... says:
Just to address this real quick, i basically posted the same screenshot you did. In my opinion no forum posts that are not against the rules should be deleted and thats why i made that statement. Plus for me the post firestorrm made was clearly a critical one, which needed to be adressed in that thread instead of deleting it. Just my opinion tho.

Discuss about the MTC always as i hear in Discord and were always there.
i like you gilli and no its not

The messages i show have more useless messages in it. YES NO YES NO?
and than you calling it deleted Critism

I usually don't use the tmx discord and i didn't see an official statement that mtc related post should only be made on discord . Imo a forum should be there to discuss things, but could be a me thing again as well.

I was not talking about the "yes" and "no" stuff that was going on in that thread i was rather talking about the longer post firestorrm made starting with "I'll try to make this clear.", which for me is 100% a critical post. If you don't agree with that, that's fine, we can agree to disagree, but if you think its fine to delete posts like that i will draw my personal consequences out of that.

and again i like you gilli
but better start reading both of my big Posts.
and even Firestorm hisself said similiar which means in our language that is not the same.
"Just deleting post" By just posting yes no yes no" dont see a problem there. just non sense posts. the only post which is "critical" is firestorms last post but only one sentence out of it the rest i allready talk about it.

The deleted posts are really no big thing. Don't blow it up. I've the opinion that the forum should be moderated and kept clean. This is completely legitimate. I've never liked a dispute discussion and I therefore think it's good that this dispute has been moved from the MTC task thread to keep the original thread clear.

Please be gentle, remain respectful and constructive. I would like to ask that the good tone in the forum is not lost. The hate mentality is too rampant on social media. Unfortunately, it is easier to complain than to worry about constructive criticism or even to actively help. Unfortunately, many people are no longer familiar with the term 'netiquette'. If you do not know what is behind it, you are welcome to search for the term in the search engine of your choice and your trust and then read what it is.

I can also confirm that the MX crew do a very good job and invest a lot of time. There is not only the MTC but also other tasks behind the scenes. I have great respect for the members of this crew and all of the work that is being done. Also for the fact that TerOor assumed responsibility for the MTC after it faltered. This kept the MTC alive. If he hadn't, the alternative would have been a break. That deserves recognition rather than attacks.

Constructive ideas, help and support are welcome. But it is not a good idea to think that you can change everything and do everything better.

I don't want to be rude but i agree with shyin when he said this

... says:
MTC April Theme : Mixing Styles - Make a Mix map please, we don't have enough mixed maps in this new Trackmania.
MTC May Theme : Drive Like A Penguin - Make an Ice map because players don't like enough.
MTC June Theme : Offroad Rally - Make a dirt map because dirt is not played anymore please.

The MTCs in united and tm2 feel much more unique than the ones in this game

To everyone who posted critique and suggestions, thank you!
As Ozon mentioned before, the whole TMX team is currently engaged in discussions on this topic and your thoughts are leading the conversation. We are taking this very seriously.
So on that note, please continue to post feedback in a constructive manner!

I have read through all your posts so far and attempted to distill them into three main points:

• Desire for a more restrictive theme.
  
• Expectation that MTC should begin on 1st of month.
  
• Uncertainty in results completion.
  

We already have a few ideas on ways to improve in each of these areas, but I would love to continue hearing your suggestions as well!
I am also interested in your suggestions for MTC theme ideas, so please post those too.

For me it's less of having a restrictive theme and more about having more variety in the themes. The problem isn't that this month's theme was "build with X surface", the problem is that it's the third month in a row where that has been the case.

maybe a theme you can only use 2 different blocks and every start finish and cp block too only with vanilla items , blockmixing is allowed ^^

or a theme you cant use the same block or item 2 times in a row :/

or build a map in 3x3 or maybe 4x4 size

or my last idea ^^ use only 1 time every block in vanilla only except for cp's , blockmix allowed

Restriction in Themes

... says:
Desire for a more restrictive theme.

As Sky Freak said, it's about balance. You could technically argue both ways, that a restrictive theme can support creativity by forcing you to try new things, but a very "easy" theme can allow mappers to approach the theme in various different ways.

Deletes Messages

... says:
The deleted posts are really no big thing...

I understand wanting to keep the main thread clear as the posts went off-topic. The concern I want to mention here is that the posts were just deleted. Without any warning beforehand or notification afterwards. As you are able to see, teroor was participating in it as well so I just saw it as a little bit of banter initially. Saying the posts (YES,NO) had no constructive critiscm is arguable. While it wasn't presented in the best possible way, it also wasn't disrespectful and still had feedback about people feeling that themes are repeating. Being able to read between the lines and respond in a calm manner should be within the capabilities of a Community Moderator.

The Idea of Bonus/Penalty Points
As something like this used to be standalone MTC-Theme, I'm not too sure about it's current implementation. I'll be using examples from the June2021 MTC.

... says:
+5pts -Add a beautiful image into your map thumbnail in TMX
+3pts -Add a GPS
+2pts -Add an Intro

Are these aspects not already evaluated in the detail part of the map judging process? This basically gives Detail double the weight over the other parts.

... says:
+5pts -Using custom dirt blocks from IX (If you create some new ones 2 extra points will be given)

I can understand wanting to promote IX as well, I'm more concerned about the extra points. This goes hand-in-hand with my Accessability concerns towards MTC's. Some points reward in-depth knowledge of how the game works (5th Gear, Noslide), which could put off newer players.
In general, I believe the weight of these points is also out of proportion. Being able to score 30 Points from 50(60%) in the normal judging process is way too much I believe. The focus shifts to the pointslist. The Theme's information saying "Any style accepted, map just need to be good and creative using dirt blocks" and then punish faster maps (Penalty Points for using the 5th gear) is a bit contradictory.
TLDR: If any bonus points, Less weight on the points + better thought out points list.

Complaining

... says:
Also again i dont know , Most of the people who currently complain here are never enter the MTC so i can get your points but i am also like you didnt join in the past and dont think you will in the future so just go on.

Thinking about disregarding feedback based on participation is usually not a good idea. I know this sound crazy, but I think the people complaining didn't participate in the MTC as they had complaints about the MTC. Trying to antagonize people as just haters shouldn't be the way to go. Everyone just wants to have fun enjoying the MTC's.

About MTC Themes in general
With the new game having tons of new blocks and new possibilities, I believe there is no need to reinvent the wheel. There are tons and tons of creative themes from previous games that could be used for TM2020 MTC's. With the influx of new players, only few would notice anyways.

Results being late:
Judging takes a lot of effort and time and offers little to no reward. However that's something you should be aware as a judge and think about whether or not you can actually take the effort and make the time to do it in a respectable timeframe. I know there's a never ending shortage of people willing to judge, but the solution to this problem shouldn't be just taking months to finish it. Something like being able to judge the tracks as they come out could also lessen the workload at the end of the month.

MTC Themes being posted late
I think this can go hand in hand with my point about the results. If I'd knew that the Theme will always be posted on the 1st of the month and for example the results of the previous theme will be published on the same day, that would actually create some hype and incentive to check out the forums monthly instead of losing interest. Maybe even sit together with some fellow mappers and discuss the new theme or the old results.

Hey all,

I don't participate much so my opinion doesn't really matter, but here it is anyway :
"Built with X surface" is kind of uninteresting to me, as I don't need the MTC to build a dirt map. I mean I would do one eventually with or without the MTC. I much prefer things like upside down, 6 by 6 or things like that. I believe there are a lot more participations with those themes simply because people happen to be building a dirt map (me for example) at the time of the MTC, so why not participate ? That's not a bad thing at all tho, as long as it's not every month.

Also, you could think of themes from the player prespective. If the theme is "Dirt" it's not that fun. You are like "Yup, that's a dirt map indeed". With "Upside down", you can get surprised by the mapper's take on the theme, and wonder how you would have done it instead. While i'm talking about the player perspective, I think it should be encouraged to put the theme in the intro of the map or something, for players that don't know/follow MTC.

Since I do quite a lot of game jams, here are some suggestions based on what we do there :

• Simple themes, like a word or a short sentence, without explanations. This way you can get a bit more creative with the theme, understand it as you want, or missunderstand it on purpose.
  
• If you are lacking time for rating maps, spending less time on trying the maps but giving the results quicker is better imo. While spending an hour is ideal, I think you don't need that much to have a pretty good idea of what you think of the map.
  
• Also about lack of time, you could have the participants rate the other maps instead of relying on judges only. So participating in the MTC would no longer be just making a map, but also rating at least 5 maps or so.
  
• List of bonus/restrictions is not a bad idea, but from my experience it's less fun that a strong & simple theme.