May 2020 Monthly Contest - Forum Participation Edition

[VegasVic14]

I'm in.

[OTABILL]

Webman, The whole concept of the Forum Participation Edition of the Monthly Contest Arose out of the Topic "The Challenge" started by FP. I want to remind you of several things you said leading up to this contest. First of all, you said " How bout everyone plays in the free contests and see if the forum people can beat the non-forum people?" Later, you added, "I would love to see which of our forum members can score the highest in" the Monthly Contest. If that is your goal, as of this post there are 8 participants with 3 or less Forum posts joining this contest including three whose only Forum post is saying "I'm in". How does this reconcile with your desire to "...see if the forum people can beat the non-forum people?" There should have been a prerequisite that only folks who had previously posted a minimum number of times in the Forum prior to the inception of this contest be allowed to participate. I personally would have set the minimum to anyone who had achieved Forum Rookie status. I also find it ironic that this whole challenge began with a post by Florida Phil who, by the condition one posts here, cannot participate. Just my two cents worth.

[Webman]

The contest has evolved a bit for the second edition, hoping to also encourage new people to participate in the forum. We did add the same "Forum Rookie" requirement that you suggested, with a minimum of 10 posts (though people may make them throughout the month). Whether they choose to do so in a meaningful way or if it just results in 10 useless posts remains to be seen.

But I agree, the end result is different than what was originally intended.

We are also now limiting contest participation to one account per individual. That should discourage people hoping to game the system with multiple accounts.

[OTABILL]

The contest has evolved a bit for the second edition, hoping to also encourage new people to participate in the forum. We did add the same "Forum Rookie" requirement that you suggested, with a minimum of 10 posts (though people may make them throughout the month). Whether they choose to do so in a meaningful way or if it just results in 10 useless posts remains to be seen.

But I agree, the end result is different than what was originally intended.

We are also now limiting contest participation to one account per individual. That should discourage people hoping to game the system with multiple accounts.

! appreciate your response and have no problem with your decision. The idea of increasing forum participation is a good one. My only concern regarding the 10 posts is that, to paraphrase you, they be meaningful and not useless. I also hope they are not exclusively in this topic. As for FP, to be fair, I believe he should be allowed to participate, if he so desires, as this contest would not exist without his original challenge.

[Webman]

I would have no problem with FP participating if he contacts me expressing an interest to do so. Only his forum posting privileges have been revoked, he is welcome to participate on the rest of the site. I would of course grant him an exception for the "I'm in" post required to qualify.

(He would also almost certainly also request to be allowed to post in this topic as part of his "participation." That request, however, would be denied, mainly because of the technical difficulty in doing so).

[OTABILL]

I would have no problem with FP participating if he contacts me expressing an interest to do so. Only his forum posting privileges have been revoked, he is welcome to participate on the rest of the site. I would of course grant him an exception for the "I'm in" post required to qualify.

(He would also almost certainly also request to be allowed to post in this topic as part of his "participation." That request, however, would be denied, mainly because of the technical difficulty in doing so).

I agree with that decision. No posting exception is warranted.

[Gronbog]

I'm in.

[Waiting4RF]

OTABILL, FloridaPhil's last post was April 23rd. He did not sign up for the April Forum contest.

[DrKen]

Billets, got lucky last month. But you can’t beat the machine. Poker gods will probably get even this month.

[OTABILL]

OTABILL, FloridaPhil's last post was April 23rd. He did not sign up for the April Forum contest.

I have no clue why he didn't sign up in April. Others who didn't participate last month have the option to join in May. I felt it would be fair to give him that choice as well.