until after I posted this)! Did you learn or try anything new in the process of creating your entries? Personally I changed up how I approach Build/Buy Mode completely! Now I use moveobjects and the debug items all the time. It's a great way to add little touches that really can give a room, office, cat-themed guest bathroom, etc. lots of personality!
Congrats again to the winners, and I’m so excited for the next Spark’d Challenge!~
Also just to say, please do not attack or be cruel to the winners! That is not what this thread is for. Only positive vibes for those who were selected, please! ✌
I’ll start with some of my personal favorites from each category! Feel free to share which entries you like the most and why~
For the Stylist category, Ron & Ethel: Casino ReWed are just packed with character! You can tell so much about them just by looking at them, and I love the description, too! A Witch & Her Doll Bride is another favorite of mine. Their story is so unique, and I just love that their outfits don't have to match exactly, and they still look like they belong together. Love this couple!
For the Builder category! To be fair, I don't have much say on this one 'cause I know plum-all about building, but! Sky Lantern Beach Wedding has got to be my favorite by far. Such a creative use of the lanterns -- it truly leaves me breathless! Sixam Space Rock Wedding also sticks out to me for obvious reasons! Unique concept, and I just love the colors.
For the Storyteller category (my favorite), I... Well to be honest, I really enjoyed every single one that I watched! But if I had to pick some favorites... Till Death Do Us Part is great on so many levels. I really admire that they needed absolutely zero narration to tell this beautiful and heartbreaking story. Not to mention it was filmed really well! My First Love Story is also a simple and sweet story with no narration needed. Also filmed really well! Again, it’s hard to pick just a couple. I recommend them all!
If there’s anything I learned from all this, personally, it’s that I shouldn’t wait until the last minute! I think that’s where I really hurt myself -- what I should have spent two weeks on, I wound up having to spend roughly a week (including two, count ‘em, two nights without sleeping a wink) getting done what I needed to get done. Next challenge, I’ll be sure to start straight away so I don’t put as much stress on myself as I did this time around. Nobody’s fault but mine! 🤷♀️
I think that overall the challenges are fun, but could certainly be improved moving forward. For example, lots of users had problems submitting their Storyteller entries via the appropriate site. Super stressful for all involved I’m sure, so I hope this is something that can and will be resolved in future challenges. Also, as raised in this thread, the gallery itself (I think) could do with more moderation. I feel terribly that I couldn’t vote on a lot of great entries because, unfortunately, they were buried amidst the rule breakers. This makes it hard not only to vote on, but to get your entry seen as well! That being said, however, I still think that the challenges are a great idea overall, and I hope we can all participate in and enjoy all the challenges to come!
On a potentially related note, I can’t help but notice that a lot of the winning entries are ones I didn’t even see in the gallery (could just be me, o’ course). I only recognized one Storyteller entry, but this can easily be explained by the fact that you could submit an unlisted video (which I have no problem with btw). Still, I wish I could have seen these amazing creations long before they were selected -- I would have loved to have voted for them!
Now! Enough rambling from me. I opened with these questions and I’ll close with them: What are some of your favorite winning entries? How will you change your own submissions moving forward (if at all)? And what did you think of the challenge process overall?
Editing to add a ✨ brand new super-duper bonus question ✨ (that I didn't think of until after I posted this)! Did you learn or try anything new in the process of creating your entries? Personally I changed up how I approach Build/Buy Mode completely! Now I use moveobjects and the debug items all the time. It's a great way to add little touches that really can give a room, office, cat-themed guest bathroom, etc. lots of personality!
Congrats again to the winners, and I’m so excited for the next Spark’d Challenge!~
Post edited by EA_Solaire on
4
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Thank you very much for the feedback, too. It's super helpful to read about what works and what doesn't for the community.
And lastly, I hope you can enjoy this challenge a bit more this time and don't put yourself under pressure - be mindful of yourself! 🤗 But I'm already looking forward to seeing your creations.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the community creates this time around. I'm sure I'll be floored yet again by how insanely talented Simmers are!~