MFGG Hall of Fame? - gallery to display comp winners

[Evil Yoshi Toes]

This is something I just mentioned in a different thread about Music Competitions but I thought was worthy of its own thread. I think this idea has potential and I'd like to know what you all think of it!

Our competitions are struggling, and I think one reason is the lack of reward. The new badge is nice, but why should I care if my drawing comp runner up badge has a x2 or a x50 next to it? We need something better. We need something that is going to make the competition winners seem like an important part of MFGG's history. That is why I am proposing an MFGG Hall of Fame. The idea is not at all fleshed out, but I wanted to get it out there for consideration. Basically, it would be a place where we can display the top 3 (or 5, where that applies) entries of each competition on the forums. It would be linked to both on the forums and on the main site, and it would look very, very important! I think this can benefit MFGG in two main ways: it can bring main site members and browsers to the forums, and it can revitalize interest in forum competitions.

With forum competition winners being advertised on the main site, members of the main site exclusively are not only made more aware of the forums' existences and activity but also have another reason to create a forum account. If they want to be part of the Hall of Fame they'd have to make an account on here, which could hopefully lead to them becoming part of our community.

Revitalizing interest in the competitions is tricky, especially since lack of reward is definitely not the only reason why people aren't joining competitions, but having competitions seem more important is one way we convince people that the work they put into the competitions will not be forgotten. Right now only people who were active on the forums at the time of the competition see the entires, which means a lot of the work put into them goes down the drain. Having a permanent and prominent place to show off these winning entires cements them in MFGG history and makes sure that as new members join and old ones leave these competitions will not fade away into obscurity. We could also link back to the competition threads so people can see the entries that didn't land top 3 (or 5).

We could also display the Game of the Year/Month games here too, as well as any other award winning piece of MFGG history. I think we should discuss the idea in general before getting too specific since it could be something completely out of the question, but I just have to say that it would be really cool if it looked like each competition was a room in Peach's castle and each entry was a painting on the wall that we could "jump into" in order to experience.

Let's discuss this idea!

*By the way, please don't think that I am under the delusion that this and this alone will solve all of MFGG's problems. I know that MFGG has a lot of more important issues to resolve and that this will probably take a back seat for now, but it's just something that I thought could help the site and that, if the time ever comes, I would be glad to help with in some way.*

[Mors]

Heh, I was also thinking about doing something with the competitions just yesterday. Before it seemed like the staff was pumping them out without really giving much thought into them, to the point where they were starting to feel like "things that just happen" instead of special events. I feel like they should have a bit more importance, just like Secret Santa or MFGG Awards if that makes sense.

I was planning to advertise the competitions on the main site and Twitter to achieve that but an MFGG Hall of Fame thing would be really helpful on that as well. Not very sure how it would be implemented tho, maybe just a page on the main site that lists top entries from various competitions? I don't think we would be able to make that look like Peach's Castle though, at least without making it feel clunky or cheap.

[Vert]

You could have like curtains and the wallpaper from the castle. Doesn't have to be complicated.

[VinnyVideo]

This is a great idea! Right now, our only permanent record of competition winners is the MFGG Wiki, and the Wiki's competition pages are inconsistently updated and don't attract a huge amount of traffic. It would take a bit of work to create an "MFGG Hall of Fame", but it wouldn't be incredibly difficult. This is very doable.

Promoting the competitions more consistently on the mainsite and social media would also help.

Course clear! You got a card.

[Evil Yoshi Toes]

I'm glad people like this idea.
@Mors Promoting the competitions on social media would be a great help too! As for the theming, I think what Vert suggested would be pretty doable. We don't have to make it seem like we are really playing Mario 64, we could just have the graphics on the site be themed around her castle while still focusing more on an easy to navigate website layout.