As we know, Dolly is losing pretty badly. It seemed pretty odd that Dolly pulled in 1000 more members (even when she was losing) than Tobias until I realized the participation prize for team candy is not only a wearable, but a food.

This makes the item more valuable and in higher demand, not only for wardrobe collectors but for those going for the gourmand achievement. Once the item is used as food, it's gone. So I feel like the item alone was able to bring in a considerable amount users.

(Yes I realize the Toy Sleigh is also a toy, and that disappears once used, but there are no achievements for playing with toys. Thus not as in demand/ bound to be limited)

I feel like this is a bit unfair, especially with Dolly's team working their asses off throwing snowballs and not making a dent. Maybe next time, don't show the participation prizes beforehand. Or give them the same uses, not one better than the other.

I think you've got a the right idea honestly.

We've pulled in a lot of dead weight and I think the participation prize was part of the reason. And you're right, we are working our asses off, have thrown about a million more snowballs and yet we're losing which seems to be off to me but not much anyone can do about it.

I think showing the participation prize is probably not in the best interest of either team and agree that in the future it shouldn't be revealed.

- Thank you for making this. <3

Are we sure it's a food item? You can't even get it until the snowball fight is over, right? So it's entirely possible (and very likely, in my opinion) that it's just a wearable. Same with the sled... it's probably not actually a toy.

Even if it's not, I'm sure most people are under the assumption that it is... which would still cause more members to join Dolly.

According to Subetalodge, the necklace is a food and the sleigh is a toy. (doubt you'll even get these) Clarification would be nice please :)

i am wondering how many have joined solely becoz CANDY!!! rather than what they can get out of it.

I think also that the necklace is simply a more desirable wearable, too - less winter specific, more versatile, easier to make part of an outfit (and arguably cuter). But obviously it's really hard to make prizes completely equivalent on that front!

On the other hand, I disagree that prizes shouldn't be shown. I think showing the prizes and explaining what was needed to earn then was a very, very good idea, and I hope Subeta keeps doing it forever. Seriously. Normally we'd all be wailing and crying because we want to stop restocking/snowballing/playing flash games but are too afraid to because we don't know if we've scored enough to get prizes. In this case, after the prize reveal, we'd get people upset because they wanted the toy prize but joined team candy or vice versa.

And I don't think not revealing the prizes would stop teams being unequal. I think this has happened with most 'team' events: there will always be one side that's more popular, usually due to (perceived) chance of cooler prizes and that team tends to struggle IIRC.

It's a tricky problem!

^ I actually joined Toby's team because I preferred the sleigh wearable to the candy necklace.

I actually liked the sled better, but joined Team Dolly for the title. I feel like I've contributed a fair share and I hope hovering over my trophy will show everyone how many snowballs I threw for my team. I've participated in so many events where I had no idea if I was normal or above-and-beyond. It's nice to see the stats and know what one of the prizes I will receive is.

I think the information given for this event is perfect. People have complained, very loudly, in the past that not having certain information made them put in less effort than if they had "known" how it would be, what prizes would be, etc. So for this event they are stating specifics, and now you are saying its unfair because we are making decisions based on this info? Its exactly what the majority of the site has been demanding!

I joined team Tobias because I love the little sled.

There will always be deadbeats on a team - always - and those people are going to join the team that they believe will give them the most advantage. There is no way to combat this. Though, when working out average score - I would eliminate anyone who did not throw at least 10 snowballs, and simply not count them. They would still get the bare minimum, but they wouldn't have such a negative impact. And both teams get their share of deadbeats, its not all in any one direction.

I joined Tobias but then the site crashed and I refreshed. Surprise, I'm in team Dolly with both titles.

Such amazing.

I am fine with it. Even if it is a wearable and food item, there are likely going to be over 2000 copies on site.

My issue isn't so much seeing the prizes. It's that one prize is going to be in higher demand because of it's uses. So I'd rather see equal prizes.

You little cheat, you :p

I think the wear is actually incredibly tacky and wanted nothing to do with it. Team Toby, ftw!

Gurl, now I know who to blame for that atrocious lag that day. XD

My impression is that the 3 melody items will be random, not sure though.

Pretty much. I'd say the reason Dolly has more supporters is because candy is a lot more 'fun' than plain old toys and she's a cute, quirky character with a bit of a following. But this is compared to the disadvantage Tobias is now at - more likely to pick up last minute stragglers (who won't have much time to participate) thanks to a higher average score which will have more weighting thanks to a smaller team size.

there's gotta be a better way to work the scoring; dolly's team has thrown over a million more snowballs than tobias and she's still over thirty points behind. does not compute?

I must be grinchy because I'd up that to 50 - 100 snowballs thrown in order for you to claim prizes/be a proper member of a team, with anyone who's scored/thrown less not counting. it'd discourage anyone just jumping on a team because they're in the lead buuut idk if it'd fix the points problem tho.

- Its actually done that way to balance it out. More members means you need to throw more snowballs to make it fair and even. If it hadn't been set up that way, Tobias would be at a huge disadvantage. Dollies have more people, which means the work can be spread out more, but the Tobias would have to do waay more work because there are so fewer members. Setting it up like this makes all work contributed shared.

(I'm a Dolly btw, and I don't have a problem with the point set up. I do have an issue with how people joined but didn't contribute.)

How do you make them equal though? They're both just wearables, so they're equal on that front. If we're talking about versatility or how fashionable they are or whatever, I don't see how you could ever make them equal because that's entirely subjective.

@ ariel @ amber Still waiting to hear on whether these are "both just wearables" please

[edit] Omfg I think Dolly's wear is super tacky too, and I love the sled, but I'm kind of a title whore and I like candy, and gdi why can't I be ?

Oh, good, I thought I was going to be alone in the "Ewww, tacky" opinion.