Q: What is this? Why am I here?
A: This is Dwelling of Duels - a monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) competition
for VG cover artists who play live instruments. It is hosted by VGmix, a site dedicated to fan arrangements of video game music.
The purpose of Dwelling of Duels is to provide impetus for artists to make songs by hosting friendly competitions with other artists, and to motivate artists to complete and release songs by having regular deadlines and monthly themes.
It is important to note that due to the nature of this competition, one of the foci is improvement. We fully support amateur artists to participate as it will give them a chance to improve at their chosen instrument, get feedback on songs, and hopefully have fun doing so. Not every song in
the final voting is going to be an Ailsean, and many of them may go on to WIPs at VGMix. We're here to support new and established artists in the VG scene, not tear apart the n00bz for their lack of experience.
Q: Why just live instruments? Do you hate synths? Synths can sound just as good as instruments you know - you should stop being so biased!
A: We're not here to discuss programmed vs. played, nor do we really want to. If you enjoy programmed remixes with synth tracks, more power to you. SSH and countless remixers on OCR and VGmix have proven that you can make remixes with samples that sound good. The point is that some of us enjoy real instruments being played. What it comes down to is personal preference - you have yours, let us have ours.
Q: What is this "theme" stuff?
A: The site goes on a trimonthly schedule in which the first month, artists are given a game series, or possibly a game company, the next month is a broader theme (such as "ninja games"), and the third month is a free month. This is done to give focus to the artists, give a challenge for them to try something new, and for fun. If you feel constrained by the themes, participate in the free months.
Q: How does voting work?
A: As DoD is still based largely on the Minibosses Message Board community, voting is primarily conducted there--anyone with greater than 50 posts on The Shizz's message boards may vote. Anyone who has entered a main entry into DoD may also vote.
- Voters get a number of points equal to the number of main entries that month, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5. In other words, you get 10 points for a month with 8 songs, 15 points for a month with 11 songs, 20 points for a month with 19 songs, and so on. If the prospective voter posts 3+ sentence reviews of each main entry in the relevant DoD thread, they get extra points to vote with (divide the normal number of points by 5). In other words, if there are 9 songs in a month and you review all 9 songs, you get 12 points to vote with instead of the normal 10.
- The maximum number of points you may give any individual song when voting is six.
- Voters may not use greater or fewer points than they are alotted, excepting the bonus points for reviewing.
Q: Okay, so how do I contact you to vote or submit a song or something else?
A: The most reliable way to contact me is by sending a private message on the aforementioned Minibosses Message Board (username: Paragon). If submitting a song, upload it to a website (either your own or a freehost like YouSendIt or Sendspace). Please note that freehosts like YouSendIt do not allow download managers, which may make it more difficult for me to download your song.
- You can also e-mail me at dodsongs at gmail dot com; I check that account almost every day. If your song is less than 10 MB in size, you can simply email it to that address. Also note that this is the best way to submit a song.
- Lastly, you can join the DoD IRC channel (explained below) and send me a private message. If I am physically at the computer, I will most likely respond very quickly.
Q: If I want feedback for improving my song midmonth, may I submit
it to VGMix for critiques?
A: No, as it kills the element of anonymity, which thus makes the competition more of a popularity contest. As has been said, the main idea for DoD was to provide impetus for artists, who may then submit their songs as WIPs on VGmix AFTER the month is over. In general, if you keep recording new songs with effort and take the time to work on them, you can learn a lot and have
time to experiment. This also gives you the option of going back and re-working older songs you feel would be much better with your to-be-improved skills.
Q: So what counts as compromising anonyminity?
A: Any statement made in public (for example, posted on The Shizz) which identifies you as the creator of your song, whether explicitly or implicitly. As a rule of thumb, try to avoid talking about your song in any way other than you do the other songs--so do a review if you're reviewing the songs, but if your someone said your song uses a clarinet when it's actually an oboe, don't respond and correct them. If you MUST say something about your song, ask me for the Anonymous DoD Contestant account info or ask me to relay the info for you. Better yet, just wait a few days for the results to be posted.
Q: I only need one more hour! Can I please get my song to you
just a little late?
A: No, and here is why. You have an entire month to record. This should be more than enough time for most people, as there are many people who record good songs within the space of a few days or a week. Also, if we keep waiting for other artists, the competition never gets put up. There are always people who put off everything till the last moment and start asking
questions like that. Don't be one of those people. I've killed my own entries or submitted essentially half-finished ones for competitions when I "could" have put them in a few hours late, so don't expect me to make exceptions for you.
Q: I submitted a song already, but since then, I've worked on it. Can you use the newer version? or:
I want to do some more work on my song, but I might not be able to finish by the deadline. Can I submit the version I have now, and then submit the update if I finish it?
A: Yes. As long as you submit it before the deadline, I'll gladly accept whatever new or updated versions you've got.
Q: Why does the track have to be new or unreleased? I made a great
song from XXXX video game a while back. Can't I send that to you?
A: No, because that ruins the anonymity. And we want you to make new songs. However, you are more than welcome to upload that great song from awhile back to somewhere and link it on the shizz.
Q: My song is one minute and fifty-eight seconds long, is that okay? or:
My mp3 file is two minutes long, but there is a few seconds of silence on the end of it. Is that okay?
A: No. The song itself must be two minutes in length, not just the mp3 file, and yes it must reach a full two minutes. If you need to lengthen your song by only a few seconds, it's simple--have a guitar chord ring out at the end, have a reverse cymbal play in the opening, but don't just tack silence onto your file and say the song is long enough.
Q: What is a "listening party"? How do I join?
A: Every month after the songs are released, DoD hosts what we call a listening party, so that people can get together to listen to and discuss the songs (though usually people are more interested in joking around, which is fine). Based on the VGmix-created Kwakfest, the host will say "QUEUE (song)", which means get ready to listen to that song, then "PLAY (song)", which of course means listen to that song. This is so everybody is hearing the same songs at the same time, and makes discussing the songs easier. You do have to download the songs beforehand and listen to them from your computer.
- To join #dod, use a free IRC program such as mIRC, XChat, or Trillian, and connect to the irc.vgmix.com server. For further help, check the instructions or help files for whatever IRC program you're using.
Q: Some guy called "Snappleman" was really harsh when he commented on my song! What's the deal?
A: It's true that some people tend to word their comments harshly or crudely, especially during the listening parties where everything is off-the-cuff. This is compounded by the fact that some people have aggressive senses of humor. Try not to let it get it you; it's not a personal slight against you or your abilities.
Q: I have a question about the DoD forums.
A: To clarify: DoD doesn't actually have its own forums; theshizz.com is a site dedicated to a group of bands local to Arizona, one of which is popular video game rock band The Minibosses. As mentioned above, DoD started in that community and The Minibosses graciously pin the DoD topic to the front page of the forum every month.
I am not an administrator or moderator on the forums, but I will gladly pass along any questions, problems, or concerns you may have to them. If you already have an account and would like to skip the middle man, send a private message to mig50 or aaronburke (moderators of the Minibosses' subforum) or Donald (administrator of the forums).
Other questions should be mailed or sent by private message.
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