FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What's considered an "appropriate" group / alias name? Inappropriate?
Please keep all names / aliases at a PG-13 rating. Do not include offensive terms, swears, crude humor, etc. Please don't make me explain to the parents that happen to pass by SCB why minors are totting around & calling themselves [insert excessively nasty name here]. ?
So I can still add singers / staff to my group, even after Round 1 has ended?
As long as the changes stay within group guidelines & you have the passes for it - yeah! Go for it. Again, make sure you contact SCB about the changes.
If only a couple of my members want to go anonymous, does the whole group have to go anon too?
Nope! Everyone's required to give SCB the true identities regardless. One person vs. everyone going anon doesn't affect us either way. By the way, being anonymous isn't a free pass at joining two or more two or more groups at the same time. Do not join one group under your «real» alias, and another one anon. You (and potentially your group[s]) will be disqualified.
What is a "group representative"? Is it like naming a group leader?
Not necessarily. A group representative is, ideally, the most reliable contact member for your group. We want someone both your group & SCB Staff can trust to send and share your scoresheets, non-emergent questions you may have, and relay information / questions from the SCB Staff that are specific to your group (i.e. resource checks, missing credits, etc.)
So names & aliases must stay PG-13. What about the contents of our entry? Can we have dark / risqué / vulgar / etc. things there?
Within reason. As a general rule of thumb: keep the contents of your entry to a PG-13 rating. Themes and/or inclusions of nudity, blood, gore, swearing, death are allowed … just. Be reasonable, right? Don't show explicit intimate bits, excessively bloody/gore-filled scenes, swear like an absolute sailor, etc. Feel free to consult SCB Staff if you have concerns about your content.
My video is still processing! Do you guys count the upload, or the link we submitted as our entry?!
That's fine! Entries are counted by the timestamp on the form submission. Videos may continue to process during the submission phase, so long as a valid video link is provided.
Why are you "holding" my group's entry? How do we fix that? Is this just a fancy way to say we're disqualified?
Let's say, hypothetically, your group forgets to include song composer credits in the video description. Rather than rejecting your entry outright, we will instead put it on hold until you fill in the missing name(s) & associated link(s). SCB holds all entries until 24 hours pass after grace period. Entries still missing components after that will be disqualified.
Can I get an extension past Grace Period if my render is taking too long?
Unfortunately, no. Again, SCB considers rendering & encoding as part of the entry process.
My teammate had to drop from our group, but our group stays above the minimum 4 member headcount. Do we need to use a pass for them leaving?
Nope! However, please let SCB Staff know of the changes if they're planning to join another group.
Can I use a Member Transfer Pass to work in two or more teams at the same time?
No. Again, participants may only work with one group at a time. Member Transfer Passes permanently move a single member into their new group. You are now considered a member of your new group, and not your previous group. If you would like to return to your old group, or to another group after that, the group would have to utilize another pass. Each time you transfer groups, you relinquish your status under the previous one.
My group ran out of passes! Is there a way we can get more?
For Member Passes: groups will always have a minimum of two (2) Member Passes are refreshed/refunded the start of each round. An additional pass may be earned by successfully completing one of the Round Challenges in your group's entry.
For Grace Period Passes: groups have one (1) Grace Period Pass to start with. However, once used, it is used for good. You do not have your Grace Period pass refunded at the start of the next round. Additional passes are only given at the start of Round 2 and Round 3.
Can I use multiple Grace Passes at the same time?
Yes, provided you have the passes to!
Do you guys accept render screenshots, with proof of current times, to stand-in for our submission?
No, we do not. Finished, valid video links only. SCB considers managing render & encoding times as part of the entry process. Plus, it's way too easy to alter pictures to show false times, (for example: a team sends a picture saying «2 hours remaining», when really, it said «12 hours remaining» pre-photoshop) or for people to pause renders and continue working on the entry, etc.
We're having issues rendering our audio/video!! Am I allowed to seek help from participants / individuals outside of our group ..?
Oh no! Yes, you can ask for outside help. Try reaching out to one of the volunteers listed on our public render & encode registry. SCB will not penalize group(s) or individual(s) for seeking or offering render / encode assistance. Just keep in mind the file(s) / plugin(s) / program version(s) / etc. needed. We know quite well how rendering fails when you need it the most.
I found an issue with my group's scores / critique. May I speak with a judge about it?
Absolutely! Contact the SCB Twitter with the issue(s) you've found and, if applicable, the specific judge(s) you'd like to speak with. You could also ping the available judges on SCB's contact Discord. Please do not contact any individual judge on their personal accounts, unless said judge(s) has given explicit permission to do so.
My team hasn't received our scoresheet yet! Who do I speak to to get it?
Our apologies! Again, please contact SCB Staff for any questions / concerns and we'll get to you as soon as we can.
Any chance of SCB being open to deadline extensions? If so, what is the policy around them?
While we prefer to stay on schedule, SCB is willing to accommodate round extensions, but only if we deem it to be absolutely necessary. One use case would be if there was high confidence that less than fifty percent of the active groups would be able to finish on the stated deadline.
At least three days must remain in a round for SCB to call an extension. Should SCB go forth with the ruling, announcements will be pushed to both Twitter and Discord, as well as an update to our countdown timers. No other extensions will be added to a single round.