57 replies to this topic

[showmasters]

If you have any questions about the fanfic competition you can post them here or e-mail us on info@showmastersonline.com.

[StepUpTimneh]

They're all up now

EDIT: this isn't really a question about voting, but I was wondering, if I don't live near England, does the contest pay for a plane ticket? If I won (which I probably wouldn't) I'd probably be able to find a way to pay, but I was just wondering.

Edited by StepUpTimneh, 21 January 2006 - 11:34 PM.

[cosmic_llin]

This is more of a comment than a question, but it seems to me that the voting system is a little unfair. Dividing it into three polls means that everyone has three votes, but they aren't spread evenly.
For instance if I liked Fic A and Fic B and they were in the same poll, I would only be able to choose one of them, but if they were in different polls I could vote for them both. So the numbers of votes won't neccessarily be indicative of the popularity of each fic.
I'm sorry to be picky about this, and I do appreciate the effort that people have gone to to sort this contest out for us. I think it's a really great idea and I'm grateful to you guys for doing it for us.
I appreciate that there can only be a certain number of options on each poll.
But if Showmasters ever do a contest like this again, maybe the voting system could be a bit more fair? Perhaps something could be worked out, like the poll being hosted somewhere else?

[Cadiliniel]

I have to agree with cosmic_llin.  I think it'd be a shame for such a cool competition as this to be let down by message board restrictions on polling.

[Moony]

StepUpTimneh, on Jan 22 2006, 12:29 AM, said:

They're all up now

EDIT: this isn't really a question about voting, but I was wondering, if I don't live near England, does the contest pay for a plane ticket? If I won (which I probably wouldn't) I'd probably be able to find a way to pay, but I was just wondering.

To be honest I wouldn't have thought so as it wouldn't be too fair on those who are competing from the UK. Which I would assume would be the majority of people, but that is just my thought.

[Tippin]

Yeh I agree with all of you ma dudes! Maybe if the contest is run again that showmasters should read the fics and choose their top ten - then pass them onto the guests for them to choose the finlists? Or perhaps limit the number entries to one or two per person so that they could fit in poll?

It has been a great comp - always going to be teething problems with them especially the first one - nobody can be expected to get everything right first time!

[showmasters]

StepUpTimneh, on Jan 22 2006, 12:29 AM, said:

They're all up now

EDIT: this isn't really a question about voting, but I was wondering, if I don't live near England, does the contest pay for a plane ticket? If I won (which I probably wouldn't) I'd probably be able to find a way to pay, but I was just wondering.

Unfortunately at the moment we won't be covering travelling expenses for the winners, however we will of course send the trophy and prizes to any winners who can't make it to the show.

We have been delighted by the response to these first awards and will definitely be looking at ways to make them even bigger and better, so who knows what we will be able to do in the future!

[showmasters]

cosmic_llin, on Jan 22 2006, 01:39 AM, said:

This is more of a comment than a question, but it seems to me that the voting system is a little unfair. Dividing it into three polls means that everyone has three votes, but they aren't spread evenly.
For instance if I liked Fic A and Fic B and they were in the same poll, I would only be able to choose one of them, but if they were in different polls I could vote for them both. So the numbers of votes won't neccessarily be indicative of the popularity of each fic.
I'm sorry to be picky about this, and I do appreciate the effort that people have gone to to sort this contest out for us. I think it's a really great idea and I'm grateful to you guys for doing it for us.
I appreciate that there can only be a certain number of options on each poll.
But if Showmasters ever do a contest like this again, maybe the voting system could be a bit more fair? Perhaps something could be worked out, like the poll being hosted somewhere else?

I can see where you are coming from. We hadn't expected such a fantastic response to the competition and the length of the polls was a "teething problem" which cropped up at the last minute. However it shouldn't make much of a difference as you will only be voting for your favourite story out of any of the polls, and we will be judging by the number of votes a story has rather than by the percentage of votes withing a poll. The best story will win regardless of what competition it is up against. Of course having to split it into 3 sections does mean that some people will be able to vote for several options, however I would hope that they are voting for their favourite story rather than their favourite author! (That's one of the reasons I haven't put the author's names in the poll, just the story titles).

Once Collectormania G-Mex is over I will be looking into other options for voting next time. I don't really want to limit the number of stories each entrant can submit (that's just a short term solution anyway), and I would rather have something more open and visible than e-mail or text voting. As for us choosing the top 10 and putting those to the vote, people's tastes in literature are very subjective and I'm sure you would all much rather be chosen by a vote from a wide range of your peers and contempories than by a small secretive quango!

Either way, lets see how this one goes and we'll work on making it bigger and better for next time.

Andrea

[Evie_Nitram]

showmasters, on Jan 22 2006, 01:04 PM, said:

I would hope that they are voting for their favourite story rather than their favourite author! (

Sorry, but it's clearly a 'popularity' contest... some of these authors have come in here posting their stories, never having posted in the SM forum before, not even intending to come to G-mex in the first place; and they're now getting all their friends to vote for their stories alone... They haven't even read/reviewed other people's stories...

[Tippin]

I can see your point Andrea on wanting to have a wide selection chosen by forum peers - but the problem is that which Lizzi has pointed out - that it has become a popularity contest now which is unfortunate and also not reading or reviewing other peoples work ahs taken away from the fun of it - Elenami, Cadiliniel and Cosmic are new memebers yes - but they have reviewed other peoples work and joining in the rest of the forum (and have similar tastes in death eaters -cough-) I feel that some of the friendlyness of the compeition that there was in the begining has been drained by some other peoples selfishness

[PhoenixStorm]

Evie, I think what you say is a little unfair. The competition is in no way specified to be only for active members of these forums, and competitions are inevitably going to draw a wider interest than from just the regular people who post here.

Also, how do you know what people have and haven't read, or even their intentions towards going to G-mex? Just because no comment is made in each and every thread (which you can't do at the moment anyway, since the threads are closed) doesn't mean that voters haven't read a wide selection of the entries on offer.

Please don't take this post the wrong way or anything, it isn't intended to be offensive, and I am merely stating my opinion. I wish you good luck in the competition  :) .

[Tippin]

You're right there isn't that rule - but it's a forum and the compeition hasn't been publised all over the net - so stands to reason only members of the forum or people considering joining would know that it was on

She's not claiming to know who's going and who isn't but the first posted reply in this thread says an awful lot about travel plans

No one is saying that anybody has to read them all - but reading one other persons fic and leave one comment on it is just politeness - look at the stories that I've read and commented on - even if I haven't liked the plot or charcaters I've still had something supportive to comment on and that's at the end of the day what the competition should be about - not random people joining to win a prize, and getting friends into vote for them without reading the other stories - that's what's upset a lot of people - not the entries

[surfy_sah]

I agree with Tippin

I think it is a little unfair of people signing up the forums PURELY to post their fics and not post any where else, even though of course you have the right to do so

maybe people are new and want to get involved in the forum and come to Showmasteres events but the way it can be PERCEIVED is that people joined and posted their fic soley because they want to win and aren't going to be social OR attend the events

how is THAT fair on people who are forum vetrans and who have supported SM events for months/years?  

I've tried to see both points of view here...  


surfy sah xx

[feralmoggy]

I'm not jumping on a bandwagon but I'm trying to provide a balanced opinion as I have not entered the competition. The reason that Evie has highlighted the number of posts people have put is that the people who are voting have only been visible within the fan fiction sections and quite possibly only voted for fics by new people. If they were attending it would be assumed that they would have commented at least once in the Collectormania G-Mex section despite the FAQ section being amazing *cough well done TT cough*. However I do think this competition has been a good way of spreading the word of SHowmasters should it result in new attendances to their events.

[StepUpTimneh]

I disagree, I'm sorry that you took me the wrong way People told me about this competition, so I joined. Now I know that this is an awesome site, and I definitely will be posting here in the future! It's not like I'm going to leave right after this competition is over, I like it here. The only reason why I haven't been posting much is just because I don't have the time- I have been anxious to explore the site, but it's frustrating for me that I don't even have time to do my homework.

As for the comment about travel- I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean that I would win. I just thought that if there was no way I could get there, then shouldn't I withdraw my entries? I was just asking to see, because it would be hard for me to get the money. I probably won't win, since all of the older members do have excellent stories. I read most of them today and yesterday, since it's the weekend and I've had time. I'd definitely reply to them with comments, but I believe that the threads are closed.

[feralmoggy]

Its good to hear you'll hang around. There's plenty of people who come from all over the world to SM events so its becoming more of an international community. Have a look around in the other areas of the board and you'll find some very odd and interesting things.

[Tippin]

Been discussing with Cadi and Cosmic  - what happens if there are say five stories with the same number of votes and three with higher vote tallies - how is it going to be decided which of those five stories go through as the other two winners? would another poll be done for those stories to see which were the best and give them the remianing places accoridngly or what?

[fanficcer]

Quote

You're right there isn't that rule - but it's a forum and the compeition hasn't been publised all over the net - so stands to reason only members of the forum or people considering joining would know that it was on

Actually, the people running the contest sent press releases to several internet sites, including harrypotterfanfiction.com. Which I believe is the biggest independent HP fanfiction site on the net. Seems you guys have a bee in your bonnet, because you actually have a bit of a competition on your hands!!

As for being a popularity contest,  I   would bet my next pay packet that a long standing member of the forum will win. Purely because of their great story and not because everyone who knows them on the forum will be voting for them. The voting system is open to abuse and is badly set up. There needs to be an independant panel judging at the final voting section.

Edited by fanficcer, 22 January 2006 - 05:09 PM.

[showmasters]

I'm sorry, but these awards were intended for everyone, regardless of whether they are regular forum members or intended to go to Collectormania. It was promoted on other fanfic forums and sites and we are very happy for new members to use this section to post their stories without posting in other sections. That was why we set up a seperate section in the first place!

These Fan Fiction Awards are seperate from our shows, it just happens that the awards are being presented at one of them, and they will only grow and improve if more and more fans enter. And if by opening this up to all writers we are able to encourage more fans to use the rest of the forum or introduce them to our shows, well that's an added bonus for all of us!

And quite frankly I'm surprised that some of the longer term members of our forum who have had plenty of time to make friends on here are begrudging our new members the support of their friends (I do find it interesting that the story with the most votes at the moment is written by a long term and very active forum member, not a newbie). I'm sure there will be some instances where members vote for their friends but luckily for this event I for one trust the integrity of the fans taking part. I only hope that others on here can extend the same courtesy to our new members.

Andrea

[showmasters]

Tippin, on Jan 22 2006, 05:03 PM, said:

Been discussing with Cadi and Cosmic  - what happens if there are say five stories with the same number of votes and three with higher vote tallies - how is it going to be decided which of those five stories go through as the other two winners? would another poll be done for those stories to see which were the best and give them the remianing places accoridngly or what?

If there are several tied stories they too will be added to the final poll and the top 5 will be chosen from the list.