Jump to content

YCM General Card Contest Rules << UPDATED: 10/5/2017 >>


Flash Flyer - Sakura

Recommended Posts

BASIC RULES

 

1. Standard YCM Rules apply.

 

This is common sense by now, but you are to follow the standard YCM Site Rules in addition to the rules listed here.

 

2. Your contest must have the following CLEARLY stated in the main post.

 

(Bolded criteria are things that you need without question)

 

A. Theme/Task

 

What do you want interested members to do in this contest?

 

DO NOT change the task in the middle of the contest, especially if member(s) have already submitted their entries.

 

B. Entry requirements

 

Do you need to be a certain level or have membership in a club to join?

 

C. Deadline

 

When do you plan on stopping taking entries; after a certain date has passed or a participant cap, etc?

Make sure you state the GMT/UTC offset you're using for the deadline to avoid confusion for other members.

 

If you write out the date, it is advised that you write out the month in words if you write in the day/month/year format (because the way dates are written in the US and elsewhere vary). You will notice that I am using the month/day/year format as is common in the USA.  

 

D. Entry fees

 

If you wish to include an entry fee, note it (but be reasonable about it). You can otherwise host free contests if you want to. 

 

E. Prizes

 

You can give a maximum of 10 reps/likes, points [either from a prize pot or your own funds], GFX prizes, etc.

 

The type of prizes given during your contest is left entirely at your discretion, but you should have some form of prizing though.

 

F. Your judging criteria (in addition to the criteria of other members helping with the judging).

 

See (1) in the below section for explanation.

 

--------

If you are lacking any of these things, you will be given 24 hours upon a moderator post to fix it.

Failure to fix it within the time period will result in a lock.

 

You may PM the missing information to a Custom Cards moderator, preferably myself; we will unlock the contest after that.

 

3. You may host up to 2 contests.

 

As of 10/5/2015, you will be allowed to host two contests at a time in this section.

However, you will be responsible for keeping track of all of them, and dealing with each of them on a timely manner.

 

I highly advise that you stick to one contest at a time, so you can keep track of it + get scores/judgment out on time.

 

4. If you're not planning on entering / judging or have any interest in the contest, DON'T POST.

 

Simple as that; if you have no interest in the contest, then don't post anything.

If it breaks rules, USE THE REPORT BUTTON and move on.

 

Asking for clarification about how the contest is structured is acceptable.

 

Posting in a contest thread for the hell of it is spamming, and dealt with accordingly.

 

5. Mod rulings are final

 

If one of us requests that you do something within reason, you MUST oblige by that request. Giving backtalk to any staff member will result in a +5 warn increase.

 

6. You must physically post your intent to enter a contest

 

Effective 7/9/2016

 

If you wish to participate in a contest, you must actually make a post in that thread stating that you wish to enter. PM entry requests will not be permitted.

 

HOSTING/JUDGING

 

1. You must clearly post your criteria for judging.

 

As mentioned in 2F in the above section, you need to have a visible scale for members to see. This is so participants know what you are looking for. If you are missing your scale, you will be PMed to remedy the matter, if not told directly in the contest thread by the host or one of the CC mods.

 

We have had incidents in the past where contest hosts have failed to do so, and we do not want a repeat. 

 

2. You MUST be able to EXPLAIN why a member received a particular score in your contest.

 

Basically, show proof that a member indeed won / didn't win your contest, as opposed to simply saying “Member X won.” or a derivative of such.

 

You may use a score breakdown, Advanced-level CnC or a combination of both to explain. It is recommended you use a score card, as to keep grading level with other judges assisting in the contest. It is also easier to determine a definitive winner that way.

 

In terms of score breakdown, you are allowed to simply post the score breakdown, but be prepared to answer any questions regarding why a member received that, and be willing to look at it again and adjust grades accordingly if necessary. 

 

While you do not have to grade them on a metagame scale, you are required to be competent enough to give details on why a certain score was awarded. 

 

http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/355831-anime-effect-main-egyptian-deities-god-card-contest-xd/

 

(This is an example of something that isn't there)

 

3. Any reasons for judging MUST be in relation to its design/flavor and/or playability.

 

Choosing a card simply because it looks "cool" is NOT acceptable, and will result in loss of privileges to host/judge contests in here.

 

This is an example of reasoning that will get your contest/judging permissions in this section revoked: http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/312589-finishedvideo-game-minds/page-2#entry6362792

 

I didn't choose this because I was a participant in this contest, but rather the fact that he indeed had faulty reasoning and refused to explain himself after being asked politely.

 

Put bluntly (or rather, in finer details)

  • Chose a Fake Type with no known support cards over ones designed with Advanced principles in mind.
  • Judged on quality of picture (that was official artwork used for Xerneas).
  • No known grading scale or criteria
  • Failed to give adequate reasoning for decision, also failure to give reasons for the other cards.
    • (His reasoning addressed NOTHING of the playability of the card(s) in question)
  • Chose another card on the basis that another member (myself) queried him to provide said reasoning, and it made him feel bad.

4. Guidelines on grading.

 

A. OCG can be no more than 20% of a member's grade.

 

While it is important to write card grammar properly so that we understand how it's supposed to work, it DOES NOT take precedence over criteria such as balance, design, flavor and so on.

 

Konami is known for changing their wording, so be sure you are able to grade properly. Otherwise, it is in your best interest to grade on the comprehension and other mistakes, such as spelling and punctuation, instead.

 

B. Pictures cannot be worth more than 5% of the grade

 

Ideally, pictures should not play a role in final scores, especially since Written Cards are a thing.

 

This is NOT Showcase; your focus needs to be on the card's design, NOT whether the picture is hard to see due to bad quality (or lack of picture thereof).

 

Participants, we highly encourage that you try your best to find the highest quality images possible. Otherwise, you may be better off making your card Written (that means posting the data out, not using the cardmaker to generate picture-less cards).

 

5. Scores should be posted within a reasonable timeframe after the deadline.

 

We understand that many of you have other commitments to attend to in real life (such as school, work, familial/personal issues and so forth), but please do your best to post scores within a timely manner. An ideal time period is 1 to 1.5 weeks after the deadline.

 

We do not want contests going on for 2-3 months after they expire; please get them done quickly or find someone to help you grade, in the event you cannot do so on time.

 

If you need an extension of judging due to personal reasons (such as examinations or other things), please notify the participants beforehand and let one of the CC moderators know. However, we'll give you no more than a month afterwards.

 

6. The CC Staff reserves the right to intervene in contests when deemed necessary.

 

This is mainly due to judging discrepancies or other infractions caused by either the host and/or a participating judge.

 

Our rulings subvert any/all judgments by the contest host.

Most of the time, we shouldn't have to intervene in your contest; provided the rules are followed.

 

PRIZING/FEES

 

1. Prize pots must award at least 80-85% of their current totals to participants.

 

If you are handing out prizes based on entry fees and outside donations for prize pools, you must award a high majority of the amount in those pots to winners. We do, however, permit you to keep the rest as compensation for your time and effort in hosting and/or judging the contest. 

 

Of course, if you are using your own points, then feel free to distribute them however you see fit. 

 

2. You MUST refund points under the following conditions.

 

A. If a member decides to withdraw from the contest due to circumstances beyond their control.

B. If you are barred from hosting a contest, or it is ended due to inactivity.

 

(See below for the requirements that constitute an inactive contest)

 

If a member is currently banned, you do not need to refund their points.

 

3. Prizes need to be awarded within a reasonable time frame after the deadline.

 

As noted above for scores, we understand many of you have academia, work or other offline commitments, but please try to award the prizes within a reasonable time period. If you need an extension for doing so, let the participants know.

 

In the case of point prizes, one of the CC mods will be more than happy to give them out; provided you reimburse them at a later time.

 

4. Moderator funding

 

(This is for those of you who want to run high stake tournaments with large pots, but lack the points needed to do it)

 

If you wish for a moderator to contribute funding to your prize pool, please PM either me, Gadjiltron or Black..

You must explain the specifics of your contest, along with the amount of points you will need.

 

Any points contributed to the contest MUST go directly into the prize pool and distributed amongst participants; you may not keep points that we provide you.

 

You are NOT required to reimburse the points we give you, unless your contest is terminated due to the circumstances noted in (2) of this section.

 

BUMPING

 

1. Cutoff for an “Inactive/Dead” contest

 

Contests with no replies for 14 days or more will automatically be declared "Finished" and moved accordingly.

(To avoid having a dead contest, we advise running your contests no more than 4-5 weeks; including judging time and deadline)

 

As mentioned above, if you need an extension due to reasons, make sure you say something to the contestants and one of us. 

 

2. Do not post in FINISHED contests, or you will be warned for spamming.

 

If the host has already given out the prizes and/or has changed the thread name to reflect this, it is considered as FINISHED.

I will generally lock the contests on-sight once they finish, so I do not foresee this rule to be broken.

 

3. Bump rule

 

You may bump your contests once every period of 24 hours or more; nothing less than that.

If you're off by 15-30 min, we'll let it slide; otherwise you'll receive a verbal warning; then a +1 warn increase for every subsequent time.

 

12-16 hours DOES NOT equal 24 hours. Be patient and wait out the one day before bumping.

 

Participant Rules

 

1. You may not post cards that are currently being used in an active contest.

 

To put it bluntly, if you make a card for a contest here that has not ended (meaning scores have been given, awarding of prizes, etc), you may not post it in the regular Custom Cards area until that time. This is to ensure that all members are on a level field and do not get an unfair advantage by receiving a review. 

 

You may post the finished product as-is or with changes you were given by the judge/host after the contest has ended. 

 

2. Contesting your score

 

Whenever you receive your grade for the contest, you may question the host about why you received a certain grade within the allotted timeframe. Please be mindful that while judges will ultimately try to take into account card design from a general perspective, the extent of how individuals grade is dependent on them. 

 

If a judge says their scoring is final after considering your appeals and given an explanation, then that's it. 

 

Recall that a CC moderator may intervene in severe cases if we determine that the grading process was flawed.

 

---------------------------------

Rules are subject to change with/without warning.

Make sure you are up to date by checking this thread on a regular basis.

 

As usual, PM if you need clarification on anything regarding the rules listed here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

An update to the rules, partly influenced by Aix's response to the card exam he made for this section.

 

You are no longer required to pass an examination in order to judge/host contests in here (whether it's for general Yugioh or other CCGs), however, you are still required to give proper CnC while submitting your final results.

 

While we do not require you to explain for every member that entered (because we understand large contests take a while to write reviews for), you must, however, be willing to elaborate on your reasoning when questioned. Choosing a card because you think it looks "cool" OR conversely, not voting for it because you don't like the picture or out of spite for its creator simply asking you to explain is not an excuse, and will lead to revocation of your privileges to host/judge contests in this section, should you be caught doing this multiple times.

 

We want all members to enjoy their time in Custom Cards, but we also need to make sure members know what they are doing and judge things fairly.

 

However, if things start to get crappy again, I will reinstate the examination. (Seriously though, all you had to do is elaborate on why you thought card A/B was the better of the two)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Starting today, 10/5/2015, you will be allowed to host up to two contests.

However, you will be responsible for maintaining both on a reasonable basis (this means, you will need to post the scores for both contests on a timely basis after they expire).

 

I would highly advise that you stick to one contest for now, then add on another if you feel you can take it.

 

Ideally, your contest should not last more than 4-5 weeks at the latest.

I understand that many of us have outside commitments, but please make sure you have backup plans in case you either cannot host/judge on time.

 

-----

Limits on offering judge assistance elsewhere are removed, but the same thing applies.

Make sure you keep tabs on ALL of the contests you help to grade; keep it to 1-2 at a time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Going to note that new rules have been added pertaining to participants in contests. You may read the full text for them in the OP, but in summary here. 

 

1. You must wait until the contest has concluded to post any cards that you have submitted for that particular competition.

 

2. You have the right to petition the grade you received in a contest, but the judge's decision is final if the reasoning is sound. 

 

====

This is not adding anything new that wasn't already here before, but simply to make it written. The first one has been an implied rule and common sense; second is just reiterating your rights as a participants during the grading period. 

====

 

Other than that, nothing else has changed. 

Please notify me if you have questions or concerns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...