Halloween Contest Off-Topic Thread 2

[StrangeLife]

- If you reduce the number of legitimate votes by ~90%, you make every fraudulent vote 10x more powerful. For anybody who knows how to get past simple protections, that makes it EASIER to cheat and harder to detect that cheating.

That is actually a very good point - there is safety in numbers.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Umm, is this the part where someone says stop being so hung up about an online contest that doesn't mean shit out there?

Jeez...

 

[SamScribble]

Umm, is this the part where someone says stop being so hung up about an online contest that doesn't mean shit out there?

Jeez...

I think you have a point, Mr Bard. The competitions as they are currently structured are what they are. If you win, congratulations (however it happened). If you don't, get on with your next story. There are people waiting to read it - even if, as in my case, it's only a couple of dozen people.

 

[StrangeLife]

Umm, is this the part where someone says stop being so hung up about an online contest that doesn't mean shit out there?

Jeez...

Are you kidding me mr. Bard?

Don't you know that it's a statistically proven fact that Literotica contest winners get more sex? Having your name inhabiting a toplist on this site immediately raises your cool-factor, and cool is a strong aphrodisiac. Trust me - why else would we fight so hard to win this?

 

[TxRad]

Are you kidding me mr. Bard?

Don't you know that it's a statistically proven fact that Literotica contest winners get more sex? Having your name inhabiting a toplist on this site immediately raises your cool-factor, and cool is a strong aphrodisiac. Trust me - why else would fight so hard to win this?

So they can add award winning author to their e-book covers as a way of selling more books.

 

[TxRad]

Banning anonymous is not the point.

If you want to come to Lit and read as anonymous then knock yourself out.

If you want to vote and/or comment then register as you are now interacting with the members at Lit.

Very simple.

 

[RejectReality]

The screams from Incest/LW authors whose vote/comment totals plummeted by orders of magnitude would be heard round the world.

Joe and Jane Blow wouldn't bother to sign up, vote, or comment.

Billy and Becky Asshat would create new accounts faster than Laurel can search for them, and have even more impact without the far larger number of average anonymous users balancing the scales.

 

[StrangeLife]

If you want to vote and/or comment then register as you are now interacting with the members at Lit.

Very simple.

But what would be the point of enforcing that?

Technically the only difference between "Anonymous" and "Registered-user-dude" is that the latter owns an e-mail account - something that you can easily get anonymously. There are even sites offering throw-away accounts that only exists for 24 hours especially for registration purposes.

Of course you can choose to establish your username in the forum - maybe post some stories too - and thus work towards building credibility for that name. But if you don't do that, there is no real difference between being a registered user or not. You are equally anonymous, so trolling from a registered account is not a problem.

 

[NicoleZ]

The comments, on the other hand, don't really bother me, because the author has ultimate control over those and can remove them at any time.

If the comment is particularly nasty and unrelated to the story/writing, then it should be easy not to take it to heart and just delete it (or not--author preference).
If the comment provides helpful feedback and criticism, then it's valuable whether it's posted anonymously or not.

Plus, some of my favorite comments came without account names attached. I'd hate to miss out on those

But regarding the abolishment of the option of commenting anonymously I cannot agree. Being a Lit author myself I almost always comment anonymously because I don't want to get into "a quid pro quo" situation with other authors. I want to be able to give my honest opinion - not as StrangeLife but as a critical reader. The person who wrote the story I just read deserves that.

Besides, Lit already has an option for contributors to disable anonymous comments. But if they use it, they probably won't get any feed-back from me...

I am sorry, I wasn't very clear there was I. Today, you have the option to comment as either Anon or yourself and what I meant was that you should retain that choice, but it should be through a verified eMail address as with my suggestion for voting. Your comment would still be shown as being submitted by Anon but in the case of abuse, it would be possible to track it to its source.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, I think you underestimate folks' capacity for brazenness--and overestimate the interest of reader fans.

I think you're underestimating the readers. There are people here who take other peoples work way too seriously.

 

[lovecraft68]

But what would be the point of enforcing that?

Technically the only difference between "Anonymous" and "Registered-user-dude" is that the latter owns an e-mail account - something that you can easily get anonymously. There are even sites offering throw-away accounts that only exists for 24 hours especially for registration purposes.

Of course you can choose to establish your username in the forum - maybe post some stories too - and thus work towards building credibility for that name. But if you don't do that, there is no real difference between being a registered user or not. You are equally anonymous, so trolling from a registered account is not a problem.

I think the site should not allow anon votes and comments in the contests. The site could easily justify this by saying since it is a contest, with prizes and the vaunted "W" at stake that there are different rules. One of which is a username is required to vote.

Yes, there would be less votes for the authors. But the votes that are there will be better ones. Quality over quantity and it could also entice some of the 'good' anon's to sign up.

 

[lovecraft68]

All these suggestions and debating is end of the day a moot point. The site is not going to change anything, we know that.

The authors bring the readers here, therefore we are what keeps lit afloat. Yet the readers are the ones coddled and what the site worries about. Oh, no I can't get rid of anon, it will deter the trolls and take away their ability to spew at and abuse and fuck with the...people who make money...that's what it seems like.

Screw all the contest authors, many of whom have large followings and large story files and contribute heavily to this sites success, I have to make sure the fat slob in the basement can take out his frustration on people's hard work.

As for a disclaimer? Catch 22

Yes, I think people entering for the first time should be warned their story is going to attract some unwanted attention and snarky comments. But don't give up, that 3.95 can easily be a 4.4 at the end etc...

But I don't think anyone is going to read a "so your story will be a punching bag for x amount of days, but you get a nice boost in the end" comment and say "Hey, this is for me!"

As I mentioned before on other topics, the trolling in general is getting worse here and off the charts in these things.

8letters keeps disputing this, citing his stats repeatedly all over the forum. Good for you on a couple of successful stories and a contest win. But stick around, make a name for yourself-which you will do with the stat touting regardless of your motivation- and when you've become a target get back to the rest of us who already are.

People fly under the radar of the trolls until they do something to draw their attention. Like Everlux drawing the ire of the readership of one category determined to keep her story out of the top spot where their fav author is.

 

[8letters]

But stick around, make a name for yourself-which you will do with the stat touting regardless of your motivation- and when you've become a target get back to the rest of us who already are.

I know - arguing with facts really pisses some people off.

Yes, I think people entering for the first time should be warned their story is going to attract some unwanted attention and snarky comments. But don't give up, that 3.95 can easily be a 4.4 at the end etc...

But I don't think anyone is going to read a "so your story will be a punching bag for x amount of days, but you get a nice boost in the end" comment and say "Hey, this is for me!"

I keep waiting for some examples of this. NicoleZ has said that she felt she was attacked by trolls but I don't see it from the facts she presented. EverLux got a lot of heat early on, not because of trolls but because she posted a story in Romance that ended in a threesome. I picked a story at random for the Summer Lovin' contest, tomlitilia's Going with the Flow. It's in a slower category, Lesbian Sex. All of the comments are positive. All but two were during the contest and one of those two was by the author thanking the commenters. Show me a story from the Summer Lovin' contest from a minor author besides EverLux that was treated as a punching bag.

Edit - Looking at the scores of two stories, they rose after the contest is over. I can see that happening in slower categories as the contest is going to deliver votes for your story from general readers who aren't enamored of that particular category. I'd need to do some more research before stating that is true or even mostly true.

 

[sr71plt]

I think you're underestimating the readers. There are people here who take other peoples work way too seriously.

I have no idea how you could evidence that beyond your own assumptions. I'll stick with common sense likelihood. I'll also, though, not spend a lot of time initiating blood about in the forum. As you post elsewhere, it is what it is and change rare happens here.

 

[StrangeLife]

I think the site should not allow anon votes and comments in the contests. The site could easily justify this by saying since it is a contest, with prizes and the vaunted "W" at stake that there are different rules. One of which is a username is required to vote.

Yes, there would be less votes for the authors. But the votes that are there will be better ones. Quality over quantity and it could also entice some of the 'good' anon's to sign up.

But do you honestly believe that people with so little regard for their own time that they would go out of their way to click around just to vote down all stories of a specific author, refresh their IP in order to cast multiple votes or mobilize an army of friends and acquaintances to vote a certain way wouldn't simply register 10-20 or 30 fake accounts?

I mean, we are dealing with individuals for whom having their say like this apparently is very important. I think you overestimate the added legitimacy provided by registering. The trolls may even see it as a challenge and step it up.

 

[NicoleZ]

I keep waiting for some examples of this. NicoleZ has said that she felt she was attacked by trolls but I don't see it from the facts she presented.

4
5
5
4
1
3
1
3 here the avge was a whooping 3.23
5
5
5
5
4
5 and by then seven that were still there the last time I looked with one more added.

Then a sweep came along and removed six votes, ones and fives. You don't favourite a story if you give it a 1, 3 or 4, do you now? So those were genuine and the sweep still removed some of them and this is why I:

a) Withdrew the story by disallowing both voting and comments
b) Have absolutely NO CONFIDENCE in the sweeps
c) Decided never again to enter another competition on Litterotics as long as major changes aren't implemented

My response to the bombing was to write and enter a second story "A Prank of Loki's", a satire in the Jonathan Swift mould which to date has only been understood by less than a handful of people, which confirmed to my satisfaction that both bombing and a completely clueless sweeping system are real features of Litterotics.

Voting on "A Prank of Loki's":

3
2
5
4
2
4
3
2 - At this point there was a sweep, none of the votes were affected
1
2
1
2
5
3

After 14 votes there was a sweep that removed 4 votes totalling 10 vote points which gives the following two alternatives for votes swept/removed

5 - 3 - 1 - 1 which would leave two x 2 as "genuine votes"

or

5 - 2 - 2 - 1 which would leave one 1 and one 3 as "genuine votes"


There's your proof 8letters but you will of course deny it to be such and come up with your usual condescending bleather.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

4
5
5
4
1
3
1
3 here the avge was a whooping 3.23
5
5
5
5
4
5 and by then seven that were still there the last time I looked with one more added.

Then a sweep came along and removed six votes, ones and fives. You don't favourite a story if you give it a 1, 3 or 4, do you now? So those were genuine and the sweep still removed some of them and this is why I:

a) Withdrew the story by disallowing both voting and comments
b) Have absolutely NO CONFIDENCE in the sweeps
c) Decided never again to enter another competition on Litterotics as long as major changes aren't implemented

My response to the bombing was to write and enter a second story "A Prank of Loki's", a satire in the Jonathan Swift mould which to date has only been understood by less than a handful of people, which confirmed to my satisfaction that both bombing and a completely clueless sweeping system are real features of Litterotics.

Voting on "A Prank of Loki's":

3
2
5
4
2
4
3
2 - At this point there was a sweep, none of the votes were affected
1
2
1
2
5
3

After 14 votes there was a sweep that removed 4 votes totalling 10 vote points which gives the following two alternatives for votes swept/removed

5 - 3 - 1 - 1 which would leave two x 2 as "genuine votes"

or

5 - 2 - 2 - 1 which would leave one 1 and one 3 as "genuine votes"


There's your proof 8letters but you will of course deny it to be such and come up with your usual condescending bleather.

If I hadda bet my farm I'd bet someone on Planet Earth invented software for accurate contest scoring. I mean, unless youre a PILOT darn near every idea we get aint new under the sun. The present system serves the pets. Contests are akin to lots of job openings, they already know the winner but need your application for appearances.

 

[NicoleZ]

If I hadda bet my farm I'd bet someone on Planet Earth invented software for accurate contest scoring. I mean, unless youre a PILOT darn near every idea we get aint new under the sun. The present system serves the pets. Contests are akin to lots of job openings, they already know the winner but need your application for appearances.

Oh there is and it's been in place since at least 2002 when a group of dedicated Status Quo fans managed to pervert the voting to such an extent that their then-latest album was voted "Album of the Year" in spite of barely going silver which in the UK was 70,000 units back then. It was the last time vote rigging was possible on that site but The Quo still kept the trophy!

As for the rest, I am perfectly well aware of that and was before I even entered the contest. My sole aim was to place well, possibly top-10 if it went really well, and enjoy the experience. Little did I know...

 

[StrangeLife]

...and this is why I:

a) Withdrew the story by disallowing both voting and comments

It is of none of my business of course, but regardless of the suspicious voting patterns I think you should have left your story in the competition and let the chips fall as they may. It is very good and eventually the increasing number of legitimate votes from readers appreciating your efforts would have cancelled out the trolls.

If you were to re-enable voting on it, you might get positively surprised...

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

I am surprised I got as many votes as I did. I was afraid I wouldn't get enough, but luckily I did.

I am happy to have finished and submitted way before the deadline, that was my goal. I am the worst, or maybe the best, procrastinator ever! I usually wait until the day before and that's when I start something. One of my kids loves anime and goes to the conventions. I make the costumes for her. I tell her just show me what you want to be, I'll make it, and it used to drive her crazy that I start like a day or two before she needs it, but now she knows that's just how I work and that it will get done.

Anyway I told myself I wanted to get a story written and submitted before the deadline, and I did! I am not proud of the story, it could have been a lot better, but I am proud of myself for getting it in well before the deadline

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I never enter contests because I believe the fix is in from the start.

I wrote a Halloween tale and shared it with another writer, but didn't submit.

I already have an idea for next year, it spins around what I call confounding, when all the facts fit two distinct and different outcomes.

 

[sr71plt]

It's zapper "adjustment" time in the contest--that period during the last day when zappers are trying to get in ahead of the contest being closed. Sort of interesting who has been zapped so far today and who hasn't--yet, at least.

 

[Haulover]

This is my first contest entry (and my 2nd Lit story), so I'm curious to see how it progresses...

After 60-or-so votes / 7,300 views, it was at 4.4. After last night's (presumed) sweep, it was at 4.51.

 

[8letters]

You don't favourite a story if you give it a 1, 3 or 4, do you now?

People favorite stories, particularly long ones like yours, as a way of bookmarking the story to finish later. So don't assume that a favorite = 5 vote.

 

[Arngrim]

So don't assume that a favorite = 5 vote.

Or that a favorite = a vote at all. For some, it's their way of saying, "I liked it," without actually voting. Different strokes for different folks.