Folks. Folks. Come on now. You are killing me. Do you want to kill me? Is that it? Have I done something to wrong you? I survived evilcolonitis for this?


End, you old nut, what in blazes are you going on about? Off your medication again? Nah, I'm talking about the majority of Original Character Tournaments (OCT) here on DA. The fact that there is a glut of such things isn't what's bothering me either.

It's what some people are choosing to do with these tournaments that is just driving an icepick into my eye.

Here, let me impart this to you. Come closer. Do you want to know the secret to making an awesome artistic tournament? Okay.


SIMPLICITY. OH MY GOD. SAY IT WITH ME. SIMPLICITY SIMPLICITY SIMPLICITY.

This is what makes an OCT run smoothly. Simplicity. It is all you need to complement an interesting premise that makes people actively want to participate with their characters. You do NOT need a shit ton of gimmicks to make your contest more appealing than everyone else in the completely oversaturated 'market' of OCTs. Rely on a good idea. And leave it at that.

More often than not, when I've come across a premise that looks like it might touch on greatness, the further I look into the matter the more discouraged I get by the setting rules that come with it. (And I don't mean restrictions like 'no magic' or other such rules designed to challenge folks' creativity with limitations. I understand the value in that, just so we're clear. I heard the peanut gallery bristling.)

Once you try introducing silly, frivolous concepts like in-competition currency to 'buy' better items for your characters, you lose. Once you try making it to where the entire story changes when your character throws fourteen left punches and must now join the faction of Lefties who are secretly trying to bring down the Organization holding the tournament from the inside, you LOSE. Oh my god you lose.

Just stop with the overcomplicated gimmicks already. Vanilla-OCTs is where it is at. Come up with a single awesome idea. And let your audience do the rest, for godssakes.

I'd like to mention =Yuritsuki's Artist at the Ready tourney, prospectively being launched this summer. It is a tremendously brilliant idea that I think will treat its participants to a hell of a lot of fun, IF IT KEEPS TO ITS SIMPLE PREMISE. Artists using their OCs to fight one another. That's it. That's all. It's golden. Be done with it. No epic altering setting depending on characters interactions with one another, no ridiculous rules about cycling which character you use every other round or facing the penalty of having to draw everyone upside down in four panels, no stupid boss battles midway through that take away the focus from the main goings on, no ultimate epic setting arc of cyberspace angels and lost souls and recovering ancient artifacts to defeat said space angels before they unlock the gates to Yukariamajigadillonhalla.

I was just recently pointed to a tournament with what I thought was a VERY cool mix of two different ideas. And I got more and more excited thinking about applying the setting to my OCs, until I got to the rules and regulations. And all that interest promptly died a painful death on the spot. Same thing happened with the few folks I showed it around to. I won't name names. : P Suffice to say, anybody can take this advice and benefit from it.

Go back to the roots. That's where the fun is. You're creating a playground for people to have fun and hopefully grow creatively in. Don't fill it up with giant obstacles to make it more 'interesting'. It's stifling, silly and stupid.

Don't let it discourage you from thinking outside of the box though, either. One thing I think should happen with competitions here on DA is that people need to stop only thinking of a setup of 16,32,64 people versus one another, fight to the death style etc etc. There are other ways of telling stories, being creative and still being competitive with one another. It doesn't necessarily always have to come down to the same formula. But use a formula that works, and build on top of it. When I say build, I mean apply your unique spin to it. Not slop some unwieldy towering mess of gimmicks on top so it stands head and shoulders above every other contest in a 400 mile radius.

You can do this. I trust you. Got some damn fine creative people here on this site. And other artists who are just plain fine. I'm looking at you Clair.

That being said, go out and draw, you talented buckets. 8P