2010-12-27 -Tree Decorating Event

[Ardath Rekha]

Random question: has anyone seen my tree?

 

Random fact: it is a full tree with the golden eastern dragon and it has a red birdie on its head.

Well, that would describe my housemate's tree, too, and several others I've seen besides.

[earthgirl]

Don't we have like... FIVE HOURS LEFT to vote?

 

lawl. I'm quite sure mine is not the only one that would have this description. But at least they are all unique altho very much like each other.

Edited January 16, 2011 by earthgirl

[CatCreature]

I just saw a cat face! O.o NOT mine!

[earthgirl]

I just saw a 'DC' tree. Extremely rare concept. Maybe even unique.

[Evilminion]

Okay, after an ongoing conversation with another user (and their description of the extremely lewd tree that they saw), I feel it's necessary to post this. I don't know whether TJ reads the forums at all...? If not, could a moderator please direct him to this post? I really enjoy playing Dragon Cave, and would love to see it continue for many years!

 

Rumor has it that trees can be edited again after the contest is over, and that players will be able to view them by clicking on the tree icon of another player's scroll. As excited as I am about seeing the sort of creativity that DC players can exhibit, the nature of some of the contest trees should be viewed as a warning sign. This is the first time Dragon Cave has allowed unmoderated, publicly viewable user-generated content, and that comes with a hefty load of legal liability. DC as an entity will be seen as either the host or owner of these images.

 

A bit of background: my hubby and I work in the videogames industry, and have watched the nature of games change dramatically over the last couple of decades, from the tightly controlled, self-contained environment of a single computer to massively-multiplayer or otherwise Internet-enabled worlds. And we've seen some interesting problems crop up along the way.

 

Not to offend anyone, but in our line of work, there's a concept called TTP, or Time To Penis. It applies to any new technology, game, or feature that allows users to create and display anything to other users. The assumption is that if something can be used to create a filthy picture, it will be used to create a filthy picture, and it's only a matter of how quickly the players figure out how to do it. (Not that this is unique to technology. I once read that certain sections of unearthed Pompeii are closed to tourists because the archaeologists don't want to deal with flak over risqué graffiti.)

 

But that's not the biggest problem; potentially offensive imagery is just the tip of the iceberg. Give players the means to build their own images, and they'll innocently create tributes to favorite cartoons, music groups, TV shows, videogames, and other legally copyrighted brands, logos, or characters. The Pokemon folks might not come hunting a game company's head if it permits one of its users to display, say, a Pokeball made out of Christmas tree ornaments, but Disney has been known to sue at even the slightest hint of Mickey Mouse ears.

 

In the world of professional game development, designers and engineers actually devote almost as much time to evaluating how players will abuse a system as they do to making that system fun and appealing. Their solutions range from the draconian -- not allowing any form of user-generated content -- to social -- enabling other players to report or vote to delete unsuitable content -- to nannying -- assigning moderators to pre-approve each submission before display -- to just throwing up their hands in amusement or disgust and slapping an airtight, legally bulletproof warning label on the product. Company lawyers in our industry have gotten really good at drafting content disclaimers.

 

So why do we spend so much time thinking about the abusability of a system? Because we've seen TTP in action so many, many, many times that it's second nature to design around it. Your average hobbyist or indie game developer, on the other hand, hasn't spent years battling the human tendency to wave its virtual junk at all and sundry. So I'm guessing this is taking TJ a bit by surprise.

 

I would just like to suggest that any future contests of this type, or publicly accessible display of user-decorated trees, be given careful consideration first. With a little forethought, you can keep the inevitable offensive or actionable submissions away from the sort of eyes that shouldn't see them (whether those eyes be full of childish innocence or ham-fisted corporate ire ), or at least limit Dragon Cave's liability if things go wrong.

 

Sorry for the long-winded post!

 

EDIT: Unsurprisingly, my own CYA instincts are welling up now, so I'll just add that this post should in no way be regarded as legal advice, merely as my personal observations.

 

EDIT-EDIT: A couple of examples from the Forza series of racing games. In Forza, you can use in-game editing tools to "paint" your car.

 

Here's a Kotaku article showing some lovely examples of paint jobs... and a scary amount of potential copyright lawsuits. Bonus for the single prophetic comment at the end of the article...

http://kotaku.com/264030/the-amazing-japan...za-2-paint-jobs

 

...and because even the snarky commenter couldn't imagine exactly how bad people can and will be when given a blank canvas and an audience, there's this.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/03/heil-hit...nk-in-user-gen/

Edited January 16, 2011 by Evilminion

[olympe]

so I have a question about the glitch...

 

When I first submitted my tree, it glitched and the ornaments were all messed up. I went back and redid it and when I click on my tree badge it shows it the way I want.

 

Question is this: the tree that I now have and can look at...is that the same one everyone who votes sees? Or am I out of luck and the glitched version is what everyone sees?

 

P.S. - it was fixed before the deadline but when I went to resubmit it, it said I already did.

We see it the way you see it now. So, you're lucky.

[CatCreature]

@Evilminion;

 

Maybe TJ need to put a 'Report' button next to the trees?

Edited January 16, 2011 by CatCreature

[earthgirl]

Maybe TJ didn't even think that some people would be so immature that they would make disturbing images using Christmas decorations. >_>

 

Buy hey, human mind gets tricky when they see a pickle next to a dragon.

 

<.<

[misfitknits]

crap! i AM seeing duplicates!!!! i didn't want to believe it, but i just saw a tree that i KNOW i already voted on. i guess that's why i haven't finished voting on all the trees yet! i've been sitting at this computer voting on trees almost non-stop (besides sleeping). that really is disappointing.

[MisunderstoodDreamer]

So it's today the last day? I thought that 16th January was included... I was counting on tomorrow for finish my votation

[dragonpuck]

@Evilminion;

 

Maybe TJ need to put a 'Report' button next to the trees?

Sad to say that I have to agree, I am not easily offended but that doesn't mean I enjoy it.If a child is viewing , I wouldn't want to have to explain some of the pictures.This is a "family" site.

 

I have enjoyed many of the pictures and if this had been a welding contest

( sorry I'm in cowboy country)

If TJ had set up a background with the beautiful borders and a pile of ornaments and said "make something with them"I would have given many 10's but this was supposed to be a TREE DECORATING contest, thankfully that this what most people did-- too bad some had to be jerks-----

[hotbottleo'water1]

Now that I cant move my ornaments, I will never find my wisp of smoke. Since no one can edit their trees now, I've been givng 10s to every person who looks as if they didn't get their tree toppers so they have a chance of winning ven if they didn't get their tree toppers. I also accidentally kept part of my mess inside the "tree box". Whoops!

[DarkEternity]

Guys, hard refresh ctrl f5 if you see duplicates

[Parakeet13]

What was really interesting was that yesterday I saw this gorgeous tree, so pretty, well-balanced and colorful, not to many ornaments, not bare, Just perfect. I had begun to lean on the non-traditional trees, with my max rating an 8 for one of them. Then I saw that tree and rated it a 10 without thinking. The other trees can be cool, but in the long run, I think traditional wins.

Any special features you can think of?

[GoldenShadowFire]

hrrrrmmm.... i think i just saw a marsupial clinging to a christmas tree

I was looking at my tree again and i realized, you probably meant mine when you said this >.>

 

i was going for dragon, but at least it looks like some sort of animal... i should have gotten a clue when one of my friends called it a gerbil

 

@evilminion, i think you're probably right.. On most sites for these kind of contests they do have a Report button or something of the sort for those kind of things.

After all, we don't want our beloved dragon cave site getting sued for something stupid.

[Lagie]

I just saw a tree decorated with only a number 9 made out of baubles. I . . . don't get it?

There's a user here named nine. I assumed it was his/her tree!

 

There is no way I'll be finished them all by midnight.

[Erinthebookworm]

I'm worried because I don't know if my tree got into the contest. I remember putting my tree in the contest, but I'm not so sure it worked. I'll have to wait and see.

[dragonpuck]

Now that I cant move my ornaments, I will never find my wisp of smoke. Since no one can edit their trees now, I've been givng 10s to every person who looks as if they didn't get their tree toppers so they have a chance of winning ven if they didn't get their tree toppers. I also accidentally kept part of my mess inside the "tree box". Whoops!

I have to disagree, I have seen too many nicely decorated trees completely ruined by over use of the tree toppers

 

 

(

[earthgirl]

There's a user here named nine. I assumed it was his/her tree!

 

There is no way I'll be finished them all by midnight.

I'm not worried, because I know I don't have to vote them all. It's one's choice and time if they want to.

 

Also, I don't even know if I even voted a thousand of them(dun think so).

 

Can't wait to see the winners tomorrow.

[Lagie]

I'm worried because I don't know if my tree got into the contest. I remember putting my tree in the contest, but I'm not so sure it worked. I'll have to wait and see.

If you click the little tree on your scroll, it will show you the tree as was submitted.

 

Will we be able to see the winning trees?

Edited January 16, 2011 by Lagie

[siliconrose]

I'm not worried, because I know I don't have to vote them all. It's one's choice and time if they want to.

 

Also, I don't even know if I even voted a thousand of them(dun think so).

 

Can't wait to see the winners tomorrow.

We don't get to know who the winners are (if we get to know at all!) until the 20th, sadly.

[ChuChu]

Are the winners gonna be publicly announced or am I screwed if I win since I don't use the email I signed up with.

[siliconrose]

Are the winners gonna be publicly announced or am I screwed if I win since I don't use the email I signed up with.

You should change your email before the 20th.

[VampirePunkAngel]

i had to change my email lol

[ChuChu]

You should change your email before the 20th.

I tried but it said it was already in use?