I'm gonna throw in my two cents here on how the atmoshere (sp?) of Project Custom has been...
For one, I agree with Pika2 to an extent. I think he exaggurated the whole rudeness thing a bit, but he is right about one thing... BR, no offense, but you need to know how to handle certain situations better and look from others' point of view if you are to host a contest/competition of any kind. I've noticed that about half the time someone asks you something, you get bent out of shape and say things you probably don't mean, such as with our own incident. I also don't believe 7Lucario7Master7 did anything wrong that allowed you to accuse him for "spamming." It shouldn't really suprise you, seeing as there's a good number of active members/judges in this contest with my Project Custom banner linked to this thread. With how many awesome works in this thread have been created, with the banner attracting other viewers, it's only natural that new artists are going to ask questions that many of us already know the answer to and are not going to search 75+ pages of posts just to find the answer to their question. There's a great deal of talent in many competitors that have entered this contest, and new artists are going to want answers/suggestions from such people so they can start their own art-spree. As far as I can see, 7Lucario7Master7 is clear of any wrong-doing. He asked a question that many of us knows the answer to, but that doesn't make his question spam. It was art related, and art is the name of the game here, so it was not off-topic. It might have been different if the answer to his question was in the post directly before his, but that was not the case. If I was a newbie artist, I bet you that I would've done the same thing as 7Lucario7Master7 did.
Time was a big issue in this contest. We shouldn't be having to rush ourselves to complete our works just because some people finish their works faster than others. I personally think that the time-span given in the first round should've sufficed decently for all challanges except fanfics (those should be given 2 weeks, IMO). It didn't rush us, but it also wasn't too long as to make the contest take a year or so. Some challanges that required a great deal of brainstorming, such as the Avante-Garde (if that's how it's spelled) challange, may have been simple for some, but for others, such as myself, it's a difficult task to think way outside the norm like that. Luckily, time extensions were granted to avoid a mass elimination situation, but in other cases like the spy-themed avatars, where origionality can be an issue since there's not a whole lot that is completely origional, more than just 3-4 days would've been nice. The extra time left over from the work time, if any remains, can be used to make corrections in response to recieved feedback, something that many serious and new artists will much appriciate (like me, again).
Overall, the competitive atmoshere itself was exciting and pushed every participant to do their best... couldn't be any better, but the general lack of time in combination the constant arrival of tiny issues here and there that could've been easily avoided is what has dulled Project Custom's comfort level, IMO. Simple, easy question were often bashed, discouraging new artists and sometimes "de-moralizing" someone even if it wasn't intended. Rushing is something that no artist should be forced to do, as being rushed means that the artist may and probably will miss simple problems in his/her piece that could ultimately ruin it. The timing for this contest didn't help things, either. Being held at the mid-beginning of the spring semester of school, or just anytime during school, is bad thinking on the part of the organizer, no offense. The comfort atmoshpere didn't seem comforting at all. I only stayed in as long as I did before dropping because for one, it was a new thing for me and judging from others' reactions, I have an extrodinary talent that I've only begun tapping into. Being one of the few things that I have an awesome and highly potent ability in, I wanted to see where I stood, as well as learn the principles of design that I could use to further my goal of improving this talent. It was too bad that time issues ended up claiming me. I personally might have been able to live the the rough comments torwards others here and there, but there are those that are very sensitive and will not stick around watching such drama unfold.
Please keep all of this stuff I've mentioned above in mind when deciding to do a 2nd Project Custom. I would really like to enter it, but I, as well of fellow competitiors and judges, would also like to feel more at home while enjoyong the purpose of the contest: to have fun. I'm not trying to sound rude or say that this contest sucked horribly. As a contestant and likely future contestant, I believe it is my duty to provide feedback over my views of how the contest went, so that the organizer can prepare future competitions to avoid problems that some contestants experienced in this one. Please don't take offense to any of this, as I'm not trying to be offensive in any way, shape, or form. I am merely providing constructive critism.
Anyways, those are my lengthy two cents.
