Dispute deadline reminder and feedback for our rarity policy

[dark_administrator]

Hello, doers of darkness! The dispute period closes tomorrow, August 31, and sign-ups will open soon after. If you think a nominated fandom or character is ineligible for Kaleidoscope, please open a dispute at Kaleidoscope Disputes, and refer to how to open a dispute for instructions.

So far, we've mainly received disputes concerning the rarity of nominated fandoms. To review, our criteria for rarity are:

• less than 1,500 English-language stories on major multifandom archives;
  
• less than 15,000 artworks, 100 podfics and 350 vids (in any languages) on major multifandom archives;
  
• no dedicated fandom-specific challenge that has run annually for more than two years in a row;
  
• and no dedicated fandom-specific archive or community that has more than 1,500 fanworks.

Several of our nominated fandoms would be disqualified based on the numbers for one type of fanwork, even though they would be considered rare for other fanwork types. Last year, the moderating team required that fandoms be rare for all types of fanworks mentioned in our rarity criteria. If we keep this rule, out of the nominations that were disputed or double-checked by the moderating team so far, the following fandoms would be ineligible for Kaleidoscope:

Fandoms considered ineligible due to number of fanworks

(Bold text indicates the numbers that exceed our rarity thresholds.)

• Ao no Ekusoshisuto | 青の祓魔師 | Blue Exorcist: 94 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 31713 artworks at deviantART, 1124 stories at Fanfiction.net, 53294 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Azumanga Daiō | あずまんが大王: 1268 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 13226 artworks at deviantART, 1041 stories at Fanfiction.net, 2314 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• DARKER THAN BLACK -黒の契約者- | Dākā Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-: 15198 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 19708 artworks at deviantART, 472 stories at Fanfiction.net, 827 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Hātokyacchi PuriKyua! | ハートキャッチプリキュア! | HeartCatch PreCure!: 9 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 1541 artworks at deviantART, 198 stories at Fanfiction.net, 24284 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Keion! | けいおん! | K-On!: 406 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 1245266 artworks at deviantART, 1104 stories at Fanfiction.net, 61935 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika | 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ | Puella Magi Madoka Magica: 250 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 26116 artworks at deviantART, 545 stories at Fanfiction.net, 118270 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Mononoke-hime | もののけ姫 | Princess Mononoke: 800 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 11864 artworks at deviantART, 395 stories at Fanfiction.net, 2197 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt |パンティ アンド ストッキング ウィズ ガーターベルト| Panti ando Sutokkingu wizu Gātāberuto: 90 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 23947 artworks at deviantART, 103 stories at Fanfiction.net, 1316 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | 千と千尋の神隠し | Spirited Away: 525 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 24371 artworks at deviantART, 2193 stories at Fanfiction.net, 3101 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Sengoku Basara | 戦国BASARA: 52 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 15627 artworks at deviantART, 558 stories at Fanfiction.net, 133915 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Shōjo Kakumei Utena | 少女革命ウテナ | Revolutionary Girl Utena: 718 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 14528 artworks at deviantART, 1474 stories at Fanfiction.net, 2002 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Kuroko no Basuke | 黒子のバスケ | Kuroko's Basketball: 4 AMVs at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 2861 artworks at deviantART, 621 stories at Fanfiction.net, 90909 artworks at Pixiv
  
  
• Sumairu PuriKyua! | スマイルプリキュア! | Smile PreCure!: 1 AMV at AnimeMusicVideos.org, 855 artworks at deviantART, 198 stories at Fanfiction.net, 33977 artworks at Pixiv

Of the above fandoms, only DARKER THAN BLACK -黒の契約者- | Dākā Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | 千と千尋の神隠し | Spirited Away, and Keion! | けいおん! | K-On! would be deemed ineligible for more than one type of fanwork.

We designed our rarity criteria to take into account the trends in both production and consumption of fanworks in English-language fandom, and due to the multimedia nature of our challenge, we think that it is fair to look at such trends across all fanwork types where it is feasible to do so.

However, this year, we have raised the number of minimum fandom offers for sign-ups from three to five fandoms. Thus, we are willing to revisit our policy on rarity and consider keeping fandoms that would pass our rarity criteria for all but one fanwork type. E.g. if a fandom is rare for artworks, podfics and English-language stories, but not rare for vids, it would not be rejected.

We would like to ask the dark_agenda community for their thoughts so that we can arrive at a decision before opening sign-ups.

This entry is posted at Dreamwidth and LiveJournal, as well as linked on Tumblr, and you may comment at any platform.

Comments

[skygiants]

Personally I am in favor of allowing as many things to be eligible as possible! I don't see any downside to it in this case. (But I am also biased because I really, really want Utena to be eligible, since it's never eligible for any fandom exchanges. >.>)

[yifu]

Thank you for your feedback! We understand your desire to include as many fandoms and participants as possible, and we discuss the matter among our team. However, in the end, since Kaleidocsope is a multimedia challenge, we want to promote all types of fanworks for under-represented fandoms. Therefore the mod team has decided that it is important to uphold the rarity criteria for all types of fanworks. Fandoms where one type of fanwork or more exceed our rarity threshold will be accordingly considered ineligible. Thank you again for your input!

[aldanise]

I'm only glancingly familiar with most of these, but I'd also vote to allow fandoms rare for some but not all types of fanwork. I know that I use different parts of my brain appreciating art, stories, and vids, and I'd guess that others do, too? If I were a Kuroko fan, for example (I'm not), I don't think it would matter to me how many artworks there were if I were looking for a more narrative approach and being stymied by less than 700 fics and four AMVs. Especially with expanding the number of fandoms required for offering/requesting, it does seem like there's room.

[allchildren]

+1

[yifu]

Thank you for your feedback! We understand your desire for increasing fanfiction in fandoms with low number of them, and we discussed the matter among our team. However, in the end, since Kaleidocsope is a multimedia challenge, we want to promote all types of fanworks for under-represented fandoms. Therefore the mod team has decided that it is important to uphold the rarity criteria for all types of fanworks. Fandoms where one type of fanwork or more exceed our rarity threshold will be accordingly considered ineligible. Thank you again for your input!

[qem_chibati]

I am biased since one of my fandoms is in question here, but I like trying to keep it broader to try and increase the number of people who can participate. Although the requirements were lower last year with offering, I didn't sign up last year because I didn't see enough fandoms that I felt comfortable writing in without further research.

I think if only one of the non-fic rarity criteria is not met that should be ok to keep. Although there are a lot of efforts to keep kaleidoscope inclusive, the majority of entries and participants seem to be focused on the fic aspects of fandom (although certainly not all).

I think that would also help with people who might get annoyed because they wished they could of nominated a fandom but didn't because they knew it didn't met the fic rarity criteria.

[qem_chibati]

*Although this year even if all of the fandoms in question were to be rejected I would be fine. @_______________@;

[yifu]

Thank you for your feedback! We understand your concerns about not having enough fandoms to request and offer or feel comfortable writing in, and we discussed the matter among our team. However, in the end, since Kaleidocsope is a multimedia challenge, we want to promote all types of fanworks for under-represented fandoms. Therefore the mod team has decided that it is important to uphold the rarity criteria for all types of fanworks. Fandoms where one type of fanwork or more exceed our rarity threshold will be accordingly considered ineligible. Thank you again for your input!