[FEEDBACK] about contest entries

Hello!

I would like to thank the team for adapting my 2019 furnishing contest entry into the game after so long, even though it wasn’t a winning design. It was adapted faithfully and looks beautiful - I have already seen people do fun things with it!

I am slightly bothered that it was considered good enough to add to the game but not good enough to show the original design with credit, but I’m only really bothered because it feels a bit… unbalanced, I suppose. I’m not angry, the terms were clear that non-winning designs could still be added to the game and the item itself is wonderful! Because I’m not that upset by it, I wasn’t originally planning to bring it up in the official forums…

However, after seeing a couple of others who had their non-winning designs added, I have a few thoughts to share that might improve the contest experience going forward.

Here are my suggestions, which I think are fairly small and fair:

1. When contest entries are implemented, please provide some in-game indication that it was a player-designed item.

For example, a small icon by the thumbnail, or for furnishing items add it to the description - “Designed for the 2019 Furnishing Contest”. Even if the creator is not given by name, an indicator that it was player-designed would be like a small thanks to the people responsible. A little appreciation for the players. Please? Even EA manages that much for the Sims!

2. Please state when you have used non-winning entries.

When new items are added, I like to look at the original design and compare! When there is no indication that the design isn’t on the winners’ list, I get frustrated trying to find it. Going forward, please tell us when you’ve used non-winning designs in the patch notes! Nothing drastic. Just a “some entries that did not win the contest prize have also been included” would be nice.

3. If you implement a non-winning design, please share the design you used!

Again, I like to look at the original design and compare, so when non-winning designs are used I’d still like to see them! Perhaps discuss them in a blog post?

I hope I’ve posted my feedback in the right place, and that these suggestions are taken into consideration! Thanks for reading.

i am saddened to read that they genuinly did this without any credit. even if its on there tos... imo its not a good look... it makes me feel kind of hesitant to add to design contests in the fear i will have my design used and be completly uncredited... are we not owned that much as players? is it so hard to say "we made changes to this players design". or "inspired by this players design" as an artist, not crediting the source really frustrates me

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiwiwi

I would like to thank the team for adapting my 2019 furnishing contest entry into the game after so long, even though it wasn’t a winning design. It was adapted faithfully and looks beautiful

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Congrats on getting your design into the game!

I'm disappointed I had to find out it was your design from a General forum thread that's going to be buried so deep in a few days such that only the early readers will know it exists, and if I'm honest you're handling this with way more grace than I might have. I hope they get better about crediting players for their contributions in the future.

Thank you!

If I’m to be honest, the lack of credit and prize bothers me far less than the design not being shown, but that’s a personal thing! I can imagine a wide variety of reactions - some people would be nothing more than thrilled to see their item in game, others would be upset to not be credited and get the prize. I’m just annoyed enough about the lack of credit to point it out, but not quite enough to start yelling about it. I suppose the fact the finished item is so gorgeous kind of outweighs my irritation! (The item in question, incidentally, is the Crystarium Wall Canopy).

The thought of my in-game name being added to the item description, as I’ve seen suggested elsewhere, actually makes me wince a little - I’m quite private, all things considered, and to have my name permanently plastered to an item would feel distinctly uncomfortable in a way a simple blog post or article would not. (It also seems a little unfeasible to add in-game names to the item descriptions, given how people change names and move servers often).

I really do think a little icon or addition to the description as a general “this was a player contribution” statement would be a fair and respectful way to acknowledge it, though! Not just for credit’s sake, but because I think highlighting the player contributions would just feel good for the playerbase as a whole - a way for the team to thank us and show they value our input.

I think this is a good idea and should be supported! Credit where credit is due, even if it is anonymous ingame.