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Sticky Beat This! Theme Suggestions

Dusty B

Dusty B

ILLIEN
Battle Points: 38
Iron Keys said:
I also because if we were getting people pick their own samples, be hard to police who stuck by the rules.

I'm always down for the one sample theme tho... you'll likely get a lot of people sit that one out, and also, voting can be painful :LOL:
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I think ultimately comes down to what's desired - competition or learning.

Of course any battle will support both. Non theme battles are cool because it gives people a chance to submit what they think is a best that can win, but it also can hinder creativity because it influences folks to battle with beats that they think will get votes (that creates some confirmation bias). But of course these battles tend to get the most engagement because it's "easier" to compete because you can pick a beat from your portfolio.

Theme battles are cool because it forces everyone to create something new, fostering creativity by forcing a group to use the tools they have (creative constraints idea), but it seems there is usually less engagement, probably because forcing yourself to be creative in the moment is easier said than done. Theme battles may work better if there is a "commitment," maybe instead of a sign up/deadline like other battles, maybe theme battles would work better if there is a sign up followed by the deadline and theme. Obviously folks can bail but I wonder if getting say 5 or 10 people to sign up, followed by the rules and a deadline (like it's Master Chef or something) instead of an open sign up could work better to ensure there is commitment/engagement with them battles.
 
Iron Keys

Iron Keys

ILLIEN MBAPPÉ
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 695
bthis!
war
bfights!
aotb!
biu!
Dusty B said:
I think ultimately comes down to what's desired - competition or learning.

Of course any battle will support both. Non theme battles are cool because it gives people a chance to submit what they think is a best that can win, but it also can hinder creativity because it influences folks to battle with beats that they think will get votes (that creates some confirmation bias). But of course these battles tend to get the most engagement because it's "easier" to compete because you can pick a beat from your portfolio.

Theme battles are cool because it forces everyone to create something new, fostering creativity by forcing a group to use the tools they have (creative constraints idea), but it seems there is usually less engagement, probably because forcing yourself to be creative in the moment is easier said than done. Theme battles may work better if there is a "commitment," maybe instead of a sign up/deadline like other battles, maybe theme battles would work better if there is a sign up followed by the deadline and theme. Obviously folks can bail but I wonder if getting say 5 or 10 people to sign up, followed by the rules and a deadline (like it's Master Chef or something) instead of an open sign up could work better to ensure there is commitment/engagement with them battles.
Click to expand...

Don't need to tell me that- I'm a big advocate of themes and one of the few who actually takes part in the 'difficult' ones.

I'm speaking from experience here of how people engage. Even to have only 16 entrants on a non themed beat this is really low.

Usually we had like 27 beats per beat this every beat this that was a no theme. On easier themes you'd still get 20+

On the difficult themes you'd get maybe 16.

So you baby Gs here need to get involvvved. As do the regs and OGs (self included).

In fact Ill battles were some of the only times I was motivated to make/finish beats. And I was probably one of the only suckers who would (90% of the time) create an absolutely fresh beat for each battle. But maybe that's where not making so much.
 
Fade

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
VIP
It's always been like this. No themes always get a higher turnout. Sample flips are great to do but it's always a lower turnout. Even just regular themes usually are lower, so I try to keep the themes as simple as possible for the user but also on my end as well so I don't extra stuff to do.

Just a heads up though - the next one will be announced next week and it's going to be a Full Song (Rapping) at 4 minutes. So make a beat up to 4 minutes with Rap vocals on it. I'm just telling you guys now so you have more time to work on it. I'll post an announcement.
 
Dusty B

Dusty B

ILLIEN
Battle Points: 38
Iron Keys said:
Don't need to tell me that- I'm a big advocate of themes and one of the few who actually takes part in the 'difficult' ones.

I'm speaking from experience here of how people engage. Even to have only 16 entrants on a non themed beat this is really low.

Usually we had like 27 beats per beat this every beat this that was a no theme. On easier themes you'd still get 20+

On the difficult themes you'd get maybe 16.

So you baby Gs here need to get involvvved. As do the regs and OGs (self included).

In fact Ill battles were some of the only times I was motivated to make/finish beats. And I was probably one of the only suckers who would (90% of the time) create an absolutely fresh beat for each battle. But maybe that's where not making so much.
Click to expand...
What about a Discord to support this forum? As I've gotten back into all this I'm seeing how other groups like this are taking part of the engagement now too. There's a lot more places to chat, collab, get feedback etc. than there was. That could be why baby Gs aren't as engaged or sticking around as long too.
 
Iron Keys

Iron Keys

ILLIEN MBAPPÉ
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 695
bthis!
war
bfights!
aotb!
biu!
Dusty B said:
What about a Discord to support this forum? As I've gotten back into all this I'm seeing how other groups like this are taking part of the engagement now too. There's a lot more places to chat, collab, get feedback etc. than there was. That could be why baby Gs aren't as engaged or sticking around as long too.
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jon stewart secrets GIF


Well... there wasss a Discord group. A few of us were using it and a few others did get involved. But then it kind of became its own thing. Some of those users left. Some of the regs who were from here got banned (from here), and it didn't fully fully take off. Became like a subculture.

Also, ideally a lot of the feedback and posting etc would be happening on ill itself. Personally I'd post something here then share the link to the ill post in the server, to try and navigate that.
A lot of folk here are old-heads too, the Discord lends itself more to meme/4chan/Pepe/trans/internet culture compared to the forum old head vibes.
 
Fade

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
VIP
We tried Discord and it was ok but some members stayed there more than here, or other people would join that Discord and didn't even know about IllMuzik lol. They had no idea there was a forum and didn't care to.

But besides that, it's not necessary because we already have these forums. I know some people are already on Discord so it's convenient for them, but I don't see a point in having one when we have this community.
 
TWU

TWU

The.Widely.Unknown
Battle Points: 422
bthis!
war
bfights!
aotb!
biu!
Thing with discord is, I don't like the UI and UX. It gives me strong MSN Messenger group chat vibes.

On forums, the "weight" of the "post reply" button adds value to a conversation. I prefer some well formulated sentences instead of reading "LOL" or "Ooph" every second.

I was on the Ill Discord, but agree with @Fade that is just didn't add something... Maybe it's a useful tool to reach a bigger audience, then still you have to draw them to the website to enter a battle.
 
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