I like Squid's idea, of allowing the winner to pick the challenge (but not host the challenge), and if they don't pick a new challenge, then the community votes. Unfortunately, this creates more time for one challenge to last. I think that we need 2 weeks for animation, so people can create quality animation. School gets in the way, along with work, and lots of other things, so one week wouldn't be enough. If we then allowed another week to pass with just trying to pick the next challenge, then it would be 3 weeks just for one challenge, which is way too much.
A solution for this would be everyone suggests a topic as they submit their video, and instead of doing a poll, the challenge that the winner suggested wins (unless it's impractical and just wouldn't work as a challenge, then the host would choose a better one that is similar to it). That way, the winner still has the satisfaction of winning and picking the next topic. And there would be no delay, because the topic would be suggested as the video was submitted.
@Galactic:
Badges are not a good idea. The forum isn't set up for badges anyway. But besides that, (I'm quoting Pritchard here) "It becomes a race for badges, for glory, not for the fun and learning." Sure, it's fun to win, but just going for the reward is not the right thing.
I dislike the idea of restricting the previous winner from entering. Don't punish them because they won, encourage other animators to get better and win. The judge should pick the best animation in that challenge, and if it happens to be the same person twice, then that's just the way it is. Obviously, if they keep winning and there are other good animators participating, then it might be a bit suspicious, but that's why there must be responsible and active community members being the hosts for the challenges.
YouTube • Website"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b