CCC Community Survey (2024)

Community
1

Hello everyone and welcome to the second edition of the CCC Survey.
Similarly to last year, you’ll be able through multiple polls to change some parameters for the next iterations of the CCC, from the 24th edition and onwards.

For those who will stumble on this post without any knowledge of the CCC, I highly recommend checking at least one of them to give you an idea, but put it simply, it’s a creative contest where artists have to do sprites/portraits of certain Fire Emblem characters in the GBA style under a time limit to expand the Fire Emblem Repository, where all free to use assets for making GBA style Fire Emblem content is compiled.

If you are wondering why I’m making this post, it’s because I wish that together we can improve this concept based on your opinions because the community is integral to the CCC, keeping it alive and I couldn’t thank enough everyone who contributes and continues to support it.

The last two rounds didn’t go well, boasting only 2 participants each with also some of the featured characters not having a single portrait made for them.
I suppose the concept doesn’t feel fun and fresh now, so maybe with a few changes, and a small break, it will start anew and better than ever.

If none of the options in a poll satisfy you, feel free to write and develop your own answer by replying to this post.

You’ll be able to vote until the 30th of April (2024).

One last thing before voting, if you aren’t an artist yourself, please consider them when voting because they will be the ones who are the most affected by the following changes.
Have fun!

How long should the creative period last?
  • Two weeks
  • Three weeks
  • A month
  • A month and a half
  • Two months
0 voters
How long should the voting period last?
  • Three days
  • A week
  • Two weeks
  • Three weeks
  • A month
0 voters
When should a new round start?
  • Right after the end of the previous one
  • A week after the end of the previous one
  • A month after the end of the previous one
  • Two months after the end of the previous one
  • At the beginning of the next month
  • Whenever it’s been too long without one
0 voters
How many characters should be featured in each round?
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Variable
0 voters
How should the next characters be decided? (Assuming there are 3 characters, however, it will be adapted considering the answer of the previous poll)
  • First place chooses two characters, and the host chooses the last one
  • First place chooses two characters, second place chooses the last one
  • First place chooses two characters, and the community chooses the last one
  • First place chooses one character, second place chooses another one, the host chooses the last one
  • First place chooses one character, second place chooses another one, the community chooses the last one
  • First place chooses one character and a theme, second place and the community each chooses a character that fits said theme.
  • First place chooses one character and writes a list of other characters they would like to see, second place chooses one from that list and the community chooses another one amongst the remaining characters on said list.
0 voters
Should we apply a restriction from winning multiple times in a row?
  • No restrictions
  • If someone wins first place multiple times in a row, the second place will be considered as the first place winner and the first place gets the benefits from the second place instead
  • If someone wins first place multiple times in a row, the second place will be considered as the first place winner and the third place gets the benefits from the second place instead
  • If someone wins first place multiple times in a row, they let another contestant of their choice get the first place benefits instead
  • If someone wins first place multiple times in a row, they only get to choose the theme or submit a list of characters instead, depending on what answer was chosen from the previous poll
0 voters
How many characters would you like to vote for in the community vote?
  • At least 10 characters
  • Around 5 characters
  • No more than 3 characters
  • I don’t care
0 voters
Do you still have an interest in the CCC?
  • Yes
  • I used to (please detail why in the comments)
  • No
0 voters
Should we put an end to the CCC?
  • Yes, finally
  • Yes, it was fun while it lasted
  • No, but a long break is due
  • No, let’s continue as it is
  • Someone else should try hosting
  • Let’s do something else instead
0 voters
Should we hold this kind of survey in the future?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
3 Likes
2

While I do like the CCC, I haven’t had much time or energy to participate in the last few rounds (I think I’ve only participated once or twice?). But I would definately want to participate in future.

1 Like
3

So i haven’t really been alive on FEU recently, so i’m not one to talk, but every time i get pinged for a CCC i check it out, go like “huh neat” and then forget about it until the next ping.

It’s been a year+ since i have last submitted and i still think the CCC is very fun, it’s just that idk i kinda forget about it.

I don’t think the CCC should end. I think it just needs a “Rebranding” of sorts, something that can catch the attention of new people. Maybe a Youtube video + Tutorial, reach out for a quick collab with a FETuber, those sorts of things catch the attention of new people that will give it a try.

Sadly people also fear high numbers, if they see a CCC Nº15 they might be less inclined to participate than a CCC Nº1 or 2, it’s psychological. This is the main reason why a lot of series end up dropping numbers.

You also need the perfect time spot of giving enough time to people making the portraits but also not taking too long that people forget about it. A schedule is also super important, it goes a long way for people to reach idk, the 15th of a month and go like “OH right it’s CCC time” like they might do with streams, shows, work, etc.

TL:DR- Simple rebranding and “Reboot”, keep the CCC name, reboot the numbering system back to 1, make a Intro Round that will catch the attention of beginners and teach them that portrait making is easy. Hit the sweet spot of not too fast but also not too long people lose attention. Get someone to make a post/video about it. “Not a CCC but the CCC”.

If all goes well we might get numbers similar to the good old times for a few rounds, of course like everything, interest will go down slowly, but one must expect that and just repeat the steps, thinking outside the box in a few months, but i believe in you. Good Luck.

Edit: It’s been 3 years, not 1 year, god how time flies hahahahah

5 Likes
4

Personally, I really like the CCCs, and I’m usually always interested in joining them, with the exception of some boring ones like CCC15, 14, et al.

My personal problem with participating is that I generally, don’t have much time to draw, and my most recent submission (CCC22) was done during college winter break when you made an early announcement on who the CCC22 characters were.

Basically, the only time I could participate without affecting my real-life schedule was when you gave an extra early heads-up on the character list.

And, overall, I think community engagement over the CCC and art contests is just slowing down. A lot of the artists are just doing their own art/projects or have become slowly inactive. Nothing wrong with that; I’m also doing the same lol.

I know this post isn’t very helpful in regards to what to do next, but this is just my personal thoughts on the CCC. And I want to thank You, Enjin, and Klok for running this contest for such a long time. I’m sure a lot of people in the community, including myself, have enjoyed taking part.

4 Likes
5

I think a good title scheme would be to not number them but simply date them. For example, the 2024 Q1 CCC ended last month. They don’t necessarily need to be four times a year, I’m just giving that as an example.

2 Likes
6

I just got burned out and had a bit of a busy time. Would like to return to CCC in the future, though.

3 Likes
7

I personally always thought the CCCs were a pretty cool idea, but drawing/pixel art was never my strong suit or passion personally, and with many of the selected characters being characters i do not care about at all (mostly newer ones), i just kind of lost interest, and doubt i’ll regain it unless it’s characters i like.

4 Likes
8

Personally, I like to occasionally set themes that aren’t limited to FireEmblem characters.

5 Likes
9

As i already said once before, it’s all about interest: you pick any popular character, you get more sprites. If you pick a less favored one, you get less material because there’s only few people interested.

Another factor to consider is the actual subject of the CCC: some people have been working on FE portraits for years now, so they might be a bit tired of working on the same characters that have already been sprited a lot in many different ways.

Doing a separate kind of CCC not limited to FE only, but for other videogames characters as well, might be another viable option since it could attract a broader audience, if the target is just making new portraits available for everyone.

7 Likes
10

I’d like to add a suggestion for future CCC rounds: Have it so every round, or every 2 rounds, one of the selected characters is from a non-fe property. Throw in some WILD characters to spice up the competition, even if it’s just for the memes. Like Senator Armstrong, or Goku, or Spiderman. Preferebly from a piece of media that’s relevant at the time.

And also, it would be cool to include some Kaga Saga characters in the pool of characters sometimes. As well as characters from heavily FE-inspired franchises like Triangle Strategy or Unicorn Overlord.

But again, only one of these special pools each round, to keep things fresh.

2 Likes
11

Yes

Anyway, I guess I should write something considering that most of my posts here are CCC entries. I really do like this contest - I think it’s a great excuse to create something, and it was actually what got me into splicing: I genuinely think I would’ve never attempted it were it not for this competition (since I’m not actually an artist) and it became a pretty fun hobby for me. So thanks for that!

However, like some others here, I kind of stopped participating eventually. It was a mix of me running out of ideas for submissions, getting more into splicing for hacks over competitions, and many recent characters being ones I don’t really care for.

I second all the suggestions here, and would also like to add that creating more incentive for less experienced sprites to join would be great imo. I’m not sure how exactly, but I think changing the examples in the opening post based on submissions from the previous round could be nice. I still remember when round 10 began and I suddenly saw my bad Allance splice from the previous round at the top of the page - it was an amazing moment. I think that doing something similar more often would give motivation to people who might think they have no chance at winning a round to still submit something.

One last thing - I truly appreciate these surveys and your commitment to an orderly schedule!

6 Likes
12

I missed doing fullbodies for characters during the precious CCCs, but then again, many factors affected my time. Schoolworks, which affects my time and energy. I usually see the contest and then “oh, I still have school during that time”, then burnout (yes it’s making a comeback ya’ll). Factors that affects my motivation depends on the character too really. anw that’s all (bacc to said school works)

2 Likes
13

Hello,

First I wanted to thank everyone for their answers and feedback, it was very pleasant reading what you had to say regarding the future of the CCC, it was very insightful as well.

Considering the poll answers and your responses, I think the CCC will stay overall the same but the next round will only start on June 15th, after a break. I will probably remove the number associated and simply add the month and year in which the round started.
I’ll try to get it promoted elsewhere and ask moderators on the FEU Discord server to have a special role or section where I can tag people because I don’t think everyone is on the Repository server, and I never had the right to do so anywhere else.

However, it seems you are also interested in seeing characters from other franchises, different from Fire Emblem, therefore, I’ve decided to create a similar concept exclusively to those characters.
The rules will be slightly different, I’ve already thought about it and you’ll get more details when I’ll post this new concept probably at the same time as the new CCC.
The only thing missing is a title, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know! :slight_smile:

Furthermore, I’ve something else planned that I won’t reveal now, I hope you’ll all be excited about it!

Moreover, I’ve finally received all the answers for the characters that will be featured next round, I announce them here, it will give you a heads-up and hopefully make it more manageable.

I thank you all for participating in this event, I wish you a wonderful day and I’ll see you soon for the next CCC, goodbye!

3 Likes
14

You should call the event for non FE characters the CCCCE:
Character Compounding Contest, Crossover Edition

(I’m kidding, I have no better idea, lol)

2 Likes