Competition Time Threads

toniq

It just seems with the amount of effort to get people not to post dupes/use correct end dates/not use aff links this will end up another unenforceable request xxxx

Belnahua

Well I hope that when you win a competition you feel suitably guilty for not working torwards the answer yourself. I cannot believe how unbelievably selfish most of you are; all you're concerned about is winning as much as you can and not working for the prize.

Perhaps I've been brought up with a ethic of work for my gains and not have it presented to me on a plate.

I feel sorry that you are so desperate to enter everything and anything whether you need the prize or not, that genuine people who work for what they've earned aren't catered for anymore in this forum.

toniq

what on earth? Because the answers arent hidden u go off like that? u asked a question regarding making your comp experience more enjoyable, and people that use the comps forum answered why it wouldnt in their opinion work and u go off like that?
I know for a fact iwannabeonthebeach like many others spend hours everyday finding comps in their own time for others to enter.
Without people like her there wouldnt be a comps forum.

From what i see hardly any regualr comper enters every comp going as most like myself only enter what they have an actual use for.

Get off your moral high horse you have used the forum yourself so that makes you just as bad as the desperate unethical people you rant about.

xx

rach29

Belnahua wrote: »

Well I hope that when you win a competition you feel suitably guilty for not working torwards the answer yourself. I cannot believe how unbelievably selfish most of you are; all you're concerned about is winning as much as you can and not working for the prize.

Perhaps I've been brought up with a ethic of work for my gains and not have it presented to me on a plate.

I feel sorry that you are so desperate to enter everything and anything whether you need the prize or not, that genuine people who work for what they've earned aren't catered for anymore in this forum.

Frankly I'm gobsmacked at this! So the Comps forum doesn't work the way you want it to & it's everyone else that's selfish?? Unbelievable.

When you join a community you follow it's rules or you go elsewhere, It's ok to make a suggestion but if the majority disagree (and it's apparent that this is the case here) Then you have 2 choices. Stay & put up with it or go somewhere else.

The choice is yours!

wokkies

Chell wrote: »

Please remember that people like myself running a small business from home use competitions to get traffic to their sites. Posting the answers and email address means people don't have to visit the site at all.

When posting your competitions you can put please dont post the answer and if people post the answer pm a board guide and they will remove the answer, Whenever I post a competition for mumszone I always put please dont post the answer as they dont like it:D

Lynsey76

I can understand what you are asking, but it would be impossible for the Board Guides to enforce. Even if the regular comps posters (like iwannabeonthebeach and toniq) were to follow your format, all the newbie posters would not. The board guides would then spend time chasing these people to edit the post, as well as looking for dupes :eek: This would leave them less time to both enter and look for comps themselves. As others have said, if the format is not to your liking, there are plenty of other sites that might be.

Personally I like the comps board and the people on it, it is a real community, and we all try to help each other with answers, especially on the tricky ones.

Finally, unless the answer is so obvious anyway (and with a lot of comps this is the case), I usually double check to make sure, as sometimes people post the wrong answers by mistake.

Requests by small businesses to not post the answers are happily adhered to.

I do not feel guilty if I win a competition. I feel happy However, I use my own ethics as to what I enter. If something is aimed at a certain group ie diabetics, teachers etc then I would not enter out of principle, and lots of others feel the same.

I will stop wittering on now and go and do some washing up :rolleyes:

VelvetGlove

Belnahua wrote: »

Yep, we have differing views. But don't you find the fun of entering a competition is to find the answer and not have it immediately presented?

You see, I'm not asking for it to be removed and the discussions are fun. Just simply asking if the answer could be put a few lines down, so that both parties to the way we prefer to do competitions are catered for?

Morning I must have missed this discussion last night.

Belnahua, what you suggest has been suggested before & talked about regarding how/if it would impact not only the members/visitors who enter the comps but also the members who find & post the comps.

Since you have been using the Comps Forum I'm sure you have seen how difficult it is for even a simple thing like the End Date Convention to be followed as per the Rules of the forum. Some people are so focused on sharing what they've found with everyone else that they don't think about the impact of either not putting the date in the correct format, or sometimes not even putting the end date at all! :eek: To try to insist that members who post comps comply with an extra rule like hiding the answers (I've seen this on other sites for TV & Film spoilers) would, I think, in practice be quite hard. Add to this the fact that the members/visitors who use the forums have different levels of computer know-how & this would be an added burden upon those who are still learning about the technology & the internet MSE is still, I believe, an inclusive site where no one should feel they can't join in, for people who don't want to admit that they can't cope with the new Bulletin Board code that would be needed for hiding the answers (as I don't see it on our posting panel now even under advanced mode), would I fear be a huge leap across a bottomless cavern & they might be scared to try

Even if we don't use the 'spoiler' code which hides answers, again I think we are back to comp posters not being able to follow all the rules all the time & although your suggestion sounds quite reasonable, (after all it is just a few extra presses of the return key), I don't think in practice it will work. In order to 'police' this new rule, the BGs (who are already very busy from what I've seen!), would be stretched even further than they are now & then where is their enjoyment of the Forum?

I just did a try of this so see if this will help you with your desire to find the answers yourself...? When you open a Comp thread, just look & click on the link to the site, then read all about the comp from the site itself, that way you can possibly avoid the answers that have been provided for everyone else & still gain your pleasure from working out the answers? Do you think this would be worth trying? (If you get stuck then you can always look back at the thread & read the discussion which has taken place. That way, you can still have a sense of achievement for the comps you enter & the comp posters are not further impacted when trying to share comps

mpython

Belnahua wrote: »

...stop people giving the answers away directly below the link for the competition?

......somehow make users put several blank lines in or some sort of hidden font

.......

These sound like orders rather than suggestions.

Belnahua wrote: »

Hi,

... It spoils the fun of finding the answer.

You have to admit that there's no fun to be had in doing competitions where the answer is given for you .....

....

As I sometimes come here to find answers for puzzles that I cannot solve.

That sounds quite hypocritical to me - you don't want the answers displayed for everyone except when you can't work them out for yourself? What makes your problem solving level the one everyone else should be forced to follow?

Belnahua wrote: »

Yeah, hitting the return key a few times to space the answer away from the link is *REALLY* going to cause so much hassle isn't it? Crikey life's hard isn't it?

That is so rude - you obviously have no idea how hard some people's lives are - if you had bothered to read the compers inn ever, you would know just how important it is to have a distraction/ hobby like comping and the comaraderie of fellow compers.

Belnahua wrote: »

Well I hope that when you win a competition you feel suitably guilty for not working torwards the answer yourself. I cannot believe how unbelievably selfish most of you are; all you're concerned about is winning as much as you can and not working for the prize.

Perhaps I've been brought up with a ethic of work for my gains and not have it presented to me on a plate.

I feel sorry that you are so desperate to enter everything and anything whether you need the prize or not, that genuine people who work for what
they've earned aren't catered for anymore in this forum.

!!!!!! (excuse me - that's the first time I've ever sworn on this site).

You really are a very selfish, small minded and unpleasant person. Once again, if you had bothered to contribute to the competions forum you would see how happy people are when other people win (look at the IwonIwonIwon section). The vast majority do not enter any & everything. There is a small minority who do, normally newbies, but after winning a few pointless prizes people quickly learn to only enter for things they want to win.

I don't know how long you've been using the comps forum but I can't recall you posting any comps (happy to stand corrected), or helping find the answers, or raising this in the sticky on the forum set up to discuss Competitions.

In my opinion, the most useful thing that people who post comps could do it use the agreed end date format (which would allow people to search by end date, sort, etc etc). I've been using the forum for about 2 years and every day there are comps that don't use the agreed format. To implement your idea (demand?) would increase the workload of everyone who contributes (as pointed out by lyndsey) - all to make your life that tad easier.

Finally, may I make a suggestion? Why don't you set up your own forum (search on google, there's plenty of places that will host them for free) and post all the comps you can find there but without the answers and see how many people join?

Alternatively if you enjoy a challenge, why not go and raise some money for charity or some other equally worthwhile work.

stargirl90

There are plenty of places you can go for comps if you don't like it, but on the whole the comps board here is extremely effective as it is, I don't see why it should be changed? The whole reason I've chosen MSE for my comping is because of the sharing community feel, and I know I'm not the only one.

I find your posts extremely offensive and personally insulting - congratulations, by stooping to that low you've completely undermined your point. I'm just so glad that the rest of us haven't felt the need to stoop to your level.

The thing that annoys me most about your post is that I've never seen you contribute on the comps forum, but you feel you have some right to comment on how it's being run. When you've contributed as much to the comps forum as people like toniq, iwannabeonthebeach and VelvetGlove have, then you can try and make your point again by all means. Until then, try appreciating the hard work that's being done.