COW - Discussion/Complaining/TrashTalk/"Where the f*** is the Poll?" Questions-Thread

[(lark]

Just like to say I'm in total agreement with si swe on the subject above. From here on out the finals will be more strict on who gets in the finals. I hate to exclude anyone, but I feel the briefs should be followed a bit closer. Otherwise it might as well be some creature you spent a month on last year that you felt like entering in the finals, I'm not accusing anyone of that, and don't feel that has happened but I'm just stateing that it is a possibility, and something we need to consider.

Hope we don't offend anyone in the future, when something like this happens. It is just a fun game, but it is a competition as well which I think makes it more interesting and I feel the rules need to be adhered to so the competitiveness can be on an even playing field.

Hope this isn't coming off like a rant, just a freindly reminder to look out for this in the future.

[Arbinn]

I totally agree with you Swe & lark! Not following the actual brief or interpreting it too freely has annoyed me a few times and some friends of mine, who have seen me browsing COW at school have been wondering the same thing. I for one would like to see the rules enforced.

So far I've been really liking where you two are taking COW. Keep it up!

[Vulgar`]

New EOW - Coven of the Dark Oracles

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...27#post2911827

[Loathsome]

I hate everyone and everything.

That's my input to this thread.

[Si_Swe]

I would like to remind everyone that self-votes in the poll will be deleted if I see them.

[Buchmaler]

Hmmm,
i tried to attach my pic in the finals thread like the others do (with this paper-clip thing) but my picture does not get this "attached picture frame". Can someone teach me to do it the right way?

[Si_Swe]

Buchmaler - The attachment frame only occurs if your attached image is not inserted somewhere into the post. You have placed the image above your text, so the image attachment frame does not appear. I'm not exactly sure why it is, but it isn't necessary in any way.

[skullbeast]

We need some 3 word concept pitches "example two headed undead or blue wind surfer, red tree jumper" I'm no so sure about the "narrative" lengthy script. I feel like it's a bit limiting. Just my 2 cents

[Si_Swe]

I have noted this down, skullbeast. I will try and make my briefs more open in the future, I'm sorry if you have felt limited by my briefs.

[skullbeast]

Hey no offense implied. There is something very creative about repeating a few words over and over. For me, that frees up the mind so it may explore many avenues with the same origin. I'm just tring to open up the floodgates of my imagination. Thanks for all the killer concepts! Happy painting!!

[emerging]

This voting round (192) is really speaking of something to me with regards to voting in Creature of the Week. Farquad’s entry has received the most votes thus far and (while I wish no disrespect to Farquad and, in fact, think he’s created quite a beautiful piece) I do wish to question the voters. Farquad’s entry is a perfect example of an entry which is gorgeously rendered and incredibly well put-together, but is far enough from the brief that it should have been excluded. This really shows me that people voting in Creature of the WAeek are not paying attention to the concepts that we mods come up with, but rather to who has the best rendered design. Voters are as responsible as entrants to make a choice a based on who best and most creatively portrayed their interpretation of the brief, expanding on, while sticking to, the guidelines presented in the brief. Let me make this clear, if it is outlined in the brief that something should be present in one’s design, that element must indeed be present for that creature to be included into the finals poll. This round will continue as is, and if it is, indeed, the case that Farquad wins, I will gladly award him his star and place his entry into the winners thread. On the other hand, in future Creature of the Week rounds, you should expect (lark and I to be a lot more strict with what we will and won’t allow into the poll, no matter how amazingly rendered it is.

I would also like to make it clear that I have not put this together because I wish I had received more votes. Receiving even one vote has always been flattering to me. I would simply like to get things back on track in terms of voting and finals inclusions.

i agree with that.. its not just in COW, its like that in CHOW too. CHOW is actually even worse... i have spoken about this on many occasions and just felt the need to mention again that people who vote could careless about the topic. They open up the poll and just look for the prettiest most well rendered, most realistic or most appealing design/illustration and vote for it without careful consideration - does it actually portray what has been asked of the artist? And the fact is they DON'T and it pisses me off haha

[Ashwinder]

Hello everyone,
I just made an account but I have been watching the COW for a few weeks now. What I noticed is that the description of the assignment is only in the WIP-thread and not in the Final-thread. For example: "Sound round" doesn't tell you anything about what is expected from the artist. Maybe a link to the WIP-thread in the Final-thread or putting the description in the Final-thread altogether might help the problem.
I don't mean to be a know-it-all newbie though.

[Si_Swe]

Ashwinder, putting the description in the finals thread is an idea I've been toying with somewhat, but I fail to see how someone could be so lazy to not just go back to the subforum and click on the WIP thread. No one should actually be submitting directly to the finals, so I haven't really seen this as a problem.

[Ashwinder]

From what I've seen till now this forum has a lot of people who put in a lot of effort to make this place, a place where you are motivated to care, learn and be responsible. I hope to be one of those people too of course
I think with the attitude that rules the forum, maybe it is something that the voters want to be made aware of as well.
Then again upping the "security" allready solves the problem for the most part.

[Si_Swe]

I just updated the Winners' thread. I'd like to apologize for my tardiness updating the thread regularly, I'll try to be a little bit more on the ball with that, I've just been very busy with classes and work.

Also, I'm relatively sure that the stars are currently up to date, but if you feel that you're missing a star please let me know.

[GuesssWho]

You need to update the winners again.

[Si_Swe]

GuesssWho, yes I am aware. I've been very busy of late, so I haven't had a couple of hours to go through and update. It will be within the week. You do realize that it wasn't updated for like... a year or so before scorge finally updated it, right?

[GuesssWho]

I'm just trying to help

[Erzebeth]

Hi everyone i would like to know how long it takes to a mod for approving a post. I've post one hour ago a wip for the creature of the week and well i'm new but i'd like to participate to this contest (#243 ). Thanks for answering

[Si_Swe]

Erzebeth, when you're new to the forums, as a general prevention against spam, posting an image will often make it so that a mod must approve the post. I personally check the current creature of the week threads at least twice a day. I do get to all the unapproved posts. The best thing you can do if that happens is just to sit and wait. Please do not attempt to post the same thing 5 more times, it creates unnecessary work when I'm approving the post. Your post is approved, if you have problems posting in this COW in the future, rest assured that I am indeed around.

[Erzebeth]

Thank you Si_Swe for your answer and sorry to post it so many times :s I had connection problem either so i wasn't sure it was posted well. Thank you anywayy

[Erzebeth]

Hello guys I need a mod to approve my post on the final thread for the Eciological Staple

Can someone help?

Thanks a lot

[Erzebeth]

Still need someone to approve my post for the Great Armored Bird (Wip thread and Final)

[Bertling]

Still need someone to approve my post for the Great Armored Bird (Wip thread and Final)

Tip for you: post a short message, about 2 lines. This will bypass the approval filter. Next simply edit your post and include the images and tags.

[grenogs]

This voting round (192) is really speaking of something to me with regards to voting in Creature of the Week. Farquad’s entry has received the most votes thus far and (while I wish no disrespect to Farquad and, in fact, think he’s created quite a beautiful piece) I do wish to question the voters. Farquad’s entry is a perfect example of an entry which is gorgeously rendered and incredibly well put-together, but is far enough from the brief that it should have been excluded. This really shows me that people voting in Creature of the WAeek are not paying attention to the concepts that we mods come up with, but rather to who has the best rendered design. Voters are as responsible as entrants to make a choice a based on who best and most creatively portrayed their interpretation of the brief, expanding on, while sticking to, the guidelines presented in the brief. Let me make this clear, if it is outlined in the brief that something should be present in one’s design, that element must indeed be present for that creature to be included into the finals poll. This round will continue as is, and if it is, indeed, the case that Farquad wins, I will gladly award him his star and place his entry into the winners thread. On the other hand, in future Creature of the Week rounds, you should expect (lark and I to be a lot more strict with what we will and won’t allow into the poll, no matter how amazingly rendered it is.

I would also like to make it clear that I have not put this together because I wish I had received more votes. Receiving even one vote has always been flattering to me. I would simply like to get things back on track in terms of voting and finals inclusions.

Has anyone ever considered the whole voting system on all these threads as being pretty unfair. Not to say it has or hasn't already happened, but the voting system is open to everyone thats a member, so there's nothing stopping someone voting for an image just because their friends with the one who's created it. Maybe a much fairer system would be if voting only became a privilege for those who have actually entered a final image. A kind of earn your vote system. I know myself that if i've had to work quite hard to achieve something, i'm a lot less carefree with what i've gained, and i'm sure voting would be no different.

[Si_Swe]

grenogs - It's been a while since I posted that message. I like to think that things have changed for the better (at least a bit) around these parts since (lark and I's third round as mods. You'll notice that we include the requirements of the brief in the finals/voting thread now, which (I believe) has helped in to steer voting in the right direction. As for the friends voting for friends issue, I tend to find that it hasn't really been a problem. I'm really easily able to check on who's voting for who, and I find that most people in this community tend to honor the competition's spirit. There are certainly cases of rendering over all else informing people's votes, but that's not really an issue we can affect. And in the cases of friends from outside the community coming in and voting for their friends, I've only got one recorded instance of that, and the (awesome) person came forward and told me such so that the votes could be removed.

As for entrants only voting, that's something I refuse to do. These are community activities, all members of the community should be allowed to vote. I don't believe that having an "earn your vote" system is going to somehow improve our voting system. Weekly activities often have less than 10 entries and I don't believe that the poll should be decided on only 10 votes. Hope that helps.