Vincenzo said:
You cant argue about community their opinion, the vote was fair and square. Ill start announcing the winners properly tomorrow and get everyone their prizes!
Well, you can actually, because of all the clans, gaming groups etc that people belong to will vote for their friends maps, so if one person has twenty people willing to vote for their map on the basis of the author saying "Guys, my map is in this poll, please vote" compared to another guy who has only a couple of people to call on - it can be a bit skewered. That's how community votes tend to go, people will always vote for their friends/clan mates. Best option is to have the people hosting the competition pick the winner.
Once again I have to say that I am surprised you allowed an unoriginal map into the contest for the following reasons;
- Firstly you're saying to your community that they can be rewarded for copying & entering unoriginal content into a competition.
- Secondly it puts yourselves on rocky legal ground, although I'd say there is absolutely no chance of the chaps behind CounterStrike or VALVe kicking up a fuss about this, it is the principle that counts especially if FSE want to go anywhere as a professional company. The legal problem is that you're offering a reward, in this case financial, to someone who is copying, even down to the name, the copyrighted work of another in the same form of media - that is plagiarism and breaks copyright laws. If there had not been a reward of any kind it would possibly be fine*, but as soon as you offer a 'prize', and they win a 'prize', then you're effectively paying them for stealing other peoples work. In this case it is the principle at stake.
-Thirdly; come on, DE_Dust is over 10 years old! I was playing it in the original versions of CounterStrike! It's such a well known, and well designed map, that to put it down for a competition is ridiculous, no matter how good or bad a copy of it it is.
Just something for you guys to think about for future competitions.
*Although by having it in your official map rotations you would then be having it as an official map, which then starts to head towards rocky legal ground again because you're endorsing the map as original content from your community and as an official part of NW when it is already under copyright for another company & their game.