Contests / New Day, New Contest

Damn, I was hoping the next contest would be the Forfeit All Your Mortal Possessions To Pants Tour

I speak only for myself here: I like and appreciate the excitement. But posting this topic feels a bit like wind making to groundwork contest entitlement. It's not a question of wanting a contest and us needing to be told. We think about events, and manage our availabilities constantly. 

 Definitely not entitled, just hungry... I'm really just surprised that we haven't seen another contest this year yet given the consistency of the past several years of at least 1 major contest that's sometimes coupled with a minor one (which I'd say NEDC is). But maybe that's just because we've been spoiled.

It's always great seeing the excitement for contests - it's proven that this community is very motivated to production by contests. The presentation quality and time commitment that goes into each official NE contest feels like it's significantly increased year over year, which is certainly not taken for granted. Which is why for me, NE contests are a "drop everything else RCT-related you're working on and focus on this new contest" ordeal. The quality and care that goes into every aspect is evident, and is something that we as a community appreciate and are undoubtably excited about. Being able to still be excited about contests for this game all these years later is really something special.

 

Personally, I think it's a lot of fun to broaden my horizons and continue playing the game in new scenarios - whether it's by engaging with new players who I haven't built with before, trying new play styles, or entering contests from other communities. In the back of my mind, I still always build "for NE" as it relates to my parkmaker page. But truthfully, it's a ton of fun to branch out and enjoy the game in different ways. If you're craving a contest (for the competition factor, accountability, recognition, etc), I'd encourage you to look into contests from other communities during these lull periods of NE contests. Take it as an opportunity to grow and challenge yourself, and potentially step outside of your comfort zone. Make new friends. And then introduce them to NE contests when that time comes along. It's been amazing to see the rct community as a whole continue to grow and welcome new people into the fold. This is such a fun, niche, shared interest that should continue to be fostered by everyone who engages in it. So while I would absolutely love for a new contest to pop up, I'm happy to wait because I know the admin team will knock it out of the park when they're ready. 

No one does contests like NE though so I personally have barely any motivation outside of this community for other contests. I also for the most part want to build CSO which also is constrained by other communities.

Thanks to you both. I personally also have this relationship with contests, that if we do them, they must be grand. It's what I think NE deserves and what I want to give. I'm proud that we have been able to increase contest production value ever since H2H9, and that it's been having a positive effect for people.

 

Of course then the flipside is the commitment it means from a producer's side. Life has lifed a bit too much for me lately, and contests aren't the only thing NE needs love given to. I already feel bad for some of the parks in the queue, some of which people have invested themselves so fully to, that I feel it's a must to create a nice and deserving moment for them for the release. And then I already know my schedule is so full that I can commit to NE at night only, really just by cutting sleep, as I try to come up with meaningful and loving words for a release in an announcement as I fight fatigue...

 

Of course there are more people in the team to help, but we've fallen into a bit of a tough patch with personal stuff that we hadn't expected, but that thankfully we are digging ourselves out of. I think. And I know that the muscle of the (relatively new) team is big.

 

With that in mind, feel free to contest brainstorm. I just find it emotionally wounding to get excited for something NE that then doesn't happen.

(End of oversharing)

Biased because I'm a total loudmouth but I don't think you need to apologize or worry about oversharing. It's so easy for any kind of community to let their expectations for what their leaders are capable of spiral out of control. NE is a self-driving engine powered by a bunch of ordinary people who still love RCT today as much as we did decades ago. As such, what it's capable of is purely determined by the people involved. There's no shame in stepping away for a bit if real life takes priority. I've personally been in a RCT slump as of late due to both other pasttimes and still getting used to full-time hours after almost a year so I feel you and the rest of the admin team. Hope to see you all bounce back strong!

^ agreed - I don't think this counts as oversharing, just sharing. Check us out with all our emotional maturity now we've been part of this community for such a long time. Life happens, don't worry about not being able to prioritise a hobby. Thanks for all you do - and the same goes to the rest of the admins, panellists and everybody who keeps everything going. Such a good bunch of people here <3