Would have been nice to know before the competition

[AlienNation]

First off I would like to say congrats to all the winners from the dis on their Everest rides. You all did really great work and should be proud of your accomplishments. This thread isn't to take away from what u all did, but is just a concern that I had from reading what they were judging on.

My problem, is with several teams trying to "recreate" the actual ride from the Animal Kingdom, they don't really fall into any of the categories that were judging on. The rules said, "create your own everest ride"... that could mean anything at all, and of course many took it as trying to do your best w/ VMK items to make the actual ride come to life. For those that understood it that way... how could they compete in some of the categories that arose from the competition? No possible way at all. There is only so many colors and track placements to the actual ride itself. It would have been nice to know what they would be looking for in the rides BEFORE the competition, not after it is all over and done with.

 

[Carrieberry]

I agree! I think it is AWESOME Dis peeps won some of the catagories, but even those teams must admit that they really let ALL the teams fly blind on this one. They obviously had predeterminded catagories they would be judging on, so why did they just not say "teams will be judged on the following things"? It would not have been hard to do. I am not being a bad sport at all here and I am so very proud fo you DIS winners, just think maybe they could have clued ALL of us into what they would be judging on.

 

[silvrstrfx]

Hey I totally agree and my team did win

There were so many questions I had about this competition that there weren't answers for --- me and Wawaaka were rather lonely in our little Cheese It base camp, so we talked lots about it lol... like what was being judged? What were the prizes? How many winners were there going to be? Were there going to be categories within the winners? We were hoping we were going to win some kind of originality category, so it's sweet that there was one!

But definitely in the future, there should be more information. We all spent incredible amounts of time and credits and VMK could at least throw us some basic info about what to expect! Would help us all make better entries!

 

[purplegoddess]

Hey I totally agree and my team did win

There were so many questions I had about this competition that there weren't answers for --- me and Wawaaka were rather lonely in our little Cheese It base camp, so we talked lots about it lol... like what was being judged? What were the prizes? How many winners were there going to be? Were there going to be categories within the winners? We were hoping we were going to win some kind of originality category, so it's sweet that there was one!

But definitely in the future, there should be more information. We all spent incredible amounts of time and credits and VMK could at least throw us some basic info about what to expect! Would help us all make better entries!

LOL fox, we are so on the same wave length

i woudl have to agree too. i think they should have given you some idea as to what to go for in your rooms. it's hard to know what you are aiming for when it is so vauge!

 

[bevgray]

Well, it is not the first time a room competition turned out differently than the rules indicated. My own team changed direction because, supposedly, we received clarification that the rooms had to be about Everest and expeditions.

The rooms that won were all wonderful and very creative but, as in the Celebration and Space competition, one gets the feeling that they picked rooms they really liked and then made up a category to fit them...not the other way around. Again, that is fine but if that is the case then say so to give others a chance to come up with more innovative ideas.

What does please me though, is the winners were not amongst the "usual suspects". I am very pleased to see some new guests in the winning rooms list.

Again, well done and congratulations to all who both won and who worked very hard on their rooms to participate.

For those upset about the Safari room, keep in mind the Pirate Prison room was a competition award room a few weeks before the quest went live at the Disney parks. Hopefully, since this room was an award, the quest will be out soon along with the furnishings.

 

[ScroogesNephew]

. . . the old qualitative judging ogre! Ice Dance, Mumblypeg, VMK, all the same. If you don't win by crossing a finish line first, or crossing home base more times, etc., it ain't a REAL competition! It has to be something EVERYONE can measure fairly in order to count. With that said, congratulations to all the winners!

 

[Pixie_Dust]

Hey I totally agree and my team did win

There were so many questions I had about this competition that there weren't answers for --- me and Wawaaka were rather lonely in our little Cheese It base camp, so we talked lots about it lol... like what was being judged? What were the prizes? How many winners were there going to be? Were there going to be categories within the winners? We were hoping we were going to win some kind of originality category, so it's sweet that there was one!

But definitely in the future, there should be more information. We all spent incredible amounts of time and credits and VMK could at least throw us some basic info about what to expect! Would help us all make better entries!

I think I recognize you from pirates today! Congrats so much on your ride win!!

Will you be in the base camp any time so ppl can try out your ride if they missed it over the weekend?

Cheers,
Pixie

 

[laxplaya1346]

i agree, my team's leader didnt send in our entry... so i couldnt do anything

 

[purplehusky]

i disagree, it is more fun this way, to be suprised i was so breath-taken when i saw that my team won. i think it is fair that they didn't say what they were judging on, that would make it less fair, and people maybe wouldn't have creative ride. i don't know,just a thought

 

[Captain Brain]

I was actually surprised not top see the team of no return!

I just knew that you would win!

 

[purplehusky]

I was actually surprised not top see the team of no return!

I just knew that you would win!

yeah same here! there ride was so breath-taking and down right creative! I mean a person acting like a yeti wow ! what a good idea! and the story in the room desprtions i loved the whole story! it was so amazing!

 

[bevgray]

I do not have a problem with VMK not choosing a theme and letting everyone turn their imaginations loose (which is what they did with the pin rooms). I do have a problem with them telling guests, both in the initial contest description and reinforced by staff when asked for clarification, that guests should build their own "Everest Expedition" ride as inspired for Animal Kingdom's new ride. Not "a ride using Everest pieces". That is what I find a little unfair.

This is not directed at the winning room designers. I think all the rooms were remarkable and many were quite beautiful. My criticism goes back to to the old problem that VMK has had with events from the beta. A specified competition that apparently changes direction without telling anyone.

 

[Carrieberry]

i disagree, it is more fun this way, to be suprised i was so breath-taken when i saw that my team won. i think it is fair that they didn't say what they were judging on, that would make it less fair, and people maybe wouldn't have creative ride. i don't know,just a thought

Well I think this was the problem. We did not know if the ride was supposed to be creative or not. They did not even say "Be Creative!" or anything else regarding the way the rooms would be judged. Then there were people saying things like you could not use river, yet I am pretty sure I saw a ride that had a room (that was a winner on the list for creative use of track pieces) that had all river and no track in it. There was no rhyme or reason to what they were looking for and then all of a sudden when it is over there were these specific catagories!! I am sorry and I dont mean to sound negative, or short the teams that did win, but I thought the theme was supposed to be Everest, and then to find out there was a catagory for Best Theme? It just seems very specific and when they are going to judge on being so specific then they should be giving peeps the heads up beforehand. Did any of you winning teams gear your rides towards these specific catagories? Did you sit down and say "Lets use the most color we can in case they are judging on best use of color!" Probably not. All the rides were great, and I did not ride any I thought could not win in ONE CATAGORY OR ANOTHER. It was just if you had what fell in their catagory or not and that is what seems like it was just so odd. Great rides all!

All I have left to say that the winners really deserve more/better prizes than they got, after all this was a way expensive, totally time consuming project that deserves more than a room, a chair and a pin. Just my opinion. They could have at least give 2000 credits a piece in addition to it.

 

[AlienNation]

i disagree, it is more fun this way, to be suprised i was so breath-taken when i saw that my team won. i think it is fair that they didn't say what they were judging on, that would make it less fair, and people maybe wouldn't have creative ride. i don't know,just a thought

Ok... I guess I am totally confused??? How would people not have done creative rides if it was said what was going to be judged on? Also, the shock of winning would still be there because nobody would know who was going to win or not...

I am glad that your team did win and the others from the great Dis boards... and in no way do i want to take any of the joys away from that, but I just wish at the beginning it was clear what is supposed to be done. Not just thrown it up in the air, make your own everest ride.

 

[BriarRosie]

To be fair, since we had no way of knowing how they judged, those of us
with a theme could have lost to some technically stunning pieces of ride
track engineering.

One ride that stands out to me as best technical didn't make the list.
That was Yeti Trackers. They had us going backwards at one point!

I do think the team that won the grand prize had a stunningly detailed ride.
The fire cliffs alone blew me away.

 

[Carrieberry]

To be fair, since we had no way of knowing how they judged, those of us
with a theme could have lost to some technically stunning pieces of ride
track engineering.

One ride that stands out to me as best technical didn't make the list.
That was Yeti Trackers. They had us going backwards at one point!

I do think the team that won the grand prize had a stunningly detailed ride.
The fire cliffs alone blew me away.

Exactly and that is the point-there was no way to know. At all. Why did that team not win? What did they not have? They did not have the things they judged on thats what, and that just seems like bad luck.

 

[Tampa]

Congratulations to the winners!

With that said, I really wish I could have that lost weekend back, and the money I've spent just to road trip and ride Everest, just to make sure we've replicated the real thing. Bevgray said it best, at least there were new "types" of winners, instead of vmk's basic clan club, that was a breath of fresh air, even after many teams faces being pushed in the dirt.

We've inncorporated on our version the entire backwards drop and after so many people loving the element and not seeing it in many other places, we really thought we stood a chance with the notion, "We've recreated Everest" perfectly. What were we thinking eh?

 

[qruthie]

I wish the criteria for judging would have been listed in the rules for the competition. Even vague things such as be creative would have been helpful. I would have liked to see the rides be judged more like parade floats are judged. Out town gives awards to floats in the holiday parade, stuff like Grand Marshall's Award, Most Creative, Funniest, Best Depiction of the Theme, etc.. VMK could have given out similar awards and even have an award from each judge for their favorite entry. I'd suggest one winner per category and a bunch of different categories. If VMK did this and knew the categories before the contest, designers could even design their rides to fit a specific category. It would have been interesting for the riders to be able to submit a vote for their favorite ride - kind of like a people's choice award.

I also feel the winners deserved bigger prizes. The rides were fantastic and so much effort was put into creating them. The team members deserve more than what the typical Best Guest Room winner receives as a prize. They should have at least added Inferno to the prizes!

Just to make it clear, I was not on a ride team, these opinions are based on the creative and complex rides I saw.

qruthie (the 'q' is silent)

 

[celine12]

What does please me though, is the winners were not amongst the "usual suspects". I am very pleased to see some new guests in the winning rooms list.

that's sad that this pleases you. so players who are great room designers should not win so new guests with mediocre rooms can? i disagree. the best should win afterall thats the point to find the best and reward them. not show mercy or pity on a new player. I saw the rooms and out of respect wont list names but some of them are very poorly done. Again I wont say names but some teams were shoved to the dirt and deserved to win. but you know what bev? you are probably right on the money. VMK probably did show mercy and pity and let certain people win so players like you will stop complaining

yes the pin 3/5 is a slap in your face. I repeat a month of working and 30 grueling hours of managing base. come on vmk you really blew it this time! way to go. they will never learn.

 

[celine12]

Congratulations to the winners!

With that said, I really wish I could have that lost weekend back, and the money I've spent just to road trip and ride Everest, just to make sure we've replicated the real thing. Bevgray said it best, at least there were new "types" of winners, instead of vmk's basic clan club, that was a breath of fresh air, even after many teams faces being pushed in the dirt.

We've inncorporated on our version the entire backwards drop and after so many people loving the element and not seeing it in many other places, we really thought we stood a chance with the notion, "We've recreated Everest" perfectly. What were we thinking eh?

I agree on the lost weekend I'm shocked you didnt win because i think you already win like 3 awards which is why i am surprised you are agreeing with bev when you are also a "usual suspect" winner