[MBC] - Monthly Banner Contest Rules
It's been quite a while since a regular contest has been held in the Digital Media section, but lately the section has seen some incredible growth and decent levels of activity, so it is with great pleasure that I unveil to you SPPf's Official MBC!
Like any contest, however, there are many rules that you need to follow in order for this regular contest to proceed smoothly, so please read these rules thoroughly before entering a contest.
Schedule
- The MBC will be operating on a four-week schedule.
- A thread will go up on the last Monday of the month. This thread will contain all the details for the MBC for that month, including the medium and themes.
- Entries will be open for two and a half weeks. This means that they will be open until the Friday two weeks and four days from the posting of the theme.
- On the Monday after entries close, a new thread will be posted which will contain all of the entries and it is in this thread that you will vote for the entry you think is the best.
- Voting closes on the Friday, with the winner subsequently announced that day. The cycle then repeats itself.
- The winner will have their name entered for eternity into the MBC Hall of Fame - yes, this does mean there are no other prizes, unfortunately.
Submitting Entries
- Anyone is free to enter.
- Once the thread for the relevant month is posted, you have until the Friday two weeks and four days from then to get your entry in. Late entries may not be accepted.
- All entries must be sent via Private Message to zhanton.
- Once you submit your entry, however, you may not change it.
- You can upload your entry to any image host, but I will be reuploading them all to the Photobucket account "SPPF_MBC" to maintain anonymity and also just in case someone's image hosting account runs out of bandwidth or something.
- Entries must be made in full by the contestant. The only exception to this is the usage of fan art; fan art will be allowed in some months but not in others, and this will be outlined in the relevant month's thread. However, you are by all means free to use any free resources in your work (which includes but is not limited to the usage of brushes, fonts, renders, etc) provided that you do the rest of the piece entirely on your own.
- You may only submit one entry unless said otherwise.
- Entries must adhere to the restrictions of the medium, size, theme, etc, which will all be outlined in the relevant month's thread.
- Contestants are permitted to submit a short description of how their piece matches the theme if they would like to. This description will be posted with your entry during the voting period to help the voters understand your interpretation of the theme.
- All entries must be specially created for the contest; you cannot use a piece you made earlier and submit it for the contest.
- As all entries will be posted anonymously, please refrain from adding your name or signature on your piece.
Voting Process
- Anyone is permitted to vote as long as you have not been banned from voting due to not following the voting rules previously.
- All entries will be posted anonymously and you will have to choose one piece to vote for. Do not vote based on content or based on who made the piece, but instead on skill, aesthetics, appeal, etc.
- All voting will be done in the relevant voting thread. Voting will last from Monday to Friday.
- All voting will be done through posts, not through a poll. When voting, you are required to briefly critique each and every piece of art before making your final decision. Please note that this critique does not need to be extremely long: a sentence or two on the piece's merits or flaws will, in most cases, be enough. However, reasons such as, "I hate Mareep!" or "I'm not a fan of the colour pink!" are not acceptable. In doing your critique, please explain at the end of your post, after critiquing each and every piece, why you voted for the banner that you did.
- Contestants are permitted to vote, albeit not for themselves.
- Contestants are not permitted to bribe or ask people for votes.
- Votes which are deemed unsatisfactory or spammy will not be counted and thus are invalid. For your vote to count, you must briefly critique each piece. This is to ensure that all voting is for proper reason and it also helps the contestants as they will be receiving helpful critique for their pieces.
- If you continually make poor votes, you may be banned from voting in the future and may face an infraction.
- The entry that receives the most votes when voting closes is the winner, and the contestant who submitted their entry will have their name entered into the Hall of Fame.
If you are unsure of anything, please let me know by posting in this thread or sending me a VM/PM. I hope you enjoy the MBC and I'm sure it will be a blast.
Upcoming Dates:
February 27th - March 2012 Contest Posted
March 16th - Entries Close
March 19th - Voting Opens
March 23rd - Voting Closes; Winner announced
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