2008 March Madness :: Discussion Thread

[sandyrivers]

You know I had this whole thing written up, but honestly the deadlines were set long ago and everyone knew what they were going in. If life gets in the way, that's unfortunate, but it shouldn't change anything. I don't fault fearless for getting busy. It happens. But unfortunately his busy week doesn't change the rules set forth by the moderators when the game began.

That being said. I think it would be cool if fearless still submitted an image, even if it's after the fact. Who cares who technically wins? I want to see two final images, even if the second one comes in after the game is over.

[ctranter]

I would like to know where ctranter stands on this. For all we know he may be in the same boat as fearless.

I would rather be a little flexable and see two great images, than be a hard ass and give one person a chance to win with stick figures by default.
(Not that I think ctranter would do that, but it could happen in the future)

I submitted mine the other day. From my point, a put off a couple of things in order to get the image done. So in some respects I feel that, the deadline was put up and it really needs to be adhered to, just because its the final round shouldn't really make a difference. That said my things weren't important things, I haven't been that busy or they weren't things I couldn't put off. I think it would be a terrible shame not to have a final pairing and understanding that some things do take precedence, so in that respect I'm not bothered if it's extended.

*shrugs*

[Fearless]

I respect that. Unfortunately, my commitments this week were not the kind that could be rescheduled. If this is the way it needs to be played I'm fine with that. I understand deadlines, and this time, I won't be making one. Sorry to disappoint. congrats.

[pea3698]

Mother of . . . This has to be the most drama filled MM to date. Fearless pop a no doze and get to work.

[WannaBe_80z]

More pretty less drama!

This board as a whole not even the arena has been quite the drama queen. I think now that the better weather is coming we all need to take a breather go outside and do something and come back happier.

[ondraedan]

DISCLAIMER: Fearless is my brother, this post may be biased.

Ah yes, the rules. Gotta stick to the rules. It's not like we're all intelligent beings capable of reasoning our way through a problem rather than consulting an all-knowing answer key.

Let's pretend we are exactly that, how would we approach this situation?
We'd begin by examining the purpose of establishing rules in a contest like this one. It was a sizable contest at the beginning, yes? Having clear deadlines certainly helped to keep things organized and made lefty's job much more bearable.
What else do rules do? Well, rules keep things fair. Everyone has the same amount of time given to work on their entry, therefore no entry will be of greater quality simply because its submitter had umpteen days to tweak it into perfection. I can attest that this is not why Fearless needs the extension. He is not trying to gain an advantage, he simply has had no time. Literally, no time in front of photoshop, or even at home for that matter.
If it were unfair to extend the deadline (I'm not necessarily arguing that is isn't), who would be the victim party/ies? Certainly not ctranter, he's less than thrilled, yes, but ultimately understanding. So then, is it unfair to the rest of the members here? The spectators who have been waiting to see some final round images? I'm not even going to answer that one.
The only other group I could possibly see an extension as being unfair to those who have missed deadlines in previous rounds of this year's tournament and thus been disqualified. That sucks. There was certainly potential for some of them to reach the final two had they been given an extension. That's regrettable. However, we have two amazing artists poised and ready to deliver by the end of this weekend. The entire competition has been building to this point. Are we really going to let it default out?

Second disclaimer: If I've come off as an ass here, I apologize. I tried to keep this post reasonable, but I'm a little frustrated. Don't take offense to anything I said. Instead, take a minute and think about the situation. Seriously.

[Zacaboo288]

My vote is for an extension.

[DaVulf]

Lefty, I think your solution is fairly agreeable, and I hope that Fearless can still appreciate it. Though we crown a winner in MM, all of the great images are respected, and people continue to praise them far into the future.

Besides, now it falls on the community to either hold out until Fearless' image is up before voting, or cast their vote for Chris who admirably submitted on time.

[lefteyewilly]

fairly agreeable?

no. completely agreeable.

i don't want to read one word of disagreement with my decision in this forum. If anyone has a problem with it, you better PM me or forever hold your peace.

[gerbick]

Lefty, I think your solution is fairly agreeable, and I hope that Fearless can still appreciate it. Though we crown a winner in MM, all of the great images are respected, and people continue to praise them far into the future.

Besides, now it falls on the community to either hold out until Fearless' image is up before voting, or cast their vote for Chris who admirably submitted on time.

Why wait? Let's be honest. Lefteye did not have to extend anything in this situation... real life happens. I never had more than 1 hour to do any of my images and if I were given a week, in advance... not a few hours during my last few weeks of 65+ hours on my main contract, another 20 hours on a secondary contract and I still didn't deliver... then I would have said the same thing as Fearless had originally said; he just didn't have the time.

Which is understandable.

But to state that people should wait... I disagree 100% because it doesn't have to be anything as such. In fact, I'm trying to fully understand why you'd even state that knowing full well that a concession was being made after extending out the first deadline to accommodate the larger canvas.

Why not just submit something... anything? I did it. So can the two finalists.

[DaVulf]

I just meant that the solution was a good one, because it gives us the option to put our votes in line with our thoughts. Besides, I never said people should wait, just that they now have the option to.

Also, I now have a new background image, so I doubt my vote will change in any case.

Chris, that image is unreal. I don't know how your brain comes up with these things, or where you find the stock images to make them happen. I can't even get my mind around the image, but I know pretty pictures when I see them. Congrats man, that is fan-friggen-tastic.

[gerbick]

I'm personally on the fence on this one. While I think Lefteye did the absolute best job in handling this entire March Madness; comments like:

...now it falls on the community to either hold out until Fearless' image is up before voting...

Is just downright leading and really seems to take advantage of the concession extended to Fearless.

As it stands, respect the option given by not trying to force other people to wait for something that already had a week to deliver.

[pea3698]

Lefteye, why not have the poll open now? I guess it doesn't matter one way or another but my decision won't change now. Ctranter has won in my opinion. Honestly it doesn't matter how great an image fearless produces, C met the deadline with a great image and that is a win in my book. Furthermore fearless now can see his opponents image and that seems like an unfair advantage of sorts.

[Fearless]

Furthermore fearless now can see his opponents image and that seems like an unfair advantage of sorts.

I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. I think we need to call it at this point. I'll submit an image at some point so you guys aren't left hanging, but trying to create a voting system based on image quality now is moot.

[pea3698]

Then again you could be a good chap and just not look at it. But that would require some major self control or hmm lack of time.

[Fearless]

I've already seen it.

[lefteyewilly]

it is what it is and is staying as is. I'm not making any more concessions on this.

and i've opened the poll i was too tired last night and forgot to open it before i fell asleep.

what fun this tournament is

[sandyrivers]

Can you post the stocks? I'd like to see what into the final image(s).

[lefteyewilly]

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/870531
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/839037
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/978500

[groupof1]

Congrats to ctranter on the win. This MM experience has been a trip to say the least.

Also congrats to Fearless to making it to the final round. I can truly understand not having time available (which is crappy), and I do feel the final outcome was just. Besides, it's not like ctranter won a thousand bucks or something.

Next year... a deadline is a deadline. End of discussion.
If you don't like it... join lefteye and suck some monkey nuts.

I think it's time to put this tournament to bed. That is all.