Like the topic says, why isn't there ever a contest to create Aliens? I mean, we have the pieces that could have made the Lukari. It's a missed opportunity if you ask me.
There are some people out there with very interesting looking Aliens. Also, if the Dev's wanted, they could change the appearance of the winning Alien to finalize it - making it more unique.
I can probably figure out a few reasons not to ever have a contest of this sort, that is that the outfits are unique fitted. But I find that a little bit weak if that were an excuse.
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2. Even if we did, the end product wouldn't be materially different from a design the devs chose themselves. Voting is just a selection process, not a new creative format with possibilities untapped by professional game development.
3. What would be the difference is that a certain proportion of people would be able to say "I don't want this!" (the design that eventually wins) at every stage in voting, creating a progressively larger pool of disenfranchised players who have to deal with their preference for something else in addition to the subjective artistic appreciation for the winning design in its own right.
It's basically a whole heap of extra trouble that should be reserved for very special occasions (ie. community PR where voting is just another way of announcing upcoming content and maintaining interest in the game during slow periods.) It shouldn't be taken as the default way to evaluate future content.
Now, before I shoot myself in the foot with regard to some Foundry suggestions I've made, I have no issue what-so-ever with devs giving nods to player creations (especially those that aren't mine.) But contests like those held for the Jupiter and Lukari ship aren't the way to regulate what gets in because then the public focus is competition between creations (I want this, not that!), rather than appreciation for talent across the community.
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I understand that you wouldn't want every creative process to become democratic. It's not what I was asking for really.
Maybe this could remain open to those who do want to show some of their Aliens off. I'm wondering if anyone else had this thought when they saw the Lukari or even the Defari, because they're a little simplistic in their creation.
It's a good thing and a bad thing, good so you can recreate it yourself and relatively bad because it might not be that exclusive.
It's honestly easier to design a new ship than it is a new alien, not that designing a new ship is all that easy to begin with for all the same reasons.
That makes less sense for ships that I will need to spend zen or 2-4 weeks of grinding to get.
It would be a missed opportunity for Cryptic to delegate one of their few original species to a community creation. Remember, we are the audience. Even though we have a lot of creative flexibility in our little corners of the game that freedom has to stop once we start dealing with content analogous to what a new show or movie might create. That new "official" content is what we're here for (ultimately).
If you really want to create your own species, or see what other players have created, check out the Foundry once it comes back online. That's a great format to explore UGC. We don't need to vote in any particular circumstance to see one creation highlighted in a featured episode. It's not fair to Cryptic, the general player base, or other creators. Promoting player content should be through a more systematic approach that makes all UGC more accessible (ex. Foundry search UI update, new feature to directly copy designs from other players). Community voting on community creations for official designs just seems misplaced. Nice idea, in spirit, but in practice it gets us further from where we want to be.
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It's pretty unequivocal though if you didn't submit your design to the contest. So what that you've created something similar or identical in the past? You didn't put your name in the hat, nothing can be expected to go your way. This would only be a problem if two users happened to submit identical designs to the same contest, but the probability for that happening (calculate the combinations across all settings) is fantastically low. And even if it did happen, Cryptic could simply say "hey, these two designs belong to the same species. If it wins, both users get a shout out."
In any case, I wouldn't say this is the big issue with community design contests for Cryptic species.
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I don't think byozuma was referring to any issue relating to copyright or royalties (which appears to be the track you're on). Previous community contests (ex. Foundry spotlight challenges) have included zen prizes. I believe their concern was that "trolls" could try to claim a cut of said prizes by supposedly arguing that they had created a winning design first. Unlike a Foundry mission, there's no publishing record for a custom costume and they're relatively easy to duplicate.
But, as elaborated in my last post, that's probably not a significant concern. The basic facts of the contest, the rules of probability, and not caring what trolls have to say are sufficient safeguards if ever such a contest were attempted (which it shouldn't but it's worth keeping that "no" on track.)
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