Warning: Slight rants ahead; If you're into that sort of thing however though, feel free to keep reading...
Heya, it's Nova here =v=
So as some of you may have known, I participated in
OCT not too long ago - it looked like a pretty nice OCT, and since two of my friends were joining at the same time as a team, I thought I'd enter myself too just for fun. So, with only about 3 weeks or so until the deadline plus uni biting on my ass, I created Alex and decided to cram out an audition entry + ref sheet within that short period of time.
Being in HL has been well... a learning experience of sorts. I got to see firsthand just how tough the competition was, with about 32 making it out of some 160+ entries, it was pretty damn obvious I wasn't gonna make it past auditions (and I didn't, surprise surprise). That was when I saw an announcement stating that the judges have decided to open up 'Exhibition Rounds', basically those that didn't make it past auditions can still continue to participate in a tournament-like setting with deadlines and all (the 'losers bracket', if you will). Of course, not having much to lose at that point I decided to sign up for Round 1 of the tournament (it's set up in rounds, such that the winner scores 1 point, the one with the most points at the end wins etc.) and hoped for the best, as this was the first time I've actually participated in a PvP-style tournament OCT and all =v=
Upon retrospect, it was kind of a mistake on my part.
I had to come up with a story/fight with my predetermined opponent, and with shorter deadlines than ever (4 weeks), I had to really rush out my entry in order to make the deadline. Not helped by my comic being longer then expected (plus I'm not that used to long comic-making), the initial plan was to have the pages in some sort of color just like my audition rounds - however as time started to creep up on me I had to that cut color out completely, to the point where it explains why only the first 2 pages were somewhat colored whereas the rest had to be in black/white. Needless to say those 4 weeks really stressed me out, to the point where there is a distinct lack of time for other stuff - hell, even other pieces of artwork which I wanna do but can't - in favor of finishing this comic.
With really short deadlines, I decided to ask the judges whether it's possible to have some sort of extension -
I mean, if the main contestants got an extension of one week, plus the fact that they started about 3 days earlier than us, it should only be fair, right? But nope, turns out the extension only applies to the main contestants. Well okay, fair enough - they were the ones that actually passed auditions, the ones where the judges think are good enough to compete in the main event: so I guess it only makes sense that they get the extra time to really perfect those entries.
Well in the end, after much blood, sweat and tears, and with only about a few hours left to spare, I finally, FINALLY completed and submitted my 10-page long entry for the round and - wouldn't you know it - my opponent decided to bail out.
Lovely. Now I'm not one for putting people at fault here, after all, real life does come first - but it's really goddamn discouraging knowing you put so much effort into something and not seeing the payoff. Since my opponent didn't submit anything that pretty much means an automatic win for me, but at what cost? This sort of win just doesn't feel... satisfying if you know what I mean? The so-called feeling of finding out how others decided to portray your own character isn't there. When it all boils down to it, I basically just
wasted days upon days on my time, all for nothing. And given the low reception these pages are getting, I guess that's saying something too :/
Another reason that's been sucking out my interest for HL is that I've noticed some sort of an unfairness between the exhibition contestants and the main contestants, the 32 people that managed to get in. Now I've already mentioned the extension thing a couple paragraphs back, but aside from that, the judges announced during the first round results that the losers get the option to participate in Exhibition rounds, and will automatically be granted 1 Exhibition point. Now honestly, I could go on a tangent about the unfairness of having to compete with people who, might I add,
already got into the main competition in the first place, and that I'm a sore loser or whatever. No, what really concerns me is the fact that what happens to people who lose in the next and subsequent rounds? Do they automatically get 2/more points in the Exhibition rounds? And if so, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of their Exhibition rounds, which is
'a competition for everyone who couldn't fit into the main 32'?
Granted, that isn't the only factor - one of the main reasons why I enter OCTs is to make possible friends with other people. And with this OCT... I'm just not seeing that. Part of the reason is because most of the contestants who entered already know each other way beforehand, which also means it's a lot harder to join in seeing as they're already all part of a group (judging from the animated bouncing head icons, but I'm speculating here). The dA chatroom, aside from a few people, is almost always empty. It's kinda hard to meet new people when everyone else is already hanging out elsewhere is pretty much what I'm saying here.
So with all of that said, plus I've heard some other bad stuff about the OCT in general - I've decided that I'll no longer compete as a contestant in Haunted Library; because frankly when I'm no longer having any fun it just doesn't make any sense for me to continue :/ I won't unwatch or leave it entirely - lord knows I might still do miscellaneous and random art. But yeah, as of right now Alex is gonna take his business elsewhere, as for where and when... I'm still not sure. I'm just kinda over competing in OCTs in general right now...
BUT!That doesn't mean that I'm
completely through with OCT...
I'll explain more about what I mean in the next journal, but until next time;
- Nova
A close friend of mine and a great artist to boot; she's currently opening emergency commissions again for the summer - so take advantage of those cheap prices and support her! Some of the art she's offering includes pixel icons, colored and even comic pages~
Paypal only. (GBP/Great British Pounds/£'s please)
Oh boy, been meaning to talk about this amazing artist for a while now... So anyways this is kinda late, but this person is someone whose art I really admire, from her characters to her designs to her colors to the fact that she's improved massively in time O: And she's also open for commissions for quite awhile now! 
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Another person who I've been admiring for her ability to draw Digimon =v= however that's not to discredit her skill in humans and especially in coloring too! So if you have an OC (not just Digimon) wanting to be drawn, she's someone you wanna check out; her scanned lineart/colored drawings are pretty damn cheap to boot!
)
