D&D 5E D&D Beyond Cancels Competition

D&D Beyond has been running an art contest which asked creators to enter D&D-themed portrait frame. DDB got to use any or all of the entries, while the winner and some runners up received some digital content as a prize.

There was a backlash -- and DDB has cancelled the contest.

Thank you to all of our community for sharing your comments and concerns regarding our anniversary Frame Design Contest.

While we wanted to celebrate fan art as a part of our upcoming anniversary, it's clear that our community disagrees with the way we approached it. We've heard your feedback, and will be pulling the contest.

We will also strive to do better as we continue to look for ways to showcase the passion and creativity of our fellow D&D players and fans in the future. Our team will be taking this as a learning moment, and as encouragement to further educate ourselves in this pursuit.

Your feedback is absolutely instrumental to us, and we are always happy to listen and grow in response to our community's needs and concerns. Thank you all again for giving us the opportunity to review this event, and take the appropriate action.

The company went on to say:

Members of our community raised concerns about the contest’s impact on artists and designers, and the implications of running a contest to create art where only some entrants would receive a prize, and that the prize was exclusively digital material on D&D Beyond. Issues were similarly raised with regards to the contest terms and conditions. Though the entrants would all retain ownership of their design to use in any way they saw fit, including selling, printing, or reproducing, it also granted D&D Beyond rights to use submitted designs in the future. We have listened to these concerns, and in response closed the competition. We’ll be looking at ways we can better uplift our community, while also doing fun community events, in the future.

Competitions where the company in question acquires rights to all entries are generally frowned upon (unless you're WotC).

 

[Bolares]

Participation trophies for everyone.....

I've always been curious about this "participation trophy" discourse. What's that all about? Is it an American thing?

 

[BookTenTiger]

I've always been curious about this "participation trophy" discourse. What's that all about? Is it an American thing?

It's a dog whistle people use to imply a whole collection of political beliefs.

The idea is: "In modern day everyone gets a trophy just for participating, and this weakens the tradition of competition and somehow harms children."

What it really means is: "Back in my day we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways..."

It usually comes out when there are discussions about treating people equitably. In this case folks seem to be reacting to the fact that this is a contest.

 

[MGibster]

Look, I'm an attorney that specializes in Bankruptcy. People absolutely don't realize what a bad deal they're getting and they REALLY do think they will beat the odds. lotteries exploit this.

I once had a job at a bank reviewing rejected mortgage loans to ensure that the decision was reached while following applicable policy and laws. I was floored by how many of the people with bankruptcies were in that situation because of medical bills. Easily more than half of the bankruptcies I looked at involved a significant amount of unpaid medical bills. I'm sure there are people who go bankrupt because they're just bad at making financial decisions. But there are a lot of people who go bankrupt because life looked them in the eye and kicked them square in the balls.

 

[MGibster]

I've always been curious about this "participation trophy" discourse. What's that all about? Is it an American thing?

The long and the short of it, participation trophies were most associated with millennials who were given awards for participating in sporting events even if they didn't place 1st, 2nd or third. i.e. If you showed up that day you got an award. This coincided with a time when some sports leagues were experimenting with not keeping score during games. Defenders of the practice argued that participation trophies prevented children from feeling bad about not winning and taught them that whatever effort they put into something was good enough. Critics thought participation trophies was a bunch of horse hockey because kids knew they weren't real and it taught kids that whatever effort they put into something was good enough. I can't tell you how prevalent participation trophies actually were as I don't have children of my own.

As a Gen-Xer myself, I never got a participation trophy. If I didn't place in the top three I didn't get any award. I don't really know if participation trophies are still a thing.

 

[Mort]

I once had a job at a bank reviewing rejected mortgage loans to ensure that the decision was reached while following applicable policy and laws. I was floored by how many of the people with bankruptcies were in that situation because of medical bills. Easily more than half of the bankruptcies I looked at involved a significant amount of unpaid medical bills. I'm sure there are people who go bankrupt because they're just bad at making financial decisions. But there are a lot of people who go bankrupt because life looked them in the eye and kicked them square in the balls.

To go WAY off topic:

Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcies in the US, followed by Job loss and then divorce. Unsound financial decisions are around 4 or 5 depending.

But that's a separate issue from people not understanding odds (which I will 100% stand by).

 

[FrogReaver]

It's a dog whistle people use to imply a whole collection of political beliefs.

The idea is: "In modern day everyone gets a trophy just for participating, and this weakens the tradition of competition and somehow harms children."

What it really means is: "Back in my day we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways..."

It usually comes out when there are discussions about treating people equitably. In this case folks seem to be reacting to the fact that this is a contest.

Ironically, The term dog whistle has also become a dog whistle.

 

[Bolares]

Ironically, The term dog whistle has also become a dog whistle.

of what?

 

[Bolares]

The long and the short of it, participation trophies were most associated with millennials who were given awards for participating in sporting events even if they didn't place 1st, 2nd or third. i.e. If you showed up that day you got an award. This coincided with a time when some sports leagues were experimenting with not keeping score during games. Defenders of the practice argued that participation trophies prevented children from feeling bad about not winning and taught them that whatever effort they put into something was good enough. Critics thought participation trophies was a bunch of horse hockey because kids knew they weren't real and it taught kids that whatever effort they put into something was good enough. I can't tell you how prevalent participation trophies actually were as I don't have children of my own.

As a Gen-Xer myself, I never got a participation trophy. If I didn't place in the top three I didn't get any award. I don't really know if participation trophies are still a thing.

Putting children in a lot of competitions is that normal of a thing, that there is a whole culture and discourse about if you should or not give trophies to children? Cultural differences are wild...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

As a Gen-Xer myself, I never got a participation trophy.

HA!

"As a Gen-Xer myself, I never participated."

 

[FrogReaver]

To go WAY off topic:

Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcies in the US, followed by Job loss and then divorce. Unsound financial decisions are around 4 or 5 depending.

But that's a separate issue from people not understanding odds (which I will 100% stand by).

The point I’m making is that You don’t have to understand odds in full to be directionally aligned enough to arrive at the same non-numerical conclusions of someone that does.

High level everyone realizes the lottery takes in more money than it pays out. Even the most mathematically inept. Those people don’t play the lottery because they think over time on average it will increase their wealth. They play it for different reasons.