runouw.com

I have only joined this website for approx. 4 months, and I've checked out everything that's directly related to SM63, and I've saw the ones that have let the people's opinions and judgings about their levels matter too much and they just let themselves felt extremely miserable and eventually quit the level designers, and one of them is 1018peter. I've played some of his(probably he's male, right?) levels and I think that his levels are way better than mines(but I'm not advertising for him or trying to darken me, of course..), and he says he can't please people by LDings, and cannot improve, so he quit. Really, even though I didn't know a thing about LDCs, but why people are just so crazy about fame anyways? Some people have joined the LDCs and hoping they get the 1st, but instead, they got a 30th or something, and they were frustrated and disappointed by these results and just poof! they quit. The people, in history, who has fame and being remembered by us, their real purposes are not fame, but to focus on the question they are trying to solve. And they get fame when solved the problem, but not act like an arrogant person, instead, they are making further explorations. If they have failed, they are not disappointed, they keep trying and failing, more times than you can ever imagine, until one day, they shine in the history and being remembered by us. If all we do on the LDCs is playing some kind of sports competition, then we are killing the real purposes of the LDs or LDCs: to have fun. So, what are the LDCs and LDings really for? Is it to have fun, or let the winners to shine, or something else? Please post your answer if you're reading this, the texts above are only my opinions, please don't let them "wash your brains", thank you.

It's a little of everything. Once upon a time they used to be very serious business, where a slight miscalculation in the score was treated as literally the end of the world, and the winners were praised as gods. Now it's more laid back. Getting first still carries some weight for sure, but it's more in the sense that the winning level was was really fun and the community generally agrees that it's worth showcasing- as opposed to saying that everyone else's level is trash, either through implication or directly. Recently (over the last few months), this shift is especially evident in how contests are run. Instead a panel of people deciding a winner based on criteria that have historically caught a lot of flak for supposed bias (which emphasizes technically perfect levels above everything else), the most recent contests have been decided by polls that anyone could vote in, without requiring any reason for doing so (in contrast, this method emphasizes no specific quality of a level, and encourages entering for fun over prestige).

These days, most active level designers (and the occasional veteran returning for a one-off entry) do so because they have a neat idea they want to develop/showcase, or because level designing is an enjoyable way to pass the time. But of course, winning still has a couple perks, like a shiny new medal for your profile and some community recognition. :p