To be honest, I am interpreting that Greg quote to be an intentionally noncommittal answer. Just because someone is not aware of something does not mean it isn’t true.
At the time of that quote, he had no proof that the mask was gold.
But he also had no proof that it wasn’t.
Except this contest affects you even if you don’t want it to, because it alters the official canon, which goes beyond these contests. The contests do not exist in a vacuum. As such, ignoring these contests means more than well, ignoring these contests. It means ignoring the canon, which to some is fine. To others, not. Neither are bad takes.
Actually something I’ve been finding kind of frustrating is people saying the rules should be less strict also often being the same people who say you should just disregard the contests if you don’t like it, which goes against the point of the contests. They’re meant as canon contests, if anything, they should be primarily aimed at adhering to the canon, not satisfying those who’d easily push it aside for their headcanons. It is those that so easily disregard the canon that would also be those to disregard the contests anyway? Gearing a canon contest towards fitting people’s headcanons would be like Mojang taking feedback in the development of Minecraft from people who do not play Minecraft.
@TheJerminator That’s how I read it too. Just stating it’s not necessairly gold, which is why I didn’t put it on BS01.
@Eljay
Not everybody clicks the link. A single sentence in the description would be nice. I see too many entries making unnecessarily large or long hammers.
I myself have been stressing this poin tabout the hammer numerous times, but this small clarification would have a global reach.
Well, their loss.
TTV isn’t writing the contest rules/context for the characters as a recommendation. If you care to enter these contests, you’re expected to care enough.
Again, I’ll echo the sentiment - The hammer has no canon descriptor other that it being a “forge hammer”. In a universe like the MU, it could be small, or it could be massive. There’s no guideline for it, and so its up to interpretation. The contest already has alot of restrictions as is, the creativity in the hammer is fun!
And @Ghid, Agreed. If people are interested in the contest, they should be reading the rules before posting and should care to check them over.
-Solaris Magnus
All of this is true and I myself have been expressing the same thoughts. What I am saying here is not a desire for any kind of restriction, just a more readily available part of an already existing (the only) description.
Ah I see, makes sense. I can see Eljay’s point on technically having the link there, but having a descriptor would also help!
As an aside - glad to see these discussions this time around. I think for the next contest, having the ruleset posted in advance of the contest, and having these discussions will really help them run smoother!
-Solaris Magnus
Mhmm.
Being told “Alright you’ve had 3+ weeks to build. Now these are the rules. You have 2 weeks to adjust to them (which could possibly require Bricklink to be). Also they may change within those 2 weeks,” isn’t really the best.
Yes that is what I meant.
The link is there, but people might assume it is just a source backing up the fact that Artakha has a hammer (which it is). In this case however, the link has an additional information.
And yes it is true that the point about the crafting tool is on BS01 and entrants should do their research but obviously it is not always the case.
Another week was added yesterday, so it is 3 weeks now.
For Artakha yes, but I mean for future contests as well.
Ding ding ding, we have a winner.
If clicking a link is too much effort, then chances are creating the model you feel fits best for the character is too.
Part of participating in these contests means doing research. If you aren’t trying to create the design you feel fits best for the character, then there isn’t much more I can do to help you.
Well I cannot disagree there. It is just unfortunate.
The other issue becomes when you’re too restrictive. There were earlier conversations as to what that could mean for the character. A forge hammer to us is one thing, what about to them? It allows for a degree of artistic interpretation, some of which people may not have thought about before.
All of the tools are there. People just need to put in the effort to utilize them.
The mask shape and color will be determined by the artists. At that point, just vote for your favorites and make the best argument you can for why you feel it should be gold.
@Eljay I agree. I did not mean to be restrictive.
I see.
This is just my rationalization, but I will try to somewhat recreate the train of thought of the TTV staff behind the current situation (they are of course welcome to correct me):
Helryx contest ended and everybody needs a break (3 weeks)
What to do during those 3 weeks aside from general discussion? Pick the next character! We don’t really need a rigid order, let te community decide. Some have already made Artakha MOCs, bu those are not going anywhere.
Poll takes place, discussions are made.
Results af the poll are predictable and Artakha makes it to be the next character anyway.
How much time should we give the entrants to build the models? Two weeks should be enough, most of them have already built it after all.
Rules are released and they include some new, by many unforseen restrictions.
People call for more time and their reasoning is fair, so we give it to them.
Since the results of the poll did not change anything, we can just stick to the original (slightly modified) order.
Knowing who is next beforehand allows entrants to start building during the 3 week break, thus we can shorten the duration of MOC contest to 2 weeks.
Am I close TTV?
You’re fine. I don’t think that was your intention, I was just elaborating on another perspective.
Not quite. The character poll was not our idea nor our intention. We had a set order for these characters and posted it back in May. Some people raised concerns about the Gold-Skinned Being and Marendar being on the list and wanted the option to vote for the order of characters, so that way if either of those two were last, they could be voted off. Unfortunately, this caused people to have uncertainty as to which character was next, so when the guidelines and rules came out, some were unprepared.
We’re not doing that poll again. It was all time we could have used to discuss the rules and guidelines and work out solutions for the next contest.
O contraire, this contest isn’t restrictive enough.
Artakha is 10ft tall in story. Since the canonical average Toa height is ~7ft. Factoring the average set height is 9 inches, if we scale accordingly, all entries must be 12.86 inches at minimum.
Furthermore, there’s this quote from Reign of Shadows.
Artakha closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, shaking his head.
Artakha canonically can blink his eyes. All entries that fail to include eye-blinking functions will result in immediate disqualification.
Thank you clarifying Eljay!
Based on what you said, I was at least correct on the parts that mattered for my response to Wolk.
Good thing I’ve got that old eye blinking mindstorms gearbox I’ve been saving
Exactly. It was quietly driving me nuts about the sizes of Helyrx’s mace in the prior contest. I didn’t raise it because years of experience have taught me that unless they’re a weapon nut, no one cares and most people think six-foot hunks of metal are the coolest swords evaaaaa
us nerds among nerds must unite