ff_exchange | DOINK! 2014 is here! Sign-ups are open!

Sign-ups are Open!

As always, you can sign up as a participant, a beta, or both!

Regular sign-ups will be open until Friday, April 4, 2014, 23:00 UTC.

Beta Sign-ups will be open until Sunday, April 13, 2014, 23:00 UTC.

Here's the full DOINK! 2014 schedule — check that you have the time for creation and uploading before signing up!

Signups and Schedule

Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 23:00 UTC: Regular / Beta Sign-ups Open

Friday, April 4, 2014, 23:00 UTC: Regular Sign-ups close

Saturday, April 5, 2014 - Sunday, April 13, 2014: Matching

Sunday, April 13, 2014, 23:00 UTC: Beta Sign-ups close

Monday, April 14, 2014 - Wednesday, April 16, 2014: Sending Assignments

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - Monday, May 19, 2014: Creation Time

Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at 23:00 UTC: No-Penalty Default Deadline

Sunday, May 11, 2014 at 23:00 UTC: Beta Request Deadline

Monday, May 19, 2014 at 23:00 UTC: Uploading Deadline

Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 23:00 UTC - Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 08:00 UTC: All Pinch Hits Sent Out, Beta Prompts Posted, Moogle Fluff Begins

Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 23:00 UTC by the latest: Reveal of all collections!

Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 23:00 UTC: Reveal of all creators!

Important Sign-up Notes

All forms ask for a passcode as part of your sign-up information. This can be any short code or phrase and acts like a password, allowing you to go back and make edits — and letting us make sure it really is you! Please be sure to use something easy to remember and keep in mind moderators can see your passcodes.

Please do not use your back button to navigate the forms or make edits. Each form has a confirmation screen at the end with an option to return to a previous point to make changes; please use this instead of the back/forward browser buttons. Take advantage of the confirmation page — it's the best place to catch problems.

You will be sent a confirmation email for all sign-ups — remember that this email provides you with directions for fixing mistakes or making changes!

Guidelines for Signing Up as a Regular Participant

For anyone who has not participated before, or anyone who needs a refresher, there are directions and help text throughout the form, and you're always welcome to ask questions!

Our most consistent feedback in exit polls is scrawny prompts, so don't be afraid to give your gifter some guidance, scenarios, and themes. Just don't box them in with too many specifics. :) Check out our guide, Writing Good Prompts.

Guidelines for Signing Up as a Beta Volunteer

As with previous years, we have a beta signup process similar to regular signups. Here's how it works:

Betas sign up using a special beta volunteer sign-up form. They provide contact information, including email address, canons, preferences, beta style, etc. They also let us know how many pieces they want to work on: this is the number of slots a beta has. These details are stored in our database.

The beta's information is displayed in our beta listings, like this (note that email is not listed — that information is protected!)

(click for more examples!)

This beta has four slots, two of which are filled.

A participant can request a beta from this list using the "Request This Beta!" button. These buttons will not be available until beta sign-ups close.

The mods will receive the request and will connect the participant and the beta.

One of the beta's slots will be filled; filled slots are greyed out. When all a beta's slots are filled, they can't be requested anymore.

If a beta wants to use the slots to control how many works they do at a time, they can contact the mods as they finish working on each piece and ask us to clear that slot. If a beta wants to use the slots to control how many works they do total, they can just set their maximum and let the system do its work!

We hope this system allows participants to find betas easily, and allows each beta to volunteer at a level they're comfortable at. If a beta can only volunteer a limited amount, that's still excellent — we appreciate all offers!

Betas also have the option of submitting two prompts, though you can opt out of this. We don't guarantee betas gifts, nor do we match betas to any particular participants — however, we still want to give betas a chance for a gift in return for volunteering their time. All beta prompts will be put in the Chocobo Down list at the end of the round, marked as beta prompts. In addition, any betas who completed work during the round (the mods will track this through the request system) will also have their prompts listed during Moogle Fluff time, again marked as beta prompts.

If you'd like to sign up as both a participant and a beta and choose to submit beta prompts, we do ask that you choose different prompts for each, so that there are no duplicates. Thank you!

Advertising

We're definitely looking to get the word out about the exchange and we would love if you could help us. This year we've tried to make it a little easier for you to tell your friends so you can convince them to create with us, because you know whatever they make will be awesome. We've whipped up some banners for you to use if you would like a quick and easy way to help us get the word out. More awesome people = more awesome fanwork = more awesome time!

These banners are themed around our triumphant 2013 Chocobo Races winners, Team Shiva!

Just copy the text under your chosen banner: it makes an image that links back to one of our communities.

Now Let's Go!

Regular Participant Signup

Beta Volunteer Signup

Feel free to join us in the DOINK! chat room!

Go forth! Create some awesome prompts for us to drool over in our moderator box seats.