OFFICIAL Eorzea's Next Top Model Discussion Thread

[EorzeasNTM]

This x100.

I'm not personally fond of the idea of submitting multiple shots and having other people choose one, though. That adds a random element of 'what if'. Right now, though we may take many shots, the ultimate choice is up to us, and if it doesn't work, it's our responsibility. Putting that responsibility on someone else doesn't strike me as a wise idea.

This x100. Aila sent me 5 pictures for her beach shot and I chose the best one and she got sent home. I am NEVER choosing a model's picture again. xD

As for an example pic, that wouldn't be fair because I want you all to show your own take on the shot. If I was going to post an example shot, honestly they would all look exactly like Jayzan's looks this round, and how Yunie's looked in the river shoot. The character off to the side, and a wide open background in the rest of the picture. That is not what I want to see from every model every round though, ya know?

and let the chips fall where they may.

I just hope everyone can accept this and do it. As of now it doesn't seem that way. (Or it does and I am just reading way into what everyone is saying.)

I want this to be fun for everyone, so hearing so many frustrations is really awful as the host of the show. ; ; I've been depressed all day since Valintina quit over the affects the contest was having on her.
So we all feel like crap together!

I can't stress enough how unimportant the scores are except for the last place one though. The person who is scoring the highest isn't receiving any bonus prizes, isn't safe from elimination, or anything. They just...scored higher. I know that isn't what any of you are frustrated with, and that it's more of the why is this pic being judged one way and another this way, but since (I think) we can all agree Byooki and bleizahr deserved to go home those first two rounds whatever is happening is still eliminating the person who deserves it. <<< I know this sounds HORRIBLE but I am not saying it in a negative way. Please don't take it like that you two. Maybe "deserves" is the wrong word. ^^;;;;;;

The main "possible issue" I see with my voting system is, and we talked about this last round, when a model who has been in the top consistently falls to the bottom and gets eliminated. It's unfair to the other models for judges to say "I gave them a 3 because all their previous shots were amazing even though this one is weak and I don't want them to go home." so we can't do that. It's unfair to the other models and voters and judges for me to say "I disagree with this elimination and therefor I am overriding it." So in this case, Ciara has been pretty strong, but maybe this picture might send her home. It sucks for her, and her fans, but the only thing I can say is Eorzea's Next Top Model, the person not the contest, has to have a strong photo every round or risk elimination. It's okay to have the second weakest photo, but if you have the weakest, in the eyes of the voters and judges, there is nothing your past pictures can do to save you. This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

The secondary issue is all the models having anxiety attacks and low self esteem emerging from participating. . .actually this issue is more important because it's killing the good vibes. ; ;

[Nixxa]

I love when I get the chance to get back to my computer so I can hop on the forums and see how things have changed since Ive been gone. When I first got the list of rounds from Rongi I had a feeling this (hullbreaker isle) was going to be one of the ones we were going to struggle with, but they came out incredibly well. Glad everyone's doing so well and sorry to see people go, but they went out in a blaze of glory! s(@.@)b Wish I could find time to come back to the game soon, really starting to miss it now lol.

To the very last minute before I got kicked from the server and I had to let my membership end I was taking screen shots lol, I wonder if people will be able to guess the theme I used for this set. I was really glad they came out all right, just wish I would have had the chance to use them, haha.

Edit: Sorry Rongi I didn't mean it the way I think you took it haha, I really liked the hull breaker round and the potential is there for sure. Dungeon shoots I do think might be better at later rounds instead of early on, maybe, as I feel they require to use everything you have learned up until that point to make up for being locked into a single area for your environment to keep things original and interesting enough to distinguish between everyone. Of course this time I don't think that was the case as I really liked the shots everyone took and a lot of them had that one thing that set them apart from the others.

[EorzeasNTM]

@Ayreon I try to do a photoshoot that is Dungeon based each cycle to make things difficult. Tyra always has some crazy photoshoot that tests her models, so I wanted to bring that to ENTM. Example: The wind tunnel shoot. xD Or anything with wild animals. xD

If people hate it so much i'll just stop adding Dungeon photoshoots. Let me know everyone.

[princesst3a]

I have a couple cents to add into the current discussion, but first of all, I just have to say how much this whole event pleases me. I just found out about it this cycle, round 2, and I think it's such a fun idea and it's so cool to see everyone's efforts! I may only get to vote for a handful of people each round but I'm a fan of everyone involved for expressing themselves and contributing something so positive and fun to the community, and it makes me upset to think some people are feeling insecure because of the system used to progress the event.

Unfortunately with a public voting system you're inevitably going to run into problems with the masses and differing opinions...but I don't think it's a bad way to run the event, because really, isn't that the whole point of running the event by the community? As it has already been suggested, I think it's just the general negative feedback and lack of constructive criticism that's unnecessary. I've read some of the other voter posts and don't really understand why some people have to explain why they didn't vote for other contestants, especially without giving constructive reasons.

In the end, each voter is going to judge based on different criteria...but I'm not sure you can always judge using the "model" structure, since the event is pitting all genders and races together. The common FFXIV player spectating this event is not going to judge a pretty Mi'qote girl's face and body the same way as a strong, handsome Roegadyn, so each contestant's screenshots have to catch the eye and be appealing for differing reasons. Ideally, the criteria should be about the model and also composition, mood, character liveliness, coordination, angle, etc etc, because each contestant isn't only the model but also the photographer directing the shot in a video game. But some people aren't going to look at it in that much depth and will only vote based on appearances. I think that's the one aspect that might seem a little unfair.

I think it might be a good idea to increase the judge's voting values, and for the future cycles to a) judge based on expanded criteria than just whether or not the submission is a "model shot" or b) express to the contestants that you want them to focus on the model aspect more!

[EorzeasNTM]

quote

Oh! Just to clarify! They don't just judge them on if its a model shot or not. They judge the outfit, the pose, the background, and the overall feel. I just personally didn't give Maxwell or kurri's 3 points because it wasn't very modely. That term can be a lot of different things to everyone. In my case it means their shot wasn't the full package. For me a model in this contest has to have the Perfect background, perfect outfit, perfect pose, and a perfect overall feel (all of which are judged by my own opinion, of course.)

@Maxxy I think your humor is working well so far. Look how far you've got. The only Lalafel male still around. Will it win you the title of Eorzea's NTM? That's yet to be decided, but for now the only thing that matters is surviving the current round with a picture good enough to not score last place. You're doing that. ^^

[Tinsley]

yep yep i gotcha. just threw some ideas out there.

[EorzeasNTM]

Heres an idea...

Increase the Judges from 5 to ... let's say 7. And have the judges score each model, and say who should be eliminated in their opinion, and then I post the Bottom 3 who are up for elimination, and the fans vote which of the 3 should be eliminated.

This idea reverses the roll of the voters and Judges, and makes it easier for the bottom 3 to have friends come vote for them though. :\

Ugh its a lose lose either way!!!! *bawls* I'm so sorry everyone.

Edit: Do you guys want me to tell the voters to stop telling us why they didn't vote for people? I can edit the first post if so.

[Kouren]

I personally like knowing what could have been done better, and knowing why someone avoided a particular shot can help shed light on that. It's difficult to manage in that there's no way to ensure everyone will give good feedback, but I'm not sure eliminating it entirely is actually an improvement.

[EorzeasNTM]

So the "please leave constructive criticism!" edit was enough you think? I hope so. ; ;

Are you working on your make over shot? XD Your icon looks like a Kin I don't know xD

Anyone playing FFXI this week for free? I am on fenrir if sooooo. Email me for character info

[Vydos]

Don't overthink this Rongi. This is one of those things in life, where you can't make everyone happy. Just go with what we have now. It's working on its own way. And again, this is a fun event.
I will however suggest an idea that someone actually told me about on skype. So all credits go to her for it. But I do like it.


Basically get rid of the round elimination each round. (prelim rounds are still welcomed for obvious reasons).
And just make it a tournament of points. With an end ranking when it's all done.

To explain in more detail:
1) All participants send their screenshots for all rounds. But can still send new submissions right before the round starts(like we have now)
2) Like now, we go with rounds + voting method but remove the part where the one with the lowest votes get eliminated. And go with one of the following methods
- The final tally at the end of each round gets added up. And the one with the most votes at the end of it all wins. (Not really a fan of this idea but tossing it in there)
- The final tally at the end, gives points according to the rank/position. (example: 1st = 15pt, 2nd = 13pt, 3rd = 11 pt, 4th= 10pt, 5th = 9 pt, and so on.) And these points are being added at each round.

Basically a system that allows everyone to still show all their screenshots. And add some fierce competition. Basically the winner will be the one who got the most votes over the entire competition. And a final ranking of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ..., place will make people still try to shoot for as high as possible rank. Even if you can't win anymore, people might want to shoot for as high as possible rank.

(But again, I realise that it means having to manage the screenshots of everyone during the entire cycle.)