contest is a good idea but i have a few issues with this contest.. is only open to those that make graphics and only to those that know how to and make smileys so thats like what 5% or less of the members here.
So rare skills are useless? Maybe instead of putting down those that can make smilies, more people should learn how to make them. If your estimate is correct, then that is a really pathetic statistic. I expect at least a 100 entries in this, from which at least 20 will be fantastic.
so next is who is going to do them? the elite members here who all carry Charter membership which is the freaking prize? are you kidding me? sure thats a great prize if you already dont own it. if you do its nothing.
The majority of people here aren't Charter members. I for one would make a set for no money at all, perhaps just as a thank you for making fantastic software. I have no clue what the benefits of being a Charter member are, but I'll take the swanky user bar, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks along this path.
its pretty easy if you spend a little time thinking about a good prize with out spending money something as simple as free hosting for 3 months is a fair and good prize
No offense but that's a retarded prize. If you own an SMF forum you most likely already have a host. Unless SMF would be willing to fund my website's expenses for three months, this prize would be completely useless, and I'd rather have no prize at all than to have a completely useless one.
and there's much much more things you can do hell simply put the smiley set on all new smf and i am sure this would be a REALLY great reward for them and make more people want to do it. there is over 2,000 public free smiley sites, with more then 100,000 smileys.
Did I misread or isn't this exactly what they are doing, putting the set on all SMF 2.0 running forums, as part of its default skin? I don't see how this is more incentive because you gain zero notoriety from it, but it's a nice perk.
i like contest and think they should happen but i personal think SMF would be better off with other contest that will build user participation help create a bond with the site its members and to improve smf.
Woah now, this isn't the end-all of competitions. From the looks of the prize and the task, this is just a little thing to get a bit more hype going for 2.0 as well as a great method to get a free set of smileys. I'm sure future competitions will include a larger member base, but the more people a contest targets means the less talent it takes to do it.
Something as simple as testimonials contest would be great SMF would get 100s of people that enter. there is over 2,000 public free smiley sites, with more then 100,000 smileys i strongly suggest making this a testimonials
95% of the premade smilies I've seen are god-awful. There are a handful of terrific sets and artists out there but I'm sure each and every one of those artists will agree with me here: they would rather make a set to win a contest than make a set and get nothing for it.
And a testimonial contest? How would that even profit SMF? Why not just make a thread, asking for people's testimonials for nothing in return? No company in the world needs thousands of them, just several to use on the main site.
I for one an excited to do this, and will start on my entry when I get back into town and have a copy of Photoshop nearby as well as some free time.
Here are a few of mine that I currently use on my site. They do get a little graphic so I'll post just some PG-rated ones here as a preview of the kind of style I'll be going for:
Of course, the trick will be making them transparent .gifs + animated + low file size. Looking forward to the challenge. Good luck to all the other contestants. :]
I hope you find this contribution helpful feedback.
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