Contests for Implementing Player Suggested Content (Gear, Weapons, Quest, etc.)?

It was a few years ago when I stumbled upon what would equate to a fan-fiction that detailed a unique and original quest that delved into a great story centered around Tavnazia's history. The Fan made quest was so intricate and detailed that it included every single Npc dialog, location for a cutscene, to the very boss fights including special attacks they would use. It was pretty epic.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what became of the request, but the concept of such serious and well thought out player suggested content is pretty undeniable. We have great contest that calls on the creativity from players like the Fan Art contest, and If I'm not mistaken, we at one point had a contest that called for players to create the best In-game party event using the group meeting functionality or something like that. Yet we don't have contests that allows the player to use that creativity for actual in game content.

The question purposed in the Thread title asks if the Devs could possibly consider hosting an "Official Annual Suggestion Contest " where players submit suggestions for actual in-game content targeted towards Gear, Weapons, Spells, and Quest. The contest could function very much like the Fan Art contest works in terms of the Dev team judging the submissions to crown winners in each category. All the nice legal stuff could flow in the same vein as the Fan Art Contest as well in that the payoff would be actually getting your idea created and implemented into the game. The Devs could even showcase the visuals of the base weapons/gear/scrolls(each spell type up for suggestions)/locations(where the quests can be implemented).

(Armor) Head———Body———Hands:
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Heavy(Hd.)——Heavy(Bdy.)——Heavy(Hnd.)
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Mid(Hd.)——Mid(Bdy.)——Mid(Hnd.)
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Light(Hd.)——Light(Bdy.)——Light(Hnd.)
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Shields(Tower)——(Kite)——(Round)——(Buckler)
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(Weapons) GA—Axe—Sword—GS—Scyth—Dagger—Staff—Club—Polearm—H2H—Bow—Crossbow—Gun—Throwing—Ammo
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(Images of each of the respective weapon type with nothing written for the descriptions)
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(Scrolls) White Magic—Black Magic—Enhancing Magic—Enfeebling Magic—Elemental Magic—Healing Magic—Divine Magic—Summoning Magic
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(Images of each of the respective Scroll types with nothing written for the descriptions)
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(Quest Locations) The Republic of Bastok—The Kingdom of San d'Oria—The Federation of Windurst
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(Any of the areas associated with these zones)

And so on.
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»Submission Example

The rest would be up to the players to choose which category they would like to suggest in. One submission per category per player, up to maybe 3 categories per player. Each contest wouldn't have to focus on ALL these suggestion categories at once per contest. Even if only one or two items from each category was picked to let players suggest for, it would still be awesome. ^^ Add in all the other "fairness rules" you'd expect to see surrounding a contest of this magnitude. So long as the suggestions are of a serious and well thought out nature, this kind of contest could be the most highly anticipated FFXI event ever. Not saying that each submission would have to be on par with the example I spoke of above in terms of detail, but perhaps the forms per category that players have to fill out offer enough detail to the Devs so that the submissions are clear enough to explain the suggestions effectively.

The majority of post found here are not focused to specific concepts, even in the respective thread locations like say for instance the WHM thread. Players can post on literally anything regarding WHMs, where these contest would have very focused points of content to suggest for like the possible stats for a new Hand gear for Mages. The forms would be very simple to fill out (literally "Fill in the Blank"), so pretty much a child could handle filling one out.

The contest could be targeted around only one to two topics from each category, so it wouldn't have to be the whole list each time. So you would see a contest one year that focuses on a Head piece and a Body piece, a Polearm and a Sword, a Healing and Dark magic scroll, and one or two quest for players to submit suggestions for.

These "Suggestion contest" would be regarded very much the same as our suggestions here in that they are just "suggestions" which the Devs can use entirely or partially and change whatever they need to change. Everyone entering the contest would know and agree to this before submitting their suggestions.

Thanks for listening Devs /salute

Must be time to show off this weeks artwork!

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Originally Posted by Kimble

Must be time to show off this weeks artwork!

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That was what I was thinking too

I think Ifrit mated with a galka.



As far as the idea no offense king but it's terrible and it looks like your looking for recognition again. These reason they do things like fan art contests is because its easy because all it requires is a screen shot. Suggestions are great but the average player has no idea what it takes to implement "their great idea" and it would probably be more of a pain in the ass then it would be worth. Even if the development team did decide to lean heavily on someones suggestion, if it wasn't exactly what the person suggested full on NERD RAGE would ensue.

Long story short the forums are a good place to suggest things but they already have to sift through 10 tons of crap to find a kernel of anything that is worth considering. Adding a contest would obligate them to implement something that might be horrible. Unless of course they can end the contest by saying I'm sorry all of your ideas are horrible but thank you for giving the dev team a good laugh.

If its a great idea a community rep will say cool idea I'll pass it along and we should let it die at that

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Originally Posted by BorkBorkBork

I think Ifrit mated with a galka.

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It does seem that way, doesn't it?

There's a reason why SE doesn't look to the player base for game related ideas, and evidence of it is all over these forums.

This is a terrible idea. Fan art and fiction, sure, but stuff this is too complicated and difficult for players to do.

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Originally Posted by BorkBorkBork

As far as the idea no offense king but it's terrible and it looks like your looking for recognition again. These reason they do things like fan art contests is because its easy because all it requires is a screen shot. Suggestions are great but the average player has no idea what it takes to implement "their great idea" and it would probably be more of a pain in the ass then it would be worth. Even if the development team did decide to lean heavily on someones suggestion, if it wasn't exactly what the person suggested full on NERD RAGE would ensue.

Long story short the forums are a good place to suggest things but they already have to sift through 10 tons of crap to find a kernel of anything that is worth considering. Adding a contest would obligate them to implement something that might be horrible. Unless of course they can end the contest by saying I'm sorry all of your ideas are horrible but thank you for giving the dev team a good laugh.

If its a great idea a community rep will say cool idea I'll pass it along and we should let it die at that

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Aside from it being really fun to participate in, why would someone enter a contest if they didn't want the possible recognition of being a winner? It would be a contest where folks compete, and hopefully folks would win and be celebrated for it. I'll correct you again, I've never "looked for recognition" from these suggestions.

The concept is called a "Suggestion Contest". Meaning that all submissions would be regarded as such, and SE wouldn't be "obligated" to implement anything. The fun of the contest would be in coming up with original ideas for the categories in question and "hoping" your suggestion gets picked. It's based on the same excitement of the Bonanza lottery thing y'know? You may or may not win. The "fairness rules" I mentioned in the OP would cover SE as well in that they have the responsibility to maintain game balance and therefore wouldn't add anything that would upset it. If all submissions fail to be something the Devs can realistically implement into the game, then yeah, they could say something like, "Unfortunately, none of the submissions we received for "category name" met the required game balance standards currently in place."

Just like the Fan Art contest, where there are great submissions and not so great submissions, a contest like this would see a wide range of potentially great ideas and not so great ideas. Contest usually have a way of separating the good from the bad fairly easily. Theses forums are indeed a great space for ideas to be tossed around, but this space is not focused on specific elements like these suggestion contest would be. Nor is there a limit on how many suggestions we can make here, where the contest would be limited per player and possibly cause folks to think deep and hard before submitting. That wouldn't stop the silly submissions completely of course, but it could reduce them significantly.

The idea would be to have a focused contest that's fun and creative.

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Originally Posted by TybudX

There's a reason why SE doesn't look to the player base for game related ideas, and evidence of it is all over these forums.

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Huh? Abyssea adjustments, new warp Npcs, higher Fellow Npc levels, Gear augments via Synergy(stage 1), Atma infusement menu additions, better skill up options, new porter moogles storage options, more inventory space (moogle sack), etc, etc. all came from player based suggestions.

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Originally Posted by kingfury

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Huh? Abyssea adjustments, new warp Npcs, higher Fellow Npc levels, Gear augments via Synergy(stage 1), Atma infusement menu additions, better skill up options, new porter moogles storage options, more inventory space (moogle sack), etc, etc. all came from player based suggestions.

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They came from player based suggestions that started from other forums. The posters on these forums compared to the actual playerbase are like the Vancouver rioters compared to Vancouver citizens. An embarrassment.

Here's an example I know came from here personally. ^^ There's more, but the point is Devs have done pretty great at listening to player feedback.

»Known Issues: New Atma Menu "Delayed" again?! /sulk More info if any if you PLEASE

Is it even possible for you to go even 5 minutes without stroking yourself?
(your ego)

Not sure how proving the Devs listen has anything to do with my ego, but uhhh.... hmmm... okay.

Get back in the mines.

This:

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Even if the development team did decide to lean heavily on someones suggestion, if it wasn't exactly what the person suggested full on NERD RAGE would ensue.

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and this:

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This is a terrible idea. Fan art and fiction, sure, but stuff this is too complicated and difficult for players to do.

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Not to mention if all ideas get turned down and then later something is implemented into the game that's somewhat similar to a player's previous suggestion - "OMG SE STOLE MY IDEA BAWWW!" - incoming nerd rage again.

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Originally Posted by kingfury

Huh? Abyssea adjustments, new warp Npcs, higher Fellow Npc levels, Gear augments via Synergy(stage 1), Atma infusement menu additions, better skill up options, new porter moogles storage options, more inventory space (moogle sack), etc, etc. all came from player based suggestions.

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Now compare those things to the amount of completely useless/pointless/worthless/crappy/downright stupid ideas posted by players on this forum. I think you will find that the latter outweighs the former by a lot.

Let the players stick to posting their ideas here. If it's anything useful for the majority of the playerbase, and not impossible to implement into the game, chances are SE just might listen.

Again, the majority of post found here are not focused to specific concepts, even in the respective thread locations like say for instance the WHM thread. Players can post on literally anything regarding WHMs, where these contest would have very focused points of content to suggest for like the possible stats for a new Hand gear for Mages. If you find the example I popped on the OP of the type of form a player would possibly fill out difficult, then yeah, I'd say this contest wouldn't be for you. It's pretty much "Fill in the blank", so I'm almost positive a 5 year old could handle it.

The OP states that the contest could be targeted around only one to two topics from each category, so it wouldn't have to be the whole list each time. So you would see a contest one year that focuses on a Head piece and a Body piece, a Polearm and a Sword, a Healing and Dark magic scroll, and one or two quest for players to submit suggestions for.

I've said it previously that this "Suggestion contest" would be regarded very much the same as our suggestions here in that they are just "suggestions" which the Devs can use entirely or partially and change whatever they need to change. Everyone entering the contest would know and agree to this before submitting their suggestions. It would not be an arena for "nerd rage" to ensue lol.

It's still easier for them to invent something on their own that works than to wade through the player's suggestions.
The junk you make alone would waste an eternity.

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having read it."

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Originally Posted by Khajit

It's still easier for them to invent something on their own that works than to wade through the player's suggestions.

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This so much.

And Kingfury - do you really think there won't be nerd rage and whining if SE take a player's suggestion and tweak it to make it work in game, or implement something that's somewhat similar without giving the player recognition for it. Come on, you can't possibly be that naive. Just look at your own posts in your Gyms of Vana'diel thread. And look at the amount of complaining on this forum - people complain about everything!

@ Tamoa:

Well all the nerds that I know can read pretty well, and would probably be okay with the contest rules so long as they could possibly get something unique out of it. The folks that are touched in the head however, yes, they will most likely skim over the contest rules thinking their "suggestions" once submitted are in some way owned by them.

I've said it twice now that this would be a "Suggestion contest", in which there would be winners, so that aspect would satisfy the competition and recognition side of things. The submissions that are in fact chosen would be highlighted by the Dev team and showcased online somewhere in similar fashion to the Fan Art contest. It wouldn't change the fact that the Devs still have the responsibility to uphold game balance and could still tweak parts of the submission if needed. All that good stuff would be spelled out in the rules before you'd submit anything.

And you're absolutely right about people complaining about everything.

There is absolutely no need for SE to sponsor a contest for suggestions. They get enough of those anyways, and don't need to spend more time than they are on them, which is more or less...bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, terrible idea, how high do you even have to be to suggest that, bad idea, bad idea, half-decent idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, terrible idea, bad idea.

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Originally Posted by Khajit

It's still easier for them to invent something on their own that works than to wade through the player's suggestions.
The junk you make alone would waste an eternity.

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In similar fashion to some of the threads created here on these very suggestion boards, the more "logical" heads you have suggesting stuff, the more it equates to possibly seeing better ideas. I've seen great ideas posted here from folks and thankfully some have been passed along to the Devs.

What kind of ideas have you suggested Khajit?

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Originally Posted by Khiinroye

There is absolutely no need for SE to sponsor a contest for suggestions. They get enough of those anyways, and don't need to spend more time than they are on them, which is more or less...bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, terrible idea, how high do you even have to be to suggest that, bad idea, bad idea, half-decent idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, terrible idea, bad idea.

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lol maybe for the unimaginative folks, I'd agree with you there. There's plenty of really creative players out there that would have a blast with an event like this.

The Devs get loads of /random ideas here yeah, but this contest would have very focused pieces of content for players to suggest ideas for.

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Originally Posted by Minsc

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having read it."

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Best quote ever. Epic nostalgia bomb for me. Thank you for reminding me of this.

Also, King, you really need to quit while you're ahead. Every time you say "I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for FFXI", a kitten cries.

Having suggestions organized in contest form would only put pressure on them to impliment an idea regardless of if it is good or not. If they flat out said "We're not implimenting anything from this year's contest," there would be a lot of rage going around. You can make people sign agreements, but you have to realize that half the people wouldn't even read the damn thing. Even if they did they would still act however the hell they felt like if things didn't go their way.

On a side note, you can disagree with someone's ideas without acting immature about it. We do need people stepping in and saying "hey this idea is bad, and here's why," but when you resort to personal attacks/tag spams that have nothing to do with the topic; you're just going to end up getting yourself banned.

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Originally Posted by Greatguardian

Best quote ever. Epic nostalgia bomb for me. Thank you for reminding me of this.

Also, King, you really need to quit while you're ahead. Every time you say "I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for FFXI", a kitten cries.

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Reading is fun.

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Originally Posted by kingfury

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Reading is fun.

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I'm showing about the same amount of reading comprehension you show anyone who has a technical issue with some of your otherworldly ideas.

Would a fanfiction contest be cool? Sure. Should any of it have to do with an obligation to add crap to the game? No way. The fact that you made this thread really doesn't do wonders for the public perception of your ego either.

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Originally Posted by CrystalWeapon

Having suggestions organized in contest form would only put pressure on them to impliment an idea regardless of if it is good or not. If they flat out said "We're not implimenting anything from this year's contest," there would be a lot of rage going around. You can make people sign agreements, but you have to realize that half the people wouldn't even read the damn thing. Even if they did they would still act however the hell they felt like if things didn't go their way.

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I agree with you on that fact that the none reading types would find ways to be upset regardless lol. I'd say that it wouldn't be much pressure, since it would only be a few select pieces of content to attempt to get suggestions for vs. the full list of topics.

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Originally Posted by CrystalWeapon

On a side note, you can disagree with someone's ideas without acting immature about it. We do need people stepping in and saying "hey this idea is bad, and here's why," but when you resort to personal attacks/tag spams that have nothing to do with the topic; you're just going to end up getting yourself banned.

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Couldn't agree more.

I personally would like to hear more of your ideas. Perhaps some ideas regarding jobs other than WAR?

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Originally Posted by Greatguardian

I'm showing about the same amount of reading comprehension you show anyone who has a technical issue with some of your otherworldly ideas.

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Not at all.

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Originally Posted by Greatguardian

Would a fanfiction contest be cool? Sure. Should any of it have to do with an obligation to add crap to the game? No way. The fact that you made this thread really doesn't do wonders for the public perception of your ego either.

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Suggesting a "Suggestion Contest" on a Suggestion Board is really that far out there for ya eh? Again, "reading is fun". I've stated three times the Devs wouldn't be "obligated" to do anything with the suggestions throughout the contest. Allowing creative players the opportunity to be creative towards a game they love is the foundation for creating this thread. I'm not interested in what bitter, disrespectful posters think of me.

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Originally Posted by kingfury

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In similar fashion to some of the threads created here on these very suggestion boards, the more "logical" heads you have suggesting stuff, the more it equates to possibly seeing better ideas. I've seen great ideas posted here from folks and thankfully some have been passed along to the Devs.

What kind of ideas have you suggested Khajit?

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Well for one I've suggested you STOP doing this nonsense over an over in a blatant attempt to stroke your ego. Why do you think me being content to let the people I'm PAYING to make up ideas FOR me to have fun with is a crime? Sure I could say X needs to be changed but I can also say I'll go quit and play pokemon instead until the next patch. The responsibility is on THEM to make this game continue to be interesting to me and not on me to turn it into a my little pony playground.

And your argument you just posted is yet another logical fallacy since more ideas does not mean the ratio of complete and utter shit ideas vs decent/tolerable/good ones will invert itself. It merely means that the dev teams have to wade through even MORE garbage, figure out if it's even possible to do the half good ones individually, possibly let some ridiculously horrible nonsense through because at least one person in the production line wont play the game enough to realize the idea sucks, tie up resources via playtesting the ideas, and so on and so forth through the entire process.

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Originally Posted by Minsc

I personally would like to hear more of your ideas. Perhaps some ideas regarding jobs other than WAR?

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I don't know if it would do anything for you Minsc. So far, the only feedback you've offered is those nice quotes you've found. I think this is the 1st time you've typed an actual sentence in response to one of my threads.

/stagger

I've posted plenty of feedback besides quotes (I could copy/paste them for you if you wish), you've just selected to read small portions of them and respond to even smaller portions of them. ^^ lol

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Originally Posted by Khajit

Well for one I've suggested you STOP doing this nonsense over an over in a blatant attempt to stroke your ego. Why do you think me being content to let the people I'm PAYING to make up ideas FOR me to have fun with is a crime? Sure I could say X needs to be changed but I can also say I'll go quit and play pokemon instead until the next patch. The responsibility is on THEM to make this game continue to be interesting to me and not on me to turn it into a my little pony playground.

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Or, you could actually want to see changes in a game you're a fan of and post suggestions about those changes since you're on a suggestion board. Even though tearing people down seems much more fun for most of the posters here, try the opposite.

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Originally Posted by Khajit

And your argument you just posted is yet another logical fallacy since more ideas does not mean the ratio of complete and utter shit ideas vs decent/tolerable/good ones will invert itself. It merely means that the dev teams have to wade through even MORE garbage, figure out if it's even possible to do the half good ones individually, possibly let some ridiculously horrible nonsense through because at least one person in the production line wont play the game enough to realize the idea sucks, tie up resources via playtesting the ideas, and so on and so forth through the entire process.

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Try to creatively think of something to change about the game. Then post it.

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Originally Posted by Minsc

/stagger

I've posted plenty of feedback besides quotes (I could copy/paste them for you if you wish), you've just selected to read small portions of them and respond to even smaller portions of them. ^^ lol

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To my threads, or others? I've never responded to your quote post.

Kingfury, personally I think you are a very talented artist and I wish there was a PM feature here so we could talk about art stuff together. I think the issue here though is that whenever you make a post it comes off less that you have a coherent idea about the game and more that you want to show off your newest batch of drawings.

That being the case, there is this weird mentality in this forum where people think that SE's devs are hyperanalyzing every post and if there is a suggestion people don't agree with they have to rush to swat it down in the most obnoxious way possible to make sure they don't get conned into picking it as a focal point of the next upate. It's cool if you disagree, but people get downright ornery when they think somebody has a bad idea, and the poster is made to feel like they're an idiot for even thinking that was a good idea.

In the end - do I agree with this idea? No not really though it is an interesting concept. Kingfury, while I may not always agree with you, I do think you should have the right to make suggestions and post your drawings without being attacked for it. It's always more interesting to see a post that might be abit out there but has passion and interest behind it rather than more "Bawww fix abyssea bawww fix my job!" posts.

Again, people don't NEED to have an idea to tell someone that theirs is a bad idea. Unless you want me to come up with a bad idea myself just to tell you both of these ideas are bad.

Heres an idea:

Instead of doing this, have a contest to design a piece of level 1, no stat, event gear. Something that LOOKS nice, that people might want, that in no way has anything to do with having to balance stats, etc.

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Originally Posted by kingfury

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To my threads, or others? I've never responded to your quote post.

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Reread your whole "GIVE WARs ALL WEAPON SKILLS!!!" rant. You read a small portion of my feedback, responded to a smaller portion. Despite what some on here are saying, we want to read more of your ideas. Please keep posting! ^^b lol

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Originally Posted by Shibayama

Kingfury, personally I think you are a very talented artist and I wish there was a PM feature here so we could talk about art stuff together. I think the issue here though is that whenever you make a post it comes off less that you have a coherent idea about the game and more that you want to show off your newest batch of drawings.

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Thanks for compliment Shibayama. / For the record, I change my sig every week. It has nothing to do with my post however, as I've at times created multiple threads within a week without changing it. I have a lot of FFXI artwork that I've created over the years is all. Seems fitting to put it where it belongs.

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Originally Posted by Shibayama

That being the case, there is this weird mentality in this forum where people think that SE's devs are hyperanalyzing every post and if there is a suggestion people don't agree with they have to rush to swat it down in the most obnoxious way possible to make sure they don't get conned into picking it as a focal point of the next upate.

In the end - do I agree with this idea? No not really though it is an interesting concept. Kingfury, while I may not always agree with you, I do think you should have the right to make suggestions and post your drawings without being attacked for it. It's always more interesting to see a post that might be abit out there but has passion and interest behind it rather than more "Bawww fix abyssea bawww fix my job!" posts.

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Absolutely cool that you don't agree with the suggestion man. / I respect your feedback. Thanks.

No problem - at the very least I always enjoy seeing what you come up with. It's usually alittle off the wall and I think thats cool. Also... are you from Valefore?