Map of the Fortnight: Main Discussion Thread

[Upvoteanthology]

Alright, since a bunch of people suggested it for the next contest, here you go! New threads:

MotF 163: Making Another Mark on the Map - Voting Thread
MotF 164: She Was Looking Kind of Dumb - Entries Thread

 

[Cheer]

Can we have more of these based on song lyrics?

I'll second this for the next contest

Thirded.

I propose "Carry on my Wayward Son" about an incompetent or insane heir ruling a collapsing country.

 

[GauchoBadger]

I'll second this for the next contest

It's gonna get weird once we get to the "L-shape on forehead" part.

 

[Dr. No]

"Terrible" and "stupid" are highly subjective judgements. Where is the threshold for stupidity? It shouldn't inflate down to politicians you don't like.

 

[Wendell]

Thirded.

I propose "Carry on my Wayward Son" about an incompetent or insane heir ruling a collapsing country.

I meant to go through another song verse by verse to derive challenges, but that works too.

 

[Rosella]

I'm Henry The Eig- sorry.

 

[Upvoteanthology]

"Terrible" and "stupid" are highly subjective judgements. Where is the threshold for stupidity? It shouldn't inflate down to politicians you don't like.

It's partly meant to be subjective. If someone believes Hillary to be incompetent, they can post a map of what they think the world would be like after her lead as president. But it's mostly just someone who did a really bad job, and lead the country into a bad way during their time as leader.

 

[Wendell]

It's partly meant to be subjective. If someone believes Hillary to be incompetent, they can post a map of what they think the world would be like after her lead as president. But it's mostly just someone who did a really bad job, and lead the country into a bad way during their time as leader.

I also think that the current theme allows for depicting the successes of a cunning queen. That is to say, her contemporaries all think she's stupid, but she through careful planning advances the interests of her state at the expense of theirs.

 

[Upvoteanthology]

I also think that the current theme allows for depicting the successes of a cunning queen. That is to say, her contemporaries all think she's stupid, but she through careful planning advances the interests of her state at the expense of theirs.

That could also occur, I was thinking about that exact idea as I was writing the post. Or a stupid leader who somehow does everything right, so the country enters an inadvertent golden age. It's all up to how people choose to interpret it.

 

[Emperor Lapland]

If you're gonna continue with the song references
"Don't Stop me Now"
Make a map of a rapid expanding empire. Like OTL Mongol, Alexandrine or Achaemenid empire

 

[Asami]

I Want To Break Free - A map depicting a country's struggle for independence against the country that controls it.
The Real Slim Shady - A map depicting a division of one country where each country claims to be the "true" country. (like North Korea, South Korea, West Germany, East Germany, et al.)
Don't Stop Believin' - A map depicting a religion's struggle to survive against hostile faiths.

 

[Dr. No]

Our Father's Father Says That Things Were Better Then - Make a map depicting an attempted or successful socio-economic or socio-cultural political backlash. (Wahhabi-influenced Political Islam? Chavista Venezuela? Western World Alt-Right? You name it!)

 

[Asami]

Like A Homing Bird, I Fly - Make a map depicting a mass migration of a group of people to a new homeland to escape persecution, disaster, or whatever other reason.
Can We Really Live Without Each Other? - Make a map depicting the amicable break-up of a union of two or more nations (such as Czechoslovakia IOTL)
Whatever Happened To Life That We Once Knew? - Make a map depicting a great change for a country due to a great event, such as a civilization-disrupting disaster, or a Great War.

 

[Keperry]

Heaven Is A Place On Earth - Make a map depicting an attempt (successful or failed) to create a utopian society.
Tainted Love - Make a map depicting a country that has suffered adverse effects as a result of strong ties with another country.

 

[BryanIII]

The Pretender - Make a map depicting the situation during or after a succession crisis (such as OTL 'The Anarchy', War of the Roses or even Game of Thrones' War of the Five Kings)

 

[Milites]

The Real Slim Shady - A map depicting a division of one country where each country claims to be the "true" country. (like North Korea, South Korea, West Germany, East Germany, et al.)

Don't Stop Believin' - A map depicting a religion's struggle to survive against hostile faiths.

Yiiiiisss!

 

[Emperor Lapland]

Harder Better Faster Stronger - A map depicting a recovery after a disastrous event (Like a great depression)
The final countdown - A map about a region before or after a nuclear conflict

 

[Upvoteanthology]

So, here's an idea I've had for a while which I might try to implement in the near future. Krall started the Map of the Month contest in 2013, which I will do at the beginning of 2018 (and the beginning of every subsequent year I run this thing). However, in addition to that, would people here be interested in some sort of "Map of the Workweek" contest? It'd basically be a very general prompt, and a contest lasting 4-5 days instead of two weeks. They'd probably be once every 4 or 5 months, and it could be a chance for people to practice making maps in a shorter span of time. Thoughts?

 

[Kaiphranos]

So, here's an idea I've had for a while which I might try to implement in the near future. Krall started the Map of the Month contest in 2013, which I will do at the beginning of 2018 (and the beginning of every subsequent year I run this thing). However, in addition to that, would people here be interested in some sort of "Map of the Workweek" contest? It'd basically be a very general prompt, and a contest lasting 4-5 days instead of two weeks. They'd probably be once every 4 or 5 months, and it could be a chance for people to practice making maps in a shorter span of time. Thoughts?

I feel like the shorter entry period and the less frequent rounds are kind of at cross purposes. From my own experience, a MotF entry doesn't usually take more than 4-5 days of actual work - it's a matter of having a suitable idea and finding time for that 4-5 days of effort within the two-week timeframe.

For some reference, a few years ago when I had more time on my hands, I tried running a weekly map contest. While some rounds we got a bunch of awesome maps, some rounds there were just a single entry - maybe the theme didn't appeal, or maybe no one had time that week. If you're doing a new round every week, you can sort of roll with that - maybe the next theme will spark more interest. But if the next round is four months away, then a contest where maybe one person submits an entry is going to be kind of a flop.

 

[Upvoteanthology]

I feel like the shorter entry period and the less frequent rounds are kind of at cross purposes. From my own experience, a MotF entry doesn't usually take more than 4-5 days of actual work - it's a matter of having a suitable idea and finding time for that 4-5 days of effort within the two-week timeframe.

For some reference, a few years ago when I had more time on my hands, I tried running a weekly map contest. While some rounds we got a bunch of awesome maps, some rounds there were just a single entry - maybe the theme didn't appeal, or maybe no one had time that week. If you're doing a new round every week, you can sort of roll with that - maybe the next theme will spark more interest. But if the next round is four months away, then a contest where maybe one person submits an entry is going to be kind of a flop.

That's a fair criticism. I wasn't saying it should be a replacement to the MotF, but it'd run as a special event like the Map of the Month does. However, considering the fact that you've tried something like it and it didn't work, then there's no reason for another potentially failed trial. Thanks for the constrictive criticism.