Do-OOO-onnng! Voting for BSC2021, Round 2 starts now! YOu hav seven days to vote

[Hammers]

All good people of LAF, the four semi-finalists have been paired and are in jousts for the two spots for the finals. And what very good entries they are. There is not one of them which I would not die to game on (they are Difficult Terrain, after all, and some of the worst/best you could place your farmies on...)

You have 7 days to vote.

Let me remind you about the rules for the final round:

For the last round you will be allowed to use your terrain piece in a "fully dramatized" setting, meaning on a game board surrounded with as many wargames miniatures you like.

So builders, begin to prepare for the final byt pitch your armies on your new Difficult Ground!

On a final note I'd like to apologize for my lack of.... well, alacrity the last few days. I was called in from vacation to work due to an emergency. It sucked.

[AKULA]

Thanks mate, good luck to everyone 

[pistolpete]

@hammers sorry about your vacation being cut short.  And a big thanks for the work involved with the BSC.

The 4 semifinalists are really amazing pieces, good luck to you all

[gamer Mac]

Can anybody tell me why there are only 80 odd voters for this round?
Is there anything we can do to get people to vote?

[Hammers]

Can anybody tell me why there are only 80 odd voters for this round?
Is there anything we can do to get people to vote?

It's a phenomenon we've seen before. There's a decline in interest as people have seen the final build.  It is the reason I cut the BSC2021 by one round.  Also, I encourage builders to shoot alternative angles and (for the final round) shoot AAR-like photos with lots of miniature action on their builds.

I do not know how to engage voters beyond that and I am all ears for suggestions.

[Daeothar]

We can also see that most votes are cast in the first few days; interest and participation wanes quickly after that, even in the first round.

So perhaps it's a good move to also shorted the voting time to, for instance, 3 or 4 days, instead of a full week?

When played right, that might retain some of the attention of the public/voters, since general attention spans are declining year by year, and we might conclude the entire voting process within 2 weeks time, before interest has waned to near zero...

[Bearwoodman]

Shortening the voting period might help, although if there are forum users who check in once a week then having a voting period of less than seven days might mean they miss out.

Perhaps the answer is to further reduce the number of rounds. Why not have a group stage (like this year) to whittle the entries down to a manageable number, and then have a grand final where the public choose between the 4 or 5 entries that made it through? With unadorned photos being submitted for the group stage and full battle photos with fancy backgrounds and supporting figures being submitted for the final it would avoid voters feeling as though they are looking at the same thing twice.

[pistolpete]

I can only speak for myself but I didn’t know the second round started until i looked.  Maybe posting on the initial announcement thread could help notify people.  Just a thought

[AKULA]

For the last round you will be allowed to use your terrain piece in a "fully dramatized" setting, meaning on a game board surrounded with as many wargames miniatures you like.

Have to keep reminding myself I’m taking photos focussing on the terrain rather than the figures... 

[Daeothar]

I had already put my entry away on the terrain shelf, and the table is currently host to a game of Dropfleet Commander that we couldn't finish on Monday evening.

Now I'm going to have to find a way to take pictures of my entry, all tarted up, without disturbing that ongoing game...

[pistolpete]

I honestly don’t know how to vote for the final round as they’re both incredible. Looking forward to seeing the final photos.

[AKULA]

I'm going to have to find a way to take pictures of my entry, all tarted up, without disturbing that ongoing game...

I look forward to seeing what you come up with, as the last set of photos in particular look fantastic mate 

Also, if it makes you feel better I’m taking pictures on an old iPhone and really struggled with the game scene (ie with figures) to get it how I’d wanted it.

I originally thought that photo would be the easiest thing to do, given I’ve got a whole bunch of Game of Thrones figures painted up, but of course, unlike most photos where the focus I upon the figures, and the scenery sort of blurs into the background, I’m taking photos focussed upon the scenery and the figures essentially form the background 

Have submitted my photo, but I’ve taken additional ones, more from the figure perspective that I’ll share once the Final Round has finished, if anyone is interested.

[Daeothar]

Cheers

My second submission was actually the first one I made. But I've used chromakeying for the backgrounds, and only read about photofrackery not being allowed in the first round just before I wanted to send my entry in.

Meaning I had to very quickly retake all the pictures, sans any backgrounds, for the first round. I took the pictures with my phone, inside, with bad lighting, resized them in Photoshop and sent out my new entry all within 30 minutes (I was very near the deadline at that point ).

So that collage not being great was pretty obvious. the second one, which I took outside, with natural sunlight, and a green/blue screen was therefore much better.

But I've upped the ante with the 2nd picture, so I better get into gear and take some new pictures tonight. Hopefully these will be better still... 

At any rate: good luck to you, AKULA (but not too good  ) in the finale!

I’ve taken additional ones, more from the figure perspective that I’ll share once the Final Round has finished, if anyone is interested.

Well duh! 

[pistolpete]

Have submitted my photo, but I’ve taken additional ones, more from the figure perspective that I’ll share once the Final Round has finished, if anyone is interested.

Yes PLEASE.