Season of Mystery Contest - Nearing the Finish Line

[RGM81]

First off, thank you to everybody who has participated in our annual season-long contest this year! It's been a great ride and I hope you've all enjoyed it.

The end is near! We have one more contest leg - the Free Agent Frenzy, which will be posted either today or tomorrow - and then we will be awarding our grand prize of a Frameworth Mystery Box!

I also want to let you guys know that we are hard at work coming up with the 2017-18 season-long contest and we want some feedback from you guys.

Please let us know your thoughts on preferred prize types -- do you guys like the memorabilia that we have offered over the years: signed jerseys, the Mystery Box, etc., or do you prefer card-based prizes such as wax or individual cards? We want to get more people involved in these contests and would like to hear what would be the best prize packaging to lure more people.

Also, what do you think about trade requirements? Remember that this is a trading community and that trades are a way for us to somewhat screen out people who would join and participate only for contests without other engagement with the site. What level of trades do you think is a fair amount for the whole season?

Cheers!

[RGM81]

@geschrocks33 @Sharky94 @RGM81 @Pheebs888 @brosal04 @notoriousrob101 @mikepro44 @robert podger @warr10r @edler4114 @piper1 @wolf1bh @creasecollector @manthis @30ranfordfan @DaveS @ricvr6 @bgggg2001 @jjclos
@backyard_rink @sparty07 @thehip66 @ahmon @pur3strpker0 @toddsr @Whoop
@leafs9344

[geschrocks33]

Prizes:

Let me first start by saying that if you guys are running such large contests and giving away high profile prizes (Mystery Box, memorabilia, Cup tins) I don't really care what it is, because the site is already putting a decent chunk into getting their hands on these prizes. So personally whatever you guys give away is cool with me!

I will say that I think I prefer the Memorabilia, but I guess that's just my preference. I think that memorabilia is cooler than cards and I think the Mystery box is a really cool prize. It gives you the thrill/unknown of opening a box, but instead of cards you get some sweet memorabilia instead. All personal preference there. Whatever you guys secure to giveaway is usually pretty awesome.

Trade Requirements:

I think that all trade requirements that were imposed this year are more than fair. The only thing I might change is the 1 per month. Maybe do 1 per Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr. I think it just stresses folks out where they are like "Omg if I don't make a trade this month, I'm screwed". Sometimes you just can't help when the deals do or don't fall your way. I think a possible way to monitor it is a mixture of trading and activity. Maybe they didn't make a trade in the month of November, but they were very active in and around the Hockey Forum. I think that people starting discussions, posting articles, bringing up hobby topics, posting Show & Tell's should be considered as well, not just trades. Perhaps a mixture of both? I'm not sure how you could measure that, but perhaps add a clause in the rules of a contest saying "Here's the trade requirement, if you do not meet the trade requirement it will be at Staff discretion on whether or not your activity level on the site is sufficient to meet the requirements."

Again I'm not sure how you all could measure it, personally I think the rules are very fair and obtainable the way they were this year and you guys have done a great job as a team running all the contests and tracking the competition. Especially with the implementation of the "Trade Tracker" where you could just throw everything in one thread.

Keep up the good work and thanks for the great contests & prizes

[sparty07]

I agree with geschrocks, sometimes it is hard to get 1 or more trade (depending on the various legs) in a month done due to lots of different aspects. Even if it was a minimum number of trades across the contests themselves with a target of 1 per month. I know that I missed a month and pretty much gave up after that. Also, being new to the hobby (less than 2 years in), it was extremely difficult for me to compete in the weekly card contests as I do not have a large budget or years of trading to get cards that 1. fit the categories (5 or 6 I didn't even have a card that would fit the criteria) or 2. would have a chance at winning.

[creasecollector]

Derrick brought up some fantastic points there. I like the mix of trade and/or activity levels being taken into account with these contest requirements would be a great idea.

As for the prizes, I like the idea of card-based prizes. That Cup tin giveaway last year was wild. No disrespect the the memorabilia aspect of it all, I just think card-based prizes might hit home with a lot more members on here.

[Sharky94]

Any prizes whatsoever are fine with me. They are free, so we should all be happy with whatever and count our lucky blessings. That being said, personally, I think since we are a card site, the prizes should be more card-based than memorabilia. If I win a prize that I don't really want (like Sidney Crosby), it is a lot easier to trade a card than a jersey or 8x10.

I did feel the trade reqs were a bit burdensome this year. With so many different contests, each having different requirements, it was somewhat difficult keeping them all straight and knowing if I fulfilled them or not. I think one trade a month for ALL contests should be fine, as long as you are staying active. I know I post far more threads/comments/pictures than I make trades.

Also I like the option of having an overall number, vice having to do them at particular times. I know the time limitations are to keep people active. But I usually do trades in bunches, where I will do 3 or 4 at a time, and then not do another for several weeks. I really hated in late January this year, when I realized I hadn't done one yet, trying to scour the threads just to find a trade for trade's sake. I ended up buying a couple cards off a guy because I couldn't work out a trade quickly enough.

[scottkoz20]

[RGM81]

Only a day or so left in the final leg.

I think our hints may have been deleted in the system crash purge...but oh boy you guys are in for something awesome next season!