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ff_exchange2013-03-15 11:24 pm
ffexchange_mod) wrote in ff_exchange2013-03-15 11:24 pm
DOINK! 2013 Fandom Variety Requirement - Details
We mentioned in an earlier post that we'd made some procedural changes this year with regards to fandom variety requirements for DOINK! 2013. Because this is a significant change, we'd like to walk through what it will entail, so that there's time to deal with any questions before sign-ups open.
This year, like every year, when you sign up to participate in DOINK! Final Fantasy Exchange, you'll be able to submit 4 prompts for fanwork you would like to receive. Unlike other years, we will be requiring one of these prompts to be unique and different from the other three: one entirely different canon universe, involving a different setting and different characters and different prompts/requests. We aren't enforcing any other variety requirements at this time — we encourage you to ask for lots of variety, because it makes you easier to match and gives your gifter more opportunities to make you happy, but we're only requiring that one prompt be different.
So for example, you could request three prompts from different portions of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, but your fourth prompt would need to be from an entirely different canon universe, like Final Fantasy IX.
In addition, the requirement will also apply to crossover prompts — so for example, if you requested three prompts from different portions of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, and made your fourth prompt a crossover between FFVII and FFX, that would not count as different enough to satisfy the variety requirement.
The same policy will apply when you get to the part of the form where you offer fandoms you're willing and excited to create for: we'll need you to offer at least two different fandom universes this year.
We're very sorry for participants who only have one fandom to offer; this is a trial year for us, and we chose the most straight-forward approach for our starting policy. There are still plenty of ways you can participate in this year's exchange, though! Please join our Pinch Hit team — we rely on our pinch hitters more and more each year, and you'll have a chance to help us out when we really need it plus you'll get to pick your own awesome prompts as they come through your inbox. You can also still check out the FF Kiss Battle, and don't worry -—the 2013 Chocobo Races are open to everyone.
For the purposes of this requirement, we are adopting the following definitions for Final Fantasy fandom universes:
Every year once sign-ups close and we are left to match up gifters with recipients, we end up struggling to find appropriate matches when people's four prompts lack a certain degree of variety or scope — the more specifically similar the prompts become, the harder it can be to find a single person who would be an appropriate and willing match. We've discussed these difficulties behind the scenes for years, and we decided that this year was a good time to move forward with a trial program and see whether or not it improves our matching quality and efficiency.
After the 2012 round, we included some questions on prompt variety in our Exit Poll, and we considered the community's answers when shaping our policy. We also evaluated other fanwork exchanges and found that many do have simple, basic variety requirements — although it's hard to find a fanwork exchange that compares to the breadth and variety within the Final Fantasy line of games, since Final Fantasy itself is not a single canon! Based on all of this information and our own internal discussions, we decided to move forward this year with the one-different-request policy.
We realize this may block participants who only have one fandom to offer, or are only interested in requesting from one canon. We apologize, and as we said above, there are plenty of ways you can still participate this year. We'll be interested in feedback after we see how things proceed this round.
2013 is the trial period for this fandom requirement — we may not keep it at all, or it might change form moving from this year to the next. Because this is a trial period, we definitely welcome feedback — please feel free to share your thoughts at any point during the exchange via our DOINK! email account. We won't be making changes to the policy in 2013, and we'll be too busy during the round to have an in-depth discussion, but we value all the participant feedback we get and we'll be happy to continue conversations about the policy once the round is over!
Your sign-up form will not be able to submit unless you are both requesting and offering from two different fandom universes. The form will not remove any of your information, but you will not be able to proceed with sign-ups until your prompts and offers show the required variety in fandoms.
Requirement aside, we encourage you to ask for variety — especially if you're asking for fandoms which are traditionally small in DOINK! — because it makes our lives easier AND gives your gifter different options to work with.
Please let us know — in comments here or by email — if you have any questions about this policy. Otherwise, it's time to start thinking about prompts... sign-ups will be opening soon!
What?
This year, like every year, when you sign up to participate in DOINK! Final Fantasy Exchange, you'll be able to submit 4 prompts for fanwork you would like to receive. Unlike other years, we will be requiring one of these prompts to be unique and different from the other three: one entirely different canon universe, involving a different setting and different characters and different prompts/requests. We aren't enforcing any other variety requirements at this time — we encourage you to ask for lots of variety, because it makes you easier to match and gives your gifter more opportunities to make you happy, but we're only requiring that one prompt be different.
So for example, you could request three prompts from different portions of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, but your fourth prompt would need to be from an entirely different canon universe, like Final Fantasy IX.
In addition, the requirement will also apply to crossover prompts — so for example, if you requested three prompts from different portions of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, and made your fourth prompt a crossover between FFVII and FFX, that would not count as different enough to satisfy the variety requirement.
The same policy will apply when you get to the part of the form where you offer fandoms you're willing and excited to create for: we'll need you to offer at least two different fandom universes this year.
We're very sorry for participants who only have one fandom to offer; this is a trial year for us, and we chose the most straight-forward approach for our starting policy. There are still plenty of ways you can participate in this year's exchange, though! Please join our Pinch Hit team — we rely on our pinch hitters more and more each year, and you'll have a chance to help us out when we really need it plus you'll get to pick your own awesome prompts as they come through your inbox. You can also still check out the FF Kiss Battle, and don't worry -—the 2013 Chocobo Races are open to everyone.
Where?
For the purposes of this requirement, we are adopting the following definitions for Final Fantasy fandom universes:
- Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years are considered the same universe
- Final Fantasy V and Legend of the Crystals are considered different universes (the world is the same, but setting and characters are significantly different)
- Games from the Final Fantasy VII Compilation are all considered members of the same universe (this includes Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, Lost Order)
- Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 are considered the same universe
- The Ivalice Alliance will be divided as follows:
- Final Fantasy XII and Revenant Wings are considered the same universe
- Final Fantasy Tactics is considered its own universe
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 are considered the same universe
- Vagrant Story is considered its own universe
- The FFXII/RW, FFT, FFTA/TA2, and VS worlds are considered different universes (due to the differences in setting and characters between them)
- Games from the Fabula Nova Crystallis Compilation are all considered members of the same universe (this includes Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2)
- Final Fantasy: Dissidia and Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim are considered members of the same universe
- The Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles games will be considered different universes (each game is very different)
Why?
Every year once sign-ups close and we are left to match up gifters with recipients, we end up struggling to find appropriate matches when people's four prompts lack a certain degree of variety or scope — the more specifically similar the prompts become, the harder it can be to find a single person who would be an appropriate and willing match. We've discussed these difficulties behind the scenes for years, and we decided that this year was a good time to move forward with a trial program and see whether or not it improves our matching quality and efficiency.
After the 2012 round, we included some questions on prompt variety in our Exit Poll, and we considered the community's answers when shaping our policy. We also evaluated other fanwork exchanges and found that many do have simple, basic variety requirements — although it's hard to find a fanwork exchange that compares to the breadth and variety within the Final Fantasy line of games, since Final Fantasy itself is not a single canon! Based on all of this information and our own internal discussions, we decided to move forward this year with the one-different-request policy.
We realize this may block participants who only have one fandom to offer, or are only interested in requesting from one canon. We apologize, and as we said above, there are plenty of ways you can still participate this year. We'll be interested in feedback after we see how things proceed this round.
When?
2013 is the trial period for this fandom requirement — we may not keep it at all, or it might change form moving from this year to the next. Because this is a trial period, we definitely welcome feedback — please feel free to share your thoughts at any point during the exchange via our DOINK! email account. We won't be making changes to the policy in 2013, and we'll be too busy during the round to have an in-depth discussion, but we value all the participant feedback we get and we'll be happy to continue conversations about the policy once the round is over!
How?
Your sign-up form will not be able to submit unless you are both requesting and offering from two different fandom universes. The form will not remove any of your information, but you will not be able to proceed with sign-ups until your prompts and offers show the required variety in fandoms.
Requirement aside, we encourage you to ask for variety — especially if you're asking for fandoms which are traditionally small in DOINK! — because it makes our lives easier AND gives your gifter different options to work with.
Questions?
Please let us know — in comments here or by email — if you have any questions about this policy. Otherwise, it's time to start thinking about prompts... sign-ups will be opening soon!