

Official Thread For the Third Annual Viscet Winter Gifting Event!!
Secret Santa's don't usually work out in the end, so I thought up this type of system to take its place. It went over quite well last year, and I have gotten permission to hold it again this year!
How this is going to work
If you're interested in joining, see the second post on this thread. Those who choose to participate will be listed and when the event starts can look through the other participants and see what they want and the characters they want art/writing of. A link to their picture and a short bio will be provided to give inspiration for the art/writing. Find a character from another user and create an art piece or writing for the character, and each piece will be scaled in the following way;
Point Guidelines wrote:1 point: Sketch - Colored sketch - 100 word story/short3 points: Clean line headshot with color - 500 word story/short - pixel headshot4 points: half body with color (half body is typically cut below the chest/at the stomach, showing all/most of the arms!)5 points: Clean fullbody with color (+2 point add on for detailed shading) - Pixel fullbody/scene - 700 word story/short10 points: Full scene + detailed character (not sketchy. usually thin lines or lineless, detailed BG with shading) OR Group picture (more than one character, clean lines+colored) - 1,200+ word story/short___________________________________________________________________________
Art can be animated as well! They do not count as an individual score, but rather act as an add-on. An example would be clean headshot + color (3 points) + eye blink animation (+1 points) = 4 points.+1 points for simple animation (3-10 simple frames. blink, ear flick, head bob, exc. Includes background objects.)+3 points complex animation (12+ separate frames. tail waving, walking, exc. Includes background objects.)______________________________________Simple backgrounds are now counted separately as add-ons! They will be counted as a +1 point to any headshot or half-body, or a +2 to any full-body piece.
- A simple background means there is some effort put into creating a scene of sorts, containing one to four items in the background such as trees, objects, exc.
- A colored circle around the subject or a cut/cropped box does not count in this category, as they easy to add in. Add more into it if you would like the extra points!
All art/writing should PMd to me (SilverSamurai) with the title being "Winter of Giving Art for ___" so I can record the points and deem it worthy of the points. ex. if you do a super sketchy fullbody and call it 'clean lines' for 5 points, I will only award you 1 point for the sketch. This is to be fair with the point system so it can not be abused. The art can also be sent to the user you drew it for at this time as well! Please send the same message to both me (SilverSamurai) containing the art to be awarded the points and the user you drew it for. This is only to make sure the art is being received as a gift. Please use the proper form provided in the second post when the PM containing the art.
That number will be added and totaled next to your username on the list (which will be on the third post of this thread). The user you made the art for will also have that number of points subtracted from their gifted total (this is not the same as their point total.)
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Points Awarded wrote:These are the points awarded for each piece of art/writing you make for another user.
Gifted Total wrote:This is a set number given to each user at the beginning of the event. It is simply the number of gifts a user can receive in the event. As all the numbers reach close to 0 during the event, the round will refresh and all numbers will be set back to the initial starting number (25).
An example of this would be:
I made a sketch for Grifforik and it is worth one point. One point will be rewarded to me, and one point will be subtracted from Grifforik's gifted total. So this exchange would look like this:
SilverSamurai: Points:(+1) 1 total Gifted Total Remaining: 25
Grifforik: Points: 0 total Gifted Total Remaining: (-1 from SilverSamurai) 24
However, you do not have to gift the person back. While it would be nice if you did, you are not required to. But say Grifforik decided to gift me back a lined fullbody and is awarded 5 points. The new totals would look like this:
SilverSamurai: Points: 1 total Gifted Total Remaining: (-5 from Grifforik) 20
Grifforik: Points: (+5) 5 total Gifted Total Remaining: 24
But don't worry about that, I will be keeping track of all the points! While you should have a rough idea of how many points you accumulate, you can always check your totals in the third post on this thread, as it will be updated fairly often.
The gifted total per user is to prevent one user from being spammed with art because of an easy character/design and encourage users to gift a variety of people instead of just a certain user. You can also see which users have been gifted more or less by their Gifting Total Remaining, which we should try to keep around the same numbers for everyone. So if you see someone with a higher number remaining, they haven't been gifted a lot, maybe give them something to lower the number! Want to gift a user but they already have a pretty low number? They have been gifted a lot already, maybe choose someone who hasn't been as lucky?
Also, you can not reserve points for a certain user by 'claiming' them. "I am going to do a full body for Grifforik, so reserve those 5 points for me!" is not allowed. If Grifforik's Gifted total hits 0 before you send me the art/writing and get rewarded the points, they will not be counted. This also applies if it brings the total below 0, but this is a special case. If the gifting total remaining is 3, and you are rewarded with 5 points, then the total will be brought to 0 but you will only be recorded with the 3 remaining points.
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There will be a starting round, then additional rounds to follow if all goes well.
The first round will have each user set to 10 Gifted Points. Once each participating users' numbers hit 0, a new round will be started and everyone will be given 25 Gifted Points. The first round is to make sure users who entered are actively participating and are not just in it for the gifts. Don't worry! The first round will work a bit differently. Each user can only gift an individual user once to ensure that everyone who enters has a fair chance to get art done before all the first slots fill up. If a user has not gained any points in the first round, they will be taken out of the event and will not be allowed to continue to receive art. If you are entered and are found to only be in it to receive free art, you will be taken out of the next round and banned from the rest of the event, as well as next years event. Seriously, this is a fun event that's celebrating community and the gift of giving. Don't be rude and selfish? If you do not think you will be able to participate in the event, don't sign up.
What's the point of gaining points? Why should I do this?
This is a way to give back to the community in a time of giving and joy. You can join for the sake of wanting to give to those around you in the community, however there will be prizes for first, second and third places. The users with the 3 most points at the end of the event will receive the listed prizes (see 3rd post).
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Questions!
Does the art have to be my own? Or can I order art from a shop/DeviantArt?
You can order art! Just make sure the original artist is stated when sending the gift both to myself and to the user it is for. Same goes with writing if you choose to go this route.
Can I gift a viscet to a user for points?
No, this is not allowed normally, and is it not allowed during this event.
What if I don't get the art done in time and their points hit 0 before I can get it to them?
That's ok! There will likely be more than one round. But if there isn't it should still be given to them. It's a gift and a friendly gesture, isn't it? Points don't matter as much as the overall experience of this event, right?
Do I have to gift digital art? Can I make traditional art?
You are not limited to digital art! However, if you choose to make a traditional piece, make sure it's a high quality picture/scan. Also, if you choose to do traditional, please add shading to all your pieces. Only because sketches/drawing traditionally can be done fairly easily and might be taken advantage of.
I want to do the writing option! Does it have to be specifically about anything? Or can I just write?
If you are choosing the writing option, then it should meet the minimum word requirement for the points you are wanting to obtain from it for one. But if you are writing as a gift, it should be a short story/drabble about the character you choose. If you are doing this, you may want to go through all of the character's information to make sure that you are portraying the character as best as you can, as well as get familiar with the setting. Keep all writing PG and on topic.
Examples of art types and how they are awarded;;
Sketch;;
- very basic and rough sketch (1 point)
- Colored sketch (1 point)
Headshots;;
- Simple (3 points)
- Semi-detailed (3 points)
- Detailed (3 points)
Halfbody;;
- without border/background (4 points)
- with a non-detailed background (4 + 1 (background) = 5 points)
- without background (4 points)
Fullbody;;
- Individual character (5 points)
- Individual character (5 points)
- With fun undetailed background (5 + 1 = 6 points)
- Fullbody with simple background (5 + 1 = 6 points)
Full Scene/Group picture;;
- Group (more than one character) (10 points)
- Detailed piece (10 points)
- Detailed scene + group (10 points)
Pixels;;
- static (5 points)
- slight animation (5 + 1 = 6 points)
- complex animation (5 + 3 = 8 points)
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The dates will be as follows:
November 29th - December 9th at 5pm EST: Initial sign-ups. Please do not edit your form after the 9th, though if you'd like to add/change your form between the 29th and the 9th, you may do so. I will post a warning and an official closing post as the time comes.
December 10th - January 14th: This is the time that you have to make/order art and rack up those points for yourself. This is a full month, and should be enough time to get a decent amount of points. The first round will officially start on the 10th, and I will make a post explaining it. After the first round is complete (however long it takes), the next round will start and so on, up to January 14th. January 14th is the last day to send art for points.
January 15th - 23rd: A cool-down period and the end of the event. The winners will be announced and remaining art pieces should be delivered if they have not already (but will not be counted for points.)