Signature of the Month Contest Generic Discussion Thread

[ahelo]

We should totally restart the SOTM contest again after the Winter Banner Contest. I think there's been enough time leeway between the last one and now.

[papermario13689]

Aw, it had gone on hiatus as soon as I began to learn signature making. If it ever comes back, I'll be waiting with my newbie creations.

[Tong]

Signature contests are rigged anyway :L

[papermario13689]

Using what, pray tell? Hypnotism? Propaganda? They're users voting via personal opinions with no tolerance for coaxing.

[Marcus H.]

It's not rigged per se, but the fact that many users in AnimeSuki use signatures from other users will tend to influence voters' choice of who's best.

[ganbaru]

Not really. It isn't as peoples chooses their vote based on popularity but on their taste. If many like someone's style they might be more likely to have a signature from him or to prefer his entry. But to think than one would vote for a entry because it's from someone than have make many signatures, it's overevaluating the impact, a signature isn't a pub for a photoshop user.

[Marcus H.]

^ I dunno, the main reason why I stopped submitting signatures for SOTM is that it's always the usual people who wins. And those "usual people" are the most active ones in making signatures.

i.e. The contest is too niche.

We need at least 30 participants so that things are more interesting. SOTM is boring if you end up competing against the same faces and there's no one else willing to join. Might as well leave this contest in indefinite hiatus while leaving the signature making to the rest of the forum.

[ahelo]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

^ I dunno, the main reason why I stopped submitting signatures for SOTM is that it's always the usual people who wins. And those "usual people" are the most active ones in making signatures.

i.e. The contest is too niche.

We need at least 30 participants so that things are more interesting. SOTM is boring if you end up competing against the same faces and there's no one else willing to join. Might as well leave this contest in indefinite hiatus while leaving the signature making to the rest of the forum.

Well with the very long hiatus, I think there's enough new people wanting to join (like me ). Plus, some Sigmakers have gone better, some went on hiatus. If someone can just do the moderating, I do hope there will be a spark for SOTM signatures.

[Bila]

Well all the contests in any forum that i participate have a "Rigged" aspect, just only forum that dont have but that a only design forum so ..., i remember that one of the ways that we found to get rid of that was simply getting the sigs by PM, then sorting them on Random.org and post then in the voting thead without the username, sometimes works, sometimes not.
But nways i always participate from a contest, being it rigged or not
God i dont know if i get the rigged term right, sorry if didnt

[Rennir]

Originally Posted by Bila

Well all the contests in any forum that i participate have a "Rigged" aspect, just only forum that dont have but that a only design forum so ..., i remember that one of the ways that we found to get rid of that was simply getting the sigs by PM, then sorting them on Random.org and post then in the voting thead without the username, sometimes works, sometimes not.
But nways i always participate from a contest, being it rigged or not
God i dont know if i get the rigged term right, sorry if didnt

Here we go again This has actually been discussed before if you look back in this thread. I think the consensus is that it would be too much trouble to do that since for each SOTM, artists usually post their work in the discussion/collaboration thread for C&C before submitting, much like how the banner contest is run. So if it's anonymous, we lose out on that opportunity, or Solace would have to post it in the discussion thread, and even then, you lose the direct interaction between someone giving C&C and the creator.

And even if you don't post names, you can tell by style, unless people go out of their way to make the entries different from their typical work.

[Tong]

Yes, the correct way is to ask for external and unbiased feedback.
AS would count too of course and as a safety measure, if a certain signature is seen more biased than the rest anywhere else, we should ban these AS users so they may not bias anymore.

...


I'm joking.

But yeah, maybe Graphic Designers should have the final saying or object to something not right. Sure, like pros.

[felix]

How to not be biased: everyone gets the same stock, everyone posts though pm; no text allowed. May the person who makes the best of it win. Honestly SotM has always been more biased towards people using just almost "pre-made" stuff then anything else. Look at my little signature pics, each one is made with the same exact method, saved under the exact same size, some just look better then others.

[ahelo]

What about having two winners. One by popularity (the voters and how SOTM is usually voted) and another by a panel of judges (like how the previous banner contest is voted). That way no one can say it was rigged and at the same time there's still a choice for you to vote.

[Dist]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

^ I dunno, the main reason why I stopped submitting signatures for SOTM is that it's always the usual people who wins. And those "usual people" are the most active ones in making signatures.

i.e. The contest is too niche.

We need at least 30 participants so that things are more interesting. SOTM is boring if you end up competing against the same faces and there's no one else willing to join. Might as well leave this contest in indefinite hiatus while leaving the signature making to the rest of the forum.

Maybe you should just accept the fact that the '' usual '' people are also best at making signatures. Indeed, why bother making signatures so actively if they weren't any good? Their works are nice to look at ; Obviously they get votes. Make a good entry and you'll get votes. I did not vote for patchy each SOTM because I like Patchy's works in general, but because I liked the banners she made.

I really don't see what is '' rigged '' here. It just seems the people who don't get any votes are complaining because their signatures which aren't as good aren't doing well D:

Sorry if it sounds harsh but it's the truth ..

[Marcus H.]

I admit, my works aren't as stellar as the masters of the SOTM. I'm only participating because I don't want my Photoshop to rust. However, I was half-hoping that my works are at least recognized, that's why I joined SOTM.

That was not the case here.

I did not feel that I was making any progress, and I feel left out when I get pitted against people that I can't beat in making signatures. So I quit.

With that experience, I concluded that SOTM was too static. There are no newcomers who shock the experienced contestants with their works, and they often end up fighting each other over and over again for the next x months while the rest appear isolated from the competition.

Now, I know your point Dist, but you don't have to rub it in that I suck at making signatures.

[Tong]

Just do a SOTM for newcomers or beginners. This way our Marcus won't get stomped again

[Rennir]

^ We could actually do that, provided the mods aren't too busy (which they are most of the time ). A lot of other places that hold competitions have a beginner's and regular level.

[Marcus H.]

But judging being a newbie through one's signature work is subjective.
Okay, fuck this shit. If the next SOTM will have less than 20 entries from 20 unique users, consider this contest already dead.

[Rennir]

The entrant chooses which one to join. Although with the lack of entrants recently, I'm not sure that we would have enough people to run two competitions. but if we need to manpower then I would be happy to volunteer to count votes or something

[Marcus H.]

The last SOTM, April 2011, has 12 participants. What happens if we split that number up into 2?