[PXFIRE] Welcome to your summer event: POKEMON CROSSFIRE!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

http://i.imgur.com/DtYUuVx.png

What is it?
Pokemon Crossfire, or PXFIRE for short, is PXR's very own version of the popular forum WAR competitions that have been held in the past. We know many people enjoyed WAR despite its issues, and the PXR admins have gotten together to discuss how we could create our own version that better fits PXR's community!

PXFIRE is a team game involving various contests. Members can submit entries, have them judged and earn points for their team. This year, we are incorporating the following events: drawing, graphic art, spriting, roleplaying, creative writing, comics, showdown battling, and humour. PXFIRE will also incorporate participation events such as puzzles and quizzes where points are awarded based on participation.

In contrast to WAR, PXFIRE aims to encourage participation from all forum members by awarding points for participating in events, as well as for winning! We hope to present you with a competitive but fun forum game! For our first attempt at this new event, everyone who signs up for PXFIRE will be randomly sorted into teams with equal numbers of players.


When is it?
Sign ups are open during the whole event. You can join anytime and will be randomly allocated to a team.

PXFIRE will officially begin on Sunday, July 2nd.


List of Main Events
All events will be housed in the Pokemon Crossfire Battle Arena forum. Here are links to all the main events you can enter! Also keep an eye out for pop-up challenges to earn bonus points for your team!

Drawn Art (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14461-PXFIRE-Drawn-Art-Contest)
Judge: Chakramaster

Sprite Art (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14424-PXFIRE-Sprite-Art-Competition)
Judge: Noblejanobii

Graphic Art (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14464-PXFIRE-Graphic-Art)
Judge: Pokemon Trainer Sarah

Comics (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14483-PXFIRE-Comics)
Judge: Pokemon Trainer Sarah

Creative Writing (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14443-PXFIRE-Creative-Writing)
Judge: LKWayvern

Roleplay
Sign Ups Now Open (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14455-PXFIRE-SU-DS-PXFIRE-Roleplay-A-Game-of-Storms)
Judge: Neo Emolga

Showdown (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14527-PXFIRE-Showdown)
Judge: Trainer17

Humour (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14516-PXFIRE-Humor)
Judge: EmeraldSky


List of Minor Events!
As well as the main events, there will be other things for you to participate in!

Team Spirit Challenge (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14510-PXFIRE-Team-Spirit-Challenge)
Judge: Morzone

Participation Medals (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14468-PXFIRE-Participation-Medal-Collection!)
Judge: Pokemon Trainer Sarah

More to come!



Rules!
Each event will have its own rules, so be sure to check out each thread! As well as those rules, all PXR forum rules apply.

Most events will run for one week, but some run for longer so be sure to read the threads carefully. Events end on a Sunday (in most timezones):

SUNDAY 2pm PDT (Los Angeles)
SUNDAY 5pm EDT (New York)
SUNDAY 10pm BST (London)
MONDAY 7am AEST (Melbourne)

Judging for a finished event is to be completed by the following Wednesday (in most timezones):

WEDNESDAY 2pm PDT (Los Angeles)
WEDNESDAY 5pm EDT (New York)
WEDNESDAY 10pm BST (London)
THURSDAY 7am AEST (Melbourne)



Chat time!
Feel free to discuss this event in this thread!

[Neo Emolga]

Username: NEO EMOLGA! http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/Ultradyne/Emolga_587.gif

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July? Should be pretty solid. My two-month contract is going to end on June 15-ish, but even if I get another one, I think I'll be fine. I'm also on PXR at least least a day even while on vacation, so I'm usually on top of things and ready to go.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team? Experience! I've been a WAR Leader several times, Team Leader at times, and Judge plenty of times. I also try to look at the bright side of things and keep things rolling with optimism and a good sense of humor. I also have strong ideas of what the community likes and how to target those desires. I'm also very open to discussion and welcome varying opinions.

Do you intend to apply for/are interested in judging any of the events listed above? I would like to judge at least something (RP or fan fiction). I might backfill on judging position if needed too. As for being a Team Leader, I'll probably pass on that so someone else can enjoy that. But I'll gladly join someone else's team. I've been Leader, Team Leader, and judge all in a single WAR and that's a bit too much, but two out of three should be golden. :3

[EmeraldSky]

Username: EmeraldSky

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July?: I'm pretty much free, as far as I know

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team?: Enthusiasm--I can spread the word and get the word out to people. I want this event to be the best it can be, and I'll do what I can to make it happen.

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above? I'd mainly be hosting Gotta Watch'em All, but I can contribute some writing/help with writing judging too.

[LKWayvern]

Username: LKWayvern
What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July?: Clear, mostly. The 20th, and possibly some of the 19th and 21st, I may be offline.
What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team?: Creativity and perspectives. I can read through ideas you guys already have and critique them, ask you questions about them to develop them even more, play devil's advocate, and suggest my own ideas.
Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above?: I've never Judged or led a Team before. I'd be interested in Judging one of the story-based categories.

[AD]

Showdown battles? Humour?

Count me in!

Username: Sacred Fire

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July? Pretty clear, unless i get this job i am hoping to get.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team? Extensive Pokemon Competitive Battling knowledge, competitive FIRE, Sassy af

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above? Nah fam, maybe next time

[Morzone]

YES! A WAR REMAKE! MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE!

Username: Morzone

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July?: A little spotty, but should be available most days. I'm graduating this year, but I don't really have any days that are so full I wouldn't be able to get on.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team?: Several things: A love for creativity and individualism, I Love planning events like this, and pedanticity. I'm sort of nit-picky when it comes to details, because it really frustrates me when we have a great event like this but things start coming undone because we cut corners somewhere.

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above?: I'm interested in judging either roleplaying or Drawing. WAR II was what originally got me into forum roleplaying and I've learned a lot in the years since then. Similarly I've been taking several drawing courses lately and have a good eye for the difficulty of a work. Sadly these would be the ones I would have participated in myself, but Judging sounds like a very fun experience and I'd love to give it a go.

[Soups]

Username: Born

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July? Although I wasn't able to be as active as I'd have liked the past month, I'll be available all throughout July. I don't have a set work schedule, but regardless, I'll be able to log on to PXR at least 1-2 times a day (if not more). In short, I'm free.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team? Creativity and experience. I'm all about upping the ante on anything I partake in, and because this will be our first year running PXFIRE, I'd definitely do the best I can to ensure that the event not only meets the our desired goals, but does so in style. I also was an avid participant in WAR back on Pe2k, so I've got some insight on how something of the nature operates. While I never led my own team in WAR, I have led three different teams back on Pe2k in other special events (Team RPs, Parody WAR), as well as leading an entire club - known as CGA - so I've got some leadership experience in my back pocket as well.

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above? I'd love to... in the future, assuming PXFIRE becomes an annual event. I'd much rather participate on a smaller scale this time around, outside of aiding the Planning Team.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Glad we have so much interest! :D *excited*

[Caite-chan]

Username: Caite-chan
What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July? Other than ColassalCon the first weekend of June wide freakin` open.
What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team? Lots of experience as I've been in WAR since the very beginning along with being a WAR Leader, Judge and Team Leader. Everyone knows how OCD I can be about having everything organized.
Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above? I'm hoping to be able to put a little idea into this but I'd rather be either a Team Leader or PXFIRE Leader.

[SassySnivy]

So how exactly are we going to tally up points? It seems like this event focuses on the effort of the individual WITH the team, rather than the effort of the individual as basically being the same entity as the team, which I like a lot. It's good we're giving points to even those that don't make it in the top 3, that way to promote participation. Plus, if we at least give everyone a chance to score, an individual's points will still add up even if they don't win which could give them a serious edge. Which is awesome!

Username: Speed-X
What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July?
Very unpredictable. My work is going out of business in the next couple of weeks so my schedule could be on the more erratic side. Plus I have to find a new job and I have no idea what that has in store for me. That being said, that really doesn't deter me. This is just what I need to start becoming a more active contributor to the forums.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team?
I dunno. I honestly enjoy being devil's advocate which can really help us determine and fix potential loopholes in the system. So there's that, I suppose. Plus it's always great to have more perspectives. Tbh I'm really excited about this, because in all honesty I DID love the competitive side to WAR...just there were certain things about it that just didn't work out so well for the community as a whole. Competition is good, but it was competitive to a bit of an unnecessary extent.

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above?
Yes! Sprite / Pixel art all the way. I had so much fun with that a couple years ago. <3

[Soups]

So how exactly are we going to tally up points? It seems like this event focuses on the effort of the individual WITH the team, rather than the effort of the individual as basically being the same entity as the team, which I like a lot. It's good we're giving points to even those that don't make it in the top 3, that way to promote participation. Plus, if we at least give everyone a chance to score, an individual's points will still add up even if they don't win which could give them a serious edge. Which is awesome!

It really is awesome. There's literally no way to NOT gain points for your team, which is great because it definitely promotes participation. No one will feel left out and I think that was one of the more sizable bridges that PXR was trying to figure out how to cross.

[Morzone]

Maybe we could make a 2-point system.

There are "medal" points for winning 1st 2nd 3rd for a week,

and there are "team points" based on how many team members actually participate in the various activities.

Then the points could be tallied separately, giving teams two ways to win. Tat way it doesn't become too unbalanced by the people who are good across the board, like it was in WAR.

[Neo Emolga]

So how exactly are we going to tally up points? It seems like this event focuses on the effort of the individual WITH the team, rather than the effort of the individual as basically being the same entity as the team, which I like a lot. It's good we're giving points to even those that don't make it in the top 3, that way to promote participation. Plus, if we at least give everyone a chance to score, an individual's points will still add up even if they don't win which could give them a serious edge. Which is awesome!

Points work a little differently this time around. Here, judges get 100 points to award, distributed among ALL entries however they choose, but unlike before, every entry will be getting at least some measure of that. So let's say I'm judging fan fiction and there's six submissions. The entries I think are the best will get more points than the ones that I think could have been a bit better. But overall, the awarding of points will look something like this example:

ENTRY 1: 28 Points (a VERY good submission)
ENTRY 2: 23 Points (Good)
ENTRY 3: 18 Points
ENTRY 4: 15 Points
ENTRY 5: 10 Points (could have been better)
ENTRY 6: 6 Points (really not great at all)
TOTAL = 100

This is just an example and I'm sure there will be lots of variances depending on how the judge exactly wants to handle this. Personally, I don't see myself handing out points less than 10 too often, but it's up to the discretion of the judge. Still, even if you had a really bad entry, YOU STILL GET SOMETHING! Unlike before where you got nothing at all if you just couldn't break into the top three. And if you were constantly up against powerhouse players, it was awfully discouraging and resulted in people not even wanting to bother. But here, you get at LEAST SOMETHING just for TRYING. That's a big difference from what the WAR did.

Bear in mind, Nekomata was really the one who came up with this idea and I kind of tweaked it around a bit by bumping up the points awarded to a much higher number so judges have more room to work with. I think it could work pretty well and it should encourage a lot more people to participate.


Maybe we could make a 2-point system.

There are "medal" points for winning 1st 2nd 3rd for a week,

and there are "team points" based on how many team members actually participate in the various activities.

Then the points could be tallied separately, giving teams two ways to win. Tat way it doesn't become too unbalanced by the people who are good across the board, like it was in WAR.

I would say just stick to one. My thing with this is it kind of deviates from why we changed the point system in the first place. Second, two scoring systems = a LOT more work for judges. That's hard because it already takes time to review and grade submissions.

And that's another thing we'd like to see as well. Judges need to justify awarded points with at least some feedback for every entry. Not "results: Submission A - 3 Points, B - 2 Points, C - 1 Points, have a nice day." There's got to be something that explains that and why the judge felt Submission A was better than B and so on. We're not asking for a huge narrative about every bitty detail, but at least a good paragraph of explanation is important.

[AD]

Off to make a WAR gfx theme! Stoked, like, totally stoked fam. This is gonna be legen-wait for it and i hope you are not lactose intolerate because the last part is-dary! Legendary!

[Morzone]

I would say just stick to one. My thing with this is it kind of deviates from why we changed the point system in the first place. Second, two scoring systems = a LOT more work for judges. That's hard because it already takes time to review and grade submissions.

And that's another thing we'd like to see as well. Judges need to justify awarded points with at least some feedback for every entry. Not "results: Submission A - 3 Points, B - 2 Points, C - 1 Points, have a nice day." There's got to be something that explains that and why the judge felt Submission A was better than B and so on. We're not asking for a huge narrative about every bitty detail, but at least a good paragraph of explanation is important.

I didn't mean 2 winners for each catagory, I meant over all.

For instance if in drawing Team A won first, Team B won second and team C won third, they would then in turn get one "gold" one "silver" and "bronze" point. Over the four weeks The team would count up how many gold/silver/bronze points they have, then combine them for an "medal victory" (I can't think of a better name) so that a team wins PXFIRE by being the team that placed most in the top 3 across the board.

On the other hand, say Team A only had one person participate in drawing, while Team B had 3 and Team C had four. For every person they would get one "team point" or "participation point" per week. Then at the end of the four weeks the teams would tally up their participation points and whichever had the most would be the "activity winner" for successfully getting the most people to do the most things. (encouraging people to try new things.

This wouldn't put any real extra stress on the judges at all since the "medal" points are already just the same method as picking top 3 winners
for each category, while participation is just counting how many people per team put in an entry that week.

[Soups]

And that's another thing we'd like to see as well. Judges need to justify awarded points with at least some feedback for every entry. Not "results: Submission A - 3 Points, B - 2 Points, C - 1 Points, have a nice day." There's got to be something that explains that and why the judge felt Submission A was better than B and so on. We're not asking for a huge narrative about every bitty detail, but at least a good paragraph of explanation is important.

I agree. It wouldn't hurt to have some form of feedback from judges. You'd be able to understand what you did well and figure out where you can improve.


I didn't mean 2 winners for each catagory, I meant over all.

For instance if in drawing Team A won first, Team B won second and team C won third, they would then in turn get one "gold" one "silver" and "bronze" point. Over the four weeks The team would count up how many gold/silver/bronze points they have, then combine them for an "medal victory" (I can't think of a better name) so that a team wins PXFIRE by being the team that placed most in the top 3 across the board.

On the other hand, say Team A only had one person participate in drawing, while Team B had 3 and Team C had four. For every person they would get one "team point" or "participation point" per week. Then at the end of the four weeks the teams would tally up their participation points and whichever had the most would be the "activity winner" for successfully getting the most people to do the most things. (encouraging people to try new things.

This wouldn't put any real extra stress on the judges at all since the "medal" points are already just the same method as picking top 3 winners
for each category, while participation is just counting how many people per team put in an entry that week.

I think I understand where you're coming from. Although you'd already be receiving points for participating, you're saying that there should be a some type of participation award given at the conclusion of PXFIRE. That would encourage teams to encourage its members to participate in the given challenges rather than simply relying on members to participate. However, I'm assuming that if you sign up for PXFIRE, you're probably going to participate regardless. xD

[Morzone]

I agree. It wouldn't hurt to have some form of feedback from judges. You'd be able to understand what you did well and figure out where you can improve.



I think I understand where you're coming from. Although you'd already be receiving points for participating, you're saying that there should be a some type of participation award given at the conclusion of PXFIRE. That would encourage teams to encourage its members to participate in the given challenges rather than simply relying on members to participate. However, I'm assuming that if you sign up for PXFIRE, you're probably going to participate regardless. xD

I'm pretty sure feedback from Judges was already a thing in WAR. At least it was in the drawing section.

It would be pretty safe to assume if you sign up you'll participate, but it also incorporates people's ability to become engaged in new areas. I mean, HKim Invited me to Join WAR even before I knew PXR was a thing. As such they increased player activity and would've gotten more participation points for their team. Or on the other hand someone might convince me to attempt Digital art even though i usually prefer traditional art. It expands people's horizons and engages them in activities they might not have done otherwise.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I like your idea Morzone, but maybe instead of being related to the overall points, there can be participation medals that individuals can earn by joining in events. Each event would have a different one and you could collect them in your postbit. That might encourage people to want to try all the different events at least once! Whoever gets all the medals at the end can get a token as well! What do you think?

While I want everyone to participate as much as possible, I also wouldn't want people to feel pressured to join in things if they really don't want to. If its an individual thing they might feel less pressure than if they had to join in to help their team get points. (The way judging is set up already rewards teams for participating since everyone gets at least 1 point for entering anyway) Even though we are going to try and make teams have equal numbers of people, there's no guarantee they will all be as active as each other.

[SassySnivy]

Yeah...I'm not a big fan of that specifically being the point system. It sounds like judges will be worrying more about just doing the correct math and making sure things add up depending on hypothetical values, such as number of participants...and that really takes away from the experience. If a judge has 100 points PER event or even per week just doesnt make any sense for those who find it more logical to use a rubric system

If I'm understanding correctly based on Neo's post, I believe this kind of system in particular will do nothing other than confuse judges.

Yeah...alr8ght. So I re read it. This would greatly interfere with any judges that want to use a rubric system, which especially in regards to art I feel is the most efficient way to do it so that the entrants actually learn what they did right and wrong, yes?

It would make more sense to have a fixed number of points per person per challenge / week. 4 weeks? How about 20 points per person per week?

[Spiderc]

Username: Spiderc

What does your schedule look like from now until the end of July? Other than a day here or there, I'm completely open until July. Unfortunately I'm traveling the first week of July, but then I'll be free the rest of the month after that.

What is the best quality you think you can bring to the planning team? I'm not the most creative person but I'm always happy to help with organizing, brainstorming, and helping to refine ideas to help figure out the best possible implementation. I don't expect this to be in demand, but if you guys need a simplish webapp or something for one of the events, I'd be more than willing to make it and host it on my website if needed.

Do you intend to apply for/are you interested in judging any of the events listed above? Possibly Showdown, but because of the time I'm out of town that I mentioned, I would need someone else to co-judge with assuming that Showdown will be an event for the entire month.

[Morzone]

ok seriously, HOW does counting the number of entries from a certain team mess with a rubric system? If 7 people enter a piece of art, and 3 are from team A, team A gets 3 participation points. DONE. Has 0 correlation with the scores on the Individual pieces of art.

I mean, if you walk into a room with 6 doors, 4 of which are blue and 2 are red, after judging them individually are you really not going to remember what colors there are? Even if you do somehow forget, it's not exactly hard to take a step back and check again, especially after already finished assigning the 100 competition points.

Totally didn't misread Speed's post. Sorry about this pointless outburst!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Yeah...I'm not a big fan of that specifically being the point system. It sounds like judges will be worrying more about just doing the correct math and making sure things add up depending on hypothetical values, such as number of participants...and that really takes away from the experience. If a judge has 100 points PER event or even per week just doesnt make any sense for those who find it more logical to use a rubric system

If I'm understanding correctly based on Neo's post, I believe this kind of system in particular will do nothing other than confuse judges.

Yeah...alr8ght. So I re read it. This would greatly interfere with any judges that want to use a rubric system, which especially in regards to art I feel is the most efficient way to do it so that the entrants actually learn what they did right and wrong, yes?

It would make more sense to have a fixed number of points per person per challenge / week. 4 weeks? How about 20 points per person per week?
I don't think 100 points is that hard to distribute. You can still use a rubric. The points you give out don't have to match the rubric points, but you could do it that way with a bit of maths if you wanted.

A gets 15/20 on the rubric
B gets 5/20
C gets 15/20
D gets 16/20
E gets 16/20
F gets 20/20
G gets 12/20

Max total of rubric = 7 x 20 = 140
A got 15/140 = 10.7%. 10.7% of 100 = 10.7 points awarded.
B got 5/140 = 3.5%. 3.5% of 100 = 3.5 points awarded.
Etc.

Each judge can decide how to awards their points. The simplest way is to award 1st, 2nd, 3rd a set amount of points and then divide the rest equally between the rest. Or any variation of that. It only has to be as complicated as the judge wants to make it.

Your idea of each participant getting x/20 points for each event is pretty good too but I can see issues with teams dominating a single event and getting more points than teams participating in every event, as there is then no maximum points per event. The 100 points means teams have to join in most if not all events to win. Still worth discussing though. :)

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

ok seriously, HOW does counting the number of entries from a certain team mess with a rubric system? If 7 people enter a piece of art, and 3 are from team A, team A gets 3 participation points. DONE. Has 0 correlation with the scores on the Individual pieces of art.

I mean, if you walk into a room with 6 doors, 4 of which are blue and 2 are red, after judging them individually are you really not going to remember what colors there are? Even if you do somehow forget, it's not exactly hard to take a step back and check again, especially after already finished assigning the 100 competition points.
You're right but teams are already getting participation points with the current proposal. We don't want to push the participation thing too far where members are entering crappy no-effort entries just to get points. As part of the 100 points, if you enter something dumb for points you will only get 1 point haha. If its more like you said, it seems it will encourage no-effort entries without providing any advantage over the 100 point system (that I can tell?)

[Morzone]

Hmm...

At the same time though, if a judge is limited to only 100 points, what happens when you have a lot of participants? Imagine if we had 11 people put in art, and 4 of them were AMAZING, while rest weren't exactly terrible. You wouldn't be able to distribute points fairly because there simply wouldn't be enough of them. Is it possible that some categories might be able to give out more points than others?


You're right but teams are already getting participation points with the current proposal. We don't want to push the participation thing too far where members are entering crappy no-effort entries just to get points. As part of the 100 points, if you enter something dumb for points you will only get 1 point haha. If its more like you said, it seems it will encourage no-effort entries without providing any advantage over the 100 point system (that I can tell?)

I didn't think of that.. hm...

[Neo Emolga]

Yeah...I'm not a big fan of that specifically being the point system. It sounds like judges will be worrying more about just doing the correct math and making sure things add up depending on hypothetical values, such as number of participants...and that really takes away from the experience. If a judge has 100 points PER event or even per week just doesnt make any sense for those who find it more logical to use a rubric system

If I'm understanding correctly based on Neo's post, I believe this kind of system in particular will do nothing other than confuse judges.

Yeah...alr8ght. So I re read it. This would greatly interfere with any judges that want to use a rubric system, which especially in regards to art I feel is the most efficient way to do it so that the entrants actually learn what they did right and wrong, yes?

It would make more sense to have a fixed number of points per person per challenge / week. 4 weeks? How about 20 points per person per week?

I don't think it would be too bad and if people work with it a bit, they'll see it's not a complicated thing. Personally, the way I'd work with it is grade and use my own rubric on all the entries first before I award anything. I'd look at those scores and distribute accordingly. When you do it, if it helps, start by evenly dividing the 100 into all the entries, and then take points from the people that didn't do as well and carry them over to the ones that did excellent. It just becomes a matter of tuning the distribution of points to reflect the scores that you gave using your own rubric. I'm also saying 100 points is good because it's a lot more to work with and we won't have this silliness of fractional points like we have constantly had in WARs. If we don't bump up that number, people might be getting things like ".5" ".25" and ".1" point amounts and that's just pesky to deal with decimals like that.

But really, the whole system is to avoid one-sidedness and encourage people to just TRY rather than submit stuff week after week only to watch it lose and get nothing at all week after week to the heavy-weights when it comes to skills. That just makes people feel like they're wasting their time. Trust me, when I graded fan fiction, there were so many occasions where I read great stories, but they were only runner ups. This finally gives me a chance to give them something too! Even though it may not be the lion's share of points, they'll get a fair amount of at least something and it will encourage them to keep at it. This greatly helps those that know that while they may not be in the top three, they can still shoot to do the best to earn as many points as they can.

But yeah, like Sarah said, if people dump in garbage, they may only get 1 point, which in the overall picture, won't be all that helpful. If you lower that scale to 20, well, that means one garbage entry will still walk away with 5% of the total with their one point. And if dozens of people do that, that's bad. That's why I think 100 points per submission period (whether it's each week or every two weeks depending) works best.

[SassySnivy]

I don't think 100 points is that hard to distribute. You can still use a rubric. The points you give out don't have to match the rubric points, but you could do it that way with a bit of maths if you wanted.

A gets 15/20 on the rubric
B gets 5/20
C gets 15/20
D gets 16/20
E gets 16/20
F gets 20/20
G gets 12/20

Max total of rubric = 7 x 20 = 140
A got 15/140 = 10.7%. 10.7% of 100 = 10.7 points awarded.
B got 5/140 = 3.5%. 3.5% of 100 = 3.5 points awarded.
Etc.

Each judge can decide how to awards their points. The simplest way is to award 1st, 2nd, 3rd a set amount of points and then divide the rest equally between the rest. Or any variation of that. It only has to be as complicated as the judge wants to make it.

Your idea of each participant getting x/20 points for each event is pretty good too but I can see issues with teams dominating a single event and getting more points than teams participating in every event, as there is then no maximum points per event. The 100 points means teams have to join in most if not all events to win. Still worth discussing though. :)

Yes, but in your example that's distributing a rubric of 140. By doing this it isn't exactly a rubric system since you're limited on the amount of points you can give each person...just seems kinds off. Plus my rubric systems tend to go like this:

Person 1
-Score A:
-Score B:
-Score C:
-Total:

This way people can receive specific feedback on specific points of interest. The 100 points outright system seems to limit this by putting a limit on how well you can score someone, basically, no matter if they and another person do equally as well (as a hypothetical example)

I get that we're trying to encourage participation. However, why not just limit each person to say 50 points or something each? As a cap, anyway. That way no one gets cheated out on points. I don't see how doing so encourages people to submit crappy entries...if they do well, they get more points. There could be a minimum for participation or something, but I doubt someone is going to do so badly they get 0 points out of 50.

It just seems odd to have the point distribution depend solely on how many people are participating in a category. And unnecessary complex when it could be a little simpler

Maybe it's just me. :/ I don't know.

Edit: actually I'm thinking about it and I can see this working. It's starting to make a little more sense. I can kinda see how dividing points would make it so that people all have a more even playing field. I think I could work with this.

[AD]

*hums the original pokemon theme song*


As long as i get to kick butt in showdown. Though i do ask, Smogon servers or PXR? Also, format?

I can me being a bit of a stickler

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

*hums the original pokemon theme song*


As long as i get to kick butt in showdown. Though i do ask, Smogon servers or PXR? Also, format?

I can me being a bit of a stickler

I'm not actually sure how much interest there will be in showdown... So it will probably be up to the judge to decide that. Usually each week there is a different event. Like maybe one week is challenge cup or whatever. The judge will get to choose though. Maybe you'd like to apply to judge it when we get to that point? Showdown is one of the few(only?) events that the judge can fully participate in since they just need to set the rules and tally scores at the end. :)

[SassySnivy]

I think so long as the Showdown categories / rules, for the most part, are a wide range of things that even more casual Showdown Battlers can get into (CC, Randoms, etc); or even crazy things like Hackmons or that Metronome thing that Fate did that one time; along with maybe an OU battle as the last event, I think it should run smoothly. I think the important part is to be able to cater to both more casual participants AND more involved / serious participants alike. c:

[Soups]

I like your idea Morzone, but maybe instead of being related to the overall points, there can be participation medals that individuals can earn by joining in events. Each event would have a different one and you could collect them in your postbit. That might encourage people to want to try all the different events at least once! Whoever gets all the medals at the end can get a token as well! What do you think?

I actually love this idea. It would be cool to store your earned medals in your postbit, similar to how we all stored our secret messages during the Valentine's Day event. It's neat. I'm for it.

[Caite-chan]

I just say we go with one way this time and then fix it up after its over with. No use stressing over something we don't know may or may not work.

[Morzone]

Are there any plans for one large catagory? What I mean is, I remember when we wee planning a new WAR a while ago there were ideas of having a category where a team would work together over all four weeks to present one larger, detailed entry at the end. That way there'd be a little more incentive to really be part of a team and get to know the others in your group.

[Soups]

Are there any plans for one large catagory? What I mean is, I remember when we wee planning a new WAR a while ago there were ideas of having a category where a team would work together over all four weeks to present one larger, detailed entry at the end. That way there'd be a little more incentive to really be part of a team and get to know the others in your group.

Hm... I wouldn't mind a team project.

[AD]

I'm not actually sure how much interest there will be in showdown... So it will probably be up to the judge to decide that. Usually each week there is a different event. Like maybe one week is challenge cup or whatever. The judge will get to choose though. Maybe you'd like to apply to judge it when we get to that point? Showdown is one of the few(only?) events that the judge can fully participate in since they just need to set the rules and tally scores at the end. :)

I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that, me judging and all, but yea...i may have to. It is sad that the showdown section of the forums is all but dead. I was actually planning on doing a showdown event after stalkers ended.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

A team project would be cool if we can come up with something!

Just a reminder that Sunday (today) is the last day to apply to help out with planning the event. (We will call for judges and team leaders later on so hang tight if you'd like to do that instead!) Thanks to everyone who's posted so far with ideas! I'm getting excited! :D

[Soups]

A team project would be cool if we can come up with something!

Just a reminder that Sunday (today) is the last day to apply to help out with planning the event. (We will call for judges and team leaders later on so hang tight if you'd like to do that instead!) Thanks to everyone who's posted so far with ideas! I'm getting excited! :D

I'm getting excited too! I haven't had the opportunity to participate in an event like this an awhile.

[Bulbasaur]

Is there a way to not be sorted into a team with people I don't get along with? :/

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Is there a way to not be sorted into a team with people I don't get along with? :/

I'd have to discuss it with the planners before promising anything, but I think if you let me know privately after sign ups then I could try to arrange that. I mean, if there is a specific person or two who there are issues with. Not just cos you wanna be with your friends. (I think that's what you meant xD)

[Bulbasaur]

I'd have to discuss it with the planners before promising anything, but I think if you let me know privately after sign ups then I could try to arrange that. I mean, if there is a specific person or two who there are issues with. Not just cos you wanna be with your friends. (I think that's what you meant xD)
Oh no, I'm fine bonding with new people! I just don't want to be with people I know I'll have problems with.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Oh no, I'm fine bonding with new people! I just don't want to be with people I know I'll have problems with.

Yeah no worries. I'll do my best to arrange that for anyone who has issues. We want everyone to have fun after all. :)

[AD]

I got some awesome team names stewin in my noodle

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I got some awesome team names stewin in my noodle

#TeamPeasant2017

[AD]

Team Peasant gonna take home the gold

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

So we decided it would be cool to have a planning council rather than just a few people helping. So everyone who signed up will be helping with planning this year!

Even if you're not part of the planning council you can still post ideas or whatever you like here! We will take them into account! :D

Thanks guys and I hope you're as excited as I am about this! :D

[ninjaskarmory]

*sees that contests might not be coming back

Hello darkness my old friend :')

[AD]

Can we have a sass contest :P

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Woohoo! Teams are posted! Once the teams have decided their names and themes, I will be making userbars for everyone so we can all easily see what team everyone is on! :)

[Neo Emolga]

Woohoo! Teams are posted! Once the teams have decided their names and themes, I will be making userbars for everyone so we can all easily see what team everyone is on! :)

https://s5.postimg.org/4kt4c4xtz/Emolga_Cheer.png
I LOVE THOSE USERBAR THINGIES!

Yes, thanks for stepping up to make those. :3

[Trainer17]

Hi Sarah...just wanted to ask before I get chewed up..is it cool if my team wanted to make the userbars? :'3

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Hi Sarah...just wanted to ask before I get chewed up..is it cool if my team wanted to make the userbars? :'3

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Well I meant the official team userbar to go under the avatar. I'm fine with the teams making their own but it will have to be a specific size that I haven't decided yet (haven't got computer access this week so I can't check what the usual size is. I'll let you guys know though.) :)

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Congratulations teams and welcome to the battle! Each team has been awarded 5 points for getting their teams sorted on time! Hooray!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

IT BEGINS!!!!

[LKWayvern]

Oh cra--
Um. I mean.
Yippee!

[Caite-chan]

WOOOO! Can't wait to get this party started.

[EmeraldSky]

My stream is up for Pokemon Anime Theater 7000, so let me know if you would like the room code!

[AD]

I will crush all competition