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The League of Extraordinary Riveters needs you! More specifically, you AND your ideas... the winner of the last round is unavailable to host the next one per our tradition, so we'll need another plan. My suggestion is this...

Please PM me your best ideas for themes that could give shape to our terrain contest. I'll compile them into an anonymous poll and the winner of the poll then becomes the host of our next round. Hosting duties include posting the contest thread, cheering on the competitors, and ultimately judging the entries and announcing a winner. Please don't suggest a theme if you're not able to host, and of course you'll be ineligible to win (but could definitely present an exhibition). I'll post the poll by the middle of next week, so please get me you best ideas in the next few days!

Past themes have included raw materials, genres, in-game functions, out-of-game references, and more... check out the inspiring list below:

Contest #1 "Lids" (dsteingass)
Contest #2 "Cookie Package” (Viktor Von Doom)
Contest #3 "Fightin' Pit!" (MrMerlin)
Contest #4 "For the title of Master Shrubber" (Meade)
Contest #5 "Vehicles!" (Bruticus)
Contest #6 "We're Not Worthy!" (Meade)
Contest #7 "Fire at Will" (hk1x1)
Contest #8 "Accomodation" (Camkierhi)
Contest #9 “Elementary" (Littletower)
Contest #10 "The Throne" (Camkierhi)
Contest #11 "On The Road" (Red Harvest)
Contest #12 "Wall me up, fence me in" (MonkeyTroll)
Contest #13 "What Went Wrong!" (OneManNoodles)
Contest #14 "Making something extraordinary from the ordinary" (Dr H)
Contest #15 "The Trapdoor" (inmygravenimage)
Contest #16 "Got Wood?" (Viktor Von Doom)
Contest #17 "The (re)cycle of Life" (Guildenstern)
Contest #18 "The Portal" (inmygravenimage)
Contest #19 "Let it Flow!" (Camkierhi)
Contest #20 "Noise Polution" (Tek Thornison)
Contest # 21 "CARD-inal Sins" (Camkierhi)
Contest # 22 "A Series of Tubes" (Cleatus)
Contest # 23 "Child's Play" (Z-Ray)
Contest #24 "Pimpin' Aint Easy" (Fango)
Contest # 25 "For the war effort" (Syro)
Contest # 26 "Hold the Line!" (Camkierhi)
Contest # 27 "Sweet like chocolate" (monkeytroll)
Contest # 28 "Name of the game" (Maniac_nmt)
Contest # 29 "Food for Thought !" (Camkierhi)
Contest # 30 “Double Entendre” (Thumpingbear)
Contest # 31 “A Drink to the New Decade” (Captain Brown)
Contest # 32 “Honor Our First Responders” (MacPhail)
Contest # 33 “Unfinished Business” (Mothsniper)

I'll bite. PM sent.

My idea stands still...

hopefully the good Mothsniper still moves back from the shadows... otherwise we the people have to step in...

Two great ideas so far... keep 'em coming!

What about running it more like the Unofficial Painting Challenge? Where even the people running it can enter and let the community vote and select a winner each cycle. As it seems that many folks do not want to enter after they won...and had to host and judge.

Thoughts?

CB

Bottom line, I want to keep it going and bring more entries in by whatever means. I'd love a big, robust showing over another 30 quarters of hobby awesomeness.

CB, your idea may be the way to get it... but I hesitate on two counts. I'd be sad to lose the rigor of the scoring by going to a public vote, where I assume our beefy rubric couldn't be sustained. I'd also want to reach out to a few old grognards to see how they feel... I'm still a noob relative to Cam and Graven and some others.

What say you all?

I've been watching for the new theme to start for a while but would have completely missed this thread if MacPhail hadn't reached out to me.
Can you post a link here in the last round's thread? Maybe PM some of the grognards you mentioned? (I had to google grognard, but when it comes to MtG, that's completely me).

in my limited and wee bit biased opinion i think a total open theme and thus contest would be against the elite train of thought of this competition as it was designed...

... really... terrain is not a cup of tea for everybody... especially riveted terrain...

as mentioned above it is only my limited view here but the current system worked...up until now... and the why it currently had a minor glitch is beyond my insight... these times so many things can go wrong that even a winner of a competition might be out of touch to celebrate his own win... when we "restart" a new round i think i would feel bad about changing the rules...

cheers, vik

I like the current setup too, and it helps to distinguish it from the other competitions. It probably just needs a fail safe for when a winner doesn't want (for whatever reason - no judgement) or can't (life happens) host the next round. Perhaps a pool of past winners that are willing and able to pick up the next round? It's probably more surprising this issue hasn't come up before now.

I think we can cover both concerns without breaking pace... I have a few solid submissions and will launch a poll to choose our next theme and ringleader. We can simultaneously convene the High Council of Extraordinary Riveters to discuss and amend any self-imposed limits that stand in the way of more people having more fun more often with their toys.

Please continue those thoughts here, and I'll post the poll elsewhere. Whatever the theme is, let's all try to deliver an entry, no matter how simple or hasty, so we can keep this majestic beast on its feet! I'll commit to that despite getting my butt kicked IRL right now... in fact, some foam and glue might be just what I need. Onwards!

1) I am very much for keeping the rules and structure of the competition as they currently stand, that is, retain a theme-based categorization and remove the administrator as a competitor and maintain in the role of judge/adjudicator.

2) I haven't one up my sleeve, like Viktor, but I will think of a theme and send it to MacPhail, to do what I can to support the event.

3) My lack of participation has not been as a result of any lack of interest in competing, but the fact that I haven't as much time as I need to get a project done (and the time allotment shave been very generous- there is nothing wrong with the competition as currently structured). I have three projects started to compete that require finishing- and I will finish them- and I badly want that badge of MEMBER of the League (not Competitor).

4) As also pointed out earlier, providing a theme makes an 'apple to apples' comparison more viable for a competition based on attention to detail. In my opinion, some narrowing of focus is required else the selection of a 'winner' becomes increasingly subjective.

Along with thanking Dakkadakka for a place to show my work (something I hadn't had for nearly thirty years, modeling and painting for my own enjoyment) I must also thank the League for coming up with a stratagem that got me truly excited to have a reason to model and paint.

Rock on.

Hey MeerCat! Thanks for sounding off on the nature of the contest... I hope others continue to do so. The energy I'm picking up right now is to find ways to invigorate the contest without changing its basic structure, but I hope people keep putting in their two bits on the subject.

We did run a poll last week, and the winning theme effectively names the guest host for this round. The poll has named "dangerous terrain" as our next theme and the guest host should be opening a thread soon. In the meantime, hang on to your ideas... we may want to considering public polling over judges' discretion to steer toward topics and themes that will keep interest high.

Next round is up!