HCROYALL has brought up an issue in CC485 that I briefly responded to in CC485 as well. I think that it's a better idea to have the issue discussed in this section of the forums, so I'm doing that here.

HCROYALL said, "If this goes back to mandingo again I'm officially bowing out of comic contests forever."

I responded,

"I'd like to hear more on your opinion in this type of situation. Would you be saying that mandingo's entries should be given the status of outright losers? If it's my opinion that one of his entries should win, what should I do about it to be fair?

I'm asking you these questions in all sincerity. I feel like I'm in a bit of a bind in this regard, and would appreciate others opinions in this type of situation.

I'm not a long timer on this site, but I can only imagine that this has happened before.

So let me hear from you, or others, so that I can feel better about this whole thing.

My own feeling is to honor the notion that the funniest comic (in my opinion), should win, no matter who wrote it. If I am to accept some other principle in the area of judging, I would want to hear more about it.

I have thought about a 'horse race' form of judging, where a certain comic is told to be the frontrunner, and each subsequent entry is judged next to it on a daily basis.

Anyway, please do give me your thinking."

Thanks,

bigworm

So that's the issue, and I would welcome anyone's input.

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bigworm

Once, several years ago, I won an FTC, then entered the following one.  The person running it said "Forget it--you won the last one."  So I made it a policy to always skip one round following a win.  I figure that should be good enough to satisfy anyone who might raise a similar objection.

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

There have been other back-to-back winners throughout the years.  I think I awarded one and I felt a bit conflicted since I gave it back to somebody who awarded me the win for the contest I was running.  As long as it's the funniest comic, that's all that should matter.

Ive always been weary about handing the reigns back to the previous winner, though it would depend on the comic as well and you're own feeling in the matter. Generally when Ive entered a competition after hosting one Ive usually taken it as read that Im not in with a shout (and not just because my comic is bad!), and I enter because I like the theme or simply because I haven't made a comic in a while due to hosting the last one.    Personally Id take an Hon Mention and be happy. 

It may sound odd but I also take into account who hasn't hosted a competition in a while as the way I tend to judge leaves me with a group of 4 or 5 comics shortlisted that could easily win and so other factors come into play.  At the end of the day this is your donkey ride so choose whichever ice cream you like. 

The issue at hand for me is that you and mandingo have run the last four contests back to back.  If yours and mandingo's senses of humor are that similar that you prefer each other's comics above anyone else's, that's fine.  But under those circumstances, what's the point of competing if you know there's no possible chance of a win?

I've passed the baton back to the previous winner before.  I'm not going to give you flak for that.  I was exaggerating in the CC forum; I won't bow out forever, but if the ball's just going to bounce back and forth between you and mandingo for a while I don't see why I should spend any effort entering the contests until the trend is over.

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It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money that even the Tokyo stadium’s rape robots apologized– something they were programmed specifically never to do.

it's always been a sort of very soft rule to try not to hand the contest back to the person who gave it to you. but it's always been my rule to give it to the comic i find funniest, regardless. in the past, that's led to me not choosing a comic everyone else is apeshit for, or choosing one everyone else hates, or choosing biped as winner 3 or 4 straight times. to say you have no chance to win isn't right though. it's just a fluke, just random. you roll a die, you hit the same number in a row sometimes. doesn't have to do with our tastes being so intact

that said, this current thing has gone on too long and i'd be happy not to win it. and like i said over in comic compettitions, if i did win it, my first rule in the next one was going to be bigworm wouldn't. my second rule would probably be something about rape or racism

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what if nigger meant kite

I appreciate all of you taking the time to give me your thoughts on this issue. I was thinking that somehow HCROYALL had zeroed right in on a sensitivity that only I had. I see now that most everyone has already thought through this thing and arrived at some sort of method of dealing with it, with the understanding that some will end up being displeased no matter what method is used.

I am pleased that it's not a simple matter for most if not all of you. It seems as though most everyone would like to honor the idea of the funniest comic being the winner, but understands that there are sometimes reasons that this might not happen, and that they are the ones to decide how it's going to go.

I've not entered into any understanding with myself that I know ahead of time who would be the winner of any CC that I was hosting, thus rendering all other entries pointless. I can understand that perspective though, because I've had it myself, as well as other views regarding the methods of judging the CCs.

mandingo did say something like "... goddammit if I don't have to hand it back to bigworm...". That did appear to cause him a bit of discomfort... about this very same problem.

I have p.m.'d a couple of you asking that you not give consideration to my entries. The whole issue of judging was the basis of those messages. I like to win, but I'm alright with not winning, and I'm especially alright with using the CC ideas to deplete my mind of stuff regarding those ideas. If I have 10 entries in one CC, it's not that I'm trying to win by overwhelming, it's that I'm making use of the idea to the extent that I'm able to.

I think I'm getting over the judging issue, uhhh... not really. I guess I'm learning how to accommodate it more comfortably, that's it, and this exchange has been very helpful.

Thank you guys again.

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bigworm

This would be a non-issue for the most part if it wasn't the only game in town.  I say instead that we start reviving some of the More Comic Competition contests that the "twice-a-year" visitors keep winning and abandoning.

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"He was cursed with a horrorshow of a face, like Guiseppe Archbold doing a study of mollusk tumors."

bigworm

That's what she said.

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

ZMannZillai'd be down with this but i worry there'd be something like 3 entries

bigwormi used to enter some in contests with the prefix "NaE" meaning Not an Entry just because i wanted to play with the theme

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what if nigger meant kite

To be honest I didn't even notice there was a back-and-forth thing going on until this thread pointed it out.

In an extreme situation like this I think it's fine to say that a certain frequent winner won't be able to win even if he makes the funniest comic.  But under normal circumstances, if I were judging, I'd prefer to recognize the funniest comic, even if it happens to be by the previous winner.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

I'm starting to feel like a dick for sparking this issue, especially since the initial comment was about 80% hyperbole and 20% suggesting that mandingo had just made the contest-winning comic because it was damn funny.

I certainly don't think I should be considered a litmus test for the feelings of the rest of the population here;  I agree that the funniest comic should be the one chosen as the winner and I was not trying to call foul in any way.

It just seemed to me that mandingo and bigworm's senses of humor are so close that, barring what mandingo has proposed and stating that the other cannot win the next contest, they would bounce back and forth for a while and I'd rather just sit it out until the trend was done and I wouldn't feel like I was wasting my time entering.  I'm sorry that in the world of text it's so easy for one's statements to be misconstrued and I apologize for any offense I might have caused.

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It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money that even the Tokyo stadium’s rape robots apologized– something they were programmed specifically never to do.

ZMannZilla wrote:

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This would be a non-issue for the most part if it wasn't the only game in town.  I say instead that we start reviving some of the More Comic Competition contests that the "twice-a-year" visitors keep winning and abandoning.

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Yeah, that guy's awesome.

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what if nigger meant kite

Just a minute! You're saying he's a guy?!!

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bigworm

bigworm wrote:

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Just a minute! You're saying he's a guy?!!

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Which one?

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bigworm