Something happened today.. (about the contest)

(It's not actually a rant but a way to express my opinion, but it need tags so here goes nothing :))

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I recently came across a fellow Woozen who is also part of this Discord server I think?? and apparently here in Reddit, and I’d like to share a concern regarding contest fairness. I would like to point out your suggestions that u open up to me and some woozens..

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If we're encouraging players not to use alts or dummy accounts to vote so contests remain fair and competitive, then the same standard should apply across the board. It feels inconsistent when we're told to avoid unfair voting practices, yet it's considered acceptable to campaign for friends, ask others to vote for specific people, or promote entries simply because of personal connections.

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Wouldn't it be better if votes were based solely on the quality of the design and the effort put into it, regardless of who created it? A truly authentic contest should allow the most deserving entry to win naturally, without the need for friend-tagging, vote campaigns, giveaways in unitz in exchange for votes, or any form of favoritism.

At the end of the day, fairness should apply equally to everyone, not just to certain situations. Can we just keep contests genuine and let the designs speak for themselves.?

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To be fair, many of the designs are genuinely amazing, and it's clear that a lot of talented Woozens put effort into their work. Honestly, that's what makes voting difficult in the first place.

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However, I still think we should stay firm with the purpose of voting. The goal of a contest is to choose the entry that stands out the most based on our OWN judgment. If everyone simply votes for all entries to avoid disagreements or criticism, then it defeats the purpose of having a contest altogether.

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As to your friend who suggest that we should just vote for everyone so there would be no issues.... but contests are designed to have winners. Not everyone can place first, and that's perfectly okay. Voting shouldn't be about avoiding conflict..it should be about fairly recognizing the entry that you personally believe deserves the win.

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As for the argument of your friend that this has always happened in Discord, whether it's Star of the Week or other contests in Navigation, I know it happens because I've seen it. There have been instances where some voting for someone because they recognize the person (maybe of cc or the trademark look) or are friends with them.

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Yes, it's been happening for some time, but maybe for once we could try to change that mindset (if that's all we aiming for). If we're aiming for fairness (like you said), then votes should ideally be based on the entry itself rather than the popularity of the person behind it.

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And if someone genuinely wants to support their friend, that's their choice. However, publicly announcing it, or openly showcasing favoritism can make it look like the system is being influenced rather than allowing the contest to play out naturally. At that point, it becomes less about the quality of the entries and more about who has the larger circle of support.

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A contest should be an opportunity for the work to speak for itself, regardless of who created it.

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At the end of the day, all participants deserve appreciation for their creativity and effort, but fairness means allowing people to cast genuine votes rather than feeling pressured to support everyone equally or campaign for specific individuals. And that's all thank you .

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