as i stated above, the spotlight rules state that you DON'T need a written story - you can express the theme/idea of your pet with art, treasure chest, etc. and that is all accepted within the stated rules. so if you'd rather not write a story, or you don't like writing, or you don't think you can write well enough to meet the quality standards, then you can 'tell a story' in an alternative way like you suggested. this is not against the spotlight rules.

cool, thank you!

Perhaps I should have elaborated.

I won in the past with a pet that had no art other than the overlay, and the TC wasn't what anyone would have considered "extremely creative" however it did have quite a few items in it that went along with the theme. It is my understanding that that pet (Flower) would not be eligible to win NOW, under the current rules. Same with my pet Naive

I want that to change.

I think there should be the same amount of flexibility with regard to all of the aspects of the spotlight. If a pet can win with 0 items in it's TC, I feel like it should also be eligible to win with 50 themed items in it's TC and no story at all.

I mean no offense by this at all, because those pets are truly lovely and the TCs are well put together, but I, personally, would like to see even a little description about the pet. Not necessarily a full-blown story, but even just a tid-bit or a background. Why does this pet have these items? Why is the pet's name so-and-so? Or even a sentence about the pet or from the pet would be perfect.

There was a particular pet recently that won spotlight, Maui. This is a prime example of what I'm talking about. There could've been more utilization of the treasure chest, in my opinion, but the simple description about it is what I mean.

Some people just don't enjoy writing, but they enjoy their pets as much as people who do enjoy writing.

Writing a paragraph just because you have to, because you're required to, is NOT FUN. It's like homework. But yeah. Not everyone has the same reasons to want to take part in the pet spotlight. Some people like big stories and characters, and some people want to showcase art, profiles and treasure chests.

Just to verify - I one of those people that have had pets nominated consistently (I check everyday) since December. My pet Najas was nominated right after my pet Feona won (Feona was the first pet to win after the switch to three times a week). Najas and Hontori were actually both nominated back in Decemeber, but at least Hontori won back in February (after two months). I have four other pets that have been nominated since... probably February, when Hontori won. So yeah... pets are kind of just... sitting in nomination limbo. I just assumed it was bad luck with the random generator that chooses who wins at night? I mean, I highly doubt that they haven't even been looked at yet. And if they haven't, then someone should be prepared for a lecture. lol But yeah, I have bad luck anyway, so I figured it was just me getting unlucky. Though I AM happy to hear confirmation that the queue is larger now... though I kinda expected that.

And I get that this is such a tough issue because of all the wide opinions about it. Personally, I work on my pets for my own desires, but having the spotlight definitely motivates me still. Otherwise, my stories would probably remain in my head, and never make it to their profiles. ^^;;

I can respect that, because personally, I DON'T want to read a story. Anything over a sentence or two and I am bored. So I can absolutely understand that some people are unlike me, and do enjoy that aspect of the spotlight.

I just wish spotlight was geared more toward making both sides of that coin happy!

That would be fine by me as well. A sentence or two =/= a story. I had a sentance or two for my pets Aloha and Pretty, and ended up having to add a lot more than I originally intended for them in order to make them "worthy" of the spotlight.

Thank you very much for explaining this to me! It definitely makes sense that way, and I appreciate that doing it this way helps for pets to win in batches... but I am still a bit concerned that it appears to have been a while since another batch of pets was sorted through. People having to wait months to find out that they were rejected is just... going to really disappoint people, and make them give up. It's frustrating to wait that long just to hear a 'no'. I like the idea of batches for winners, but I am not sure I like the idea of batch judging, especially if months are going to go by in-between (not saying that is definitely what is happening, but that is how it sounds?). Maybe keep the batch winning, but I dunno... do something like: 1 - Check/Judge the queue once a week/twice a week (even once a month). 2 - Every so many pets (lets say 30) gets a batch number once they enter the winners queue. 3 - The generator picks from a batch until finished, and then moves onto the next batch. That way, people are getting timely rejections, winners are still going out in semi-acceptance order, and the wait shouldn't be horrible? Like, if you are waiting a while, then you can at least be fairly certain that the pet is at least in the queue, and not just waiting to be judged. No idea if this is doable or not though. And if I misunderstood you, then the above could be pointless rambling. lol

Yay! Glad I could suggest something somewhat useful. :D But yeah, I won't complain if we up the number of days per week. I would love more chances to win! ^^

And that's why I refrained from saying story, or even paragraph. If people want to showcase TC items, that's fine. But that could be done in a gallery. I would think they are putting it in a pet's treasure because it means something. It ties into the pet or character or idea or whatever they are portraying. Asking for one sentence describing what those items mean or why they're there isn't really asking for too much, imo. And I think by even just requiring a super tiny little description like that, they could allow more story-less pets into the spotlight. Because a description isn't a story. But showcasing art is fine, because, depending on the art, you can sometimes very easily tell the personality of a character from it. Showcasing profiles? Well, it you're just trying to showcase a profile, you can do that with a user profile.

I agree. Sometimes I'm just too tired and don't feel like reading a 2000 word story. I like when people get creative when how they portray their pets, and that doesn't have to just be long-winded stories.

I also really miss this being a daily thing. :c

Mon-Fri for a schedule, maybe?

Five days is less than seven, but more than three also I know maths herp derp

This this this!!

I don't think people will have problems with that, but maybe if there was another small contest on the weekend.

Like, on Sunday, staff post a new item or something who needs a description and we have all week to find a short and witty description for it, and the winner is declared on Sunday.

My original idea was "BRING BACK TRIVIA ON WEEKENDS" but this is going to be lolnoped by Keith.

The Friday winner already gets the whole weekend, when the other winners only get 2 days. So I don't really think that should be viewed as a deal breaker... I really believe that most of the people that care about the spotlight will be focused more on how their chances of winning sooner vs. later that the fact that one pet is getting to be in the limelight a little longer than the others...

Why not just code winners for every other day? Then it could go in a 3-4-3-4 pattern. And everyone gets exactly the same amount of days to be the spotlight.

- I would give MUCH to see trivia return. Really really would.

- I really really hope people aren't so shallow that getting 2 whole days for winning the spotlight is that much of a deal breaker :/

- I actually like the idea of doing a Spotlight Redux/Spotlight Spotlight on the weekends. It would be interesting to see past winners be recognized again, but for the sake of what is going on now, it might not be the wisest idea to fiddle with such things. The very idea of putting a lot of the responsibility of the Spotlight on the users shoulders is disturbing as is, but I really want to see the revamp be cohesive, well thought through, functional, and something that helps to inspire users to do the Spotlight. I hope the suggestions over on the Brainstorm thread are receiving their due.