AWA Professional Awards 2017 Category Selection

[MaboroshiStudio]

I almost would prefer the chat to be anonymous and text only.

Quoted Image converted to link:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq16 ... ondlaw.jpg

I was dead serious... why do people need to know who is who to debate / review?

[jingoro]

Shin was dead serious too. Anonymity often leads to douchebaggery. I much prefer peoples comments to be attributable, so that when they cross that line AWA has someone's badge to pull for violating our convention-wide harassment policy. Not just "no" but "hell no" from me.

EDIT: Well, there's nothing against it right now. Want to be anonymous, just grab a free email somewhere and a new nickname. Want to not know who is speaking? Um... maybe a discord plugin of some kind or greasemonkey script will hide everyone's names for you?

[Kireblue]

I had to console multiple editors this year who were in the stream / discussion... just saying. Also when unobjective and undeserving criticism / discussion happens (it can happen) about a video... that then catches fire in a group setting it can pretty much eliminate it from the contest almost.

All things to consider moving forward... I almost would prefer the chat to be anonymous and text only. The discussion does not require knowing who is who. This IMHO would also resolve issues some people have with the stream / chat.

What do you feel was done wrong in terms of the stream? I don't recall hearing a lot of non constructive criticism, and people often made a point to say both the good and bad of a video. There have been so many vague comments made about the streams that its really hard to figure out exactly what people are claiming to be a problem. People will always have hurt feelings if they feel that their video wasn't appreciated, but out of all the times to make a claim that the streams either a) garnered some kind of mob mentality or b) that they caused a particular video to be unjustly criticized, this is not the year.

So I'm just gonna go ahead and post the links that to the stream uploads so that everyone can watch them for themselves. Shin recorded all of then for the purpose of being available solely for the participants, but he said that he's ok with them being public as well. So instead of making super vague comments, be specific. What are people claiming to be a problem this year?

Moderator edit: Links to recording of a private event have been removed.

[jingoro]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

[SeanPNG]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

Maybe include a link to a tutorial on how to encode videos (or the basics of it) in the thread for next years awa. just as a simple suggestion right next to the "maximum file size" / "how to submit your video" sections of the rules.

[jingoro]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

Maybe include a link to a tutorial on how to encode videos (or the basics of it) in the thread for next years awa. just as a simple suggestion right next to the "maximum file size" / "how to submit your video" sections of the rules.

There's one in the rules. "Download Handbrake, pick "High Profile", click "encode"."

[Shin-AMV]

I almost would prefer the chat to be anonymous and text only.

Quoted Image converted to link:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq16 ... ondlaw.jpg

I was dead serious... why do people need to know who is who to debate / review?

For transparency. If everyone was anonymous we'd probably just end up with more toxicity, hurt feelings, and campaigning for specific videos out of self interest without regard to their actual technical or artistic merits. We'll all probably have more consoling to do. If we know who is saying what, people are still accountable for their words and actions. If we're assuming people have an agenda and are pushing it, it would just give those people a tool to just be more wordy and aggressive about it without any concern for any repercussions and easy deniability for anything and everything said. Sorry if my other post was a little too facetious tho.

[MaboroshiStudio]

What do you feel was done wrong in terms of the stream? I don't recall hearing a lot of non constructive criticism, and people often made a point to say both the good and bad of a video. There have been so many vague comments made about the streams that its really hard to figure out exactly what people are claiming to be a problem. People will always have hurt feelings if they feel that their video wasn't appreciated, but out of all the times to make a claim that the streams either a) garnered some kind of mob mentality or b) that they caused a particular video to be unjustly criticized, this is not the year.

I am not saying the stream was overly nasty... I was just pointing out how I had to console some editors Erik. I honestly felt the chat was much better than the previous year, but there is always room for improvement.

As far as my anonymous suggestion it was based on the idea there would be moderators. It was also without knowledge of what discord can and can't do. My thought was each editor would still have to be registered / approved for the chat / stream (via moderator). This way they can also be booted if needed so I was not suggesting a totally open anonymous chat where people could crap on it without repercussion.

Is this feasible? Maybe not but I am making a suggestion to find some middle ground for the entire community. I am not trying to start a fire or rage quit... I am trying to find some small bit of compromise. If this discussion is annoying or an inconvenience for the pro stream / discussion people then I question the usage of the word community by those people. When the subject of influence was brought up I honestly was shocked some people did not have an issue with this. When I brought up I question the integrity of the Pro contest this is what I am talking about. I get it some people might not find it an issue... but some people do and to say this is all about the community while ignoring people's concerns I find the usage of the word to be disingenuous.

I honestly see both sides of the coin in regards to the stream / chat / discussion. We want to improve pro... but I feel the discussion has been more of this is how it is get on board or deal with it. Some people like Phil are ready to rage quit... and that should bother everyone if they want to make the community stronger. I think the streams / chats / discussion can be great for the contest, but like anything there is always room for improvement.

[MaboroshiStudio]

I almost would prefer the chat to be anonymous and text only.

Quoted Image converted to link:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq16 ... ondlaw.jpg

I was dead serious... why do people need to know who is who to debate / review?

For transparency. If everyone was anonymous we'd probably just end up with more toxicity, hurt feelings, and campaigning for specific videos out of self interest without regard to their actual technical or artistic merits. We'll all probably have more consoling to do. If we know who is saying what, people are still accountable for their words and actions. If we're assuming people have an agenda and are pushing it, it would just give those people a tool to just be more wordy and aggressive about it without any concern for any repercussions and easy deniability for anything and everything said. Sorry if my other post was a little too facetious tho.

I get that and I can appreciate this comment... my original comment did not convey how I would see the anonymous aspect working. This would all hinge on moderators (not in the contest) to ensure what you are talking about doesn't happen. You would have to be registered / allowed in the chat by the mods and if you screw around you will get booted.

Is it feasible? Probably not... but if we have mods who are not in the contest maybe it could be. Still I get your concerns with it... I was just thinking out loud to find a way that would possible be an olive branch to those who have issues with the stream / discussion. Still regardless of what happens if someone wants to cheat / game the system they can and that is rather sad. Nothing will stop that... but I am in the thought process of I would rather try something to resolve issues within the community rather than nothing.

[MaboroshiStudio]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

those 6 minute plus videos!!! Seriously is it the 90s? lol I would love to see the average runtime of AMVs thru the decades