I think you're doing fine with all the organization and rules for the beauty Pageant. This is my first time in a webcomic “competition” and I'm having fun, no matter which character has most of the votes. The 1 week marging gave me time to finish my page and people who liked my entry has already visited my comic without any trouble at all. I appreciate that. I know DD forums are limited in functionality but for now I think you have managed to actually run it fine. Sure, if this gets really popular you will have lots of headaches counting the votes and making it run smoothly.

Concerning “fanbase” issue, you can't avoid that. Fightsplosion, Sketchbattle, every competition site has that issue. I think that giving more than one vote that can't be used on the same entry helps to fight that. I don't like the idea of ranking the votes though, that doesn't help. But all in all I think Beauty Pageant has served its purpose so far. I've found new comics thanks to it.

Be patient and cooperative, that's all. You got a problem, propose a solution.

I have two problems, but only one of them can really be solved: PMing votes instead of having them visible to all. Everyone is subconsciously affected by the ability to see who's in the lead; you might not vote for your very first choice if you see that someone that you liked only marginally less happens to have more votes already.

PLEASE change them to PMing like in Fightsplosion, it's SUCH a better system. *begs*

My other problem is that by and large people are voting for what I would consider the “bishie” factor, which I think is sad…oh em gee, long-haired effeminate emaciated manga-style boys…*weary sigh*. But there's no changing that, it is merely a personal grievance. I suppose it doesn't really matter who wins to me anyway since I will always think my Kittles is most handsome <3

suzi
I have two problems, but only one of them can really be solved: PMing votes instead of having them visible to all. Everyone is subconsciously affected by the ability to see who's in the lead; you might not vote for your very first choice if you see that someone that you liked only marginally less happens to have more votes already.

PLEASE change them to PMing like in Fightsplosion, it's SUCH a better system. *begs*

My other problem is that by and large people are voting for what I would consider the “bishie” factor, which I think is sad…oh em gee, long-haired effeminate emaciated manga-style boys…*weary sigh*. But there's no changing that, it is merely a personal grievance. I suppose it doesn't really matter who wins to me anyway since I will always think my Kittles is most handsome <3

I agree with both things you said. I mean… It's exactly what I was thinking :)

As for the first thing, I think we should pm the votes as well… It's almost like people check every 5 minutes to see if someone voted for them, and it gets waaay too competitive… Can't we all just have fun? :(

Also, the whole bishie factor is SORT of true… Sometimes, people look and say OMG BISHIE and vote for them instantly without hesitation. Other times, people just look at everything (without looking at genre) and vote for who they think is the sexiest, and not what comic they come from and what style they are. (I'm sorry, the character I drew would be classified as a ‘bishie’. Hopefully you don't hate him?) (and I agree that Kit is VERY handsome :D )

It also depends on how popular the comic is. If someone's favorite character was in the contest, they would be instantly chosen without hesitation.

I personally think it should have been judged by a selected few, or the votes should have been pm'd. That would make it more private, and people won't go as nuts.

But that's just me :)

The important thing to remember, and the feeling that I had hoped everyone would have, is that who wins the competition isn't important. The contest doesn't exist for bragging rights or tangible awards, the point of it is to have fun. To be creative with your entires, to explore grounds that wouldn't be as available within your comic, and to giggle internally as you force characters that would normally never do something liek this to pose for crowds because you control them, and to expose people to comics they haven't seen before (I'm picking up several ones I'd never heard of because of this contest, and that alone makes me glad I'm helping to run it).

There is no award for winning. In truth, the only reward the “winners” will get is that they will have to draw an extra comic showing their characters giving some kind of “acceptance speech”. And I really hope that people will come away from this feeling good about themselves and happy that they participated, regardless of whether or not their character won.

On the note of fun, The “Backstage” section that I posted was my way of having fun with this competition, and I invite anybody (even non-participants) to contribute pages about backstage or in the audience. This comic should be as fun to read as it is to compete, and I especially want people who missed their chance to compete to be able to contribute to the contest, even if it isn't as a competitor.

oh, and I'm giving some serious consideration to the idea of PQing votes…I dread the slew of mail I'll be getting for the next vote, along with all the questions and everything else, but if you guys think it will be more fair I'll do it.

I'm also assembling a crack-team of unbiased, trustworthy people to award “best of…” prizes. For things like, “Most creative clothing design”, “Most humorous”, “best pencil/line art”, etc…

MadCat
The important thing to remember, and the feeling that I had hoped everyone would have, is that who wins the competition isn't important. The contest doesn't exist for bragging rights or tangible awards, the point of it is to have fun. To be creative with your entires, to explore grounds that wouldn't be as available within your comic, and to giggle internally as you force characters that would normally never do something liek this to pose for crowds because you control them, and to expose people to comics they haven't seen before (I'm picking up several ones I'd never heard of because of this contest, and that alone makes me glad I'm helping to run it).

I'm having fun forcing my characters into a pageant. :) They would definitely not win any (or enter) in real life, so the situation makes me giggle. As far as I'm concerned, it has nothing at all to do with “awards,” and those exist simply because they are in a pageant environment.

Actually, I laughed when people started bemoaning the vote/award system because such “controversy” surrounds real life beauty contests too. Most of the participants are in it for fun and comradery, but you always have those viciously competitive ones. It sucks that it's users doing the bickering. It would be much more fun if we had comics to post of contestants (or their friends) quarreling about “pretty” ones or “popularity”…

I like the idea of PQing (pain for you…). At least it would draw attention away from the votes and put it back on the comic where it belongs. A team of judges for special awards sounds really neat too.

BTW, thanks for all the effort you've put into this. It's really fun.

Still another vote for PQing votes. And in a way, I almost think that it'll be more easy for the counter because there won't be so much unnecessary justification going on, just straight up voting.

It is sad that it's seems to be such a heated debate about which votes go to whom, and most of that would be avoided with PQs. The truth of the matter is that people will vote for the character that communicates best to them… and for a lot of people, that means best visual communication. I had a lot of fun drawing, and I think the contest is such a good idea that I decided to add it to the canon world of my comic. It's just a larf, y'all.

Yeah, PQing votes is a good idea, though I'd rather prefer a poll or something. Maybe one day Volte will add that feature to the site. But… meh. He already has a ton of work.

Personally, I liked looking at some of these submissions. Though seeing the votes themselve is a spirit breaker no matter which way I try to look at it. (I'm totally a pessimist)

Also, the sheer amount of participants also seems to account for some of the whole “popularity contest” thing. If there's a large selection of potential characters to vote for, not many people are going to check out every single entry. They're just going to latch onto the first one they like.

Of course, that's a problem that can't really be fixed, can it?

you could remove the page title and replace it with “entry Number…” so it can't be seen from the dropdown menu. More complex things are basically a waste of time because the author can always put the entry in his/her comic and a fan can vote it without even looking the actual entry… unless you disqualify anyone who does that >:-D hahah sorry I got carried away

Locoma
you could remove the page title and replace it with “entry Number…” so it can't be seen from the dropdown menu.

I think that's a good idea. People will be more likely to look at each entry and can't really “skip” to ones they recognize.

usedbooks

Locoma
you could remove the page title and replace it with “entry Number…” so it can't be seen from the dropdown menu.

I think that's a good idea. People will be more likely to look at each entry and can't really “skip” to ones they recognize.

I agree. It also adds an element of anticipation for the artists themselves, looking through the entries unsure of when theirs will be next :D

I agree with Locoma, Usedbooks, and Suzi.

I agree as well. This avoids the whole “looking for recognizable characters” and may remove some of the fanbased votes.

As for PQs. Good idea, but if it were me recieving all those PQs and having to open each one to check for their vote, I'd get pretty annoyed.
Through email would be a good idea…you could create a whole seprate email just for votes; and so that you wouldn't have to go through the whole trouble of opening them, you could have people title their emails with their selected entry.

Btw, the contest has been really fun…I feel like one of those mothers who forces their children into pageants even though they may not want to.

suzi
I agree. It also adds an element of anticipation for the artists themselves, looking through the entries unsure of when theirs will be next :D

Oh I've been a victim of that, I wanted it to be a surprise but my damn eyes ruined it. I stuck a fork in them after that.

DancingChaos

suzi
I have two problems, but only one of them can really be solved: PMing votes instead of having them visible to all. Everyone is subconsciously affected by the ability to see who's in the lead; you might not vote for your very first choice if you see that someone that you liked only marginally less happens to have more votes already.

PLEASE change them to PMing like in Fightsplosion, it's SUCH a better system. *begs*

My other problem is that by and large people are voting for what I would consider the “bishie” factor, which I think is sad…oh em gee, long-haired effeminate emaciated manga-style boys…*weary sigh*. But there's no changing that, it is merely a personal grievance. I suppose it doesn't really matter who wins to me anyway since I will always think my Kittles is most handsome <3

I agree with both things you said. I mean… It's exactly what I was thinking :)

As for the first thing, I think we should pm the votes as well… It's almost like people check every 5 minutes to see if someone voted for them, and it gets waaay too competitive… Can't we all just have fun? :(

Also, the whole bishie factor is SORT of true… Sometimes, people look and say OMG BISHIE and vote for them instantly without hesitation. Other times, people just look at everything (without looking at genre) and vote for who they think is the sexiest, and not what comic they come from and what style they are. (I'm sorry, the character I drew would be classified as a ‘bishie’. Hopefully you don't hate him?) (and I agree that Kit is VERY handsome :D )

It also depends on how popular the comic is. If someone's favorite character was in the contest, they would be instantly chosen without hesitation.

I personally think it should have been judged by a selected few, or the votes should have been pm'd. That would make it more private, and people won't go as nuts.

But that's just me :)

I agree with DC, Inkmonkey, mad cat, skoolmunkee and two other seniors on DD judge this. I like the idea with PM, it leaves mad cat alone and he can focus on his real world life. I know I won't win overall, but I hope that one of the two gets an award.
This contest is helping me with my page views so I'm ready for the next one. I want to wait for the standings, to me it's like college football. You do your best this week and see where you went from last week. I hate to say it but I'm glad that some missed the deadline *sorry 3rdperiodlunch*, just to help the little folks *like me*, with Chutltu gone that opens up the mens divison, plus the extra vote helps even more.

Honestly… I'm feeling just a teeny bit guilty for entering this contest now because my comic is popular and one of my character entries is an “long-haired effeminate emaciated manga-style boy”. =_=

I only entered thing for fun - I don't even care if I win or not. I'm just enjoying drawing my characters doing stuff I would otherwise not get the chance to in my comic.

But goddam I should not be feeling guilty - I put a lot of work into what I do and it's because of that my comic and characters are popular.

Maybe these comments aren't directed at me - maybe I'm just being a little paranoid - but really, quit with all the sniping comments at people who are getting lots of votes because it's really souring the whole contest.

wyldaflowa your the number one seed and sundae will win and honey will be in the top three. But if the contest wasn't limited to drunk duck it would really get interesting. It also helps that your comic has yaoi, too. I stopped whining, so I ready for this one to over and you be declared the overall top artist. So I can waste my time on the next one and get more clicks.

chee2424
wyldaflowa your the number one seed and sundae will win and honey will be in the top three. But if the contest wasn't limited to drunk duck it would really get interesting. It also helps that your comic has yaoi, too. I stopped whining, so I ready for this one to over and you be declared the overall top artist. So I can waste my time on the next one and get more clicks.

I personally don't really like yaoi/shounen-ai . But in spite of this, I really like Rainbow Carousel, because the characters are vibrant, the art interesting, and the story more that just “boy-on-boy”.

I think your attitude is exactly the reason why Wyldflowa is a better artist than you. She actually cares about her art, and wants to improve it. You've missed the point if you think this contest is all about winning.

Just saying stuff like “oh, people better than me are entering so I might as well give up” won't improve your art. Neither will bashing other people's characters, that they worked hard on. It's petty and low.

chee2424
wyldaflowa your the number one seed and sundae will win and honey will be in the top three. But if the contest wasn't limited to drunk duck it would really get interesting. It also helps that your comic has yaoi, too. I stopped whining, so I ready for this one to over and you be declared the overall top artist. So I can waste my time on the next one and get more clicks.

Stop.
Being a bitch.
Actually now.

You have this constant undertone of jealousy ‘oh, it helps that you’re yaoi' or ‘popularity contest’, and you look completely ridiculous.

You do know how someone obtains popularity in terms of webcomics right?
They have to be GOOD.
Good.
Yes.
Storyline, drawing style, drawing in general.
All attributes that wyldaflowa has.
You, the kid complaining?
You don't.
The thing is, even without the popularity, fanbase, or whatever else you're trying to use against her (which isn't even in her control in the first place), she'd still get votes.
Why?
Because she's good.
And no one can disagree. Simple fact.

So do you want to know why you're not getting as many votes as her? =] really?
It's because your drawings suck.

'Nuff Said.

I feel like I should be buying SINCERLYyours a beer!

Thank you? =3
Beer is good. x33

I'm like Wyldflowa, apart from the fact I'm not a good artist. I just enter these things for fun, and I just try my best. the only problem is the fact I can't easily improve since I'm flat broke, my computer's as slow as a snail and the only ‘How to draw Manga’ books I can find have now gone missing XD

But it does help to be popular, and I hope I become popular from my comic making rather than my art, since I feel I'm good at comic making but not good at art.

And MadCat, can I have a beer too? I'm thirsty. I mean, I know I'm only 13 but you can buy it for me!
… Where'd you go?

MadCat
I'm also assembling a crack-team of unbiased, trustworthy people to award “best of…” prizes. For things like, “Most creative clothing design”, “Most humorous”, “best pencil/line art”, etc…

I'm really curious to see these… (Award day is soon! *GLEE*) Given the nature of some unwilling entrants, a “Miss Anti-congeniality” would be hilarious.

Are you doing strips for award presentations?

I planned to ask the winners to submit an entry showing their character wearing a sash and giving any acceptance speech, or small thanks, or threats to their creators they felt was appropriate for the characters, hehe