COD4 Mappers Irked @ Contest

[zeroy]

So 402 finally posted some "real" details on the "Community" mapping contest a while ago:

http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.0

Beside the fact that many aren't interested with the contest I would like to express my utter disbelief towards IW/ATVI on this stunt, it simply is mind boggling.

The US rules (which i think will be more or less the same for other countries) are simply crazy with BSP for maps which must not exceed 22mb in size, no map already released can enter, no custom sound/textures ... the list goes on.

95% of the maps we've seen so far would be disqualified by one or more of these unbelievable rules :confused:

As we speak anyway only US can submit and beside UK, France, Italy and Germany there is no mention whatsoever about other countries!

/set rant_off "0"

*EDIT: some rules have been removed (BSP size) and stuff clarified a bit ...

[SixGunJustice]

I'm so confused.:confused: Didn't this contest already end at the end of March? Is this an extension of the previous contest or a new world-wide one? If so, that dosen't seem fair to everyone who worked their butts off to meet the march 30 deadline.

6Gun

[RaDioAcTivE]

So...it's 1:43am for me as I'm reading this one. I've been up all day and it's been a long one at that.

This thread is simply to much to take in at this point. Clearly this is a contest put on by 402 by himself right? It really is the only explanation that I can come up with. He was assigned the task to handle it from the start to finish thus the total cluster )(*# that it is.

I simply cannot believe that anyone else at IW could possibly be involved in something like this.

[FF5MadMaxX]

IMHO this contest becomes strange.

As I started with my map i didnt know about there is one.

Than as I need some help I visited IW forums the first time,

I though cool a contest with no limitations and even as a European
i may enter it.

But now i am not so sure about it, cause of the new announced rules.

[Mike Nomad]

The Convoluted ENTRY RULES

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http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/post/exclamation.gif (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg432807#msg432807)Communit y Mapping Contest - Submission Details (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg432807#msg432807)
« on: April 23, 2008, 06:33:36 PM »

http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/buttons/quote.gifQuote (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?action=post;quote=432807;topic=34575.0;n um_replies=51;sesc=6d5000bf55d2d7682dded92d69cafc5 9)

http://www.raidersmerciless.com/images/map_c.jpg


INTRODUCTION

It's time to kick off the submission process for the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Community Mapping Contest. This contest will be rewarding the best of the best in our mapping community from all over the world. We'll be selecting three winners from every eligible region, with the winning mappers eligible to win the following prizing:

First Place:

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX (ARV, $299 USD)

COD4:MW Branded Messenger Bag (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team

o COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide

o COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle


Second Place:

COD4:MW Branded Messenger Bag (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team

o COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide

o COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle


Third Place:

COD4:MW Branded Messenger Bag (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team

o COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide

o COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle


HOW TO SUBMIT

Step #1:

Head over to the official submission page to submit your map for the competition:

http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/ (http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/)

Step #2:

Select your region. (IMPORTANT: It's important you submit via the country your reside in, as each country has a unique set of rules.)

We worked to ensure our community members worldwide could participate in this contest, and due to the nature of the contest required us to hold individual contests for each eligible region. Which means you'll only be in competition with fellow mappers in your country. All prizing is the same no matter which country you reside in, however you MUST submit via your countries submission page and unique rule. Due to the extended processing time for approval in each area, some regions' submission period will begin over the next week or two.

Step #3:

Review the contest rules for your region and click submit to accept the terms.

Step #4:

Fill out the online form on the Submission Page to officially submit your map.

You're Done!


The team here at Infinity Ward will be reviewing the submitted maps over the next few weeks and judging them based on a number of attributes outlined in the official rules. We will announce the winning maps / mappers here in the forums as well as listing them on the contest page at the close of the competition! Good luck everyone and I can't to play all of your maps!!

[Update: Those stressing over contest rules. Read this.] (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg433160#msg433160)



Now, that everyone is confused by the "Clear as MUD" Rules....

And.... the INSULTING, cheap-assed prizes


Then comes a lame-assed clarification...

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http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/post/xx.gif (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg433160#msg433160)Re: Community Mapping Contest - Submission Details (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg433160#msg433160)
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2008, 07:57:35 PM »
http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/buttons/quote.gifQuote (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?action=post;quote=433160;topic=34575.15; num_replies=51;sesc=6d5000bf55d2d7682dded92d69cafc 59) Whoa whoa whoa!

Maps created SPECIFICALLY for this contest (i.e. that you started working one when we announced this contest) are OKAY. So the ones you guys posted screenshots too and such on the forums is completely fine.

I apologize for any confusing legal-speak (trust me, I hate it just as much as you do!) and it's what I've been wrestling over the past weeks!

The re-make stuff is in reference to re-makes of maps from other games. We obviously can't award a map based off a Counter Strike or Rainbow Six map. http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Smileys/default/tongue.gif

If you guys have any other questions let me know and I'll clarify. Meanwhile just submit what you guys have and don't stress too much about the legal-speak (follow the rules), just don't get stressed out over one little thing.

From checking out a lot of the maps you've guys posted on the forums the majority of you have nothing to worry about.






Folks, first of all.... INFINITY WARD is NOT running the contest.

ACTIVISION is running the Contest!!

IW is only lending their name to whole mind numbing, convoluted cluster feck affair... but then, I expected that from the getgo.. after all zero4u is running the nonsense and Activision is calling the shots. Talk about the BLIND leading the BLIND.

Its almost as if the contest is a setup and the winners are already pre-determined. Personally, I believe the mappers should NOT enter their maps.... as a result of the asshat procedure and rules!! Let the cards fall where they may. Both ACT & 402 need a good slap in the face over this BS.

Once again in our frail online community, we are exposed to amateurs attempting to do things they know nothing about. This contest will, in the long run, prove to be a major embarrassment to Activision, IW and zero4u.

Way to go Bowling. NOT!

Talk about SNAFU & FUBAR!!

[Drecks]

Come on Mike, IW and Activision although they might have different approach to this they are in the
same ship gathering dollars.

Now if IW really has really nothing to do with it they could tell this, but of course they are held down
by legal bla bla bla. Yeah one can hide behind legal bla bla bla forever.


Prizes ain't that spectacular also. Kind a cheap ain't it.

Want to bring another contest to peoples attention. It was a contest for a minority game for mappers who made maps for a minority. Contest was divided in two phases.

First phase was for maps who already been done and the 2cnd phase provided the mappers enough time to delever new work... And the rewards of the RO contest sure wasn't minority compared to the tip the COD 4 contest offers.

Red Orchestra Map Contest (http://www.redorchestragame.com/Map_Contest)

Someone pass this link to IW, Activision or whatever.

[Mike Nomad]

Skyguy makes a great case in point!

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http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/post/xx.gif (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg434375#msg434375)Re: Community Mapping Contest - Submission Details (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg434375#msg434375)
« Reply #45 on: Today at 02:52:18 AM »
http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/Themes/SlickPro_Graphite/images/buttons/quote.gifQuote (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?action=post;quote=434375;topic=34575.45; num_replies=51;sesc=6d5000bf55d2d7682dded92d69cafc 59) Well 402, after reading all the rules and fine print, I must respectfully decline entering this contest. I had originally submitted my map prior to reading these "new" official rules, etc. If that previous submission is being counted as an entry, then I'm informing you that it is hereby withdrawn from the competition.

I think it only fair that you (and others) should know the reasons why. I'm quite sure the rationale won't make a difference in the grand scheme of things, nor invoke any change, but I will still explain nonetheless, and let the chips fall where they may.

Aside from the contradictions contained within the rules themselves, I find it rather disingenuous of Infinity Ward to place such restrictive rules on this contest. While apparently promoting modding/mapping in the community, when the rules are examined more closely, they in fact cause quite the opposite. And yes, while I can certainly appreciate the logistics of using stock textures, sounds, and the like........it is the "fine print" which is most disconcerting.

To require that entrants must relinquish control, ownership, and effectively all rights of their map(s) is not only unfair and bordering on unjust, it is an insult to our collective intelligence, effort, and loyalty. These maps are created by people who have other careers, by people still in school, by people with young children..........by loyal Call of Duty gamers/mappers who devote their precious free time from their families and whatnot to work to improve the gaming experience of countless people.

Behind these unreasonable rules lies a distressing possibility: that IW/Actv can essentially take a mapper's base files, modify it as they see fit, and claim ownership, credit, and profit from someone else's work. That is, quite frankly, wrong and unjust. And then for multi-million dollar corporations to simply hand out a graphics card or a t-shirt as consolation........is laughable. The hours put into a map, the potential for credit and recognition.......even at 1/10 a justifiable billable rate........would equal far more than the carrot being dangled, especially given the "winner" actually loses everything s/he just worked toward.

I certainly cannot speak for anyone else, but it would seem that the more serious and talented mappers would not want to relinquish ownership of their map(s), and from what I read around these forums, this seems to be supported by the questions and complaints being raised. This would mean that IW is pushing away those people that are supposedly being sought.

It's disappointing, to say the least, that such a great idea from IW would result in contest that undermines the mapping community's talents and efforts. Love the game, but not this contest. Misguided. Better luck next time.

Respectfully Robert, good luck with your contest. Perhaps you will find someone willing to hand over a great map that you can push and you can call this a success.

Thank you for the consideration and your time.
~Skyguy




Skyguy has said it better than anyone thus far.

This contest is a BAD joke. :mad: [B]roken [A]s [D]esigned!

Remember, don't blame IW.

Its the amateur and Activision who are responsible for this joke called a contest.

__________

The time is apparently right to make this essay/editorial/commentary...

Its unbelievable!! Incredibly Dumb! WTF??

As I "read around" the various CoD4 related forums about mapper reactions to 402's Mapping Contest the levels of astonishment and insult are amazing.

We've all seen international mapping contests staged a number of times in the past by both Game Developers and Game Publishers. Seemingly, each of those contests were highly successful. Primarily due to the levels of respect afforded the mappers and the QUALITY of the Awards and Prizes.

Today unfortunately, we see the CoD4 Mapping Contest hobbled by the screwball rules and regulations brought forth by 402. Don't forget this is the second coming of the the contest that never was.

What about the insulting FACT that this iteration of the Mapping Contest center around the Super Successful, Multi-Million Dollar Seller, Call of Duty4 FPS Game, published by a BILLION DOLLAR Publisher, Activision, is offering cheap prizes and goofy souvenirs!!

Who is running this contest for Activision?? Bozo the Clown?

What do we see?? Rules and Regulations that are confusing, contradictory along with woefully inadequate management of the contest by obvious AMATEURS!

Then to add insult to injury, the prizes amount to nothing more than a mid-level PCIx vid card and a slew of "in the bag" trash awards. Most of which are comparable to Cracker-Jax box prizes.

One has to wonder just who is behind this monumental SCREW-UP! How in heaven's name, can a Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation, ACTIVISION, allow such penny-ante BS to continue? Bobby Kotick and Activision cannot possibly be that cheap!

They want the rights to exploit the mapper's works - yet they offer mere tokens in return. Kinda like the crap deal the Indians got in exchange for for the Island of Manhattan.
Activision, once again, offers the entire industry another fine example of how to turn a "Silk purse into a Pig's Ass!"
Activision must wake up and provide true, professional guidance for this contest. Hire Contest professionals to setup and run the contest - offer VALUABLE Prizes. Not BS mediocre cheap prizes.

Perhaps, a lesson learned is to never send a boy to do a man's job!

To the mappers.... remain independent; its obvious that Activision and ZERO4U feel all the mappers are teenagers looking for an ego fix, cheap thrill and a good time.

MAPPERS!!
Walk away - Keep your Dignity and the Rights to your Work.

[TruSlaughter]

Skyguy nailed it :wink1: i think it's just a really cheap ploy to get those maps so they can turn around and sell them in a map pack to consolers without having to do any work. WOW that puts activision/iw right up there with EA as far as being a crap co. " let me copy your homework cause i was to lazy to do it myself" who the hell would want an autographed poster with douchebag in the middle. congrats tho to all other mappers who feel like Skyguy and pull their maps. would be great to see nobody enter that crapo contest.

RANT OVER!

[[3rdArmy]CW-4]

This is a pile of BS that is going to come back and bite AV. If someone would spend a bit less time on his personal blog and really doing the job he was hired for, things like this wouldn't happen....

I'm not a mapper and I have a high regard for those that are. But if I was one and had entered this goatscrew, I'd pull my map out that AV would have friction burns on their corporate cheap asses.

/rant

[[FS]Nastyrash]

skyguys response is very very good and addresses what i'm sure everyone else feels in terms of the way this has been handled...

i would add, the prizes on offer are actually insulting!

to even offer that crap as a serious attempt at expressing gratitude for what they will almost certainly look to sell on as their own to the console kiddies is beyond belief and is the best indication of the disdain with which these talented people are viewed with and the transparent cheap arsed company they actually are

this and other reasons they are a laughing stock, in a multi million dollar industry to have your PR and community relations handled like this is negligent imo...

i just don't get how having dozens of exceptionally talented people working for free in competition with each other to produce what can only be an additional profit stream (if they are good enough for release) can not be appreciated as a great deal for them

you could build in a small percentage of download revenue if you wanted to offer a prize that would be significant in reward but at the same time based on results, by this i mean it warrants release and the amount of reward to the mapper is a fraction of your own profit as the supplier. that is a no lose situation for either party as far as i can see it and would attract the serious guys to participate and dedicate their time in producing high standard quality products.

it does make me chuckle though, they actually conduct their business like this with the resources available and make such a pigs ear of it, i especially love the references to legal scary mumbo jumbo *spooky music plays* as a diversionary tactic, i mean the law, ohh thats perfect yeah lets tell em its not our fault, its those nasty lawyers lol... that in itself is an indicator of the patronising attitude that is at the heart of the problem

402 quote
"I apologize for any confusing legal-speak (trust me, I hate it just as much as you do!) and it's what I've been wrestling over the past weeks!

do they even read the forums?, do they not appreciate that articulate people like skyguy and the other talented mappers and observers look at that and think, "you patronising numbskull" wtf do you take me for? speak to us like a professional and not like some flim flam man trying to sell square footballs.

M I C K E Y......M O U S E.. can someone buy 402 some ears!

[SixGunJustice]

Second Place:

COD4:MW Branded Messenger Bag (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team

o COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide

o COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle


Third Place:

COD4:MW Branded Messenger Bag (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt

o Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team

o COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide

o COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle

Not only are the prizes they are offering simply an insult, the 2nd and 3rd prizes are identical! You would think they would at least make the 2nd place winner stand aout at least a little from 3rd . . . . you would think . . .

6Gun

[Major_Day]

Can i suggest that all the guys that have posted on this topic,in this forum,copy their post over onto the IW forum,just so the mappers over there know that they got our support.(if you haven't already done so)

[Mike Nomad]

Can i suggest that all the guys that have posted on this topic,in this forum,copy their post over onto the IW forum,just so the mappers over there know that they got our support.(if you haven't already done so)


While I am in solid favor of supporting the mappers to my last breath... After all, they breathe new life into the program.

I'll not suggest that anyone "post over there" and leave themselves OPEN TO ANY PUNITIVE ACTIONS by 402 or his associates and designates acting on his behalf.

Any mapper in his right mind should be part of RGN where they know they'll get support and the truth.

[RaDioAcTivE]

I would suggest that the mappers come here instead.

We should have our own mapping contest with some real rules. At the very least the winners would be able to keep their creative rights.

We could probably all go togther and come up with some real prizes as well.....you know....something cool like a night out with Tally or a backrub by Superman. :p

To look on the bright side of all of this we really did get some great maps that were released for the original contest date that probably would have been pushed to the back burner by some of the mappers in it wasn't for the contest. Of course we also got a lot of half finished messes too but all in all I've been extremely impressed with a lot of the maps to date.

[Tally]

I would suggest that the mappers come here instead.

We should have our own mapping contest with some real rules. At the very least the winners would be able to keep their creative rights.

We could probably all go togther and come up with some real prizes as well.....you know....something cool like a night out with Tally or a backrub by Superman. :p

To look on the bright side of all of this we really did get some great maps that were released for the original contest date that probably would have been pushed to the back burner by some of the mappers in it wasn't for the contest. Of course we also got a lot of half finished messes too but all in all I've been extremely impressed with a lot of the maps to date.

I think an RGN Map Contest is an excellent idea. Of course, its ultimately up to Mike, being as he's the owner, but I'll put in for the prize. $1000 is only about £500.

What say you all? I wont back it if there isnt enough support for the idea.

[Wizz]

Come on Mike, IW and Activision although they might have different approach to this they are in the
same ship gathering dollars.

Now if IW really has really nothing to do with it they could tell this, but of course they are held down by legal bla bla bla. Yeah one can hide behind legal bla bla bla forever.


Now while I can agree with you to a certain point the thing that pops up big time is this:

ACTIVISION owns IW lock stock and barrel. It isn't IW pulling the strings, its ACTIVISION. Now if IW owned itself then yea it can ya and nay whatever they want. But since ACTIVISION owns them they have to do what they are told to do.

Wizz

[wakka]

The rgn map contest would be great, as some of us know we have discussed various things of late in another thread.

I'll even make a one off map for the comp,

[Mike Nomad]

A most excellent and gracious gesture Tally. This is one idea that would certainly bring the mappers here and boost the profile of Raiders. Perhaps we would then start to see the coming together of minds and get the mappers on the same page with respect to the layout of the files.

Word of caution though, do check the legal mumbo jumbo, different countries have different ages for when one is a minor or not and although you are not requesting entry fee's and the such like, some countries may place restrictions on participation, so ensure that it is clear under what countries laws that the rules will apply.

Unlike IW, this needs to be checked before any public announcement is made.

BB1

If.... We were to organize a contest... the lawyers or anyone advocating their use will not be involved. All they and their trolls ever seem do is complicate, confuse and muck things up!With lawyers involved, as time has proven again and again, anything one lawyer does, sets or stipulates another can and usually will undo. Mostly to further confuse the issues. Nothing is permanent in the world of lawyers except their egos and towers of never ending babble. :confused:
Now then... If we were to run a contest.... there are now, roughly 323 or more maps out there. Maps made by people ranging from the youngest, that I am aware of, at 14 and the oldest at the sky being the limit. Therefore, the only sensible method of entry is to consider all custom maps available for use that are playable and reliable.

We'd then enlist a panel of 10 volunteer judges, more than likely key members of prominent CoD4 sites, from around the globe;

to go through a process of reviewing the custom maps
have each judge submit ten custom maps they have determined merit further review, to our panel of five RGN judges
who will then determine the winners
with all decisions being final

This is all supposition, but it certainly is a way to circumvent the goofy legal and nationalistic quagmire that awaits anyone desirous of lawyer involvement. (a perfect example is the awful mess the Activision/IW contest has become)

[Tally]

There are no laws anywhere, in any country, that prevent competition entrants under a certain legal age from receiving cash prizes.

Hence, no laws infringed; no need for lawyers.

[zeroy]

RGN Map contest? Excellent idea!

Mike, keep us posted if its going ahead, i'll be more than happy to help and participate of course!

[PizzaTheHut]

This has developed into an interesting read and I agree with Mike about lawyers.

It has to be said that you can hold a contest with pretty much whatever rules you choose and give prizes to whoever you want as long as you are clear and concise about it. Include a few suitable catch-alls, like 'the panel of judges decision is final' etc etc and you can easily provide a contest which is worthwhile, attractive and show up the existing one for what it is.

However I think that just showing them up would be a pointless reason for doing it (and I know thats not the intent) the important thing would be to clearly state what the reason for the contest actually was.

Is it to promote this site, to promote the mappers work, to promote the game community, to promote a better gaming environment?

My view, for what its worth, would be to nail this 1st, get that right and you will have a real contest regardless of the prize cos I suspect that most of the mappers do it for the enjoyment, skill development and the kudos and certainly not for any prize.

Put in place the right environment and the best mappers will come and they'll come to prove they are the best at what they do, the ones who are motivated by the prizes may come but I doubt they would win.

[Mike Nomad]

@ Zeroy... will do.


For everyone!


WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

For all CoD4 mappers, players and Admins...


Due to the astute wisdom of Activision's legal Einsteins, the maps to be entered into this debacle of a contest must NOT - I repeat, MUST NOT contain any custom textures, sounds, models or anything else that Activision might become liable for.

In other words, all the custom maps entered into this boondoggled, ruined by lawyers contest, must use the stock library. That in turn means a slew of look-alike custom maps with all author creativity removed......Now can you people understand WHY I have no use for those corporate lawyers?Why not simply state that *ANY* map containing so stated author original custom textures, sounds, models or anything else that Activision might become liable for, will cause Activision to suffer no liabilities due to the contents of any custom map submitted.Noooo, that's too easy, simple and reeks of common sense. Besides, the lawyers get no exorbitant fees.
The most grievous problem introduced by this Activision legal speak garbage is that of most all the maps we have now become yet another version and download. Another mess of the SAME maps to download. :whaa1: That's truly sad with the broken and slow redirect we must endure.
Again, I suggest ..until (if ever) Activision wakes up and puts on a Professionally operated and managed Mapping Contest, this current abortion called a contest must be avoided.

Its an accident going someplace to happen! The only real victims will be the mappers and users.

[Mike Nomad]

Lawyers have RUINED what should have been a friendly, fun filled mapping contest!

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Create A Map Contest

Official Rules

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Create A Map Contest (the “Contest”) begins at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time April 18, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 9, 2008 (“Contest Period"). All Contest rules, instructions, communications, notices, participation, and details will be via the Infinity Ward website located at www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest (http://www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest) (the “Site”).

1. ELIGIBILITY
1.1 Contest is offered only in the United States to legal residents of the 50 United States (including the District of Columbia), who are at least 18 years old at the time of entry and have Internet access (the “Participants”). Employees, producers and directors of Activision Publishing, Inc., ("Sponsor") its affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family (spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, ward, daughter or son) or members of the households of such employees or directors (whether or not related) (collectively, the "Official Parties") are not eligible to enter or win a prize.
1.2 Limit of one (1) entry per person.
1.3 NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE.
1.4 By entering, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects.
1.5 This Contest is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void outside of the United States, and wherever prohibited by law. Any and all other costs, fees, taxes and expenses not explicitly stated herein as being awarded, are the sole responsibility of the prize recipient.

2. CONTEST PARTICIPATION.
2.1 In order to participate, you must log on to the Site and read and accept the rules, the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy by clicking on “Submit” and then fill out the submission form with the following information:
• Full name
• Email address
• Name of the map
• Link to the map
• Click on the Submit button
2.2 Once you are registered, download the Mapmaker Toolkit zip file "maptool_download.zip" and use the tools found in the file to create your maps with the following Map Regulations and Technical Requirements.
2.3 All entries become the exclusive property of the Sponsor and cannot be distributed during the term of the contest or for 30 days thereafter in any manner. Non-winning entries may be distributed in a non-commercial manner for free and fair use by the general community.

2.4 A. Submissions must incorporate the following map guidelines:
• Utilize assets from Call of Duty4: Modern Warfare game only
• Based on the any theater on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Hold up to 32 players
• Spawn points support up to 64 players
• Support all the official Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare modes
• Playable in the existing release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Include the source .map file
B. Map assets are limited to the following maximum sizes:
• Viewable tris limit: 60k max with nothing over 80k tris viewable (with player model being drawn)
• Map Texture limit: 50 MB
• Each map .ZIP file submitted must be no larger than 80-85 MB.

Entries must be submitted as a compressed .ZIP files using a naming convention that specifies the creator of the map. A Readme file listing your name, address, phone number and email address must be included. Maps must be original creations that have not been previously released. Maps with custom textures or audio will result in disqualification.

3. JUDGING CRITERIA.
3.1 All Participants’ submissions must be received by the end of the Contest Period. Sponsor will select the best Maps based on the originality, creativity and quality of content.
3.2 The judging panel will be composed of members of Activision Publishing, Inc. and Infinity Ward production and management team (the "Judges"). The Judges will decide the winners based on the following criteria which shall be weighted equally: Gameplay, Visual Quality, and Originality. The three entries with the highest scores based on the three criteria will be eligible for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Prize. Please do not send obscene, lewd or offensive submissions and/or submissions containing the intellectual property of another person or company. Any submissions deemed by the judging panel or Contest administrators to violate these rules will be disqualified. All decisions by the Judges and/or Contest administrators are final.

3.3. Three (3) potential prizewinners will be selected from among all eligible entries received during the Contest Period. 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place Winners will be selected by the Judges on or before May 16, 2008.

3.4. If applicable, Sponsor shall judge all Contest entries according to such rules and criteria. All Maps become the property of Sponsor and/or its affiliates and, as such, can be used in any manner deemed fit by Sponsor and will not be returned. By submitting an entry you irrevocably assign to Sponsor all right, title and interest in your entry including but not limited to the map(s), audio and/or video with the right to make any and all uses thereof throughout the world in perpetuity, including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising, marketing, promotional and other purposes as determined by Sponsor and its designees in any and all media whether now known or hereafter devised without further approval or compensation. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to all entries and all other submitted materials related to the Contest, including those submitted by non-winners and winners.
3.5. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for illegible, lost, delayed, misdirected or incomplete entries, system errors and failures, faulty transmissions, or other telecommunications malfunctions. Sponsor reserves the right, at their sole discretion to cancel, terminate or suspend the Contest should any unauthorized intervention or other cause beyond the control of the Sponsor affect the administration or conduct of the Contest.

4. PRIZES

1st Place Winner
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX (Approximate Retail Value “ARV”, $299.99 USD)
• COD4:MW Package (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:
a. Call of Duty Branded Messenger Bag
b. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt (Approximate Retail Value
c. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team
d. COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide
e. COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle

2nd Place Winner
• COD4:MW Package (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:
a. Call of Duty Branded Messenger Bag
b. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt (Approximate Retail Value
c. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team
d. COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide
e. COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle

3rd Place Winner
• COD4:MW (ARV, $60 USD) consisting of the following:
a. Call of Duty Branded Messenger Bag
b. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt (Approximate Retail Value
c. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team
d. COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide
e. COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle

Total ARV of all Prizes: $480.98 USD.

Winners agree that prizes are being provided “as is.” Any and all warranties and/or guarantees on a prize (if any) are subject to the manufacturer’s terms therefore, and winner agrees to look solely to such manufacturer for any such warranty and/or guarantee. No substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent of prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, who reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize (or any portion of prize) becomes unavailable. This Contest is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. Any and all taxes on a prize, and any other costs, fees and expenses not explicitly stated herein are the sole responsibility of the prize recipient. Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for damages, losses, misfortune or injury, direct, incidental, consequential or otherwise resulting from the acceptance, possession or use of the prizes

5. WINNERS
The Contest winners will be notified by email or telephone. The winners will have seventy-two (72) hours from the moment such notification is issued to respond to such notification by following the instructions provided therein. If a winner timely responds to such notification, he/she may then be sent an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release by email, and must complete, sign and return all required documentation within forty-eight (48) hours of issuance. If the winner does not reply to the notification within seventy-two (72) hours of its issuance or does not return the signed documents within forty-eight (48) hours of their issuance (if applicable), he/she is ineligible, or he/she cannot or does not comply with these official rules (including, if applicable, traveling on dates specified by Sponsor), he/she will be disqualified, the prize will be forfeited, and an alternate winner may be selected, at Sponsor’s discretion (such alternate winner will be the next highest scorer in the same category). In the event of noncompliance with either the rules or any of these time periods, an alternate winner will be selected as set forth above. By entering this Contest and/or accepting the prize, all entrants consent to the use of their names, voices, pictures or other likeness for advertising, promotional and other purposes as determined by Sponsor and its designees without further approval or compensation (including on Sponsor’s web site). Sponsor has the right to revise dates and procedures mentioned in these rules.

6. GENERAL
All Participants, by entering, agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor and Official Parties from and against any and all liability for injuries and/or damages sustained in connection with this Contest (including any travel or activity related thereto) or related to participation in the Contest. All decisions of the Sponsor on all matters relating to this Contest are final. Prize cannot be exchanged, redeemed for cash or transferred and there are no substitutions. If, for reasons beyond the Sponsor’s control, the Contest is not capable of running as originally planned, the Sponsor, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to cancel or modify the Contest. Sponsor will not be responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, or postage due mail, or for Internet, computer hardware and software, phone, and other technical errors, malfunctions, and delays. IN NO EVENT WILL THE OFFICIAL PARTIES BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE SITE.
BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, PARTICIPANT WARRANTS AND REPRESENTS THAT HE/SHE OWNS ALL RIGHTS TO THE FAN SITE HE/SHE IS ENTERING IN THE CONTEST, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE GAME ART ASSETS PROVIDED BY THE SPONSOR FOR USE BY PARTICIPANT IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTEST.

7. CHEATING
Participants agree not to knowingly damage or cause interruption of the Contest and/or prevent others from utilizing the Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE COMPETITION VIOLATES CRIMINAL OR CIVIL LAWS. IF SUCH AN ATTEMPT IS MADE, SPONSOR MAY DISQUALIFY ANY PARTICIPANTS MAKING SUCH ATTEMPT AND SPONSOR MAY SEEK DAMAGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. This Contest and these Official Rules are governed, construed and interpreted under the laws of the state of California and any or all claims pursuant to these shall be brought in the courts of the state of California. Any provision of these rules deemed unenforceable will be enforced to the extent permissible, and the remainder of these rules will remain in effect.

8. WINNER’S LIST
For a list of the winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Create A Map Contest Winner's List, c/o Activision Publishing, Inc. – Attention: Tabitha Hayes, 3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405.

9. SPONSOR
Activision Publishing, Inc., 3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405.SOURCE (http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/)


My God... that list of rules, (just for the USA, there are other countries there at that link), is worse than reading the US Penal Code!! Damn those pinheaded lawyers!

SHAME ON YOU ACTIVISION!!


What a disgrace...... A user in another forum made a genuine and very solid point in the IW forums.... that user said... in so many words..."If one were to use an artist's kit, filled with tubes of paint and brushes.. to paint a picture... does that then mean the maker of the kit, brushes and tubes of paint OWN the painting, the picture and all rights to the picture?"
Of course not!

In the same context, where does Activision in its infinite wisdom, come up with the CON JOB that they OWN a mapper's work if the mapper uses their kit to make the map???


Too many outrageous legal flaming hoops to jump through
Too many unfair legal snares to bind a mapper to
Too much legalese doublespeak for a mapper to understand without personal legal representation
Too much legal BIAS in favor of Activision fully taking advantage of mappers

Folks, if you have any smarts.... please understand, you are relinquishing all your rights to your IP upon entering this goofball contest. Be SMART! Walk away from this entrapment nonsense!

VERY, VERY FAST!

[Mike Nomad]

I moved this thread to here in the CCA area because everyone on the Internet can read this outrageous ploy coming from Activision's legal pinheads.

The Lawyers have RUINED this mapping contest!! :frown:

[[3rdArmy]CW-4]

Total ARV of all Prizes: $480.98 USD.

• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX (Approximate Retail Value “ARV”, $299.99 USD)

First off, less than $500 US for a "total" prize package for a company that has made millions off of this game? Should be something like $5,000 or more if you ask me.

Second a 9800 GTX as top prize? This is a middle of the road gaming card these days. Just who picked out this thing, a XBOX user? the 9800 GTX is slightly better, very slightly at that, than a 8800 GT. They need to make it a 9800 GX2. Time to give back to those that made them all that cash, I say.

Take a look at some benchmarks on that card...

http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/video_cards/ZOTAC_ZT-98XES2P-FSP/COD4_Fraps_1600x1200.jpg

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/images/articles/12069288508ZIj00h4Pl_6_1.gif

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/images/articles/12069288508ZIj00h4Pl_6_6.gif

The Bottom Line
The BFGTech GeForce 9800 GTX is a good product but it's not breaking any performance barriers or redefining our gaming experiences. The bundle is nothing to get excited about, but the video card itself is capable. The only problem we see is that the 9800 GTX isn't truly superior to the 8800 GTX it is intended to replace in terms of real world gaming performance. A “new” product that comes to market is usually considerably better performing than its predecessor, at least in the high end GPU space. That is not the case here. There is more fancy “green” technology in this 9800 GTX, which is of course a step in the right direction, but it does not shift any performance paradigms.


The 9800 GTX is disappointing to the enthusiast and certainly confusing to those that are not in a position to understand the svelte changes that lie under the heatspreader.
Source (http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ4MSw5LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==)

[zeroy]

Copy and paste anyone?

http://www.themoviescontest.com/terms.html

It sure must have taken a long time to think about those rules .... :confused:

[Tally]

Copy and paste anyone?

http://www.themoviescontest.com/terms.html

It sure must have taken a long time to think about those rules .... :confused:

That's an interesting find. Matt Pruitt, from Planet Call of Duty, told me once that most of the PR/legal guys at Activision come into the game industry from the movie business in LA.

Indeed, Robert Taylor, Junior Publicist for Activision and AVTI PR for the Call of Duty Franchise, and probably 402's "true" boss, formely worked in Holywood, for Time Warner Brothers.

That they would take the legal speak from a Movie Contest goes hand in glove with those little facts.

[RaDioAcTivE]

I'd assume that there's a general form for all contests that lawyers use. Sort of a starting point document with the basic law that oversees all contests.

I'm still in AWE of the prizes. You'd think they'd at least have the top finishers out to LA to visit the IW studios or something.

[Mike Nomad]

I'd assume that there's a general form for all contests that lawyers use. Sort of a starting point document with the basic law that oversees all contests.

I'm still in AWE of the prizes. You'd think they'd at least have the top finishers out to LA to visit the IW studios or something.

OK then, let's FIND that General form....

And see if we've been had by a bag of amateurs posing as pros.

IMHO, this entire contest is a loser.

[Tally]

OK then, let's FIND that General form....

And see if we've been had by a bag of amateurs posing as pros.

IMHO, this entire contest is a loser.

Its actual a real sad day for me. Seeing such a great game studio like IW belittle themselves in this way is just beyond tragic.

[10-78 Busterking]

My only comment about this is how freakin cheap they are.

They are making tons of money with that game and coming out with prizes like those, well it's like a slap in the face.

I am very disappointed for all the mappers.

[Mike Nomad]

Its actual a real sad day for me. Seeing such a great game studio like IW belittle themselves in this way is just beyond tragic.


I fear this is not the doing of IW.... Instead it stinks and reeks of ACTIVISION all the way. What a cheap-ass outfit!! :mad:

Today's Activision ain't nuthin like when it was founded.

Today's Activision is suffering from a terminal case of the Canary Syndrome!

[OneShot]

If.... We were to organize a contest... the lawyers or anyone advocating their use will not be involved. All they and their trolls ever seem do is complicate, confuse and muck things up!With lawyers involved, as time has proven again and again, anything one lawyer does, sets or stipulates another can and usually will undo. Mostly to further confuse the issues. Nothing is permanent in the world of lawyers except their egos and towers of never ending babble. :confused:

And totally unnecessary Mike. I did some law research and came up with the following:
"Skill-based" contests differ from sweepstakes in that they require the participants to demonstrate some skill in order to be eligible to win. The selection of winners is based on a judgment of skill, rather than chance. Skill-based activities can include writing essays or book reviews, drawing illustrations and taking photographs. However, some courts have held that contests requiring only minimal skill or "skill" that amounts to no more than guessing a random number, such as estimating the number of jellybeans in a jar, will be treated as games of chance. Skill-based contests are permitted in most states.
Mapping obviously requires more than "minimal skill." I am reasonably sure the same rules holds true for "Internet" based contests of skill as well as for most other countries across the world governing contests of skills. I am in full support for a "legitimate mapping" contest and pledge my full support. After all the hours of enjoyment I have attained from the hard work of mappers IMO it is the least I can do. With nearly 400 custom maps currently out there for CoD4, and even if only 1/3 of trhe mappers choose to participate, this will not be a minor under taking all. However, if any gaming network is capable of pulling it off, RGN could do it.:wink1:

[Mike Nomad]

Another in the long list of "brainiacs" adding to the confusion over the Activision Mapping Contest posted a long diatribe of noise in the IW forum. He made a glaring mistake though.... he attempted to yap about Red Orchestra and the contest the creators Tripwire won. He lost all credibility with this one...

First of all, I want to make clear that I haven't submitted a map and not will be either (nothing to do with the rules or something). Just to make clear that I understand and respect the POV of some of the contestants, but I would like to explain a few things.........<snip>


There are only two ways for you to make profit out of your own work. And that is to buy the CoD4 engine license, which obviously costs a lot of money, OR to be noticed by Activision (in other words; they will buy your work or hire you, so you receive money from them). It happened with Counterstrike and Red Orchestra as well. Both these mods were available for free, simply because they were not allowed to sale it. Later on they got picked up by the initial developer (Valve and Epic), and were able to sell their product. So being offended by the fact that all your work is owned by IW / Activision is not correct.

Tripwire, creators of Red Orchestra, entered their MOD (a full bore game) using the UT2004 engine) into a contest.... They weren't "picked up" by anyone.. TWI remains an independent corporation.

EPIC GAMES AND NVIDIA ANNOUNCES GRAND PRIZE WINNERS IN THE “$1,000,000 NVIDIA MAKE SOMETHING UNREAL” CONTEST
“Red Orchestra” and “The Journey” Take Top Honors in Contest Recognizing and Rewarding the Art of Mod-Making

RALEIGH, NC─JANUARY 24, 2005─Epic Games, a leading developer of cutting-edge 3D technology and games, today announced the grand prize winners of the “$1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal®” mod-making contest.

The grand prize for Best Mod is awarded to Red Orchestra, an immersive combined arms infantry and armored vehicle combat simulation set on the eastern front of World War II. The development team behind the winning entry receives $50,000 in cash and a coveted Unreal Engine commercial license worth approximately $350,000.

Taking top honors in the Best Non-Interactive Real Time movie category is The Journey. The short animated film, which chronicles an adventure into the unfamiliar, was created by Friedrich 'fiezi' Kirschner, who receives $25,000 for his work.

The announcement of the grand final winners marks the culmination of the multi-round $1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal Contest,” hosted by Epic Games and sponsored by NVIDIA Corporation, Atari, Inc., Digital Extremes, AMD and Alias®. Designed to publicly recognize and inspire up-and-coming 3D artists and programmers, the contest generated more than one thousand entries from individuals and student teams who took advantage of the Unreal Editor to hone their development skills and learn what it takes to create a commercial game. The Unreal Editor is a free tool that was included with the best-selling Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004 PC games developed by Epic Games and published by Atari.

"The $1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal contest did an incredible job bringing the whole Unreal Tournament 2004 mod scene to the public’s attention. The contest has been a great event to be a part of and an incredible learning experience. All the late nights, tight deadlines, and hard work has given the team invaluable experience that will, no doubt, help us in the future,” said John Gibson, lead programmer and producer for Red Orchestra. “We are immensely excited by the opportunities that have opened up for the team and look forward to what the future holds for us. Thank you to Epic, NVIDIA and all of the contest’s sponsors for giving us the opportunity."

"The breadth and quality of the mods submitted in this contest utterly amazed us. People came together to create some of the best game modifications ever created. The ultimate beneficiaries were not only the thousands of Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 players who got to experience some of these great mods, but the game industry as a whole which uncovered some incredibly talented people who will continue to make contributions to the industry for many years to come,” said Mark Rein, vice president at Epic Games. “Epic Games and all of the contest sponsors would like to extend our congratulations to the grand prize winners, as well as all of the contest participants, for showing us that the spirit of independent game development is continuing to challenge the best the industry has to offer.”

For more information about the grand prize winners, or to download winning entries from all five rounds of the $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest,” please visit the official contest website located at www.makesomethingunreal.com (http://www.makesomethingunreal.com).What's really needed is simplification and clarification not people talking off the top of their heads acting like they know what they are talking about.

Red Orchestra was not and never will be regarded as some mickey mouse mod... It was a blockbuster winner which won the rights to use both the Epic UT 2.5 engine and the 3.0 engine. Attempting to use RO as an example is ridiculous.. Just look at the prizes they won and the SALES they enjoyed for their efforts thus far.

Actually, I'm glad you mentioned RO. (even though your information was wrong) At least they received awards and prizes commensurate with the scope and magnitude of both the contest and the entries.


As you can see, there are far too many people jumping up with hot air.... and no substance in fact.

Either Activision simplifies the contest and appoints people capable of running the thing properly.. Its begun twice, has had two submission deadlines... a series of goofy, confusing and contradictory rules. In plain English, the entire episode has been a royal cluster feck from the word go.

Perhaps, its time to wipe the slate clean and begin again ...PROPERLY.

ps; Tripwire retained all rights to their entry Red Orchestra... :wink2:


He then replied with this and I answered.



Yes you are totally right. My mistake. Actually, I knew it as well.
And saying that I shouldn't have mentioned RO because it's awesome is not correct.
It's just as good (in terms of success) as Counterstrike.

Oh well, just leave it. It's not the big issue here in the topic anyways.


Wrong again.... It is the ENTIRE ISSUE... you did the community a favor... Now they can see how.... a contest is properly staged, managed and finished.. PROPERLY.


Some people just don't get it. :eek:

[OneShot]

Some people just don't get it. :eek:



You said it Mike! TWI won a "Full MOD" contest with their complete new game, not a "mapping" contest. Geez!!!

And as you stated TWI did not in anyway shape or form relinquish their "rights" to their mod and due to this fact subsequently turned it into a very, at least what I believe to be, a "profitable" enterprise. Do you think TWI would have put the same effort into their mod if they had been offered a "new game card" for their labor. While the scale is not correct, the principal remains. Gives us the rights to your map so we can sell it to the console community and we will give you a modest card, a T-shirt and our autographs on a poster.

[U-z-i Kidding]

Anything like the last contests we should have learnt by now to expect nothing less.

If they were asked to arrange a p*ss up in a brewery everyone would be lead to McDonalds for ginger beer!

Such a shame that he doesn't grab the bull by the horns and clarify what is going on one way or the other.

[U-z-i Kidding]

IW MAP Quest gets lost!

While we know that Infinity Ward, the creators of the number one selling console game, CoD4, have rewarded the joypad gamers with live events and new DLC being made available for the Xbox360 and PS3, what do they have in store for it's loyal PC community?

Well to be perfectly honest, in the way of substance...not that much.

Some may say that is a bit harsh, but hey that's life with IW if you're a PC user. Deal with it!

There was an air of excitement buzzing through their own official forum (http://www.infinityward.com/) when it was announced that they wanted to recognise the artistic achievements of it's mapping community: IW would be hosting a Worldwide Mapping Contest.

The initial announcement made by the Director of Communications and Community Relations Fourzerotwo and it can be found here (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=13786.msg157752#msg157752).

On the 1st of February 2008, Radiant applications (CoD4 map-making software) started up all across the world as the enthusiatic, PC custom-content makers began placing their ideas on the starting grid. The deadline for submitting their work had been announced by Fourzerotwo as March 31st, thus giving them 60 days to finalise their projects, including a page created for the participants to add their work-in-progress screenshots and the links to their maps for IW to access (found here) (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=12790.0).

As the submission deadline approached, more and more maps appeared and the quality of them were absolutely staggering. Check out the submitted screenshots and you will see that IW certainly has at its disposal, a very talented mapping community. The level of detail that had gone into the maps showed that participants could produce maps, which to the eye matched the quality IW had released -- if not better (I won't vouch for playability as I haven't tested any).

At this point you would be led to believe that, everything is running smoothly and IW is in total control of the situation.

This was true until this post (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.0) was made by Fourzerotwo on the 23rd of April asking for the participants to submit their maps ....again.

"What do you mean, again?" mappers cried?

The first reactions to this request showed disbelief as the participants were staggered to learn that the 31st March deadline had been overturned without a mention. They had expected IW to be in the throes of the judging process -- not at the submittal stage.

On the 23rd of April, the participants learned that suddenly, there had been all manner of restrictions placed on the contest: file sizes were restricted, custom content and textures not belonging to IW could not be used, third party programs were excluded...

Mountains of legal mumbo-jumbo that should have been communicated when the contest was very first announced on the 1st of February.

In addition, the governing rules for entering the contest had only been posted for U.S. residents. Activision's legal department has been blamed for the holdup - apparently International Law is somewhat complex.

These are not the only legality issues to arise, as the rules also state that the winning participants may have to sign an affidavit with no mention of what it entails apart from eligibility/liability/publicity. Could this be another big mistake? Should all clauses be placed in the public eye so that people are able to make an informed choice as to whether or not they wish to participate, knowing the full legal obligations they are up against should they win?


Furthermore, a contest that had been announced as "worldwide", while in reality only five countries flags on the submissions page. Can five countries (if all get included) out of 195 really be considered worldwide and embracing your community as a whole?

Surely something that would have been in everyone's best interests to finalise before announcing a "worldwide" contest!

Generally, legalities and rules are something that should have been addressed before even announcing any contest and IW's track record with previous contests on PC should have taught them that!

All eyes are now on Fourzerotwo, who has yet to make any official response to the participants concerns on the one and only submission thread that he has linked to from every site he has visited and announced the contest too.

Let's hope that the Xbox360-ambassador and his controller rumble packs haven't given him carpal tunnel syndrome and he's lost the ability to use a keyboard!

The latest contest rules are found here (http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/). Note the new submittal date:

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Create A Map Contest (the “Contest”) begins at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time April 18, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 9, 2008 (“Contest Period"). All Contest rules, instructions, communications, notices, participation, and details will be via the Infinity Ward website located at www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest (the “Site”).

[zeroy]

Good Summary of events. I expect 402/ATVI are now hoping that the contest will die off and only consider the US submissions. I dont expect we will hear from him until the US deadline is over (9th May).

:mad:

[Mike Nomad]

This entire mess lies directly at the feet of Robert Taylor of Activision and Activision themselves.

I'm saddened that this royal screwup tarnishes an otherwise stellar launch, distribution and support scheme for Call of Duty 4. I'm almost convinced that Taylor, with his "so-called" PR experience from the motion picture industry, whose arrogance toward the consuming public is only exceeded by that of the music industry, had everything to do with making Bowling look like a bungling idiot. The real blame is on Activision and Taylor.

Whatever "experience" Taylor brought with him should've been left in the trash bin by him on his way in. This mapping contest, its planning and management are a typical example of putting the cart well before a three legged horse.

In genuine old fashioned military terms...... the mapping contest is;

FUBAR


Well done, Taylor & Bowling.... You've both set a fine example of what NOT to do.

The true shame is the slap in the face to all the mappers who spent countless hours supporting the contest and providing superb maps to the PC Online Community.

Shame on you Activision!

[Tally]

fourzerotwo // April 24, 2008 at 12:27 am

@ mattks1: There is absolutely no way (Zero chance) we’d sell user made maps. Period.

Hope that clears it up.

http://iamfourzerotwo.com/2008/04/23/call-of-duty-4-pc-mapping-contest/#comments

So, according to 402, there is absolutely no chance that they will do with the winners of this map contest what they did with the winner of their other map contest, Roger Abrahamsson and his mp_stanjel, and sell it like they did in the COD1 Expansion pack - UO.

Sorry, but I would have more confidence in that statement had there been no precedent before.

====

EDIT:

Looking through the thread about IW's first map contest (i.e. the one for COD1 - circa 2004):

http://iwnation.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4819&st=0

What do we find? This:

"All entries become the exclusive property of the Sponsor and cannot be distributed in any manner."

And this:

You are not allowed to use custom textures

Deja vu?

That gives me even less confidence in 402's statement that the winner's map wont get sold. It seems this contest is identical to the first's.

[Mike Nomad]

UZI's article was posted over there in the mapping forum.... would you believe, the rocket scientists MOVED IT!! To an area few read or bother with.

Incredible!! They didn't learn a thing from the "old days". :frown:

[Pulaski]

I have to agree with Tally here, there is a precedent and if there is no intention of using the maps to their advantage, ie: selling them, why the ban on custom content?

BB1

Simple reason is IW/AV has no way of knowing if the content is custom made, or commercial textures.

Just look what happen last year with STALKER and all the bad press about using textures from HL-2 and DOOM 3. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46449

Turns out they was just using the same commercial textures. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46572

I agree IW/AV should have posted the rules from the start, but I also understand why maps using custom textures would result in disqualification.

[Pulaski]

However, if there is no intent to profit from the maps, ie: selling them, I fail to see the conflict.

BB1

Conflict would happen when they release "Call of Duty The Complete Series" which would include Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive, Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Which will most likely include all the patches, including the community map pack, if released in a patch.

We both know this will happen down the road, just like COD Deluxe Edition and the War Chest.

[zeroy]

I dont see the restriction on custom content too big of a problem. When mapping for a while one discovers that by the use of decalling/alpha blending a large number of "textures" can be created.

As for the sounds, again there are plenty to use from SP soundaliases files, MP i agree doesnt have much from stock.

There isnt any restrictions on custom models so thats good news, although that means using stock textures for those i guess!

Anyway, still no news for any other country beside the US and still only 5 flags on the page :(

Looks like Ireland isnt on ATVI world map :confused:

[Mike Nomad]

Pulaski, while you do present points of information that support the all encompassing albeit detrimental ruling about custom textures... it remains highly flawed. Admittedly, if it were to occur in the manner in which you describe it could possibly cause Activision some pause and perhaps little more. Activision has an entire legal division ready to manage those matters.

I respectfully submit the fact remains;
Had the submission rule(s) for the contest been MORE explicit and clearly defined, there'd be no need for a blanket denial of custom content. Additionally, as part of the submission, a signed statement of authenticity regarding the custom content should be required.
I refuse to apologize for Activision's bungling mismanagement of this contest. Instead, I politely insist that our readers look beyond the convenient immediate response of "they had to do it that way" nonsense. There is no such instance of "they had to" anything. Ask any lawyer.

Taylor and Bowling blew this contest to hell with their inability to see beyond their noses. They allowed the legal department to take the easy way out by using boilerplate documentation that was far too generalized. There were absolutely NO contest specific items in the rules. All this entire episode of the contest , including the garbage prizes, means to me is Activision, Taylor and Bowling never really took this contest seriously.
_____________

Elsewhere in the IW forums users, (READ: PAYING CONSUMERS) are screaming and clamoring for Bowling to be fired. Apparently the obvious incompetence is bleeding through to the console users too.

Perhaps its time a reevaluation of who has what responsibilities is done as it appears its needed.

[U-z-i Kidding]

Perhaps its time a reevaluation of who has what responsibilities is done as it appears its needed.

Talking responsibilities it has been noticed that 402 holds another title - Director of Communications.

Can I be forgiven for thinking that, if/when the new webby/pc guy is hired over there and 402 now has this new title, then communications are not going to be as forth coming as we all hope for?

[Mike Nomad]

First, one of the good guys posts about the Mapping Contest attempting to offer VALIDITY to the contest itself.....


M (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=69)ajor Pain (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=69)
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Re: Community Mapping Contest - Submission Details (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.msg475662#msg475662)
« Reply #181 on: May 05, 2008, 06:40:45 PM »


The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Create A Map Contest (the “Contest”) begins at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time April 18, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 9, 2008 (“Contest Period"). All Contest rules, instructions, communications, notices, participation, and details will be via the Infinity Ward website located at www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest (http://www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest) (the “Site”).

3.3. Three (3) potential prizewinners will be selected from among all eligible entries received during the Contest Period. 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place Winners will be selected by the Judges on or before May 16, 2008.What else do you need to know?


http://www.rs-mod.com/sigs/pb_sig.jpg (http://www.parabellumthegame.com/)

All well and good but then a scant few days later, we try to go to the Contest Rules and Regulations/ENTRY site:

http://www.infinityward.com/cod4/contest

and are treated to this NOTICE:

404 - Not Found


Now then, far be it for me to wonder and imagine what's going on.... After all, why speculate? We have 402 (Robert Bowling) the "Great Communicator" to rely upon.

Why hasn't, the illustrious and ordinarily very talkative (PS3 debacle), 402 TOLD all of us what is going on with accuracy instead of the stone cold silence we now enjoy?

Is this Activision/Infinity Ward Mapping contest still an ongoing thing?

Why the silence? Its like.... Deja Vu all over again. :)

This very arrogant disregard on the part of Activision and Infinity Ward, as far as communication and support is concerned, is exactly what brought about the Server Strike over the lousy CoD2 communication and support.

In fact, 402 was hired as a result of the CCA action. He solemnly promised to keep the community informed. He failed to keep his word.

Here we are today, back at square one. :frown:

[Allan]

http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/

[Mike Nomad]

http://www.infinityward.com/cod4contest/


Ahhhhh Glad to see it was only a temporary outage caused by either a URL CHANGE or a transposition error.

Still, 402 could've said something especially with all the controversy surrounding the contest.

Please pay particular attention to the FACT that ALL of the potential participants living European Countries and all other countries but the USA cannot thus far, participate in this "worldwide" contest.

But they can buy the product.

[zeroy]

Yep link is still ok, was a typo in the OFFICIAL rules !!!

Anyway, today is over 2 weeks after the latest announcement from 402 and still NOTHING for European mappers. My guess is that they will either only run in US ( telling us about legal mambo-jumbo for Europe) or cancel the all thing. Just like before :mad:

[Mike Nomad]

Yep link is still ok, was a typo in the OFFICIAL rules !!!

Anyway, today is over 2 weeks after the latest announcement from 402 and still NOTHING for European mappers. My guess is that they will either only run in US ( telling us about legal mambo-jumbo for Europe) or cancel the all thing. Just like before :mad:


Truthfully speaking,

This mapping contest by Activision is a JOKE! Their overzealous lawyers have RUINED it. The contest should have been kept informal, friendly and without the interjection of GREED and LAWYERS.

Wow! Greed and Lawyers... seems to fit perfectly. :mad:

[Cmac1992]

Why the silence? Its like.... Deja Vu all over again. :)

This very arrogant disregard on the part of Activision and Infinity Ward, as far as communication and support is concerned, is exactly what brought about the Server Strike over the lousy CoD2 communication and support.

In fact, 402 was hired as a result of the CCA action. He solemnly promised to keep the community informed. He failed to keep his word.

SERVER STRIKE!!!! sorry had to get in there before anyone else however on a more serious note I am appalled by the level of Customer Communication IW seems to have I emailed to their support section with a problem i was having and between the time I emailed it and the time I got a response (the first response) there had been a total of 36 posts by 402 on his personal blog and apparently they had been swamped and unable to reply to my Email (imo thats complete bull but heck maybe they were busy pissing about on personal blogs i don't know).

Also if you look at some of the times he posts on his personal blog either he is posting on it while in work or he has the shortest ever full time hours Ive seen.

[PizzaTheHut]

Please pay particular attention to the FACT that ALL of the potential participants living European Countries and all other countries but the USA cannot thus far, participate in this "worldwide" contest.


I may be wrong here but maybe this part of the snafu is just due to cultural differences?

There are quite a few contests which proclaim the winners as 'Champions of the World' and that the contests are 'worldwide' - spookily they mostly occur in the USA.

For instance the Superbowl Champions are crowned world champions although its only USA teams that are allowed to participate (the name American Football is the clue here). Similarly the World Series in baseball, again only USA teams are allowed to compete. There are various other examples, I wont bore you with them.

So maybe Activision are just guilty of being insular, myopic and parochial, after all most USA companies trumpet huge competitions on the web but say in the small print that only people residing in the USA or with the USA forces can take part.

So maybe this is nothing new and we are getting a little over excited about nothing, after all nobody forced the mappers to enter the contest and with the previous reputation of the contest organisers surely they could have guessed at this outcome?

Just a thought...

:d:d:d

[Mike Nomad]

I may be wrong here but maybe this part of the snafu is just due to cultural differences?

There are quite a few contests which proclaim the winners as 'Champions of the World' and that the contests are 'worldwide' - spookily they mostly occur in the USA.

For instance the Superbowl Champions are crowned world champions although its only USA teams that are allowed to participate (the name American Football is the clue here). Similarly the World Series in baseball, again only USA teams are allowed to compete. There are various other examples, I wont bore you with them.

So maybe Activision are just guilty of being insular, myopic and parochial, after all most USA companies trumpet huge competitions on the web but say in the small print that only people residing in the USA or with the USA forces can take part.

So maybe this is nothing new and we are getting a little over excited about nothing, after all nobody forced the mappers to enter the contest and with the previous reputation of the contest organisers surely they could have guessed at this outcome?

Just a thought...

:d:d:d

Pizza,

While you attempt to make good sense, the truth is, you too are speculating just like the rest of us because Robert 402 Bowling is suffering from lockjaw. Indeed you also overlook the National Emblems indicated for various European country's entrants to use. However, when one clicks on them for further info, its a dead end.

We are told nothing.:mad:

[zeroy]

Contest is now open to UK, France and Spain. Altought France is tecnically already over since the dates specified are between 9th and 16th May :d
Prizing has changed for the UK:

1st Place Winner
• £250
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX (Approximate Retail Value “ARV”, £149.99)
• COD4:MW Package (ARV, £30) consisting of the following:
a. Call of Duty Branded Messenger Bag
b. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt
c. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team
d. COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide
e. COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle

[majord]

Don't get me started on Zero's competitions. When CharlieOscar Delta.com opened there copetitions based on points I was reguarly at the top all month (the only Brit) before on the last day suddenly I am gone completely. ANd I am talking counting down the seconds, refresh, gone.

The whole support/interactive element to this game is an exercise in the manufacture of manure.

[Cmac1992]

Contest is now open to UK, France and Spain. Altought France is tecnically already over since the dates specified are between 9th and 16th May :d
Prizing has changed for the UK:1st Place Winner
• £250
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX (Approximate Retail Value “ARV”, £149.99)
• COD4:MW Package (ARV, £30) consisting of the following:
a. Call of Duty Branded Messenger Bag
b. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 t-shirt
c. Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 poster signed by the Infinity Ward team
d. COD4:MW Brady Strategy Guide
e. COD4:MW Branded Water Bottle


Frankly not only do the prizes fail but so do his Mathematics skills since when do you get £250 by adding £150 and £30 does this mean we get £70 in cash aswell?

[zeroy]

Don't get me started on Zero's competitions. When CharlieOscar Delta.com opened there copetitions based on points I was reguarly at the top all month (the only Brit) before on the last day suddenly I am gone completely. ANd I am talking counting down the seconds, refresh, gone.

The whole support/interactive element to this game is an exercise in the manufacture of manure.

Yep CharlieOscarDelta is very much US orientated :frown:

[U-z-i Kidding]

Frankly not only do the prizes fail but so do his Mathematics skills since when do you get £250 by adding £150 and £30 does this mean we get £70 in cash aswell?

It means that first place in the UK also gets a cash prize of £250 in addition to the other prizes offered up for the US submissions, making the total value of prizes worth£429.99. Unlike the US whose first prize totals $329.99.

Strange that there was no $500 prize posted up for the US!

So dependent on where you live determines what value of prize you receive if you win. Can't beat a bit of equality can you?

[U-z-i Kidding]

In response to the the Mapping Contest thread I have posted the following on IW to show how far afield you have to go to find different avenues of communications regarding whats happening with the winning content.


The possibilities are endless as to what IW can do with the maps!

402's prolific postings here, there and everywhere, but here, hints that the winning maps could be ranked up and released, they could possibly make it to console, they won't be sold, etc...


Interview with 402
Tom's Games: Are you going to continue to add content for both the consoles and the PC?

Robert Bowling: Our main focus is to keep supporting the game as long as the players are supporting us. So as long as they're people playing we're going to keep updating it. Right now we're working on a DLC map pack for the PS3 and the 360 version which are going to include three maps right out of the gate. We're working on that now and that should be coming out around springtime although we don't' have an exact ETA. We're just working on getting them perfect right now.

On the PC side we released the mod tools and we're currently holding a PC community mapping contest where our users can create their own custom maps. On March 31 we're going to have them submit them to us. We haven't announced yet what we're going to do with them but we're looking at a lot of ideas. The easiest thing we could do is release them as a ranked PC map because right now if you play on a custom map it's unranked. So what we might do is take all the best maps and then release them as an official ranked map pack. Then there's a few other things we're looking at doing that we're not ready to announce yet.
Source (http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/02/28/interview_infinity_ward/)


Interview with 402
Electronic Sports Television

On March 31st, we're going to be choosing our favorite community made maps and award the map makers of our favorites picks with special prizing and opportunities which we can't announce just yet but will be in the very near future (probably within a week). However the clock is ticking to get your map designed, as I said, we'll be choosing our favorite community made custom multiplayer maps on March 31st.
Source (http://www.esportstv.com/newsite/?p=news&id=1164&PHPSESSID=8d219193eea1c301e5af494e388a001a)


Interview with 402
CHIEF - Iedereen Gamer

How important is it for Infinity Ward that the community backs the game up by forming teams, competitions and mods?

Community support such as Competitions, Mod Support, Mapping support, and other community events is extremely important to Infinity Ward. We have already released a full set of Mod Tools for our Modding / Mapping community as well as holding a Mapping contest for the best community made maps to be submitted to us for a special promotion, as well as launched the IWiki for our modding community with articles and information to get started in the CODModding community. Beyond that we're constantly exploring tournament opportunity to keep our community engaged in the game.
Source (http://www.chief.be/cod4/)


What's that about a special promotion I here you ask?

Who for IW or the mappers? IW generates even more cash off the back of the contestants via special promotions, but do not have the decency to update/announce their intent with the creative content submitted and how the participants are to be recognised for their achievements.

Nearly three months on from the initial mapping contest announcement you would hope that by now IW has some idea as to what they are doing with the submitted winning content and could update everyone? It's been well over a week ;)

Source (http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=34575.270)

[Mike Nomad]

Still.....


No NEWS about the contest. :confused:

[zeroy]

Yes no news, all advertised contests are now *theoretically* over but submissions can still be taken - Add to this the disappearance of the German flag into Oblivion and finally the total silence on IW/ATVI side on the event (although the last one isn't a surprise anymore).

[[3rdArmy]CW-4]

This thing was fubar from the start. Guess they need a real CRM guy to do it.

[dunny_uk]

well the info flow from IW has been non existant...and when there is info its not posted in an easily accessable place...
however this has just been posted 2 days ago i think now...

The contest is in full effect. Sorry about the delay, the ending hit around the whole new website design / launch. I plan on announcing winners and awarding prizing in the next week or so now that the new site is here.

Thanks for the patience everyone, and again, I apologize for the delay due to the new site.

[zeroy]

well the info flow from IW has been non existant...and when there is info its not posted in an easily accessable place...
however this has just been posted 2 days ago i think now...

I know for sure that some maps for UK and France contest have not even been downloaded by IW or anyone yet!

I think it will be a lot longer .....

[holback]

Or not at all ...

[SparkyMcSparks]

Bumping this old topic, but was/am playing with a couple IW guys this morning on CoD4 and asked them what ever happened to the contest, and they said they picked a winner already.

They didn't say his name but gave a clue as to who it was which was a dead give away.

As when IW/ATVI officially shed some light on the contest... guess we got to wait. :wtf1:

[PizzaTheHut]

=SparkyMcSparks;33137]They didn't say his name but gave a clue as to who it was which was a dead give away.:

well, aren't you going to let us into your secret?

[Mike Nomad]

I'm happy for whomever it may be....

But at this late date, the damn thing has become a "Non-event".

[zeroy]

Bumping this old topic, but was/am playing with a couple IW guys this morning on CoD4 and asked them what ever happened to the contest, and they said they picked a winner already.

They didn't say his name but gave a clue as to who it was which was a dead give away.

As when IW/ATVI officially shed some light on the contest... guess we got to wait. :wtf1:


One winner? WTF? The contest was to have 3 Winners in each of these country:

US - Germany - France - Spain - Italy - UK

Let me guess, just one US winner? Great ..... :confused:

[Tally]

Who really gives a f**K now anyway? Sorry guys, but as Mike said: its so late in the day now, its a non-event.

Its too late to hype any enthusiasum for it. IW will simply meet their legal obligation to finish the comp, but wont give a flying f**k about it. Just like I wont :wink1:

[zeroy]

Agreed Tally, I just cannot believe how un-professional IW is behaving towards the whole thing.

[Tally]

I very nearly said that perhaps RGN should revive our plans to hold our own map contest? With 1st Prize being either a Full Copy of Maya 8.5, or $2,000 cash.

But then again, I thought - no: lets keep it for COD5:WoW, and do it then.

If we throw all our support here at RGN at COD5 and Treyarch, perhaps Treyarch might actually appreciate what we as a community can do for them.

Im very pleased to see that my underground work in encouraging the modders I know to stay away from IW.com is working. The place is like a graveyard as far as mapping and modding is concerned.

IW really really underestimated how much influence people like the RGN crew can have on a community. And they did that to their own cost.

Oh well, at least every cloud has a silver lining: at least now we dont have to watch that tard Vrandas posting drivel all the time now. Her audience is gone, and so is she.

Hallalujah!!! :bravo:

[4Mori_RaBBit]

Nice post tally I was just about to type that too.
Who is vandras? :p

[Mike Nomad]

Better yet.... The most serious question of all posed to IW & ACTIVISION:

Why must the entire worldwide PC Online Community
go to the creep's PERSONAL BLOG
to FIND NEWS about the COD Franchise?


Robert Bowling is making a mockery of the "Official" IW Forums and Website. The poor thing is less than useless!

Obviously, 402 still insists upon placing NEWS in his personal blog. It becomes a continued excursion into "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Its now fairly certain that Bowling is missing a few dots on his Dice. :whaa1:

Bowling is doing irreparable harm to the Franchise.

Bowling has got to go. :frown:

[Daevius]

So much for the Blog on the "official" forum lol. It's a complete and utter joke. As for the mapping contest, it's just one huge anti-climax and not worth the bother of any interest.

BB1

Exactly. I couldn't even join since I'm from the Netherlands, but I wouldn't even have joined even if I could, after they made it 'official'.

[Tally]

04U's latest on the map comp:

Regretfully the mapping contest has taken much longer to finalize than we would have hoped and while the contest was created and held with good intentions it could have used a bit more planning in it's execution.

So it could have done with better planning? No shit! You dont say!

Talking of competitions, Ive entered 04U into one: "The Understatement of the Year" Competition

[Mike Nomad]

04U's latest on the map comp:



So it could have done with better planning? No shit! You dont say!

Talking of competitions, Ive entered 04U into one: "The Understatement of the Year" Competition

I understand everyone's frustration and utter disappointment with 402 and his incessant double-talk and issue dodging.

Honestly speaking, let's list his positive points and crowning achievements;


NONE!!

[Dan2k3k4]

They should have asked us (BFE) for help with the map contest... I honestly didn't plan anything for that, and just made it all up as it progressed - but it turned out great... although I hated tested the maps (took about 1 hour testing each map)

[Messiah Complex]

Regretfully the mapping contest has taken much longer to finalize than we would have hoped and while the contest was created and held with good intentions it could have used a bit more planning in it's execution

In other news, Mr. Bowling held a press conference to announce that his enormous tits aren't real, and that it's bad for babies to smoke crack.

Carry on.

[Cmac1992]

Sorry but can I ask was anyone actually surprised at this announcement?

Surely this should have been expected from someone who has the competency level that 402 has displayed over the past 6 months or so.

[woowoo]

So I cruised through the IW forum - why I don't know. Sorta interesting to see a ghost town. Anyway, I came across this post from 402 on Aug 5:

"I'm prying the winners list from the design team as we speak. Sorry it's taken so long, but hopefully we'll be sending out prizing soon. Once the prizing is out the door we'll post the winners up on the site. As for the winning maps, the designers of those maps will receive prizing but there won't be any official release of them."

Anyone know if anyone actually won?

[U-z-i Kidding]

No winners that have been officially announced by IW yet!

[Mike Nomad]

Recently, the mapping contest was quietly and surreptitiously "swept under the rug" by IW's braniac Robert Bowling aka 402.


dunny_uk (http://www.infinityward.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=10349)

Post subject: Re: PC Map Contest
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:04 pm

Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:24 pm
Posts: 16

OH LOOK ITS BEEN REMOVED ----- COWARDS!!!!!!!

They havnt even got the balls to tell us they arnt gonna send out the prize packs and graphics cards they baited us with!!!!


BEFORE...........................

http://www.raidersmerciless.com/images/wiki2.jpg


AFTER............................


http://www.raidersmerciless.com/images/wiki1.jpg



OFFICIAL Quotes from IW (the early ones)


Infinity Ward has officially launched ‘Mod Tools’ for the hit PC title, Call of Duty 4 and to celebrate they’ve confirmed a ‘Community Mapping Contest’ in which the winning gamer will receive some very special prizes.

Gamers are encouraged to submit their new maps by March 31st and the rules state that you can design your maps around the platform of choice (PC, Xbox 360, or PS3); as you never know where it could end up.

Infinity Ward Announces CoD4 Map Contest
Official Announcement: We have launched the official Mod Tools for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on the PC and to celebrate, we're holding a 'Community Mapping Contest' which allows you, the community, to take map making into your own hands and create custom multiplayer maps for the #1 selling game of 2007.

What's your dream map? Wide open spaces perfect for sniping, or close quarters combat with plenty of cover to bound back and forth from? Maybe a nice mixture with plenty of avenues to attack from and some perfect choke points you can ambush from with the right amount of team work. Whatever you think makes a good multiplayer map, we want to see it. Most importantly, we want your best work.

On March 31st, we're going to be choosing our favorite community made maps and award the map makers of our favorites picks with special prizing and opportunities which we can't announce just yet but will be in the very near future (probably within a week). However the clock is ticking to get your map designed, as I said, we'll be choosing our favorite community made custom multiplayer maps on March 31st.
One would think that.... after countless hours, days and months of hard work. The least that could be done is acknowledge the mappers who eagerly participated in the mapping contest and actually submitted maps.

Way to go Bowling..... NOT!

[novemberdobby]

They just deleted a bumped topic asking where the results were too. Who's guessing that some of the community's maps will turn up in COD6 under new names?

[Tally]

They just deleted a bumped topic asking where the results were too. Who's guessing that some of the community's maps will turn up in COD6 under new names?

COD6? I dont think a map based on some ficticious location on earth will suit a Halo-type game setting.

Or did you not know that COD6 is going to be some futuristic Si-Fi thing?

[novemberdobby]

I knew, but heh we'll see.

[dunny_uk]

Hey mike check this out then-- That nob Jockey sparks sent me this just after deleting that post of mine!!!!!!...........................

OOOO A board warning LOOOOOOOL

http://www.scousersuk.com/board.JPG

[OneShot]

Hey mike check this out then-- That nob Jockey sparks sent me this just after deleting that post of mine!!!!!!...........................

OOOO A board warning LOOOOOOOL

http://www.scousersuk.com/board.JPG

If they had an issue with it at IW, why not just lock the thread. I know if I had submitted a map I certainly would want to know what the status of the contest or at least an explanation due to the length of time this has been pending? I do not visit their site, so perhaps there could be more than meets the eye, but on the surface it seems a bit unusual to be handing out warnings to contestants. :confused:

[Mike Nomad]

Short, Sweet and to the point......

402 has left a legacy of unrest, disbelief, anger and a total loss of faith in Infinity Ward and in particular, Grant Collier.

Now, to see mappers being warned that they shouldn't "push the issue" about the phony baloney mapping contest borders on an exercise in LUNACY. Don't string people along, tell them the truth.

Sparks, sad to say, has taken an abusive step too far. I hope he was under orders to do so.

Everyone there had better keep the future in mind as there is a CoD6 planned to come form Infinity Ward. They had better begin now repairing the broken bridges lest they find a worldwide refusal to trust anything emanating from IW.

The narrow-minded head games and cheap shots coming from the IW forum Crew, especially from 402, must immediately come to a screeching halt. Keep it up and you'll only dig the hole you're already in that much deeper. Only you'll be taking IW and Collier with you.

Carefully consider the future. Remember... closed wallets scream the loudest. Enough is Enough!

A word to the wise is sufficient. :B

[dunny_uk]

Well as of today my IW forums account has been deleted loooooool...


how sad!

[zeroy]

Well as of today my IW forums account has been deleted loooooool...


how sad!

Do you mean you deleted it yourself or you were removed by Admin?

[dunny_uk]

Email recieved about it................................




RE: PM‏
From: Alex Romo (alexromoneo@hotmail.com)
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: 05 October 2008 02:37:45
To: dunny_uk@hotmail.com

We're talking about matters here and now, not back then in the old forum, plus you keep talking to me like I'm some chum community person you can talk shit to, if this were off the forum that may be the case (which is probably why you wanted to talk via VoiP) but you're talking to me on the forum and we've banned people who show no interest in respecting people especially moderators. Again... you're just showing that you can't discuss this like an adult and have to resort to making things personal -- all this over a game, please get a life.

The thread wasn't even deleted because of the spamming I warned you about, I deleted your spam but the topic stayed. Other people posted crap that wasn't necessary a few hours later so it went bye-bye. Get your facts straight someday please or ask first before you come off like the internet police.

Expression of opinion and freedom of speech, yeah you have that, but once you agree to sign up to these forums you agree to the rules. Your age or how popular you like to think you are in the community doesn't excuse you.

I was going to PM this but I don't appreciate how you're coming off with you attitude because you can't put aside that we butted heads once or at least show some sign of respect for a moderator even if you believe our actions were wrong.

[Wizz]

LOL ROFL LMAO

Now not only do they dump posts but now they are dumping peoples accounts. Give me a ****ing break, how damn sad is that.

IW has truly lost it now. I have never and I do mean ever heard of any forum dumping people accounts. Banned yes and LOCKED forever but never deleted/dumped. Just goes to show all of you folks that IW is what it is. A bag of console bullshit hotair that is managed by noob console kiddies.

Here is one for you IW :fu:

[zeroy]

Re-surfacing thanks to the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20080129050524/http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=12335.0) .... One might remember, a long time ago ... January 24th 2008, IW's Community Manager Robert Bowling AKA 402 announcing to the all Mapping community .....

http://www.zeroy.com/br/other/cod4/misc/402_contest.jpg

http://www.zeroy.com/br/other/cod4/misc/402_contest2.jpg

Over 8 Months Later, contestants and members of the mapping community are still awaiting news from 402 to no avail.... :confused:

[Redskull]

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if an announcement was made about the winners the day before CoDWW was released :wtf1:

[Mike Nomad]

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if an announcement was made about the winners the day before CoDWW was released :wtf1:

That.... would prove to be most underhanded and extremely unethical.

[dunny_uk]

Just so Im clear - my IW forum account has re-appeared again!!!(for how long I dont know)

Hmnn.......

[Mike Nomad]

Simple explanation.... what happened was wrong and has been corrected.

[dunny_uk]

Sparks is an immature youngster that has ideas above his station, he's a condescending juvenile that basically thinks he's the "overlord" of cod gaming....

- he's not...(unfortunately according to him, he's above reasoning with and can't accept criticism of any sort.)

I'm no top admin nor cod guru but personally I cant be arsed writing about him anymore!..........


PS. alright ray hows it goin m8........

[miregrobar]

So whats happend with this community contest at the end?
Or its turn to fiasco?

[Mike Nomad]

So whats happend with this community contest at the end?
Or its turn to fiasco?


Quietly dismissed and hopefuly forgotten = FIASCO


Another 402 Jewel..... :confused:

[novemberdobby]

Will 402 still be there for COD6? I hope not :rolleyes:

[zeroy]

From diverse sources I beleive AmishThunder won it with his Hill Assault map.

This was of course never announced officially anywhere ....