Nooooooooooooooooo. I’m working on something pretty big for two contests rn, if they were shorter I’d never get them done! One has been in the works for over a month now 
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OK, summarising suggestions I and others have come to.
- One monthly big contest where the objective is to make something big, ideally using MakerSupply parts (or other non-printable parts).
- Two fortnightly contests
- One short-notice, short-duration contest
Very clearly defined rules for all contests.
- Monthly x 1
- Must incorporate non-printable parts, electronics are welcomed
- Big models with multiple parts
- Two weeks notice
- List of excluded models that will not be accepted
- 28 days entry period
- Starts halfway through the month so events like Halloween, Christmas and others have the prizes awarded before the actual main day.
- Fortnightly x 2
- One weeks notice
- List of excluded models that will not be accepted
- 14 days entry period
- Staggered to overlap the Monthly contest so the entry and winners do not take away from that one.
- Short-notice x 1 or 2
- One day notice
- Three day entry period
- No restrictions on entry
This would give three different levels of skill required and likely output.
It would generate a variety of models, it would allow existing tropes in the short-notice contests, but, focus on more unique models on the fortnightly contests and the extra special designs that those building up to it can aspire to.
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We can already redeem points for model kits, what about redeeming points for time-limited kits that contain a set of parts for a challenge contest? I’m sure there are many parts that don’t see much use so this could be a way for @Makers_Supply to encourage models that use certain parts along with a more clear path for users to join the Creators Program (e.g. winning model gets converted into a kit along with prizes).
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Ooh, I like this idea!
I love this idea and I’ve already suggested somewhere to also have contests based around chosen kit (or hardware part)!
Sidenote about kits & points shop
getting a kit via 99% discount code is more cost effective than getting 40 [currency] gift card for most of the kits and I think the best deal point-wise is Maker’s Kit A. If there were more kit discounts avail in point shop, that would be great.
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I think its cause of christmas, gosh I hate festival related contests cause people just dump stuff in. Don’t mind having more master challenges tho, I can find quite a lot of quality models in those
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How about having classes of contests that restrict who can enter. Right now there are two “Master Challenge” contests going on that have some very non-master type entries.
They could restrict it by level of account, downloads of previous models, and previous contest history. Higher class contests would be much stricter but also come with greater prizes and bigger penalties. The lower classes would have lower prizes and penalties but be geared towards beginners as a means to qualify for bigger contests.
There could even be a seasonal ranking almost turning model design into an e-sport. All of it building up to some end of season design live stream similar to the annual ZBrush contest. If they had it coincide with Formnext conference it would generate a huge amount of publicity for the brand by drawing both an audience and designers to the Makerworld platform.
But dialing it back a bit, once you introduce ranking and tiers they could also offload the judging and moderation of lower class contests to contestants in higher tiers. I think that might go a long way in helping alleviate some of the complaints about contest flooding by point farmers.
We love some of the ideas you proposed Don! We will have some internal discussions about this and see if some of your suggestions can turn into steps we take moving forward to improve the overall contest experiences for our creators and makers.
Thanks for your awesome and thoughtful ideas!
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Don’s idea is fine, but do also take Malc’s summarized ideas from Too many contests - #22 by MalcTheOracle and Brent’s idea on kit-based contests.
Also: please, do make an 0.8 nozzle contest 
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Yeah we were mostly talking about the ideas that Malc summarized earlier in the thread:
We were also discussing having contests based on a specific Maker’s Supply component, kit, or list of components. This would help create a lot of interest around the Maker’s Supply stuff. For example the clocks contest made the clock components kit completely sell out on the website. (This would especially be good if the parts were available at a 99% discount in the point shop (and less points than the gift card equivalent), like the clock/boat/etc)
I do also like Don’s idea, but I feel that will exclude a lot of brand new designers. For example the 1st place winner of the Halloween contest only has made one model. It’s amazing, and totally deserved to win, but if there was a requirement he wouldn’t’ve been able to enter.
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Just going to bump this and mention that right now we have 6 concurrent contests. That is a LOT of contests. I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s too many contests.
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We even planned it!
It is ridiculous, I didn’t realise how many they had going on until I looked earlier after a marble run comment appeared here.
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Judging from the amount of snowflake ornaments in the maker contest we needed another one for overflow.
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Here you guys/gals go. I’ve got the answer to your frustrations. Don’t think of it as many little contest, but one BIG contest.
It needs to use the Maker’s begineer kit, it needs to be a marble run, include a clock, be a mecha, be Christmas themed, and serve coffee.
Make me something that does all of those things in one, and win all the contest at once.
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i dont even know why they use themes, they dont even judge by their own criteria, they should just title them “Make stuff” and just continue to pick random winners
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While recognizing the feedback earlier in the thread, one thing I enjoy about having multiple, overlapping contests is that I can choose ones that interest me. With so many contests there’s almost always one (active or upcoming) that gets my interest. Whether I end up completing a project or just experimenting/brainstorming is another matter.
As a sidebar, I hadn’t really considered using the clock kit before that contest was posted. Turns out I enjoy designing around the kit because my workbench is now a disaster and I’m drowning in clock prototypes haha
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It’s a weird club we joined, mine as well.
Same. Or if I’m not interested any any of the active ones, I know there will be a new batch soon that possible would interest me more.
Thanks for pointing this out! This is indeed one of the key reasons why we are increasing our contest frequencies. We know many of our creators have diverse interests, and we want to offer opportunities for you to showcase their skills in various themes and genres, and ensure that whenever you clicked on the contest page, you can at least find 1-2 on-going contests that interests you.
Thanks!
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The problem is there’s too many that interest me, and I can’t design something that I feel OK releasing for all of them
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