Cantr T-shirt Contest Poll

[SekoETC]

Though I agree that Agar had nice graphics, the designs were mostly targeted to small groups and would hold no chance in selling big. At least I wouldn't wanna wear anything K-island related. Or who would like to be pointed out as a note thief?

"entercantr" was a nice one but might seem too dull for an outsider. Besides the number of characters and players keeps changing all the time.

Out of the ones in the poll, I like the poking one best, because it's actually funny. Though cantrman20 shares a part of the game we're seeing really often and that way represents it well, I consider Cantr's style of writing really clumsy and wouldn't wanna emphasize it.

[The Industriallist]

The problem with the poking one is that it's only connection to cantr is the URL on it. I wouldn't want to wear it, really.

[west]

As I said (and i'm speaking as the designer, not the marketer)

DESIGN NOTES
"a man in his twenties" applies to EVERYONE who plays cantr.

Not everyone has a sabre, not everyone has or has even seen a motorcycle, not everyone knows who the Crew or Kirinn Deep South is.

But everyone has had at least one 'man in his twenties', haven't they?

I don't know of any female player who's never played a guy, (although i'm sure a bundle of them will come out of the woodwork after I say this) or of anyone who's never seen a whole hoard of faceless "men in their twenties" right when they spawn or go to a new place.

They're the most common demographic group IN GAME.
I know they're not the most common among the players; I wasn't even 'a man in his twenties' when i made that shirt last year.

Again, the point wasn't to make a shirt that's an accurate descriptor of whoever's wearing it (although i'm sure a few men in their twenties will buy it if it's chosen), it's to be an accurate descriptor of what you'd likely see as a new character/new player: a lot of people in green t-shirts that say "a man in his twenties".

I have said that we'd like to make 'man in his teens', 'woman in her twenties' etc. etc., but there's certain conditions we have to balance:

cost
price
and features

Again, if 'man in his twenties' wins and we get a good idea about how many people will buy it /would buy it if it was 'woman in her twenties', we can consider placing two orders.


PRODUCTION
CustomInk gives us decent prices on orders above a certain number, with more than one background color (unlike CafePress) and will even be able to benefit cantr a bit financially so we can continue to use our nice new server.

Why not all the designs in the poll?

We wanted a poll people would actually respond to, without going through a thousand and one steps. Believe it or not, we considered having a preliminary poll to narrow it down to five, then a poll like this one, and so forth and so forth, but we don't want to bog down and lose momentum.
Nick is correct, it wasn't just him and me who chose these five anyway.

why not xxxxxxx design?
a) if it had graphics on them, they weren't high-resolution enough to look good on a shirt
b) if it had graphics on them, they weren't original. We don't want someone elses' copyrighted art (or even clipart) on a commercial product. That's sloppy.
c) it was an inside joke among certain groups in game
d) it mentioned a group that's specific to a certain geographical area in cantr. we don't want people joining cantr with expectations of ever having their chars know who that is, or give people the idea that game institutions are permanent arrangements. We're not advertising the Stone Knights or the Smoke Jaguars or the Nossé or the Crew or the Lad. Empire or anything else, we're advertising the world and the program.



There's a bit of our reasoning in a nutshell (most of it rehashed because apparently people didn't read the first post)

[kinvoya]

I have some suggestions:

Since the focus on this initial shirt seems to be more on getting enough players to purchase it (as oppossed to advertising Cantr, which is a secondary objective at this point, I think) I would like to suggest that we start over and put a couple of notices on the player pages so that players who don't usually visit the forums have a chance to contribute designs and to vote. If more people are aware of and participate in the process I think sales will be higher.

Then I would suggest that you make it clear that designers should submit designs that are general to the game and not about certain Cantr areas or groups. Perhaps a little info about high resolution graphics and original art only.

Then I think it would, in fact, be good to have that preliminary vote to narrow the field while requesting that players vote not for the one they like the most but vote for the one they would be willing to buy and, hopefully, wear or at least give to someone else to wear (in my case since I don't think the color is right for me ). These are not necessarily the same thing.

[Stan]

I think these 5 are great choices. I picked West's because it captures the "feel" of Cantr and like West said is broad enough to encompass virtually everyone.

To top it off, people reading it will wonder what it means and curiosity is what will get people to go to the website on the shirt.

Great design!

[Nick]

Since the focus on this initial shirt seems to be more on getting enough players to purchase it (as oppossed to advertising Cantr, which is a secondary objective at this point, I think) I would like to suggest that we start over and put a couple of notices on the player pages so that players who don't usually visit the forums have a chance to contribute designs and to vote. If more people are aware of and participate in the process I think sales will be higher.

I've already asked Jos to make messages on the player page, and I believe that will be done when we're closer to being able to sell shirts.

[Revanael]

West's design, all the way.

Just because.

[Missy]

I picked wests under the assumption there'd be one with "A woman in her twenties" as well, so you can remove my percentage of the vote, I think, unless there are actual intentions to make one with a woman on it.

I understand that "a man in his twenties" applies to anyone who has ever played cantr, but I still don't want to wear a shirt that says "a man in his twenties." I don't look masculine I don't think, but I still don't want to give an impression I'm hiding something beneath my skirt.

[Junesun]

I picked wests under the assumption there'd be one with "A woman in her twenties" as well, so you can remove my percentage of the vote, I think, unless there are actual intentions to make one with a woman on it.

I understand that "a man in his twenties" applies to anyone who has ever played cantr, but I still don't want to wear a shirt that says "a man in his twenties." I don't look masculine I don't think, but I still don't want to give an impression I'm hiding something beneath my skirt.

I couldn't have said it better myself and also voted under the wrong impression, so substract my vote as well. Generally I believe that all terms for creating t-shirts and voting for t-shirts should have been explained beforehand, not as an afterthought, because this seriously flaws the result.

[Stan]

Wasn't West's design called Cantrman? What's so confusing? Not that it matters to me, but isn't it obvious?

Instead of listing a bunch of details, maybe everyone who votes should assume the shirt looks EXACTLY like the design shown. That should help avoid confusion.

[west]

UPDATE:

The current plan (if the 'man in his twenties' wins) is to offer two different designs, one for men and one for women (in their twenties). Marketing has discussed this based on your comments.

See, your input really does matter!

[Missy]

Wasn't West's design called Cantrman? What's so confusing? Not that it matters to me, but isn't it obvious?

Instead of listing a bunch of details, maybe everyone who votes should assume the shirt looks EXACTLY like the design shown. That should help avoid confusion.

You're right it would. I'm sorry that I assumed and made an ass out of you and me.

[AzzY]

Muhaa some really sweet ideas there....the Cantr20 man is awesome, agreed...but
I have to go with poking.

[Just A Bill]

I like wests idea, but I would move both parts to the front and on the back put...

He is walking at your speed, ahead of you, facing the direction you are going.

[kinvoya]

Just A Bill

Now that's good. I vote for that.

Clevah