Events & Contests

[SCS 7,537]

MLP Forums has a severe lack of community events. We have Equestria.tv, which is great, but aside from that we don't really have very many one-time/isolated or regular events organized by the staff. The staff are looking to organize more events, contests, and so on for people to participate in to provide further opportunities for fun, friendship, and overall community bonding. 
 
So, what sort of events would you like to see? It can be anything within reason. Game nights, art contests, you name it. It can be a regular event or an isolated/one-time deal. It can take place on or off MLP Forums, but it'll have to be supervised by MLP Forums staff in some form.
 
I've put up some hypothetical examples in a poll, but you are more than welcome to suggest something I didn't think of. If you post an idea I didn't think of, I'll edit it into the poll.
 
What I have in the poll are very broad and general ideas, so feel free to explain the details of your thoughts regarding them in a reply.
 
This topic will stay pinned until we get enough feedback about it. Feedback regarding this will be extremely helpful, so thanks ahead of time to everyone who posts in this topic.

[Pastel 7,630]

Many forums do events during Halloween, the April 1st, Christmas etc. this one is obligatory.

 

I'd also like to see some art contests.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Blobulle

[Lightwing 12,980]

I've always had multiple ides for events,but i've always feared that they weren't going to be heard.But now that there're looking for events,I could say a few ones:

• A contest of writting every two weeks,that last an entire weekend(Both Saturday and Sunday),and with one of two judges,who will be chooden randomly each time.The prize for the winner could be,per example,a week of Suscriber status,to motivate people to participate,and to. give quality on their stories
• This is more of a recovery of an idea,but,here it comes.
  When MLPForums celebrated the first year,everyone had a special badge for the ocassion.The normal users had the "Party Planner",and Admins and Mods had the "Party Master" badge.
  It may sound silly,but it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring them again for the next birthday of MLPForums
• On Februrary 16,we could put a new event,called,just as an idea,the Alicorn Day.
  Everyone has to change his name to a variation of it,ending in -Corn(referred to Alicorn),per example.
  -You,SCS,you would be SCScorn
  -Aquila would be Aquilacorn
  -Ghostie would be called Ghostiecorn
  -Artemis would be called Artycorn
  And,just to troll,Chaotic Discord will be called Discord,and given the Draconequs badge.
• And,as a last idea,game nights,specifically reuniting on a good Multiplayer game that allows as much players as possible,and have a PVP match between forum members.

I don't have more ideas for now,so feel free to look at which are good,thank you

[Chigens and Kay 3,833]

In the past I've hosted giveaways and game nights along with a Friday Night Chat (that has since died off) in our Steam group and I would very much like to do more in the future once we get going on our game servers.

[Rascal~ 657]

While art contests seem the most obvious one, writing contests would also be a really cool idea. 

Those in organising of events can choose what topics for the writing contest, like for example;
An invasion of Changelings, A friendship growing, Daily life of (Put Pony here), and such. And there can be limitations like; Under 5000 words or Over 5000 words or something like that. 
You may have to spread these contests out so that everyone involved with the reading and judging can get through it all, and possibly a cool prize for the best story would be great. And of course, Holiday Specials are always needed. 
Maybe once a month, to give everyone time to both write and read/judge and pick the winners. 

For the Art contests, well it would be pretty simple. Though it might be a bit hard to pick just one winner for this, topics to draw about would be very easy. For Example; Draw X pony with X pony, Draw Your oc with a Canon Character, draw your favourite Mane 6, Draw your Favourite Villain. And of course, Holiday specials. 
Another thing, which might actually be super duper beneficial to the site is. Having a banner contest, where all submissions or the best submissions can be used as the actual banner. So if we had like 20 winners, then we have 20 banners lined up. So if we kept a banner up for a week each, that's 20 weeks done. 

You don't need to use any of my ideas, but hopefully they'll be there for you guys to think over. Maybe having a different section for the winners of contests to show off the winning pieces, but you can always just pin the thread. 
And a submission process would also have to be figure out as well. 

 

[~StatesTheOblivious~ 1,795]

While I think that both, contests and events, are good ideas, maybe events are the better thing to focus on. Contests require a whole lot more of work from the people who organize them and from the people who participate than little one day events or gaming nights do. I don't say that contests wouldn't be interesting or that they are a bad idea, but there's also the little problem with the participation. Writing and drawing are things that everyone can do, but except for the participation itself, there's only little motivation to do so when you're anything but an artist. So to get the most out of it, more contests than just the usual fanart/fanfic ones would probably be required. But I have to say that I can't come up with any ideas for that right now.

 

And it's still important to remember that this is a very international forum. I'd like to write a fanfic, but my English is simply too "simple" for that and when a gaming night starts at 8pm EST, I'm fast asleep. I know this is no reason to not organize these things, but if to get a stronger community feeling is probably the most important reason to do such things, it'd be sad if a lot of members can only participate in a rather limited way.

[Rascal~ 657]

 

 

And it's still important to remember that this is a very international forum. I'd like to write a fanfic, but my English is simply too "simple" for that and when a gaming night starts at 8pm EST, I'm fast asleep. I know this is no reason to not organize these things, but if to get a stronger community feeling is probably the most important reason to do such things, it'd be sad if a lot of members can only participate in a rather limited way.

 

I think possibly a way we could combat the problem of the time zones would be to do it by country, or by time zone. I myself live in Australia, so as I am going to bed as many are waking, and as I wake many are saying goodnight. Though I don't personally do gaming, I know alot of aussie bronies who would love to partake in a gaming event. 
Maybe we can have an all round event, Like everyone would partake on the one day on several servers, and over the next couple of days or weeks we have different country events. They would still be open for anyone who is awake or wants to play, but it would be a little more suitable for those who can't possibly reach the events that always seem to happen at like 2 in the morning or right in the middle of school. 

[RaptorJaysus 178]

Whilst you have those contests up there, I couldn't help but notice there isn't a music one. Maybe a different genre every month or so, then whoever writes the best song of that genre could win something. You could also give other restrictions like instrumental only, a Capella, using G major scale, must incorporate taiko drums, etc. Now I'm imagining a Capella Djent...

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

As well as fanfic and music contests, I would really like to see more holiday events. Sure, we had a minor one for April fools day this year (and I can only really mention this year since it is the only year I have been here), but perhaps like an emoticon overhaul for holiday themed emotes on that holiday? Or perhaps writing and music contests that are specific to that holiday. Like a winter wrap up song contest and art show, or a halloween pg-13 horror contest and artwork contest, just something to not only celebrate the holidays a little more, but you can also include the creative talents of the many fin artists that come to these forums. Perhaps a special nightmare night video contest? While it doesn't have to be tied to the holidays, making holiday themed versions of these artist contests and game nights, along with some holiday decor on the forums would be pretty awesome to see, but also labour intensive so I can understand not wanting to undertake it.

[Shift 4,277]

Forum events? Oh boy do I have some ideas for you.

1. Nope Day (A day where you say nope a lot)
2. Dope Day (A day where you must be an idiot)
3. National Hat Day (A day where you must give your avatar a hat)
4. Squirrel Appreciation Day (A day where you must appreciate squirrels and have a squirrel avatar)
5. International Moment of Laughter Day (You must add "HAHAHAHA" or a form of that to your signature)
6. Magical Girl Day (MAGICAL GIRL AVATARS)
7. Blah Blah Blah Day (Mods change everyone's usertitle to Blah Blah Blah)
8. National High Five Day (You must post on someone's wall and try to make friends with them.)
9. Hug a Mod Day (What it says)
10. World Penguin Day (PENGUIN AVATARS)
11. National Pretzel Day (PRETZEL AVATARS)
12. May Day (Star Trek avatars)
13. Lost Sock Memorial Day (Sock avatars)
14. Love a Tree Day (Tree avatars)
15. Be a Mod Day (Change everyone's badge to a mod badge, and change their usertitle to mod, but don't give them mod powers. Best if this happens randomly with no warning.)
16. Learn about SCS Day (SCS tells all.)
17. Repeat Day (Mods make it so you double post the entire day.)
18. Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day (CREATE A CREATIVE ICE CREAM FLAVOR)
19. Compliment Your Mirror Day (The prettiest thing I have ever seen.)
20. Give Feld0 all of Your Money Day (What it says)

Well, mods, you better use all of my ideas or else I will find you.

Edited June 21, 2014 by A Shift Makusu2

[Lightwing 12,980]

Another idea for a One day Event:
-Role Reversal Day:The normal users become suscribers,and the suscribers become normal users.The moderators become administrators,and the adminiatrators become moderators.
Another take for this idea would be that the normal users become moderators,the suscribers become administrators,and viceversa.

Of course,during this day,the powers that each group have will stay on their owners.That means that the change is just physical,not account-wide.

[Clarity 3,094]

I've hosted a writing contest before.

 

All these ideas are great—and in addition to those, I think a subforum for them would be nice and also convenient for those who want to participate in multiple events.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,880]

In any case, I support this idea entirely, and I reflect that by voting for everything besides "other," since I have no ideas for this sort of thing myself.

 

It'd be an excellent way to bring the forums closer together and have fun while at it Blah blah blah, generic lame response - I'm sure you get the picture in that I support these ideas wholeheartedly and wish to participate in as many of them as I can

[Scootalove 10,692]

All those ideas sound really good and I'd love to every single one of them, but I wouldn't mind game nights!

[SCS 7,537]

Another idea for a One day Event:

-Role Reversal Day:The normal users become suscribers,and the suscribers become normal users.The moderators become administrators,and the adminiatrators become moderators.

Another take for this idea would be that the normal users become moderators,the suscribers become administrators,and viceversa.

 

Of course,during this day,the powers that each group have will stay on their owners.That means that the change is just physical,not account-wide.

 

This is a cool idea, but I'm just worried about the kind of confusion it could cause. Also, I think this might be possible, but I'd probably have to make a bunch of new user groups to make it work. It's not that I mind at all doing whatever work is needed to get an event to work, I'm just concerned about the confusion issue.

 

 

 

I've hosted a writing contest before.

 

All these ideas are great—and in addition to those, I think a subforum for them would be nice and also convenient for those who want to participate in multiple events.

 

To be clear, although I did say in my post that MLPF staff would have to supervise all contests in some form that doesn't mean that users can't run their own events or contests. Quite the contrary, you are more than welcome to host another writing contest if you wish, for example, and people are always welcome to post new events to the calendar. In the case of the former MLPF staff would just supervise the operation in some form to make sure it remained fair and on-track, and in the latter a moderator would just have to review the event and approve it before it became publicly viewable.

 

The goal with this is not to be annoying or to micromanage people, but to ensure that any event or contest associated to MLP Forums works smoothly so that everyone can have a good time.

[Lightwing 12,980]

This is a cool idea, but I'm just worried about the kind of confusion it could cause. Also, I think this might be possible, but I'd probably have to make a bunch of new user groups to make it work. It's not that I mind at all doing whatever work is needed to get an event to work, I'm just concerned about the confusion issue.

 

Well,a bit of confussion is always unavoidable,yeah...

But the same mechanic was made during April Fools,where the member titles and ranks,and even the badges,were changed to anothers,without warning.

 

On this situation,yeah,it should happen randomly(the event),but,at least,give a little warning 1 or 2 days before to avoid problems.

[Standard User 2,127]

Wow, why didn't I know about this thread earlier?

I've been drafting up a writing contest for the Forums to use. Basically, it would be an occasional thing (once a month, for special events/holidays, or whatever we decide) where entrants would have two weeks from the time a prompt was posted to draft, write, and edit their story. At the two week mark, all submitted stories would be reviewed by an impartial panel of judges and the top three winners would be announced, each winning some sort of prize that could change in relation to the time of year or the theme of the prompt. In addition, all entrants (should they wish) would be added to a FiMFiction account so that a larger part of the fandom can also enjoy the stories.

 

I've ran it by SkyBound and he seemed to see potential in the idea. If you like, here is my draft thus far. Obviously, this draft isn't finished, but I think getting some second and fifth opinions on it now before I get terribly into it would be a smart move.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Kolth

[Guest90210 3,569]

All of these sound like good ideas really. I've always wanted more contests and fun activities to do around the forums

[Jeric 46,890]

Considering how much fun the World Cup thread has been, I think the ideas here here are implementation worthy. I would participate in most of these, and I can get a few Scrivener Licenses as writing contest prizes too!

[WinterRose_aorsak 10]

I'd vote for art contests if I could vote twice!

[Simon 4,557]

On my last forum, we used to have several regular events we would run and they became really popular... more popular than the "big events" we would run. 

 

To give you an idea of what I mean, we used to run a weekly signature contest.  Every week there would be a theme for signatures, and people would submit their entries and change their signatures to match that theme.  Then at the end of the week we'd run a poll for 24 hours to decide who had the best signature.

 

We also had something called episode of the week.  Every week we'd choose an episode of the show, and run a week long discussion on that episode.  It was a really neat way to keep people watching the show, and keep the discussions active.  I think it would work really well with MLP since it would allow newer members in the fandom to have a discussion of some of the older episodes that aired before they were in the fandom.

 

Anyway, I'd like to see some of these same things done here.

 

Besides the weekly events we also had bigger contests and events a few times a year.  We would do the obvious artwork and fanfiction contests, but we did some unique ones too.  We had a lot of active collectors, so one time we did a collectors contest.  We had different categories like plushies, figures, and then an overall collection category and people were allowed to enter one item from their collection into each of the categories, and then people voted on their favorite item in each category.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd toss those things out there... I'm not sure how well all of them would work on a bigger forum like this one, but they were a lot of fun and kept people interested on my forum.

[baltoist 303]

I'm a gamer we must game on

[TheDarkMysteryMan 670]

The last forum I was with, we use to have two events happen. I don't know if you do these, but they were fun.

 

1.On April 1st, we would use a mod that would make everyone's avatar and signatures upside down. Really funny if you ask me.

 

2.The Hidden Cookie.

This game would involve one of the admins hiding a specific cookie somewhere on the site and every user would have to look for it. (Can't spoil on how to find it. PM me if you want to know more about it.)

[Khaoios 1,970]

I was thinking about this last night, although Im not too sure how many members have it:

 

A. GAMENIGHT

- I was thinking of a gamenight on either Xbox or PS3.  (Then again Im not to sure about how many ppl have Halo, b/c i was gonna have a group gamenight, with custom MLP maps, YES MLP FORGE MAPS I made.  COD would've been the same, but they don't have Forge)

 

B. VARIOUS FORUM EVENTS

- Now this is the best part (On whatever day you guys want)

-----Marvel Day, where Admins are Heroes, Mods are Villains, Subscribers are Anti-Heroes, and Members are who ever they wish. 

-----Star Wars Day, where Admins are Main Heroes, Mods are Jedi, Subscribers are Sith, and Members are minor characters (Stormtrooper, Rebel Trooper, etc.)

-----DC Comic Day, where Admins are Heroes, Mods are Villains, Subscribers are Minor Villains, and Members are minor characters

-----Halo Day (Let's save this for November 6th due to Master Chief Collection release.) Admins are Main Characters (UNSC), Mods are Villains (Covenant), Subscribers are Spartans (Our Custom Spartans or Elites), and Members are either ODST's or common marines or elites, . 

[Night Breeze 17]

I think an art contest for the artists as we are really good-

A game contest for the great gamers-

A writing contest for the awesome writers.