In that case, we can go "hey, wouldn't it be cool if there were more challenges of an entirely different format, specifically geared at the Sarahs and Kazzes of this world?"
I think.... hm. I do like the idea of running a dual-track challenge, where one track is strictly exchange-based (and has deadlines, penalties, length limits, etc.) and one track is non-exchange-based, with less restrictions and therefore more accessibility. It makes the same amount of sense as, for instance, allowing people to volunteer to either write or do fanart & request either fic or fanart-- it just lets more people play *and* it ends up contributing to the amount of fanworks dedicated to whatever you're running the ficathon for.
But, speaking as someone who's run challenges specifically as a means to *create* new fic about a certain genre/pairing/etc., I don't think really casual, completely non-exchange-based forms of ficathon are ever going to be all that popular, just because modding a challenge is really, really hard-- I mean, it's weeks if not months of work, constantly dealing with people who don't read the FAQ, constantly worrying that people won't turn in their stories, etc., etc. (Even on things like kink_meme I imagine you have to worry about modding flamewars, making sure trolls don't run amuck, etc.)
Given the choice, most mods would probably rather choose to run the type of ficathon where they *know* that all the hard work is going to be worth it in the end because X amount of stories are going to be created, no matter what... Then again, on the other hand, kink memes are rapidly becoming super popular (even White Collar, which just premiered, has a kink meme!) and comment_fic on lj still seems to be going strong, so who knows, maybe there *is* going to be a shift towards super-casual fic-fest type things with no deadlines or restrictions on length/genre/pairing/etc?
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Date: 2009-10-27 10:11 pm (UTC)In that case, we can go "hey, wouldn't it be cool if there were more challenges of an entirely different format, specifically geared at the Sarahs and Kazzes of this world?"
I think.... hm. I do like the idea of running a dual-track challenge, where one track is strictly exchange-based (and has deadlines, penalties, length limits, etc.) and one track is non-exchange-based, with less restrictions and therefore more accessibility. It makes the same amount of sense as, for instance, allowing people to volunteer to either write or do fanart & request either fic or fanart-- it just lets more people play *and* it ends up contributing to the amount of fanworks dedicated to whatever you're running the ficathon for.
But, speaking as someone who's run challenges specifically as a means to *create* new fic about a certain genre/pairing/etc., I don't think really casual, completely non-exchange-based forms of ficathon are ever going to be all that popular, just because modding a challenge is really, really hard-- I mean, it's weeks if not months of work, constantly dealing with people who don't read the FAQ, constantly worrying that people won't turn in their stories, etc., etc. (Even on things like kink_meme I imagine you have to worry about modding flamewars, making sure trolls don't run amuck, etc.)
Given the choice, most mods would probably rather choose to run the type of ficathon where they *know* that all the hard work is going to be worth it in the end because X amount of stories are going to be created, no matter what... Then again, on the other hand, kink memes are rapidly becoming super popular (even White Collar, which just premiered, has a kink meme!) and comment_fic on lj still seems to be going strong, so who knows, maybe there *is* going to be a shift towards super-casual fic-fest type things with no deadlines or restrictions on length/genre/pairing/etc?