Banner Contest Rules and Regulations

Monkeywrench

00coathanger
Mar 14, 2011
25,764
10
0
Yes! Even a notoriously open and free nation-site like ours must have some rules and regulations sometimes.

[UPDATE! 07/01/2013] We will be going back to an open voting style for a few months. While the 'blind' voting style had some benefits, the lack of conversation that resulted from no one seeing any banner submissions was a real bummer. After a few months we will evaluate how things are going and go from there.

Please read, note, and follow the below rules if you wish to participate in the Monthly Banner Contest (MBC!). Entries failing to meet the below requirements will be REJECTED! (and endlessly mocked).

1. When taking your picture for banner submission, be sure to leave space for cropping and for the site logos. We can work magic after the fact, but a properly composed shot wins 9 out of 10 times.

2. The submission must be done by the USER and no one but USER. If there was a collaboration, you must note it in your submission.

3. The submission must be in the correct size/aspect ratio: 920px by 322px. You can use any free editing program to crop your image to this size/ratio. Any image submitted outside of this size/ratio will be discarded. This is MUY IMPORTANTE!

4. The USER submitting the image releases all rights to the submitted image, giving The Fighting 1:18th full usage rights.

5. There will be ONE banner entry, per-person, per-month. If you submit more than ONE entry, all entries will be disqualified. You CAN delete an entry and replace it with another before the end of the month.

6. If there are more than 10 USER's submitted banners for any given month, there will be a primary "run off" to find our 10 finalists. Details for the run off will be in that thread. If you submit a photo then you must vote in the primary with the required amount of submissions or your entry will be void.

7. To submit an entry into the banner contest you must create a NEW thread in the Banner forum with the title "USER's banner entry for the month of xxxx". Where USER is your forum name, and xxxx is the upcoming month. Any entries not submitted in this fashion will be discarded.

8. If you get help with your submission and a prize is involved, the person that helped will be the primary recipient of the prize. If they don't want the prize then it will go to the winning submission.

In the end this is a fun little contest we try to do every month to showcase our best customizers/diorama builders, and we just need to add some structure to make sure everyone is on a level playing field.

To that end, we also made a few changes on the back end. Going forward, to participate in (aka vote) the banner contest, you must have 15 or more posts on the site. This is to try and up participation in the site and get new members involved. This 15-post minimum may be raised or lowered as time goes on.
 
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NSA

Brotherhood
Admin
Mar 13, 2011
28,550
928
113
Southern California
www.fighting118th.com
I suppose JPEG or GIF are fine. PNG as well I suppose. We've used all manner of them in the past.

Animated would be fine, as long as it sticks to the theme and rules for that month. A "No photoshop" month will likely be changed to a "no altering" for the image, which would include animating, cleanup, etc.
 

Dropshipbob

Turtlenap, Hanger Alpha
Mar 29, 2011
6,922
92
48
On which side should space be made to accommodate the site logo? I remember this being a point of contention a few months back.
 

NSA

Brotherhood
Admin
Mar 13, 2011
28,550
928
113
Southern California
www.fighting118th.com
Generally the top left, and space for the dog tags in the bottom right.

Sometimes this can be reversed as needed, but people tend to vote with the logo in mind, so if they can't visualize your entry as working it might not get votes.
 

Meddatron

I am what I am
Apr 19, 2011
11,383
5
0
49
York, Pa
s1193.photobucket.com
Just a big reminder. Sorry, I am a big stickler for the size rule. It makes it so much easier for our guy to finish the picture with his templates. He does this work for free for us and making it as easy for him is a must for us.

Rule 3. The submission must be in the correct size/aspect ratio: 920px by 322px. You can use any free editing program to crop your image to this size/ratio. Any image submitted outside of this size/ratio will be discarded. This is MUY IMPORTANTE!


I will help anyone size their picture correctly if asked, only time I will not is if a physical prize is part of the contest and that is rare.
 
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Videoviper

illuminati
Officer Club
Aug 15, 2012
6,372
720
113
Behind a camera watching you!
Also when posting your picture to a website like photo bucket, google etc, Make sure you are linking to the correct sized picture. Many sites try to resize the image to save bandwidth. (You may need to view the picture in slideshow mode to see actual resolution. Then get the link to that picture)