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Poll - Flash Challenge Topics

Should Flash Challenges be broad and freeform, or specific and challenging?

  • Give me a completely freeform topic, my imagination will do the rest

    Votes: 3 10.7%
  • I like to be challenged, give me a very specific situation

    Votes: 3 10.7%
  • Mix it up, I like it both ways

    Votes: 22 78.6%

  • Total voters
    28

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
Quick poll for anyone who has an interest in the Flash Challenges I regularly post on the front page, just to help me give you topics that are best for you guys to work with. If you're interested in the challenges, click inside. :)[prebreak][/prebreak]

The question I'm trying to answer is: how specific should the flash challenge topics be? I'm trying to toe a balance between allowing people to interpret the challenges freely, but still get people to create something they might not otherwise have done, or explore an idea they may not have explored before.

For example, the challenge Johto is probably fairly easy to submit for, which of course is good, but I imagine a lot of our established artists have done a lot of work around Johto anyway. On the other hand, Meeting a Poisoned Pokémon is very, very specific. That said, you could probably put an interesting spin on it if you wanted, and perhaps it's not something you've tried before.

Again, it's worth reiterating that even the most specific of topics is very open to interpretation - the Johto challenge could be done by writing a story about a trainer preparing to travel there, or perhaps teaching a class about Johto, or a dozen different things. Even the hyper-specific Meeting a Poisoned Pokémon could be done in a few ways - the most obvious thing perhaps could be your OC meeting and helping a poisoned critter in a dark forest... or instead you could write nightmare fuel about being absorbed by a Muk. The idea is not to set strict objectives or barriers, it's just to kick your inspiration in perhaps a different direction than it normally goes.

Either way, it'd be interesting to see what people think of this - do you prefer broad challenges with space to really express your creativity, or do you prefer your imagination to be challenged and tested? Gentle cues, or a specific narrative to riff on?

And in broader strokes, what sorts of challenges would interest you most? What fires your imagination? If you haven't entered a challenge yet, why not?

Let me know in the comments...
 
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I believe it would be fun for it to be a completely random and new challenge each and every time. Sticking to a specific variety or having the following challenges be somewhat predictable would ruin the fun and the originality of it in my opinion.

Also, I've also prepared a few suggestions for future challenges to. I have much more, but I'll only put a few here for the time being:
- My First Journey (A story about your first time playing Pokemon.)
- Victory By Forfeit (A time where you won a battle against another by means of a humorous or memorable forfeit.)
- A Sparkling Encounter (A story about your first time encountering a shiny Pokemon. I can already see a bunch of Red Gyarados stories from Johto, though.)
- If I Were a Pokemon (What Pokemon would you be? What would you do as this/these Pokemon? How would you live? ect.)
 

Psycho Monkey

Member of the Literary Elite Four
I voted to mix it up. Make a few challenges open ended so people can interpret it how they choose and then make some with a specific objective.

As for the kinds I like to see, surprise me! I'm up for any kind of challenge! The only reason I haven't participated yet is because I've been busy with a certain other written work. *glances at sig* Eventually I hope to have the time to try one of these out because I have gotten some ideas off of them ^_^
 
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~Violet

I voted for Mix up, it would be really unique and awesome if every challenge was random and it would be a great way for everyone to do the same challenge with different stories that include themselves. I think freeform and mixed are the best two answers here, challenging just won't be fun at all.

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~SwiftNinetalez
 

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
I'd also like to see some sort of featured section. Maybe at each challenge there would be a couple featured story/art from the previous flash challenge. I definitely don't want it to be a competition, since this is such an open community, but some sort of incentive might encourage more posts.
That's actually a really good idea, and I think I'll do that when I update challenges in the future :) Thanks!
 

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
I also voted to mix it up. A broad topic gives you lots of freedom to play with a variety of ideas, which is ideal for creators who don't like to feel restricted, while a specific challenge gives you a focused goal to aim towards, which likely appeals better to those who have trouble narrowing down ideas (too many ideas!). Both make you ponder what you could create, just in different ways, so I think rotating between broad and more specific challenges is the best of both worlds. :)
 
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