DiabloFans

Quote from Daemaro

I'm not sure where you got that quote, you didn't link to it. Anyhow we don't have a direct set of rules. The guidelines are in the post.

All due apologies.

http://www.diablofans.com/news/947-beta-key-contest-4/page__st__40/

Scroll down until you see the Warner Brother's frog, then go down two posts down to Magistrate's. He has a disclaimer, but that's still an exact quote of the explanation that I read. Not sure if or how it applies to things, but if true (which seems to be the case) then my concerns are still persistent. I suppose I understand a lack of strict rules (Relaxed competitive atmosphere), but it does seem somewhat unnerving that there's no consistency in choice of 'best'. Makes it difficult - if not impossible - to get an idea of how to compete when the definitions of quality adjust from week to week.

Quote from Daemaro

The best advice I could give you would be to make the next entry (which is writing) unique and interesting, not too short and not too long. Keep in mind those are just guidelines though.

Obscure ones at that. Though I can't say I'm disappointed or anything, since I'll be the first to admit that such guidelines are completely fair, and of course note the subjective nature of artistic endeavors.

Quote from Daemaro

Mmm I found the quote. Magistrate was stating his opinion. There are no rules against such things that's just how he decided to vote. Your submission had just as fair of a chance.

I see. Well, then thanks very much for your time. I suppose if it indeed wasn't a matter of simply trying to quell complaints, then I have no room for concern. Still, it doesn't help my enthusiasm for the future, but I appreciate the clarity none the less. Thanks.

P.S. Meant to click edit instead of delete. I haven't slept, so hand eye sucks. Sorry.

The problem that we face is that we can't pick anyone that uses any references (memes, pop culture, movies, etc.) from outside the series (everyone's first complaint), so that eliminates 95% of them. Then we got in trouble for picking one that focused on image usage and didn't include a caption, so we had to be sure entries had literal captions.

What are the rules, exactly? I mean - while I'm not complaining about losing - the last competition I entered, I apparently wasn't able to win from the moment I sent in my submission. This was largely due to the aforementioned rules of selection that were implemented after previous weeks (namely, the first winner). I wasn't aware of them at the time, and thus, made my submission accordingly.

I totally understand the decisions made, I don't think the contest was 'rigged', and I even found the winning submission to be somewhat amusing (though my own preferences lean elsewhere, even aside from my own) but I would've liked to be kept into the loop. Making a submission like the first winner's ended up making it impossible for me to win from the start, because of changes in the rules that I was not aware of. That is frustrating, to say the least. As such, I kind of want to avoid a repeat situation like that again, if at all possible.

For a moment while writing this, I asked myself if I was simply ignorant, or just making a big deal out of nothing. To ensure that I wasn't being biased in my perspectives, I went back to the third contest to examine it a bit more closely: http://www.diablofans.com/news/932-beta-key-contest-3/. I didn't see anything about no memes, or even no images. I suppose one could take the speech and thought bubbles aspect literally, and extrapolate that it cannot be anything except such, but then the actual winner technically wouldn't apply, for having subtext; this of course would be a silly proposition. Combine this with the fact that the first winner had an image, and you run into a situation of some rules obscurity.

I digress. What was done is done. But, that doesn't mean I won't learn from previous errors. So, now I ask, what are the rules for this? Outside references are no-no's, I assume. How 'short' is 'short'? Will I be disqualified for typing too much or too little? It's just really difficult to read between the lines now, and I'm worried that there's some hidden clause that will guarantee loss before I even submit a given piece of writing. I suppose the easy answer is "If you're worried about losing, then don't participate." Honestly, though, I'd like to. I have no problems with losing; It's the 'no chance' feeling that I'd rather not meet with again. Thus, I figured that opening the lanes of communication would be a good idea. There's no ill will, just confusion and caution, I suppose.

Thanks for reading, and preemptive thanks for any possible clarity on the matter.

Well, winning this should be easy.

Binkles was a INSTERT BETA OR BLIZZARD REFERENCE HERE.

There, do I win now? Sorry if I sound bitter.

And a simple version, in-cast I did too much on the above.