Authors Revealed & Survey

[phoenixdown_mod]

And with author reveals, the first round of this exchange comes to an end. A warm thank you to everyone who has taken part <3 The collection will now stay open and unmoderated for any post-reveal treat.

We'd like to hear some feedback to help us improve next year's round, and we have some questions about the schedule and the minimum requirements.

Would shifting the event to any other moment of the year change anything in regards to participation? We choose this current schedule based on ours - the mods - availability, but we'd open to switch things around (*actual schedule will still be dependent on our actual availability).

We'd prefer to avoid running it during the november/december/january/first half of february block as it would overlap with too many popular exchanges like Trick or Treat, Yuletide and Chocolate Box/Candy Hearts, but we would consider it if people said they'd overwhelmingly prefer it.

Current schedule has nominations & signups in the second half of february, a creation period spanning march and the first week of april, with reveals at the end of april.

A hypothetical summer schedule would see the nominations start in june, with sign ups at the end of june/early july and the creation period lasting all through august, leaving reveals in september.

Would extending the length of the creation period change anything in regards to participation? We thought that six weeks for a minimum of 1000 words/a complete artwork on clean paper was a reasonable timeframe, but we wouldn't mind going for eight weeks.

Similarly, would shortening the minimum requirements (while keeping the current six weeks for creation) change anything in regards to participation? Would people prefer a 500 words minimum for fics/a nice sketch on clean paper for art?

Another rule we plan to implement next round is forbidding uploading artworks to discord, since discord has started to disallow hotlinking.

If you have any questions or suggestions about anything, even things not covered in this post, please don't hesitate to let us know by commenting on this post (comments are public and unscreened). If you'd rather do it in private, you can reach out to us via dm to the mod account or via mail at phoenixdownmod at gmail dot com

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I defaulted so I don't even get to express an opinion tbh, but I think the creation time is good, the 1000-word minimum is good (a lower minimum would be worse imo), and the plan to ban discord linking is very good.

[sadisticsparkle]

Hi! I loved this exchange.

I'm neutral on the minimum and the creation length, but I would rather not move the exchange to a summer schedule.

[wimblydonner]

Thank you for organizing!!

The schedule & timeline was fine by me.

[javert]

Thank you so much for modding this, I had a lot of fun!

The schedule was perfect for me personally, as it didn't have too much overlap with other exchanges I like to do, which a summer schedule is more likely to hit. I'm fine with the creation period as it is but would be also fine with a longer one. I think the minimums are great as they are.

[bladesandstars]

For me, a 500 minimum would have gotten me to participate. It's easier to accomplish and less daunting for a character(s) you might not feel like you know super well yet but want to try.

[chacusha]

The way this event was set up this year worked fine for me. I wouldn't mind any of the proposed changes either, though!

[lavendre]

I feel this is a good time period for this exchange to run. 1000 words is a good minimum, but so is 500, or anywhere in between. Since this is a series themed exchange, a lower minimum might make it easier for folks to branch out and write/create for characters/pairs they normally wouldn't. I wouldn't mind this exchange running for eight weeks either (but am also content with this exchange as is -- certainly more participants will have discovered it by next year too).

Thanks for running this mods!! It's great to have a Final Fantasy exchange around. <3

[shinon]

The current schedule (time of year / creation period) worked fine for me! I think more lenient minimum requirements would increase the likelihood I personally would offer art and/or make art treats, but probably wouldn't affect my approach to offers or requests for fic.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm way late to the party here, but I first wanted to say THANK YOU, MODS!!! for running such a fabulous event. As a lifelong FF fan, the opportunity to write for various FFs was super valuable and I was able to write things I never would have considered writing before I got my prompts.

Any time of year works for me. I don't participate in a ton of events, but this is one I would absolutely participate in again and would make time for in my schedule.

I tend to prefer the six-week creation period to the eight-week one, because I'm an awful procrastinator and the time crunch motivates me.

I think the 1,000-word minimum length is good, but I also understand what others are saying re: 500 being less daunting for people who may be nervous about writing a new fandom, character, or pairing. I'd be open to either because I can always write more if I want to.

My only other suggestion would be to advertise the exchange more broadly, just to boost the participation numbers a bit. I'd be happy to share the event in my networks.

Thank you again! Looking forward to the next round!