I was thinking about the pre-lim system today

[DS1]

When I copied and pasted the last set of rules into the three contest threads, I saw that the top two per thread, and the next 4 highest scoring entries will make it into the final round. I'd copied this from the last contest, and when way back thanks to the new Google search to see that it's been this way for a long time.

I understand the reasoning behind this approach, but I'm not sure I agree with it. If three very strong entries are all in the same thread, then if the top three entries per thread are put in the final poll thread (with a total of 9), then the true winner will be revealed. However, using the current system, if another thread gets many more votes (as I've seen happen, Thread 2 always seems to get less votes and less kicks for whatever reason), the weaker entry from Thread 2 will make it to the finals.

I won't change the rules on the fly (as much as I'm tempted to), but I think the absolute top three threads in each of the three polls should make it to the finals. This brings up the problem of numerous ties for third in the prelim rounds, and the amount of effort it takes to work out tie-breakers.

I'd prefer to see things run in the sense of the top 3 entries per pre-lim thread entered into the final, and a fast run-off battle for the final spot in a quick 24 hour poll to determine the winner of any ties. If two or three entries were tied for third in thread one, they can go with the two that were tied for third in thread two, and the possibly 5 that were tied for third in the 3rd pre-lim. They would have a quick poll to see which one gets the 10th spot in the finals. My reasoning for the 24 hour period is to not saturate GD with photo thread kicks, and get the contest done with nice and clean.


I've also been wondering how you would all feel about a system that locks each contest thread after the first 120 votes, as the votes do come in quick at first and drastically drop off after the first 100.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. I'm not emotionally invested one way or the other

so whatever anybody else wants to do is fine with me.

[mth44sc]

2. Do whatever ya want

Its your contest.

I'm always kinda disappointed that threats 2 and 3 lack the views of thread 1 - sometimes by as a much as 100 or more.

A bit of experimentation to see what works best might be just the ticket...

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. I have long disliked the prelim system

we have, but I am not sure how to fix it, other than limit the contest to 10 entries.

[DS1]

4. 30 entries, 3 threads, top three of each go to Top 9 in finals

that's how I saw it.

Fark, of all places, does it differently. All farkers can vote for all of their favorites. Meaning, one farker can vote for 50 entries they like, or they can vote for one entry. It's up to them. Here on DU we are limited to one vote per thread. Fark has the instant run-off model built-in. Here on DU, we're sort of limited. I saw what I was cut and pasting regarding the rules, and I don't think this current system is ideal.

edit: btw, I resized your entry to the 800 px limit and hosted it myself. I wanted to have a contest where anything was open and dystopic, but the normal rules were slammed into place after the fact, and that's okay.

Anyway, the current contest will follow the normal procedures, and the top two of each thread will get a spot in the finals, and the next 4 highest voting entries will also make the final round.

[Ms. Toad]

6. The rules don't necessarily have to be the same.

That's pretty much up to the host, but the disclaimer/license kinda needs to be there if there is any possibility that the winners' photos will be gathered and hosted elsewhere (as they were for quite a while on Smugmug). There was at least one person who got really bent out of shape when his/her photo ended up hosted as part of a DU gallery of contest winners.

I don't care about how the top ten are chosen - there are inequities in the current system, but there would also be inequities in the top 3 in each round automatically going into the finals. Sometimes by the luck of the draw the eight "best" photos are in two threads, with the third thread containing not much that is interesting. If the top three in each thread automatically go to the finals, one of the "best" photos gets bumped in favor of one or to not so interesting photos from the third thread.

The only advice I would give is that the host decide (and announce) ahead of time what the rules are going to be. I thinks folks are less bothered by occasional change than by expectations that one set of rules will be followed then finding out halfway through the game that the rules have changed.

[ConsAreLiars]

5. My view is that there is an established practice,

as tested and modified over time, that works reasonably well given the limitations of the DU polling system, but that the host has earned the right to go against custom and habit and structure his/her contest any way s/he chooses. You did this very thing in the process you chose to select a topic, and no one griped. As I see it, you are free to do any damn thing you want with the contest, other than impose your rules on the next winner. Your innovation might bomb completely or open a new stage in the evolution of the process.

The one exception is the more-or-less standard disclaimer clause that entrants had to agree to in order to participate. It seems that this is both useful and necessary.

[regnaD kciN]

7. As far as I am concerned...

...if you're hosting the contest, you get to set the rules. (We may have "traditions" we usually adhere to, but they're not set in stone.)

The only limiting factor is the polling system built into the web software. That both includes the "fark" issue some mention, and the limit on ten entries in a poll. At times, if I had my way, I'd wish for a system that would allow all entries to appear in a single, one-round poll...but, then again, I wonder if some of the appeal for GDers is in the "Academy Awards" style of nominations and awards.

I suppose, if one wanted to be purist, one would have those three preliminary rounds, and then a final round with only the winner of each preliminary in the finals. After all, it that photo was judged the best in its group of ten, does it make any sense that a runner-up in that round should be able to beat it out in the finals? And, to be truthful, I know of only one contest where a second-place preliminary finisher took the top spot. So, why not limit it that way? I guess, in my case, I like the notion of having a "Top Ten," so that even people who've submitted a really good image but haven't wound up in the top three can still say "I made the Top Ten!" (As someone who wound up in fourth place for about three straight months last year, I'd much prefer to say that my photo was the fourth-place finisher than that it finished just outside of the final round. ;-) )

[JeffR]

8. I think the contests should be run like the DUzy Awards.

You know, with the kind and welcome input of 20 or 30 DUers, I can shrewdly assess the situation through my bifocals and end up making arbitrary choices based on my personal feelings. I think that's really more than fair.

Seriesly!!!!!!!!!11111111 though, there is a frustration built into the 10-option DU poll, and I think your alternative method might be better. I also agree with the idea advanced more than once in this thread that the host should have a wide berth as to how things are done. Variations from contest to contest keep the whole thing fresh, I think.