I'll ask again - Can we see those who don't vote?

It seems to me that it would be better to remove the need for people to vote or to require them to vote before allowing them to enter. I could be wrong, but just a thought—if they had to cast their votes before they were allowed to enter, wouldn't that solve the issue?

Edited by ANDY00

That's a great idea Andy00. I have been caught both ways ie wasting my votes and in forgetting to vote and getting disqualified. In the latter case I do feel very guilty because I have caused others to waste their vote having been generous in showing support for one of my images. Your suggestion would fix the problem.

Edited by TerryGeePhoto

ANDY00 said

It seems to me that it would be better to remove the need for people to vote or to require them to vote before allowing them to enter. I could be wrong, but just a thought—if they had to cast their votes before they were allowed to enter, wouldn't that solve the issue?

Edited by ANDY00

It would give poster number 1 a difficult problem. He would probably walk away without posting. Then poster number 2 would have the same problem, and probably be forced to chose the same solution.

YorVikIng said

ANDY00 said

It seems to me that it would be better to remove the need for people to vote or to require them to vote before allowing them to enter. I could be wrong, but just a thought—if they had to cast their votes before they were allowed to enter, wouldn't that solve the issue?

Edited by ANDY00

It would give poster number 1 a difficult problem. He would probably walk away without posting. Then poster number 2 would have the same problem, and probably be forced to chose the same solution.

The system could add random votes until there are 5 submissions; that would solve the quick start issue. Then, zero out those votes once it’s moving.

or if there’s only 1 submission, you’d only need to add one vote; for 2 submissions, you’d add 2 votes, and so on until it reaches 5, then business as usual.

With the first suggestion being the fairest, as accumulated votes would be removed, making it more fair for everyone.

Edited by ANDY00

ANDY00 so what happens if someone posts a better image than what I have voted for after I have cast my votes in order to enter?

Edited by FarmerSteve

FarmerSteve said

ANDY00 so what happens if someone posts a better image that what I have voted for after I have cast my votes in order to enter?

What happens if that happens now? That wouldn't change, would it? If everyone waits to post last, then fewer people see their image, so it's a catch-22 anyway. It's a choice of the user, not a fault in the system. and essentially people waiting to last minute to vote is why the problem is happening because they either forget or cant be bothered and its letting people down and breaking the system. 

In essence, if you're waiting until the last moment to vote in case you miss a great image, you're contributing to the problem. That last image has little hope because fewer people will have the chance to vote on it, as it's one of the last entries and fewer people will see it.

Again just my opinion and a thought 

Edited by ANDY00

Would be better to just do away with the need to vote altogether, I would think most people who enter don't vote until later, then I dare say some probably forget or are unable to come back.

Entering and voting should be 2 different things, I quite often vote when I havn't even entered.

I don't see much point entering as my images have very rarely got more than 1 or 2 votes.

ANDY00 no, you currently get a whole day after entries close in order to choose your favourites. So today I can vote for the Circles competition, but I can't enter & I can enter the Walk the Walk competition, but can't vote until tomorrow after the entries close although I can peruse the entries...

FarmerSteve said

ANDY00 no, you currently get a whole day after entries close in order to choose your favourites. So today I can vote for the Circles competition, but I can't enter & I can enter the Walk the Walk competition, but can't vote until tomorrow after the entries close although I can peruse the entries...

Yes, but essentially the issue here as i understand it is that people are entering but failing to vote, which disqualifies them. If they had to vote first, then they wouldn't be disqualified, thus balancing the issue. Again, just my thoughts.

I think there are a few ways it could actually be fixed. I've just suggested a couple, but they're only suggestions—thoughts in the wind that might inspire the coders working on the issue.

Edited by ANDY00

FarmerSteve said

ANDY00 so what happens if someone posts a better image than what I have voted for after I have cast my votes in order to enter?

 

Steve - apologies if I've misunderstood, but...

I don't think that could happen, could it? Voting doesn't start until after the competition has closed, and by that time one can't enter. 

Or have I got that wrong?  

So I vote when I get home from work in the evening and nobody has been able to vote for my image all day? Sounds like you are proposing an unfair system that favours people who vote in the early hours of the competition going live because more people get to see their image. And if I vote before I go to work I'm only being shown a tiny proportion of the entries? Overcomplicated. Unfair. Illogical. Using a nuke to swat a fly. Ain't gonna happen.

If the site really wanted to do something about a few entrants not voting (and I doubt it is considered important enough), the simplest thing would be to block their entry from the next day's competition, much like it does now for a week if you win.

Orson Carter said

FarmerSteve said

ANDY00 so what happens if someone posts a better image than what I have voted for after I have cast my votes in order to enter?

 

Steve - apologies if I've misunderstood, but...

I don't think that could happen, could it? Voting doesn't start until after the competition has closed, and by that time one can't enter. 

Or have I got that wrong?  

I was referring to the proposed "you can't enter until you vote" suggestion. 

ANDY00 said

FarmerSteve said

ANDY00 no, you currently get a whole day after entries close in order to choose your favourites. So today I can vote for the Circles competition, but I can't enter & I can enter the Walk the Walk competition, but can't vote until tomorrow after the entries close although I can peruse the entries...

Yes, but essentially the issue here as i understand it is that people are entering but failing to vote, which disqualifies them. If they had to vote first, then they wouldn't be disqualified, thus balancing the issue. Again, just my thoughts.

I think there are a few ways it could actually be fixed. I've just suggested a couple, but they're only suggestions—thoughts in the wind that might inspire the coders working on the issue.

Edited by ANDY00

But if you can't enter until you vote, you don't get to choose your votes from the complete list of entries. A far simpler suggestion would be to block serial offenders - after adequate warnings. Then again, the competition is supposed to just be a bit of fun...

altenatur said

So I vote when I get home from work in the evening and nobody has been able to vote for my image all day? Sounds like you are proposing an unfair system that favours people who vote in the early hours of the competition going live because more people get to see their image. And if I vote before I go to work I'm only being shown a tiny proportion of the entries? Overcomplicated. Unfair. Illogical. Using a nuke to swat a fly. Ain't gonna happen.

If the site really wanted to do something about a few entrants not voting (and I doubt it is considered important enough), the simplest thing would be to block their entry from the next day's competition, much like it does now for a week if you win.

Voting on your image is affected by your votes? Hmm, I don't think that's accurate. People typically vote for the images they like best when they’re viewing, so getting your image in earlier is likely better. That seems to be the case even now. However, if you, like others, are waiting for the last entry, then you’re contributing to the very trend causing the issue people are looking to solve. just saying

A lot of great points here. I get the OP's frustration but I think it's probably better to leave it as it is because all the alternatives have problems. We do get a reminder to vote once the competition closes so my only suggestion might be to give 48 hours to vote rather than 24 with 2 reminders sent.

However, I guess that might cause further problems by meaning fewer competitions can be run in the cycle.