DiabloFans

I love you.

I just found this topic by accident while Googling my name for fun(I didn't even know it existed!). I apologize for necro'ing a dead thread, I just wanted to say thank you very much to everyone who had my back and enjoyed my submission so much. I worked ridiculously hard on it (as well as the ones I sent in the week after) and it feels good to know that there were some people out there who recognized and appreciated the effort I put in.

Really guys, even months later it just feels great to read this. So thanks again

Bring back the cool dark hoodie!

As always, first place wasn't very good in my opinion. Second place on the other hand; absolutely wonderful. The most deserving winner by far of all the beta contests. Grats man, you earned it. I was very impressed by that submission. Very clever, great mini-twist, great build up, excellent storytelling, completely relevant, and all around awesome.

Fact of the matter is, you guys are doing something wrong. I haven't seen one person say, "nice work man, you earned it" to these winners. The charlie brown one got some compliments, but I have a feeling that if you had a public vote on the best pic, NONE of the winners would make it in the top 10.

Frankly, I'm entirely over the disappointment of losing. I got my own beta key a few days ago and I have no reason to visit these forums. I'm writing this because I think you should know that the judges of these contests are NOT fit to do so, not by a long shot. There isn't a trace of talent or initiative in any of the winners. Why are you rewarding mediocrity?

I was fully prepared to lose to that guy who sent in the "Blinding Flash" submission from week 2. I thought I had a good chance of beating him, but I knew that it was going to come down to the 2 of us. I looked through every single submission multiple times and didn't see more than 5 or 6 good ones, the blinding flash being my biggest competition. The winner's submission was so underwhelming, I don't even remember seeing it. It was so unimaginably dull, simplistic, and unfunny, it made me realize that you guys don't take this contest seriously. No one in their right mind would pick that failure over the blinding flash submission, let alone some of the ones I sent in as well as a select few others.

You have to realize that the reason people think this contest isn't really a contest, is because of the massive failure of the judges in selecting winners. People have a hard time believing the legitimacy of this thing when the winners appear to have been selected randomly. It's not everyone else, it's you. I've shared this contest, it's winners, my submissions, as well as some of the other top submissions with hundreds of people over Facebook. ALL of them are nothing short of disgusted with the results. It is an abomination, and an insult to real competitions everywhere. At least half of them asked me, "are you sure the winner wasn't selected at random?". No one believes that a group of people sat down and picked those winners over some of the amazing entries that came in, it just isn't logical, and it doesn't seem possible.

Sorry, but this is one of the biggest failures I've ever witnessed.

Not disappointing for me, because I learned to ignore this sad excuse for a contest after losing to crap submissions the first 2 weeks. I don't believe for a second that a group of intelligent people decided on these winners after careful consideration. All except the first have been crap (though I still think were MANY better ones than the charlie brown one for the first week).

Check out my gallery if you want to see the submissions that one of the forum mods told me, "came like, ridiculously close to winning", but apparently, I put too much artistic effort in. I found this to be funny, seeing as how I haven't taken an art class since 5th grade and I am in no way an artist and my submissions were made almost entirely in MS Paint.

I spent around 100 hours in the first two weeks brainstorming ideas and editing the photos, only to be beaten by a charlie brown clip art that probably took about 14 seconds to think of and implement, whose result was mildly clever at best, and a "demotivational" poster mock-up that, frankly, sucked balls. "I'm SICK of waiting for beta".....lmao, I still laugh when I think about it.

Do yourselves a favor and steer clear of these "contests", at least, don't put any effort in if you must participate.

Don't bother with these contests guys, they are completely rigged. Every week's winner has been worse than the last. I didn't bother trying this week, and I won't be next week :). I saw 3 or 4 better submissions on the first page, nuff said.

It's essentially a random drawing, if you must participate, don't waste your time by putting too much effort into it. I learned the hard way.

Gosukusan, you need to learn a little humility. You've constantly upheld that your entries were the best and should win and that most of the other people entering are unfunny idiots. What one thinks is humorous is their own opinion and who are you to tell them that they are wrong? I don't particularly like the second contest's winning entry, and I'm sure there are others that don't either, but I don't see them demeaning the moderators of this website who are doing their best to appeal to the majority of the people, not just one guy: their priority with this contest is to attract new members to the site who will keep it growing and add their own thoughts to discussions. Why would they cater to you alone just because of your outstanding beliefs that you deserve a key? All I've seen you do is renounce the website--that sure as hell didn't help you, did it?

"Ur a Wizard, Harry..." says Hagrid. Oh, how does that make sense? Why is "Harry" vomiting and what does it have to do with the contest or Diablo? The only way it makes sense is the Wizard being named Harry and the person viewing it hasn't been under a rock for ten years when the series took off. And then you said that your "Harry-Wizard" picture was possibly your most favorite, when it itself is not funny nor epic and doesn't make sense to boot! Your picture where Link bombs the screen with an E-rating is pretty cool, I'll admit, but that doesn't change the fact that it makes no sense and has nothing to do with the picture other than morphing it--there was no caption or reasoning for Link to be there or throw the bomb. Again, it was a cool picture, but had no reason to be there. I'll give it to you that the rules were not explained very well and that would definitely allow for your anger then, but it's been a week and you still haven't shown that your picture could be the fault for your losing--no, to you it was the people or person who chose the winner.

So stop your bitching and deal with it. Leave and give up all chance entirely or stay and enter a picture that makes sense.

This is the type of person that this website caters to. How could you not understand the Harry Potter reference? Lmao, doesn't make sense? Use your brain dude. I know it takes a few seconds of thought, but come on. Let me break it down for you, so you don't hurt yourself trying to figure it out. The concept and focus of the photo is puke. So I took the concept that EVERYONE is aware of and used it to creative effect. The idea is that Hagrid is telling Harry Potter that he is a WIZARD, yet Harry is playing the game as a MONK. It is a personification of indulgence into the world of games, in which people see themselves as a character. It's one of the most basic personification and story telling methods.

So it uses the viral phrase of, "you're a wizard harry", which everyone who HASN'T been living under a rock for the last 10 years is aware of, and makes it applicable in a scene in which many possible factors could attribute to the primary focus of the reason for the puke. So upon learning that he is a WIZARD and not a MONK, Harry projectile vomits in a gut reaction. Harry has immersed himself into the game as the WRONG character. The puking is funny because it's entirely unwarranted, yet it serves to tell the reader of Harry's multiple levels of confusion, misunderstanding, and surprise. The subject matter is similar and a strictly Diablo reference is utterly unnecessary. Is that really so hard to understand? Use your brain. I like it because it tells a story in 1 frame, yet it takes more than one "frame" of thought to process. It's part of what good comedians will consider well thought-out comedic timing. Where what you are seeing or hearing comes at the right moment and in the right delivery. The fact that the scene is taking place in an instant, and rightfully so, on top of the fact that you are aware of the simplicity of the scene in the brief moment it takes to understand the joke, is part of what makes it so good.

For comparison, a joke that takes too long to read or understand, or serves as a visual distraction from the point of the joke, or states the obvious and uncreative (like this week's winner), or has too long of a setup for a delivery that isn't meant to be the focus, is a bad one. Those are the kind of jokes that 99% of this week's submissions used. If you find them funny, then good for you.

And for the 500th time, I'm not saying my entries are the best, I'm just saying they're MUCH better than the winners. I was fully prepared to lose to the "blinding flash" entry this week. It was brilliant, and I am just as upset for the person who submitted that as I am for myself. I set that submission as my bar, and if I didn't feel that one of my submissions came close or surpassed its greatness, then I wouldn't submit it. I won't be learning any humility. Humility in an intelligent and rational being is the acceptance of non reality for the sake of others, and I will not take a back seat to incompetence. I will accept defeat in the face of my superiors, but that has not occurred...not even close lol.

And I never said that the people behind these submissions are unfunny idiots. However, the submissions themselves, are mostly unfunny and idiotic...lmao. "dude I told you she couldn't drink that much!", "family guy puking chowder reference" (Oh, like every single person didn't think of that IMMEDIATELY, so creative), "I remember my first beer", "omg dude u just ate something gross and now ur puking". Really? Give me a break. If you really looked through all the submissions, as I did 3 times, then you would know that 95% of submissions encompassed the above, or a simple variation.

"but I don't see them demeaning the moderators of this website who are doing their best to appeal to the majority of the people"

Fair enough, as long as one can accept the fact that the majority of people have about as much mental capacity as a used tampon. If their primary objective was to attract new and intelligent people to this website, then they failed MISERABLY. They set the bar so low the first week, and even lower this week. Hence the reason for so many awful submissions this week, and about 1000 fewer total submissions. Most of the creative and intelligent people saw the contest for what it was and vacated, I stuck around because I wanted a key more than them, and look where my 100 hours of work got me.

I'm not asking Diablofans to cater to me, I don't know why all you altruists seem to think this is solely about me. All I'm asking is that they set the universally accepted criteria of rewarding the best with the prize in regards to a competition. I'm not saying my submissions are better than everyone else's (although I do believe they are better than most), I'm saying that my submissions are MUCH better than both winners, and so are many of the other submissions I've seen. It's not a matter of opinion, it's a measurable fact derived from empirical evaluation. If you disagree, then you aren't capable of understanding, or just too ignorant to accept it as a truth. It's not a debate, it's just one side not getting it, and the other side hopelessly trying to explain it for all eternity.

Oh yeah, and as for my "E-bomb" submission from the first week. I will absolutely admit that the concept is not 100% unique when considering the contents of the original picture. The reason I think it is so great, is because the concept itself is brilliant, and its implementation excellent. The reason it works for that picture, is because the majority of what is happening, is happening in the center of the picture. All the action and focus is taking place in the perfect spot to allow that idea.

Also, the demon hunter's position can be used to illustrate the effects of a bomb going off near her feet. In my submission, she appears to have been surprised by something...like a bomb. Then there's the environment. The environment worked for the idea because it could be creatively transformed without an overly large stretch of the imagination in regards to the idea.

Then there's the delivery. Link serves as the perfect character for this event. He is a character that you would find in such a dungeon, except his version of it, would be a little more "E for everyone". So he stumbles upon this demon hunter and this giant monster, and decides that it's too violent and grotesque. Since link is a bomb thrower, he decides to lighten up the situation from atop his stoop, with a look of gleeful and uncaring mischief on his face. Link is one of the few universally recognized characters that could serve as the essential poster child for "E for everyone" games. For these reasons, as well as others, he served as the perfect candidate for the idea.

In comparison, the 2 latest pictures could not use that idea to great effect AT ALL. There is no indication of a bomb, no conceivable point of delivery, no characters worth transforming, no environment of great enough variety, and the focus of the picture was too far off to the side for the latest winner.

After that explanation, does it still make no sense? I honestly don't see how such simple concepts can slip past anyone. My girlfriend who has never played a Zelda game got the reference and reasoning for it immediately.

If you want my reasoning behind why this contest is a sham and why the judges should be ashamed of themselves and why this "competition" is an abomination, I would be happy to forward you the message I sent to one of the forum mods. It's several pages long.

As for making a picture that makes sense, I fear that am not capable of appealing to those of a lesser mind. If you didn't understand the Harry Potter submission, then I just don't know what to tell you...lol

Not everyone's sense of humor is the same, and lots of people are putting effort into this contest. I think we all tend to hold high opinions of our own work, because it's tailored specifically to our own sense of humor. I thougth the first winner was great. I looked at most of the entries and the Lucy thing just popped. It was one of the few things in either contest I literally laughed out loud for and I was pleased that it won, because its the one I would have picked. The second one was nice to and the winner has my congrats.

If you honestly believe those things, then I sympathize with you. I haven't seen a single display of effort in over 4000 submissions that came even close to mine. First week's winner was mildly funny at best, this weeks didn't even bring a cracked half-smile to my face. I showed these results to every person I know. The first winner got 2 laughs out of about 200 people that I showed it to, and so far the second winner has received nothing but, "was this contest judged by retards?", or, "it's obviously rigged, don't waste your time". My work wasn't tailored specifically to anyone's sense of humor, I showed it to countless people and asked all their opinions before submitting it, and all of them loved them. I can't imagine anyone laughing out loud at the first weeks winner, and I can't imagine anyone cracking a smile at this week's. You're delusional lol, no other explanation. Why would you congratulate either winner? Would you congratulate a 6 mph fastball in the MLB? Maybe if it was thrown by someone with downs... OMG, I just discovered who this contest is directed towards.

Bye everyone, I won't be responding to anymore sad excuses for replies and justifications.

Another sad excuse for a winner compared to so many great entries. It is obvious to me now that this contest is not judged by sane or intelligent individuals, and that the key is simply given to friends or at random.

Over 100 hours of my life wasted in an attempt to get a key. Check out my gallery if you want to see the submissions that should have won for both contests.

http://www.diablofans.com/gallery/album/684-beta-contest/

I'm officially done with this website. Thank you for wasting my time, getting my hopes up and putting me under enormous stress and anxiety for 2 weeks straight, with a contest that purported to award talent, and most of all, for rewarding undeserving individuals with the thing that I want in my life more than anything else. I look forward to avoiding the revealing of future winners, so as to maintain my appreciation of the human mind. Thank you Dfans, I will remember you with a chuckle or pity.

P.S. Beta, I'm SICK of waiting for it... ROFL. It's funny cause, like, he's "sick" of waiting, and she's throwing up! lmfao. You know? Like cause she's so sick of waiting for beta, she's actually barfing!!!! LOL. It's so creative! I know, it takes a second to understand, but don't worry, you'll get there It's like, that generic demotivation idea that takes zero thought, then you write some white letters and it turns into something completely unoriginal!

My 5th and FINAL submission. Possibly my favorite out of the bunch, though I do love my fashion show one. For the love of all that is holy, please grant me thine beta key.

Congrats to me, I've now spent 100 hours of total editing trying to win this contest.

As for this 4th submission, I thought it would be a nice change to take the characters from the original pic and do something creative with them. I noticed that the zombie corpses have a VERY runway style look to them, and the purging just topped the cake. I love the result, hopefully the judges will too.

3rd submission. Good luck to me.

My second submission.

First submission.