aoi_neko wrote:I have the same complaint over "Best foreign language" and "Best non-anime source." If we make categories with 2 solid entries and 2 marginal ones, we're simply rewarding LUCK -- "You get recognized because only 3 people did a <foo> video this year."
So, we're simply rewarding 'luck' when we choose a 'Best Comedy' video this year, for example, because generally very few people submitted comedic videos? I realize that's a pre-established category, but the same argument you're making above pretty much applies to it as well. We make awards because different types of videos deserve different classifications.
(note: in the below I'm cutting and pasting from two different paragraphs since they both address the same point)
So why, exactly, do we need to make sure that at least one of them gets a special recognition simply because the creator made a crossover?
If there aren't enough contenders to reward skill instead, they should be combined until there are.
Honestly, I'd say that we
are rewarding skill with the additional categories and not luck- but the crossover videos are just a very convenient example for that as they generally take far more time and effort than many 'traditional' videos do. I would argue though that making a good video with a foreign language song also takes skill- getting people into a video despite probably not having a clue what is being said takes skill as well, and a bit different of a skill than were the song done in English.
What it comes down to for me is I'd rather see us rewarding someone who made an exceptional video that many believe deserves recognition but that doesn't really fit well into any of the established categories than to say it should be lumped in with the nearest convenient category when it really stands in a category all its own and have it potentially get stomped. I'd rather encourage innovation and creativity than to say, "You need to do something that fits in more with everything else....". Part of our responsibility in Pro is to suggest new categories and decide whether to vote for something in them or not. If enough of us feel that something deserves the recognition, I think it should get it.
By and large, I doubt we're going to come to any real agreement on how we think things should go- which is fine. We're just 2 or 3 people out of the forty-something who entered the contest, and everyone will vote and not vote in categories as they see fit. I'm kind of glad for the disagreement in cases like this because it lets the different points be addressed so everyone can take them into consideration.