An ArtFight Alternative
My two cents on creating an alternative to ArtFight that’s a little more free and a little less clunky
I’d be all for the idea, provided that it’s not a clone. All social media platforms have their own little circle of innovation, and ArtFight clearly carved out a niche in the art challenge space. Their entire model is built upon the hype of July, the eager anticipation of attacks falling into a mailbox, the pleasant surfing of character pages, and the feeling of being a part of a team fighting for a noble cause.
That niche is taken. If anybody wants it, they’ll just have to live with the clunky site, miles of not-exactly-clear rules, and “non-discriminatory” political views of their owners and moderation staff. In return, they get a fun experience and possibly some free art of their characters. Nearly every time a group of people have run out to make their own platform after being deplatformed by The Powers That Be, the fledgling platform falls flat onto its face due to not having a growing userbase. If it’s not inventive, nobody wants to try it except the people who have more spare time than sense.
As such, I got to thinking about how one could pivot the ArtFight model into a similar-but-not-the-same design, and came up with a few ideas:
1) Multiple competitions per year
- I was thinking quarterly, mostly to give people time off. Have one in June or August to mop up the traffic around the real ArtFight, then one every three months around that. (June-September-December-March or August-October-January-April would be good combinations.) Each should have its own unique theme, similar to the real ArtFight.
2) More teams
- I like the idea of having only two teams, but in practice, it’s a lot less fun when half of your friends are friendly fire — as happened to me this year. I think it’d be a more interesting experience if there were four, six, or even ten teams all duking it out.
3) More to do than just earn points
- Each player could be located on a specific grid square — sending art to opposing players would shift the grid square they’re located on in your team’s favor, eventually claiming it for your own team. There might also be special objectives on the map that grant territory faster, such as drawing specific types of character (anthro, worm, etc.), using certain mediums (pixel, traditional, craft), or drawing your teammates. At the end of the competition, the team that controls the most grid squares wins.
4) Offseason trading
- It would be nice if the site had an option to send art during non-gameplay periods. I’d rather have a community that has competitions than a competition that built a community. I’m interested in the world of artist trading cards, and think the model that the ATCsForAll.com forum uses works nicely. Self-hosted mini-trade groups, themed trades, or even free art sent over to a surprised newcomer would be nice additions to the overall experience.
I also emphasize that the rules must be simple, clear, and concise. It shouldn’t take a team of lawyers to decipher what’s in and what’s not. My main concern is that the rules (and surrounding context) could end up going one of four ways:
1) NSFW is permitted in all forms, the site is rated 18+, and age verification is in place.
2) NSFW is not permitted, but in the interest of sanity — and the avoidance of legal issues — the site is restricted to adults.
3) NSFW is somewhat permitted, but the rules surrounding it are wildly convoluted because of the presence of minors on the site. (Exhibit A: ArtFight’s ‘censored nipples’ rule. C’mon, guys, anatomy isn’t that hard.)
4) NSFW is not permitted, minors are allowed, the rules are abundantly clear… and the only artists there are conservatives, because the left-leaning community boycotts the site for not being inclusive enough.
I would happily join if the site went with either #2 or #4.
#1 makes it a safe haven for artists otherwise alienated by ArtFight, but they’re not our preferred clientele.
#3 is the problem both ArtFight and FurAffinity are currently dealing with. No amount of filtering keeps all of the filth out of one’s feed.
I’m currently working on securing a suitable domain name for the project, although I think Discord would be a good starting point before jumping into the world of custom web stacks. Discord’s bot support and ability to create image-centric channels and forums would make it an ideal platform for getting a community started. The game’s logic could start as a custom bot that scans Discord forum threads and grow out from there, with the trading aspect of the game eventually moving to a dedicated webserver for increased functionality as the userbase grows. Trades could then be submitted to the Discord bot or uploaded to the webserver, and the backend could sort out who the trade needs to be sent to. This would offer a bridge between the online-only community and the Discord-only community to permit future growth and prevent single-platform reliance if Discord should fall by the wayside. It would also offer users the ability to compete without going through the hassle of creating a full account for the online side of the game — their modelsheets and trades could be sent to the server through the bot and placed on the site right next to the rest.
I have no experience in the world of backend development, and my frontend experience is limited to mild WordPress page design and static pages with HTML/CSS. I also have no coding experience beyond BASIC, so I’m not entirely certain this idea is even feasible. I’m a guy who comes up with ideas and sometimes designs a logo or two. I’m not a computer programmer, and I shouldn’t be let within twenty yards of important Internet infrastructure. :-)
Grace, peace, and happy drawing.
- Echovita
Back to Homepage