Alrighty, first rant! I'm pretty nervous about this, so please tell me if anything sounds offensive :") I wanted to get this off my chest, after witnessing these things for so long. But basically....we gotta talk. - - - INTRODUCTION, ART CONTESTS - - - This is something I've seen everywhere in the art community, during my one year on this site. Whether it be popular projects, or the less popular projects. OTAs, DTAs, MAPs (MAPs especially. Will get more into it.), any contest you can imagine. If a Scratcher were to hold a DTA, and multiple underrated, and not so 'well-known' Scratchers, let's say, made beautiful entries. Flawlessly shaded, with gorgeous lineart, and a dazzling background. You'd think that one of those talented people would win. But....unfortunately, no. What if a popular Scratcher/the host's friend joined the DTA? With no shading, and messy lineart, for example? They would win. You wanna know why? Because there seems to be this impression that the popular Scratchers are the best people in the art community, and anyone else who doesn't have 1k+ followers or isn't a close friend with said popular Scratchers, just- doesn't matter. There are multiple pedestals. I have seen multiple contests in which ONLY famous Scratchers, or the host's friend, won. Despite MANY beautiful, and, dare I say, much better entries- said entries were completely ignored and overshadowed. Like,, seriously?? If you host a contest, that isn't 'oNly for pOpuLar scRatChers aNd fRiEndS.' When you make the decision to host a contest, it is for EVERYONE. And when you ignore the entries of unpopular Scratchers, and only award the popular/friend Scratchers? Do you have ANY idea how that makes the others feel? The people who spent HOURS working on their beautiful entry, deserve more attention, and have a beautiful style? Do you have any idea how that Scratcher feels when they lose to an entry with CLEARLY much less effort put into it, probably because that person was a friend or idol to the host? Dude,, really?? Okay, look. Hear me out. DO NOT MAKE THE PERSON WIN A CONTEST BECAUSE THE CREATOR OF THE ENTRY IS YOUR IDOL OR FRIEND. If the entry is TRULY better than the other entries, then yeah. I won't stop you; you're the host. If you believe the entry is superior, then that person deserves to win, by all means. But if you KNOW what you're doing, and choose your winner based on popularity, get some help. That is NOT fair to everyone else who took time out of their lives to join your contest, only to lose because a friend/idol to the host joined their contest. That HURTS people. It hurts me. It hurts my friends. It hurts the people around you. It doesn't matter if you think that your idol won't like you if you don't make them win. It's better for you to make YOUR CONTEST just and fair than to win the attention of a person you literally don't know. Think about others. Don't judge your contests based on popularity. - - - MAPs - - - You may be asking- "Ash? Why does this have its own section? Isn't this similar to what you explained in the comment above?" Well, yes, but actually no. I figured that this deserved it's own section because of reasons similar- and different- from those about bias in art contests. Much like art contests, there is constant bias about who gets which part. Now, don't get me wrong. It's always a great experience when your idol asks for a part in your MAP, and I won't judge you if you let them in. But, here's why I added this section into here. I have seen MANY creators who eXcLusivELy make their MAPs experienced only. This is often the case with a few popular (now banned) Scratchers. If you want to have an experienced MAP every once in a while, go right ahead. But when you make EVERY ONE OF YOUR MAPS with only experienced animators? That doesn't give ANYONE ELSE a chance. When I first joined Scratch, I was eager to start animating. So, I applied for a number of MAPs that looked cool. There was nothing in the rules about experience level, so I was almost certain that I would get in. But you know what? No. Of course not. Because despite there nothing in the rules saying that only experienced animators in the rules, out of all of the 5 MAPs I applied for? I didn't get into ANY of them. You decide who you want to let into your MAP. You have that freedom, and I am not saying that you don't. But when you make your MAP open to anyone, you at least LOOK at the applications. You don't overshadow those people who are eager, and confident to join your MAP, and only look at your idol's applications. You don't make a MAP open to anyone only to let in no one except your friends and idols. You don't blatantly tell CHILDREN that their art is bad, or that you don't like it. And about that last sentence? Yep. Actually happened to me, with a former idol (Not going to name). To anyone who does that- stop. (cont.)
(cont. from above) You're being EXTREMELY rude to beginner animators, making them feel bad about their art, and hurting their feelings. If you don't like their art, you don't say, "I hate it," or "Your art is bad." You give them CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. You DO NOT say that their art is 'gHasTLy', instead of giving them advice that can help them grow. Ever hear of empathy? Go get some. Scratch, whether you like it or not, is full of children. Most likely younger than you. Maybe they're like me, and they joined to improve and grow their art/animation skills. When you berate them with nasty comments, and not accept them into your every-experience MAP, that makes them not want to follow those dreams. Scratch isn't YT, in which pretty much everyone is either a great artist/animator. Scratch is a place for people to GROW. To LEARN. It isn't a place for you to reject and brutally criticize future animators. So...that leads me into the second-to-last section. - WHAT I THINK WE SHOULD DO/OTHER COMMENTS - So; here's what we should do. We need more MAPs, where ANYONE is welcome to join. We need people to stop being rude to beginner/unpopular animators. We need...to be kind. Because you know what? Kindness is KEY. For example- animators like @Cherriiskies, @FrostIeaf, (tell me if you want your name removed from the list!) and many, MANY more. More popular Scratchers, who use their fame for GOOD. You guys are a great example of what I want to see in the future of MAPs. You guys are not biased, and recognize underrated animators. And for that...thank you. Your actions have given me hope- us hope. You're very kind to everyone, whether it be popular or unpopular Scratchers. And, another thing- we should recognize EVERYBODY for their art. Especially underrated animators. We shouldn't put popular Scratchers on a pedestal, when they're so much more than just a great artist. They have feelings. They're not God Art Machines. We shouldn't ignore unpopular Scratchers because of their follower count. We should TEACH beginner animators (A lot of Scratchers have made great animation tutorials, such as @chaoticgremlin! ^^), and give them constructive criticism to help them grow. That's what Scratch is for. Learning. Kindness. Sharing. Creativity. While there's some mean people out there, who may judge your art in a mean manner- there is help, always waiting. There is more good than evil here. Don't be ashamed because of your follower count. Popular, or unpopular. So, before I close off this rant, one more thing. Be considerate. Be open-minded. And...be kind. It may seem small, just commenting a nice thing on someone's project- but, in the end, it makes a difference. This is Ash, signing out. <3
