Blui said:
~Should there be different judges? Should the judging criteria be different? I like the judges. I do think though that CMP could perhaps give some more points in creativity for people who make high quality EXs, but other than that I'm very happy with the judging.
I can actually provide a pretty detailed reasoning for my scoring, if you'd ever like it! =)
Here's the way I look at things...
The category includes not only Creativity, but Originality as well. When half of the participants incorporate Pokémon-EX, ex, Lv. X, *, etc. into their entries (no matter how high quality), the card is no longer
that original; this is especially true for cards which already have an existing EX, ex, Lv. X, *, etc. card. If someone submits, say, a Kyurem EX, would it be fair to get as many Originality points as someone who made a Paras? The way I see (and judge) it, no, because there are fewer Paras cards floating around than there are Kyurem EXs. Now, I'm not saying to pick an obscure Pokémon just for obscurity's sake, but if you choose a Pokémon with multiple special versions (and make another special version), it just
isn't as original. Additionally, it's also fun to see what participants can come up with when they have to focus on power on a smaller scale, hence my proposition to you guys to submit non-special versions next month.
From a Creativity standpoint, the most creative cards are those that incorporate new gameplay elements or never-before-seen attacks. If an EX card has these things, it
does get high marks from a Creativity standpoint. However, I can't justify giving full marks for
any card (EX or otherwise), if it uses attacks we've seen repeated before. Slapping a fresh coat of paint on a car doesn't change the car, it's just an old car with new paint.
Really, what it comes down to is that Creativity and Originality are two halves of the same whole. Originality is more about the overall concept, while Creativity focuses on the details. The category works best when used as a tie breaker; getting proper fonts, placement, and wording is easy enough, but this particular category is what sets cards apart. Although I think it's important to note that the lowest score I can remember assigning in the Creativity/Originality category is a 16/20. We're not talking 10/20s here.
However, I'm absolutely willing to adjust how I judge if you really think I should. If you can provide me with a nice base to use, I'd be willing to do so. I think what I may start doing is giving bonus points each month; perhaps a +0.25/0.5 bonus to the individual entry I deem the most creative/original that month or something. I don't know, talk it out amongst yourselves. =)
