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Post by PFA on Mar 3, 2023 17:27:19 GMT -5
Funny you should say that, because...
...Apparently they're not clearing the backlog? Not complaining, but I'm a little confused. XD
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Post by Gelquie on Mar 3, 2023 17:53:27 GMT -5
Someone on the Neoboards today mentioned that they got an entry accepted for something submitted months ago.
Maybe the clearing was only partial, or just for 975 entries that didn't make it in.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 5, 2023 22:24:25 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm curious now if this is a part of them clearing the backlog, and it's just slow going this first time around with more old submissions to go through, or if perhaps they found that they need to pivot with their plans and we'll get an update next Editorial. I'm also wondering what, when it comes to holiday issues, is the bare minimum for a submission to count as "themed". Like, if I were to make some edits to Part 6 of my series that reference Illusen Day, could I get away with it even though the comic itself isn't centered on Illusen? I made a super quick edit as an example of the absolute barest minimum I could think of, with a celebratory banner at the bottom and a slight dialogue change to reference Illusen:
It feels silly though, and I don't know if I'd just come across as being a butt by doing that xD Truly though I don't think I'd be able to write my scripts around each upcoming special issue- it's difficult enough to write them as is lol. Adding holiday references like this is the next best thing I can think of, but I'm not very confident in that plan either. It could still be worth trying just to see what happens, but my one hesitation is coming off as passive aggressive in the process xD;
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Post by PFA on Mar 6, 2023 0:17:04 GMT -5
I mean, I wouldn't blame you for a bit of cheekiness given the circumstances, though yeah idk if it would actually help. XD That edit seems pretty harmless though, so it probably wouldn't hurt to try?
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Post by Lex on Mar 6, 2023 0:34:50 GMT -5
TwillieTo be honest it doesn't come off as cheeky to me. As an average person reading the comic, I'd figure you just did what you had to to get your entry considered. I don't see anything wrong with trying this approach and think you should go for it.
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Post by Stephanie (swordlilly) on Mar 6, 2023 18:54:56 GMT -5
I'm also wondering what, when it comes to holiday issues, is the bare minimum for a submission to count as "themed". Like, if I were to make some edits to Part 6 of my series that reference Illusen Day, could I get away with it even though the comic itself isn't centered on Illusen? Yes, I think that's completely fine! This old article of mine has pretty much nothing to do with Queen Fyora, but it got into the Fyora-themed issue anyway because I titled it "How to Make Your Neopet Look Queenly."  |
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Post by June Scarlet on Mar 6, 2023 20:25:13 GMT -5
I don't know, the banner at the end feels so out of place, it doesn't fit the tone of the piece, you know? I don't like it, having to resort to tricks like this just to get it in.
But I mean, if that's what you have to do...
Maybe submit both versions? The original, and then a Holiday-themed one? It'd get your point across that you have to go to these lengths, and also you could see which one gets in.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 8, 2023 0:01:47 GMT -5
The original should still be in the system, so I think I'll go ahead and try submitting the Illusen-themed one as well after this Friday to see what happens. I agree that the banner feels out of place with the rest of the comic (rather unfortunate timing that the holiday issue coincided with one of the more dramatic entries), so it's certainly not ideal. But that can describe the rule change in general, unfortunately, so options appear to be limited right now. I'll let you know what comes of this lol.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 15, 2023 11:21:12 GMT -5
So I submitted my Illusen edit yesterday, and I got an acceptance for it today xD Guess that shows that a little theming can still get you by. On the one hand, I’m glad I won’t be skipped this next issue, but on the other, I’m still flummoxed that I need to do this lol.
Issue after Illusen is April Fools’ Day, which isn’t an official theme at least, although I still may make a small banana edit to play it safe. Thankfully after that we’ve got back to back normals for a few weeks, so assuming it starts right after Coming to Light ends, my Meeting arc can go mostly untouched. I did see that part four would coincide with Fyora Day, but that part is mostly Jonathon complaining about Fyora anyway, so who knows maybe that would count as on-theme xD
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Post by Nut on Mar 24, 2023 15:36:28 GMT -5
I noticed I didn't get a holdover letter on my last submission, and thought it was because I submitted so close to the deadline rofl. Considering my track record, I probably would have just continued to believe that if I hadn't seen this...
Initial reaction to the comics rule: Wow, that sounds pretty unfair for people who unlike me do not take literally 15 years to finish a comic story arc! /cough I am never starting one again /cough
I have to admit I actually find it a little easier if all submissions get considered for the most immediately upcoming issue (like how it works with other contests), both because of my seeking instant gratification and because then you don't sit there waiting and not knowing when it'll be published... In theory. :/
Comic series were always kind of an unofficial thing that had to be coordinated between user and editor, but I do find it unfair that /all/ of a themed issue's entries have to fit the theme, since I recall this was not true in the past. (And it's clear that works are being excluded due to not fitting the theme, since Twillie has proved that just a slightly themed modification gets them in.)
The simple solution to the overload of themed issues would simply be to not require all entries to fit the theme, like it was before... in the past I recall there were always regular entries mixed in with the themed ones, even when the themed entries were the majority.
Twillie, I'm happy you finally got your comic published, I can't imagine how frustrating the wait must have been! It upsets me though that people are having to change/edit the mood/intent of their work to get it in, though. There was no problem with having non-themed works in themed issues before.
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Post by Lex on Mar 24, 2023 15:44:27 GMT -5
I have to admit I actually find it a little easier if all submissions get considered for the most immediately upcoming issue (like how it works with other contests), both because of my seeking instant gratification and because then you don't sit there waiting and not knowing when it'll be published... In theory. :/ This is also how I felt. Except they don't seem to actually be rejecting the entries that didn't make it? I sent in an editorial this week asking Stone if they were going to move forward with clearing the backlog. Not answered, not surprising. |
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Post by Nut on Mar 26, 2023 8:06:59 GMT -5
This is also how I felt. Except they don't seem to actually be rejecting the entries that didn't make it? So it feels like that's kind of an unofficial holdover, since people seem to have gotten accepted with entries submitted previously? I'm actually okay with them doing that; I guess no rejection means it's still in the system and being considered? As people pointed out, clearing the backlog every issue seems like it would actually make more work for them, so I'm not surprised if they're still holding some things over. At least we're able to try resubmitting with the same title to see if it's still in the system? Anyway, in my own recent discoveries, I have found that comments put in the title of entries (i.e. "Title (FOR SPECIAL ISSUE)") are no longer getting removed--I've submitted like this for years and always had the caps lock part of the title removed, but not in my most recent entry, so WHOOPS I guess that goes in the comments section now (unfortunate that there's such a low character limit in the comments, means that I'll have to leave out the stuff I say like "Thanks for the consideration!" which makes me feel rude since I'm asking for extra things lol)... ...And for reasons totally unknown to me, the comic thumbnail I submitted (or thought I submitted??) was not used, so I'm trying to get in contact with the editor to change that. It's supposed to be this: After the sort of fiasco that happened with my last thumbnail submission (admittedly partly due to my own lack of communication), I was relieved that the comic submission form actually has a thumbnail option because I thought that uploading it from my computer couldn't possibly go wrong, but now I wish I had sent them this as a link since it is actually hosted on the neopets site (from my older NT comics) and surely would have worked. I sent a neomail to the editor but haven't gotten a response. I feel bad about bothering them again after what happened last time, but this is going to bug me, especially since I don't know why my thumbnail didn't go through.
...Funny thing is that the thumbnail that was used actually happens to be a custom pic the Neo artists made for a short story I wrote many years ago. Probably a total coincidence as I've seen it used more than once after they made it, but kind of funny it was given to me again.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 26, 2023 8:46:13 GMT -5
This is also how I felt. Except they don't seem to actually be rejecting the entries that didn't make it? So it feels like that's kind of an unofficial holdover, since people seem to have gotten accepted with entries submitted previously? I'm actually okay with them doing that; I guess no rejection means it's still in the system and being considered? That's basically the system that this recent rules change was steering away from, one where submissions were being held in the system but weren't being given any feedback, rejection or holdover, for an indefinite period. If they're going back to it, then, I'd hope they'd say something clarifying so, else people will just end up resubmitting the same entry every two weeks until they finally hear back, clogging their backlog even more. Ah yeah, the thumbnail part of the comic submission form is not working, and I don't know if it ever will again x'D That's been an issue for a few years at least now, and I believe the editor's response was, "Please put the thumbnail url in the comments, I don't know why the submission box wouldn't be working, but here we are." So along with your comment caption, you can put something like (Thumbnail submission: "url"). Which also goes back to that character limit you mentioned, because if you've got a caption, custom thumbnail, and it's for a special issue, there's a chance you won't be able to fit all of that in there rip. I keep putting the holiday label in the title hoping that they'll remove it, because I feel like that's been a 50/50 chance beforehand. But maybe I should stop expecting that to happen, since it doesn't seem to anymore. I wonder if that could make a good little editorial question.Speaking of, which account did you neomail to contact the editor? |
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Post by Nut on Mar 26, 2023 9:07:30 GMT -5
So it feels like that's kind of an unofficial holdover, since people seem to have gotten accepted with entries submitted previously? I'm actually okay with them doing that; I guess no rejection means it's still in the system and being considered? That's basically the system that this recent rules change was steering away from, one where submissions were being held in the system but weren't being given any feedback, rejection or holdover, for an indefinite period. If they're going back to it, then, I'd hope they'd say something clarifying so, else people will just end up resubmitting the same entry every two weeks until they finally hear back, clogging their backlog even more. Oh. Okay, I see why people aren't happy with it--sorry, I've been out of the loop for ten years and am pretty much just learning how it works now. Yeah, if they don't clarify, it sounds like we'll just be resubmitting every two weeks. :/ Ah yeah, the thumbnail part of the comic submission form is not working, and I don't know if it ever will again x'D That's been an issue for a few years at least now, and I believe the editor's response was, "Please put the thumbnail url in the comments, I don't know why the submission box wouldn't be working, but here we are." So along with your comment caption, you can put something like (Thumbnail submission: "url"). Which also goes back to that character limit you mentioned, because if you've got a caption, custom thumbnail, and it's for a special issue, there's a chance you won't be able to fit all of that in there rip. I keep putting the holiday label in the title hoping that they'll remove it, because I feel like that's been a 50/50 chance beforehand. But maybe I should stop expecting that to happen, since it doesn't seem to anymore. I wonder if that could make a good little editorial question.Speaking of, which account did you neomail to contact the editor? Ah dang, that explains it. Thank you so much for letting me know that! I wish I'd known before submitting and/or had put the url in the box (LIKE I WAS PLANNING TO DO before I got so delighted there was a way to submit the thumbnail on its own xD;). It... would definitely be nice if they removed that part of the form or let us know that it wasn't working, rofl. Hoping there is still a chance of getting it changed after publication... Yep, you just perfectly summed up the whole problem with the character limit OTL. I had the label removed from the title as recently as three issues ago, so I assumed it would keep being removed in the future. I'll be putting it in the comments from now on for sure. I wish I'd chosen to do something as unobtrusive as the label on yours and others' entries, but I've always done the all caps thing. I also submitted it extremely close to the deadline, so there might not have been time to remove it. xD; If it makes it any better, I don't find the label on others' entries distracting, just mine lol. I messaged tnt_stone, which they contacted me from before. It's the weekend though so they may not have had time to answer (though I did send it on Friday). They actually gave me their discord but I am discord illiterate and don't know how to contact them there because they're not on my friends list oTL |
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Mar 26, 2023 9:35:28 GMT -5
Nut-Ah yeah, that was another change made at the same time as the other rule changes. Apparently, any major problems will need to be addressed via the Editorial and not via Neomail.
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