Contests & Spotlights community feedback

[Lex]

Last week 10 "brand ambassadors" were announced on Neopets, who's stated goal is to be a relay point between TNT and the userbase. One of those ambassadors, user victoriathegr8one, has been specifically assigned to Contests & Spotlights.

The point of this thread is to get feedback and suggestions specific to the Neopian Times. These ambassadors are accepting messages from players, and what I'd like to do is get a list of things together that we'd like to see as improvements to the Times.

Both bug fixes AND suggestions for new/updated features are welcome.

To help sort through all this, please consider labeling your request as one of the following:

Priority Fix (something that is actively causing issues and needs fixing ASAP)
Major Fix (something that is in dire need of retooling, but isn't technically a bug or broken feature)
Wishlist (things we'd just like to see/quality of life improvements)

Feel free to list something even if someone else already has. Share your thoughts! Ideally I'd like to send this thread directly to victoriathegr8one, and having actual feedback from users who are impacted is important even if it's something that's already been addressed.

---

Overview of requests so far:
Priority:
-Fix the broken thumbnail submission form
-Better communication of deadlines

Major:
-mobile friendly viewing of NT
-character limit increase to the description/comment fields
-return to using "too many good entries" and standard rejection messages
-better communication or set schedule for backlog purges of unaccepted entries

Wishlist:
-larger file sizes for comics (50-200k more)
-ability to submit comics as a series
-better management of submissions (ability to see what's still in the queue, make changes, etc)
-reassess requirements for the Weewoo avatar to make it less chaotic
-return to a weekly format for NT
-maintain direct submission of all entries to the Neopets website, no 3rd party (entering via instagram, facebook, etc)
-return of other adjacent contests, including random and other spotlights

[Twillie]

Reposting some ideas mentioned on Discord:

Priority Fix: Something on the comic submission page to indicate that the thumbnail box is broken, as well as an explanation on how to work around this. Would be ideal if the submission form was fixed altogether, but I don't know how feasible that is at this stage.

Major Fix: Better communication on NT deadlines. For example, the latest Halloween issue had a news announcement asking for entries, implying they'd consider any submitted by Thursday. However, it seems like the last entry accepted was submitted on Wednesday, and anything after that was not responded to. The cut off dates mentioned in the news have to match the actual cut off dates the Editors use, especially before Issue 1000 happens.

[Lex]

Priority Fix
Agreeing with some sort of clarification around the thumbnail submissions box being broken. This is something that comes up semi-regularly, and while there is a workaround, the only way people will know what to do is if they ask; something many people likely don't bother with.

My suggestion, if it can't be fixed outright, is to increase the character limit on the "description" field and request that people submit the URL (or a link to a petpage with the image) there. So, basically what we already have to do, but please actually inform users of it so they can use their desired thumbnails. The character limit on the description field NEEDS to be increased to do this, however. Regularly having to include the URL makes it very hard to fit that, an actual description, and other needed info like a collab partner + breakdown into the field.

Wishlist
The option to submit comics as a SERIES. Currently multi-part comic series are forced to be broken up issue by issue in a way that written series are not. This has caused frustration for people with ongoing stories being told via comic; due to themed issues giving heavy preference to on-theme entries, there can be large gaps between one part of the series and another, which feels bad.

My suggestion here is to just edit the existing series form to allow for people to submit URLs to their comics. This would require lowering the character limit; if that isn't a possibility, a separate form that allows for all issues in a series to be uploaded at once similar to the comic submission page but with more fields.

[June Scarlet]

Wishlist
This has been in the back of my mind for years: Issue 1000 is the perfect opportunity to get a mobile-friendly version of the Neopian Times.

[Coaster]

Several of these were mentioned in Discord already, and since it took me so long to type this, some of the suggestions were already repeated above too, but I figure I can corroborate and add my opinions. Also, the last time I submitted to the Times (notwithstanding plans to do so in the next week or so) was a bit over a year ago, so some things might already have been addressed, but I still feel like they're important to keep an eye on as we get into special issue season again.

Priority:

1. Thumbnails. The current state--having the option visible when it actually does nothing, and no indication that a workaround is needed or what that workaround is--is a major headache, and it's been in that state for a long time. If it can't be fixed any time soon because of the investigation effort required, it at least warrants a submission form update. Suggested alternatives in that case: remove it, disable it, put a cheeky "out of order" sign over it, or replace it with a "Thumbnail Image URL" field.
2. Correct communication of deadlines/submission windows. Yes, it's a process change rather than strictly a technical change, but I would still consider it broken, and with the site birthday, holidays, and NT 1000 all coming up in quick succession, it will be miserable for everyone unless it gets ironed out. It seems like it might be a coordination issue between the editor and the New Features writer. At minimum, a call for more submissions should not be going in New Features when the issue is already full, since it means wasted effort for both the editor and the late submitters. Even the literal opposite would be better (saying it's full when it isn't), since only the editor really knows how much capacity they still have to fill the Times issue further. And if entries intended for a specific special issue aren't being accepted until a certain date, that should be indicated as well, so that they don't crowd the queue for regular issues.
   

I don't know for certain if this is the case, but if there are also bugs like entries silently failing to submit because of something like an uppercase file extension or being too close to the size limit, I would put those in "Priority" too.

Major:

1. Comment field size increase. Exacerbated by the thumbnail bug, but with recent guidance about exhaustive collab crediting (and the increase in recent years of 3+ people collaborating on a single entry), I've seen concerns that it is impossible to both properly credit collab partners and still have a reasonable amount of description.
2. Consistent use of rejection and TMGE letters, rather than leaving entries in limbo for multiple issues in a row. I assume there would be an adjustment period, with the possibility of small NT issues for a while if paring is overzealous and causes droughts, but long-term, it means authors get clear feedback and can make improvements rather than being left guessing or resubmitting the same thing "just in case", outdated versions of entries are less likely to pile up and be used by mistake, and the queue gets cleared as you go rather than having to exchange as much Neomail inquiring about old entries or receive as many well-intentioned but ultimately noisy "Article Title (Fixed) (Final) (Resubmit)" entries.
3. Failing that, or if falling behind regardless: communication of backlog purges, or a well-established (and followed-through) schedule. The key problem here is when people's entries are passed over for the issue they submitted it for, but they have no idea what happened to it. From what I have heard, this seems to especially affect entries that are not strongly enough tied to a theme to make it into the issue, but also not rejected or cleared when the theme day passes.

Wishes:

1. Small increase to comic submission file size. 200kb necessitates some major quality sacrifices in a lot of cases. A new limit of 400kb would make comics much less likely to get crunched into oblivion, while still avoiding the pitfalls of having to host incredibly poorly-optimized files; but even a 50kb increase would provide enough headroom to make comics look a little bit nicer.
2. Ability for users to browse and possibly withdraw their pending submissions. Exacerbated by the backlog management issues, and likely to require significant backend work, but it would be nice if authors could check on which versions of things they have in the system, notice typos and other issues before publication, and make changes without having multiple copies floating around.
3. Change the NT Weewoo avatar to being given out on first publication, or on 25th publication, or randomly on publication, or anything but a mad scramble for anniversary issues.
   
4. Official support for comic series, following the same format as written series. I know recent guidance has been "just submit one at a time", but in practice this means an ongoing arc is either interrupted with something unrelated or just forced into hiatus whenever a holiday happens, unless the author shoehorns in a themed panel (at the expense of image quality). A collection of short stories can be worked into a written series to run continuously while sidestepping issue themes, but comics have no such alternative.
   
5. Relatedly: returning to weekly issues, and/or less stringent enforcement of issue themes. In this case, it applies to short stories and articles as well, where adding holiday set dressing can mess with the tone of a written work.
   

I know this isn't something the ambassador or the editor has full and direct control over, and it's not even a completely new problem (especially for milestone NT issues), but it's gotten worse in recent years, and it kind of relates to that last point:

One of my biggest disappointments with the site's creative contests is how cutthroat and vitriolic the community gets over them, because the state of the site is fostering a mindset where creative work must become a side hustle to meet account goals rather than being done out of the desire to tell a story or show off something they're proud of, and the judges/editors have too little bandwidth to give due spotlight to everything that deserves it. If there are not enough submissions on non-themed weeks but also too many submissions on themed weeks, it illustrates the disproportionate incentive to get into a special issue, not a lack of creative ideas outside of those themes.

I'd rather the NT not need to give out items or avatars at all and just give out the trophy and recognition, but if that would kill submission rates too much, then at least a random pool like the Art Gallery would reduce the skew between regular issues and special issues (with the mixed bag of also increasing overall submission volume, realistically).

And if it comes down to it... well, the point about rejections still stands, and especially with the site audience being mostly adults now, the editor doesn't need to indulge someone's complaints about a non-themed entry depriving them of their prize, if said non-themed entry shows that the author went above and beyond in effort or quality, or even just isn't transparently in it for the prize to begin with.

To bring up a comparison to years past: it was hard for most people to get into the NT at all, but it was possible to get into an NT holiday issue with only loose theming or an ongoing arc, or into an anniversary issue without any acknowledgement of newspapers and Weewoos, and it didn't blow up to nearly the degree we see in more recent years. And this was when there were MORE literal children on the site. Likely in part because the user base and editor bandwidth were both big enough to strike that balance, getting in was still an accomplishment that people didn't feel nearly as much entitlement toward, but there was still room both for people who just wanted to dip their feet and veterans who wanted to tell an involved story. Right now, it feels like we're just getting bad feelings from both sides.

[Kengplant]

Priority Fixes :
- Comics Thumbnail submissions are broken: Please leave an "Out of Order" note on the submission page for thumbnails advising players to link to the thumbnail in the description box instead. If possible increase the character limit for the description box. Trying to fit in an img URL, note, Description, and collaborator list into the box is too much!

- Clearer Deadlines (Themed Issues)
For the halloween issue the news said we had until thursday, but no comics were accepted after Wednesday. I was lucky enough to get in, but many people were still working on their comics on wednesday/thursday after acceptance letters stopped. They submitted on time but it were apparently too late. If there's a limit to the number of acceptance slots, please wait until the deadline before filling them up or accept more entrants.

Major Fix :
- speaking of NT 1000... would be a nice time to debut a shiny new layout that's more mobile friendly.


Wishlist:
- Comic Series Submission form or section
I'd prefer Comic Series stay published among the regular comics section. But for those who complete a full series all at once, they need a better way of submitting it for sequential publishing. I personally like submitting my series one piece at a time, but I know others who finished their comic but got lost in publishing.

- Larger file size limit for comics.
200kb is tight for modern formatting for comics. I would be very happy if we could get even 250-300kb, though I know others would like more!

edit:
- Less strict themes
The NT used to be a great way to react to current neopian events! But when a themed issue lands in the middle of an event there's very little room to write comics, stories or article relating to current events, and by the time we get to a normal issue they can resubmit for, the topic is no longer relevant and the work feels stale or out of date. Letting people react to current events even if it's not on issue theme help creat hype and discussion around the site!

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

Wishlist

• I would love to see a return of Pet Spotlight, Petpet Spotlight, and Site Spotlight. With so few working features on the site, the creative contests have come to feel very cutthroat. Providing players with more avenues for creative expression would lighten some of the pressure on the NT and the Art, Poetry and Storytelling contests.

• Would also love to see a return of the Random Contest. I understand that the lack of staff hours for judging is a major hurdle, so here's an idea: why not partner with someone who can act as a guest judge for that one specific contest? You promote their cookbook or craft business or whatever, and they dedicate a bunch of hours to judging your contest for you. Here is an example of a contest with a guest judge; the judge changes with every contest.

• Ideally I would also love an update to the submission system, something like Submittable where people can track when they submitted something and when it was responded to, and can choose to pull a submission as well if they wish to. However, this does take dev hours so I don't expect it to happen soon.

Thank you for considering these ideas!

[Liou]

Wishlist

I wish for the future improved and fixed creative contest submissions to go ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY through the website neopets dot com and never, ever ever ever require anyone to create any other account on any other website. Not even of any kind!

[Lex]

Oct 24, 2023 7:16:03 GMT -5 Liou said:

Wishlist

I wish for the future improved and fixed creative contest submissions to go ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY through the website neopets dot com and never, ever ever ever require anyone to create any other account on any other website. Not even of any kind!

In regards to the NT, would this mostly be referring to having to upload a thumbnail image elsewhere, or is this happening elsewhere in the submission process? I can include more details in the overview if it's a larger issue that I've missed!

[Liou]

Lex
It's just that, with all the events that have happened on social networks or through other platforms, I am already dreading a fix of this kind for the NT, like a beautiful new submission form... that would make us go through another site. And so, just in case, I wanted to specify from the get-go that this would not be a good fix for me and I would like fixes to keep the entire submission process to the actual website. No secondary locations.

[Kengplant]

www.neopets.com/~Bloozard

I've put together a petpage with feedback from here and onsite!

Let me know if I've missed anything!

[Twillie]

Thank you again for helping gather feedback and compiling it all into one place! I also like how you marked which suggestions are especially popular, and which ones have had mixed reactions and thus need more careful consideration before implementing or not.

There are a couple spelling things I noticed that might need editing when the time comes: instead of "whishlist" it'd be "wishlist," and instead of "que" it'd be "queue." But other than that, I don't think I have anything more to add that I haven't already mentioned. Content and formatting all looks good!

[Kengplant]

Thank you! Fixed and added the note about deleting title bracket notes!

[Duke Pikachu]

Probably can add this as a Wishlist feedback.

It would be both helpful to the writers and I think also the NT editor if the text entry had a "Preview" and "BBCode" viewing option, just like here. That way:

• For writers who aren't so keen with using BBCoding, they can still have at least basic options like bolding, italicizing, underlining, and posting an image.
  
  
• For us more experienced writers, it can help us better visualize what the final entry will look like when read in the Neopian Times.
  
  
• For the NT Editor, it'll help them know exactly how the writer wants their entry to look like so there's less formatting mistakes.

The last one is of special note. I make somewhat complex articles and sometimes the editor messes up the formatting of it. Like in one recent article I had a series of images that were supposed to be next to each other, but for some reason in the NT the images are stacked which is less appealing and stretches out the page making the article look longer than it is (which may deter someone from reading it). And, since nowadays it can be difficult to get into contact with the editor, it's hard to get what are minor issues fixed (to the point I don't even try, for most articles now I just try to stick with one image instead of a group of them). I guess if I could add in another suggestion, an easier way for writers to contact the NT Editor about fixing a problem they see in their article, but I guess that also comes along with better communcation.

In addition, while I have no clue if these text features are even present or not, they could add (or make them more apparent) things like indented bullet point/number listing (like I did above), strike through,  Super^script, Sub_script, COLORS, font size, text alignment (also called justification), quote box, and spoiler box.