A.f.m.o.t.y 2007??

[exhaust smoke]

It's quite late in the year and I haven't seen or heard about the 2007 AFMOTY. I take it that it will not be happening ... or have I missed something??

[Hawk312]

I hope it happens. Usually Warren (primeraman) sets this up. I think he starts taking entries the first of December or after, but I may be wrong.

[MPWR]

Good question....

MOTY has always been PrimeraMan's bit- he came up with it originally, and he alone has run it. But Warren certainly hasn't been seen around these parts much lately. He also had a conflict at the beginning of this year and so had trouble bringing last year's MOTY to a close- maybe indicating that he's ready to hand it off for someone/something else?

I think many of us enjoy having an annual year's end event here. If Warren won't be running a MOTY, it would seem a shame not to have something similar to take it's place.

I suppose if Warren is still keen to do it (and we're all still keen to have MOTY as it has been), than he gets right of first refusal to run it. However if he decides that he's unavailable to run it this year, it's probably time for the rest of us to consider what we want to do to take it's place.

So with that in mind-

What do you like (have you liked) about MOTY? What bits do you find important, or what would you do without? Do you really like the 'competitiveness'? The voting? The fact that there's usually a prize of some sort for the winner? Seeing everyone's best work from the last year? The anticipation of seeing the entries on New Year's day?

Personally, I think the best option for a year's end event will be whatever the most people will participate in. Participation in MOTY has been slacking over the last few years. Participation in '06 was good only after Warren threatened to cancel it due to lack of entries. I know there are people here who don't enter MOTY because of the contest nature. So would we get more participation if we gave the popularity contest a skip, and just had an exhibition of everyone's best work from the past year?

What do you think??

[gionc]

I like:

- The competition spirit: it's crazy fun to follow the vote's trend, with the last "few horses" rush.

- Often is a good "bump" for stuff we forgot or lost.

- I like also to compare my personal tastes with the "democratic voted tastes" . I supposed to own very kind modelling tastes but I have to say that they agree with most people's predilections, judging by votes casted.

I think also that a prize isn't necessary. Pride to be in the AF tops should be enough.

[Hawk312]

Originally Posted by gionc

I like:

- The competition spirit: it's crazy fun to follow the vote's trend, with the last "few horses" rush.

- Often is a good "bump" for stuff we forgot or lost.

I really look forward to this, even if I am not participating. I love seeing everyone`s best works at the end of the year. I used to have all the pictures of every entry since the contest`s inception back in 2002, until I lost my hard drive.
I think we should try to find out why many people on here, that would definitely put up a good competition, are not competing. I know for me, I haven`t built a model with the contest in mind since the very first contest, so I am just being a slacker and took a little coersion to actually enter something the past few years because I didn`t think what I had was contest worthy (the last two MOTY competitions, I barely made it in on time).

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by Hawk312

I think we should try to find out why many people on here, that would definitely put up a good competition, are not competing.

Another good question. But one that we can maybe answer with a bit of thought and discussion.

I can only report my own speculation, and what other people have shared with me in PMs- but it seems that a good number of people are deterred from participating because of the 'competition' aspect of MOTY. Some people don't participate because they have a good build to show, but believe it's simply not of a popular enough subject to gain votes. Others don't want to show their build only to wind up with three total votes in the end. Others post rarely, and think people won't vote for someone they don't know by reputation. Still others think that their work is not yet good enough, and there's just no point in them entering if they feel they don't have a real chance at winning. And some feel can't take a decent pic of an otherwise excellent build if their lives depended on it.

Personally, I'm not going to submit an entry for a popularity vote this year. I have a completed build that that I'm pleased with and proud of, that in all likelihood would be competitive. But I'm just not interested in 'the running'. On the other hand I'd be perfectly happy to show it, such as in a 2007 gallery.

MOTY has been struggling for entries for several years now. Alot of people seem to enjoy it- but that apparently doesn't translate into alot of entries. There may be alot of people who fall into one (or more) of the categories I mentioned above. (It might also be worth noting that recently we've had alot more participation in group builds than we've had in contests.) So what parts are most important about MOTY, and what do people enjoy the most? Is it worth having if it's not a 'competition'? Or is it worth having if we get a poor turnout?

[klutz_100]

Doesn't the mere name "AFMOTY" by definition imply competition?
To have THE model of the year, it has to be better than some others...

[gionc]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Doesn't the mere name "AFMOTY" by definition imply competition?
To have THE model of the year, it has to be better than some others...

100% agree.

Due to my subject and the fact that lately we have fantastic modeler here (just see how much 5stars: I'll say I agree with most of those ratings) I have the suspect that I'll be in the group's tail, seeing other do the final rush: I don't care, I'll give my entry. Probably not my top, but something I enjoyed a lot: enough for me.

Andy, come on. Can't believe the common thought here is "worry to not to be the best". AFMOTY is a tradition here, a good one beside. Just do it. We'll try to simplify rules/prizes to let a simple job for the one that manage it, but a contest is a contest.

[wouter1981]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Doesn't the mere name "AFMOTY" by definition imply competition?
To have THE model of the year, it has to be better than some others...

I agree.. If you do a AFMOTY without a competition.. than you just have a groupbuild... and if this groupbuild includes a wide range of subjects..than you just have a bunch of people who like modelling and put pictures on this website... and that's not special anymore...

[exhaust smoke]

I recall that Warren was rather tied up with other commitments, such as his Primera Club. I have not heard much from him since his last thread letting us know he was OK. It is a shame, as I do miss his builds.

I personally love to see other modellers best pieces on show at the end of the year. Although I personally try to enter, it is sometimes hard to model during the year, as I am quite busy with work. I think that people should make more of an effort to enter, seeing that there are quite a lot of high quality completed projects on display.

I do not mind the competition and the entrance rules as they were.

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Doesn't the mere name "AFMOTY" by definition imply competition?
To have THE model of the year, it has to be better than some others...

Isn't this an argument of semantics? Does it matter what we call it?

Are you implying that it should be a contest simply because it has always been a contest?

If MOTY in its previous, traditional form is what everyone wants here, than I absolutely will not protest it or stand in it's way (I just hope that everyone who wants it as such actually enters). But if it's going to be another year of thirteen entries, and doing something else slightly different would encourage more participation, might it not be worth altering the tradition a bit?

I don't much care what's done. I just think it would be cool to do something, and it would be best if it's the something that the most people would participate in. If another identical MOTY contest is what we all want to do, than let's do a MOTY contest. But let's do it because it's what everyone wants to do, not because it's the default option.

If we can't get as many people as we want to participate in the contest, what is most important to everyone- that it remains as it has been, or that we get the greatest number of people participating??

(Ski & Gio, I'm not entirely sure that I remember you guys entering last year? Or the year before...?)

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by MPWR

Ski ... I'm not entirely sure that I remember you ...entering last year? Or the year before...?)

Check the entries for 2006 (hint: look for a Dino)
I wasn't eligible for entry in the 2005 IIRC


EDIT: Andy, for the sake being unequivocal, I am fine with choosing the best model of 2007 on AF (even though it won't be mine). "OTY" type events are as old as salt and part of real life and I don't see why not to do one on AF.

The only real threat I see is that it goes down the crapper like the recent '60s comp on SPC but since that hasn't happened here before, I am inclined to feel that it won't happen now either.

In the context of hobbies I am a firm believer in the old adage "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game..." but if some people feel that they can't take part in a peer ranking process without getting overly competitive/ambitious and therefore don't want to enter that's absolutely fine IMO.

IMHO an annual "Show and tell" is a bit wimpy and I don't really see the point but that's just me.

I think that the award/prize is a "nice to have" element but absolutely not essential.

I also think that, with the greatest of respect to Pman, if he wants to be the organizer as tradition dictates he should have official and sanctioned backup in the form of the moderator team who are empowered to move things forward in case real life forces him to fall off the radar screen again.

[willimo]

Being worried about not winning is, I think, a silly hangup. The point of the AFMOTY, as far as I could ever tell, was to show of your personal model of the year. It's more like... AFers' Models of the Year; not AF's single most model of the year. The contest aspect allows us to honor the model we respect the most on the board. I'm sure everyone has one model that someone posted that really took their breath away - probably a few. And I'm sure that some can even agree on one - or a few - enough for it to be noteworthy. There is a ton of great talent on this board, and I'd certainly feel remiss if I didn't get to see what each member considered their best, and if I couldn't participate in bestowing congratulations on a model, and member, who really wowed us collectively.

It shouldn't be considered as taking community apart by ranking us among it, but by bringing it together by asking us to show our appreciation for each other.

[Mister_S13_2]

who cares if you dont win? i look at it as an opportunity to show off your best works, whether you come close to winning or not.if it happens ill be ebering, even though i know i wont win.its fun anyway

[joelwideqvist]

I think it's a great competition, a fun end to the modelling year, and a chance to sum up what we've acomplished.

My thought though is that the competition is as much a competition regarding photo skills as it is a competition on modelling. I can't put aside that a build looks much better when photographed right.

Second thought (on the negative side) is that you can't put aside the fact that a build that has been followed by most members in a very comprehensive WIP is to gain from that more than a build that has just been entered in the completed section late november.

Even though this might be the case I think we are to have the AFMOTY this year as well, and the next... BECAUSE IT'S FOR FUN!!! And the facts I talked about above is pretty hard to fix, this is all together a web forum and to show our models we need to get them photographed and that a product goes better when advertised isn't such a shock. We are here to show, view and learn and I think this should pep most of us to post longer WIP:s wich in the end makes us all better modellers, no matter who win or lose.

So my thought is that the AFMOTY should go on just like it used to. I think we are a lot of people that would be willing to administrate it. I can't say it wouldn't be such a burden on my shoulders.

/Joel