Where have all the good swaps gone? Hosts needed for new ideas

[jupiternwndrlnd]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

[NoDivision]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

Yuuuppppp

[Colorscapesart]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

Yuuuppppp

Super yup.

[ViciousJupiter]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

Yuuuppppp

Super yup.

Super duper yup.

[PrincessOfDarkness]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

I'd agree with this.
Team that with the fact that people sometimes get a pony that they aren't happy with (not meeting requirements, lower quality than expected based on previous works, late shipping) which makes a swap experience less than positive... I think that plays a part.
I personally am very picky about joining swaps because I have received customs from people in the past which were shipped incredibly late without so much as a 'sorry!', or customs which were the complete opposite of my requests (using colours which I specifically mentioned not liking etc), or of a lower quality than I'd expect from the person sending. Those were less than stellar experiences for me - putting so much effort into a custom and shipping on time, only to receive something 10 weeks late of the shipping date? It certainly left me feeling sad and unwilling to participate in as many swaps - now I pick and chose very carefully.

~Princess Of Darkness~

[JSplit]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

I think this is definitely a major factor. 

[Sarahlacewing]

personally i think so many people have been burned by other people in swaps that many are starting to not want to participate, or even host! (cause hosting means you are making extra customs when people go MIA)
but just my opinion.

^truth.

[True]

Maybe a miyazaki swap or a pokemon swap!

miyazaki omg PLEASE! T.T

[lilacamy931]

Agree with a lot of the comments, I am new to the public swapping aspect but hope it to be a positive experience

Would love the idea of a Ghibli swap

[DaffyDilly]

[size=78%]I hosted a swap last year and found it very hard work - much prefer hosting shopping swaps on PonyCon where everybody is a bit closer; it feels easier and more connected some how. It will be a long time before I consider hosting another swap.[/size]


I considered a couple of swaps but [size=78%]I just haven't felt the mojo so far this year. I know how you feel about there seeming to be too many swaps that you wanted to enter and not enough time etc, but at the moment I think that a lot of it is down to me being a bit meh about it all. I've come so close to starting a PM with signup info and then backed out. I wonder how much of it is due to always going for complicated customs - more often than not my ideas will exceed my ability so I get frustrated during the process. I want to do a few smaller projects  - she says as she has 2 G2 baits prepped for sculpting wings on - to get back into the flow. I used to make a custom or two a week, now I do 2-3 customs a year.[/size]

[size=78%]Also, with a lot of new customisers coming in (I often don't recognize the posters in the customs forum because I've spent less time here, and more in the Army Swap thread which is my home from home, and the SHII) I think that we're seeing repeats of themes that we saw in the last couple of years. I'd rather do something different.[/size]

[size=78%]But, if I don't sign up now, I can work on customs for other things as I have quite a few I want to do and I've always put them on the back burner to prioritise swaps etc, and then if a swap comes up that I really want to do, I'm not too tied up in other swaps already.[/size]

Over the next year or two, I'd like to try my hand at a mermaid swap, I am devastated that I couldn't do the Under the Sea swap (I was in two/three others) and if another fairy tale swap crops up then I'd like to do that. And a dragon swap of course. I loved that.

In the mean time, I'll just keep doing whatever it is that I do with my bait box - mostly go through it looking for a bait, but ending up putting the baits on the shelves because "oh I can't bait you" - and hope that something inspires me.

Post Merge: February 18, 2012, 06:33:51 AM

Sorry, I don't know why on earth it does that weird size thing or how to fix it. All I did was drag text from one part of the post to another and it went dodgy. 

[Roogna]

I agree with that "disappointed" factor that's been mentioned. I've been a bit "Swapped out" the past 2 years and have only tried to do the swaps that I REALLY REALLY wanted...and had problems twice (my only swap problems) - thankfully, I would say those happened on ones that were not at the top of my FAV swaps, but still... I also went through a period a few years ago where I was doing so many swaps I had people tell me that instead of commissioning me they would wait and see if they got me in a swap, and I've been trying to avoid that ever since. I seem to have a *very* hard time selling my customs/commissions within the community, which doesnt' help how I feel. I really enjoy swaps (personal and organized), but I have to be picky so as not to burn myself.

Currenly, I feel very behind in my own customs, the customs I want to have done for the Fair, and commisions/personal trades (thankfully just finished the commish and one of 2 trades) so I can't meet some of the *short* deadlines that some swaps have (yes 2 months is short when you're planning to sculpt)

recently the ones that have peaked my interest seemed to have a total lack of interest from those I'm used to seeing in the swaps I do - that plays a part in my decision too.

personally I feel that some of us are just in a "tired" phase and need a small break from swaps, hoping to gear up for more after the Fair.

[True]

im hosting my first swap right now, its kinda a small swap, but iv really liked it so far i would for sure be willing to host more later one, especially if someone has an idea but doesnt want to host it themselves maybe.

[DaffyDilly]

If people are being disappointed so much, do you think that we, as swap hosts, aren't doing a good enough job of filtering people out and pairing up? If that is the case, what do you think could be done to improve this?


I had one person who was an established community member vanish in my swap (my partner luckily, left other people standing too), a pony go missing (sender made another for their partner which was received) and one person ship late after an extended deadline for everybody (but it worked out in the end, they were also late on other swaps). Kind of put me off hosting again but these things happen!

[heftysmurf76]

I stated above I meant to rephrase "good", because I wasn't insinuating the ones available currently are NOT good, just not as appealing to me. I thought to change the thread title, but didn't want to confuse people since it had so many replies already.

To me, I'm not into the stuff that gets done a lot, like corsets, steampunk, flowers, mermaids, etc. I much prefer unique or geeky swaps, but I like them to be specific...That's just my preference though, It wouldn't stop me from joining one if it piqued my interest...

Speaking of, I'd defineitly add to my list of swaps I'd like to see:

-Jem swap
-Care Bears Swap
-Strawberry Shortcake Swap
-Animal friends swap (make a pony into a new animal friend or animal themed cutie).

[NoDivision]

recently the ones that have peaked my interest seemed to have a total lack of interest from those I'm used to seeing in the swaps I do - that plays a part in my decision too.

Oh man, this as well. The people who used to be really involved in swaps when I first came here aren't anymore. I always wait to see who else is signing up now before I sign up myself.