Poll on CAYOM's Future

[4815162342]

This is a poll concerning how CAYOM should proceed. The options:

 

Continue with the Year System as before.

 

Continue CAYOM via the Festival idea proposed in the Behind the Camera thread. All details and ideas are on pages 67-68 of the thread.

 

Continue CAYOM via the Month system idea proposed by Creator in this thread (page 1) (still needs some development).

 

 

Edited October 24, 2013 by 4815162342

[cookie]

And I who considered joining in Year 9 (for real this time, honest), but the ideas you laid out don't sound too bad. I have a few questions before signing off on it, though.

[4815162342]

Ask away. It's still a developing concept.

[cookie]

Is there any limit for what kind of films would be able to enter the competition? Could pretty much any film be put up as long as the poster thinks it's good enough to compete with?

Edited October 24, 2013 by C00k13

[ChD]

Is there any limit for what kind of films would be able to enter the competition? Could big, small, artsy, family-friendly, live action, animated... pretty much any film be put up as long as the poster thinks it's good enough to compete?

 

Since we're going to replace the years with festivals, I imagine that users are able to submit whatever movie they want.

[cookie]

Good 'cause I have some big ideas in mind, and I was worried if certain rules would limit them to screen out of competition.

[The Creator]

I know I have not thought about, looked at, or done anything related to CAYOM since I last worked on Obliteration...which was in June. So I know and recognize that the game is very clearly dying off, and some change needs to be made if we hope to keep it alive and working consistently.

 

At its core, CAYOM's main purpose is to produce stories that other players can read, appreciate, or criticize. The critiques provide valuable insight into our writing and story-telling skills. In general, CAYOM serves as an outlet for out creativity, where we tell stories in the format of films. Because some people invest a lot of creativity into a project, their films wind up being exceptionally long and this becomes time consuming for them and for the readers, but that is a point I will touch on later. 

 

But beyond its core value of storytelling and appreciation of works, CAYOM has some sentimental value that comes from certain aspects that really tie into the movie industry vibe. Abolishing the year system will strip the game of a lot of those values. I have been a CAYOM veteran for 19 years in old CAYOM (BOM style) and 4 years here, and I know that what makes CAYOM is the following:

-Box Office (EVERYONE loves the box office aspect. People like to see how their movies perform in fake dollar amounts. It adds a sense of power for each player and for his projects and date rights)

-Scheduling (Scheduling blockbusters is a key component of the game that has served a very exciting and competitive purpose and keeps the players active in competing with each other)

-Reviews (this could be maintained thorugh the Festival system, so that's not too big a dispute)

-Oscars (to me, this is always the best part of the game, and others echo that sentiment)

 

In the Festival System, most of these will be abolished. Eliminating the Year System cuts down on a lot of clutter, naturally, and allows us to focus more on one or two specific projects than on a handful or a dozen of them, but it also detracts from the experience, in my opinion. It no longer feels like CAYOM...at least not in the sense of how CAYOM has felt before. But I do recognize that that form of CAYOM cannot function in a time when most of its veteran players have become worn out and don't have the time or energy they used to have to both create and to recruit. That is the issue at hand, so with the veterans not able to participate, new players are unable to be drawn in. 

 

Length is the primary issue. I am the biggest culprit of this, and I regret it. When films become too wordy, people don't have the time to read them, and others take too long to write them. That is where CAYOM strays from its original path/intention. The only way we could successfully continue the Year System would be with the absolute abolishment of excessive length and a REQUIRED WORD LIMIT. By that, I mean that if ANY film exceeds a set word limit, it would be completely stripped of contention in every process of the game. If a word limit were set in place, players like me and Numbers would work to confine our stories to a smaller amount. The thing is, the same story can be told with less detail than is required. WE'RE NOT WRITING NOVELS here. 

-In a proposal to keep the Year System, a starting word limit of 2,000 words should be placed. For nicety, a +500 word extra limit can be in effect for the first year to see how it works, but only with exception and justifiable reason.

 

Commitment. This is an issue that is the most difficult to resolve. We cannot make people play. And veterans are just worn out. Even with the length limit in effect, we would still lack most veterans who kept the game active. Even Rysenkari, the game's creator, has been absent since like Year 1 of this version...2 real life years ago. Impact has vanished, and the majority of veterans from BOM don't venture to here anymore. Numbers remains the drawing force on that end, but Numbers, Spaghetti, and I (and I know there are a few other significant veterans from the old days here too) cannot maintain the game on our own. Recruitment is hard to come by because people just aren't motivated for this type of game, especially when it becomes so daunting to see plots that are 10,000+ words long. So for any version of CAYOM to continue, we need committed players, so regardless of whether we maintain the Year System or the Festival System, I propose the aforementioned word limit as it will help keep interest higher.

 

 

AN ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL

 

Month system

 

Instead of doing the whole year at once, do a couple months, or even just one month, of a year at once. If you don't want to release any films in that month, put it off untilt he next month or so. Likewise, if you don't have time to participate in a month, you can still come in at a later month. For instance, January, February, and March can all be done at once as their minor months (except for March). Players could make short/medium length films, reviews can be done, and box office can be executed. Then we move on. Each month or period of months can last anywhere in real life from 2-4 weeks, or less if necessary, and this gives people plenty of time to write movies for later months. Smaller months can be glanced over (like January) except when some exceptions occur by proposal/favor of the players.

 

In the end, an awards ceremony can be held compiling films from all 12 months (or however many months are presented), and we could stick to the true meaning of CAYOM without trying to cram a whole year into a real life period of 4-8 weeks. It allows for more pacing and time management, and if we feel a particular month is dragging, we can hop on to the next month.

 

Also, a player will not have to wait for it to be the next CAYOM year to join in. If its May and the player wants to release a movie, they can shoot for June when it starts in 2-4 weeks, instead of waiting for the next CAYOm year to start in 2-4 months.

 

 

 

 

 

For the record

I am not voting period. I will rather see what other people say, and if everyone favors the Festival System, we can try it out, but I would like to point out this alternative proposal and also enforce a Word Limit for the time being at least. Just to see how things work out.

[ChD]

^ I'd rather have the original version, too, but I feel like it moves really way too slow sometimes. It's probably the lack of players that makes it so slow. I mean, Part 1, for example, was open around 2-3 months which is too long. Then Part 3 again took some time, but okay, I don't blame anyone here because I know people are busy and stuff like that.

 

There simply aren't enough players to keep this alive. We could try to make it the way you said with the word limit, and try advertise it someway. Maybe even add a lot of new things - like a update to the current version, and advertise it in the main box office discussion forum and see if it catches on.

[4815162342]

Good 'cause I have some big ideas in mind, and I was worried if certain rules would limit them to screen out of competition.

 

Any film can be submitted in competition if a person feels it's good enough. No limits beyond the number of films submitted.

[4815162342]

The Month System is interesting. It would help to lengthen things out to give people time to write without feeling like a big drag on time. Probably needs developing more to be a viable option, but I am interested in seeing further input on it.

 

My only issue with word limits is that they can be arbitrary. I would prefer a word limit that is higher since sometimes 2,000 words can be very constricting on a film where a lot of big stuff happens.

Edited October 24, 2013 by 4815162342

[cookie]

...I would cap it at 8000 words myself.

Edited October 24, 2013 by C00k13

[CJohn]

I like the Month System.

[4815162342]

I have edited the poll. Please re-vote or simply null your vote pending further discussion.

[Alpha]

I think the Month system seems like the best issue. For example, we could do the regular Advance Schedule for the entire year, and then we could open a Part 1 for every month, starting in January. Since the time span is 2-4 weeks, I have quite a lot of time to write about 1-2 films. Then if the box office can get done for that month, we move on to the next month. I can see how this is going to work.

[4815162342]

I think we could bunch together months like January/February, March/April, and September/October. I think a few kinks such as box office need to be fleshed out more, but if they are then I think this month idea is a solid thing.

 

The good thing about the Month system is that we wouldn't have to junk Year 8 at all. We just would restart it with what we have and proceed at the new pace.

[ChD]

Make the month system into the season system. Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall

[cookie]

Make the month system into the season system. Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall

I'd say divide it into five. Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall/Holiday.

[CJohn]

All seem like good ideas.

[riczhang]

I think both the month system and festival are interesting but I do think that the present format (and especially no word limit) offers a more immersive and comprehensive game that I think is superior.

[cookie]

^I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind keeping the current system if the game had much more activity than it does now.

 

But what do I know, I've never actually made my return yet. 

Edited October 25, 2013 by C00k13