Valentine's Day Story Contest 2009 Reminder and Support Thread

[YoursSINSerely]

Don't lose heart, sweetie. The competition is fierce for Og's last place award. You may still be a winner!

A welcome for the little newbie from the good little witch.

My Dear Ms Dah,

Thank you for your welcome. I suppose that would be a very special place to be at the bottom of Og's list, but its not really where I hoped to end up after all the studying I've had to do of the rules.

I will be very happy to end up in the middle, like the middle managers I work for during the day. Now, that's a freakin happy bunch.

All my best to Toto.

 

[KarennaC]

Both my stories have enough votes, but not high enough scores. Though one of them, my BDSM one, has a 3.67 (or so), which may qualify it for the last place award. lol.

Crim, awesome

YourSIN, don't despair, there's still time to garner votes

 

[YoursSINSerely]

YourSIN, don't despair, there's still time to garner votes [/QUOTE]

Dear Ms C.

When does the voting end? I could go back and re-read all the rules, but I'm sure all of you know them by heart and can just spit out the answer in unison.

You can call me lazy from now on.

 

[Darkniciad]

During the last few days of the contest, this thread typically takes on the task of announcing "I'm still short of votes." That way, those who don't have time to read through the whole list can start with those struggling to make it to 25.

There's still hope to make that magic number

 

[DecadentAngel]

Last time I checked, my story had 76 votes (that's a lot for less than 24 hours!)... but it's not gonna win. I didn't expect it to, so that's okay. I haven't entered a special contest in a long time, so I don't know how many votes I will lose.

 

[scouries]

My newest scourian tale is out today…A VALENTINES DAY contest entry…

Which is a surprise!

I hadn’t planned on entering a story in the contest. As many of you know I’m not a great fan of this wholesale slaughtering of innocent votes by the ROYAL CONSORT. Why can’t he just give the prize to whoever the QUEEN chooses without the butchery?

Anyway, under the terms of my new two year ROYALTY contract, which came into effect January 1st 2009, I only have to enter stories in three (3) of the six (6) specially themed contests.

So I said to myself, fuck the VALENTINES CONTEST. And so I would have…

Except I woke up Wednesday morning and it was 39 degrees! On Miami Beach if you can believe it. So I jumped right back into bed. Let the Gabster warm me right back up…

But you know how broads are. Even though I’ve just taken her to heaven and back she wanted just a little more. ‘Are you going to write me a romantic valentines story jim?’ she asked sweetly. But in a tone every man knows only too well – one translated as ‘do it or else’.

No fool I quickly agreed. No, not just because of her. First off, what else was I going to do in 39 degree weather? And secondly, one of my greatest masterpieces was within striking distance of achieving the extraordinary milestone of receiving its 1000th vote. I figured if I had a story up and running his weekend I might just get it over the top.

So at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday morning I sat in front of my computer and contemplated the task ahead of me.

How do you write a story in 30 hours? I’m not a SURVIVALIST. This was not the scourian way. My stories ooze slowly to the surface of my brain after percolating for weeks … thirty hours? Impossible! At 11:05 a.m. my computer screen was still empty.

I called freddie! After talking him for an hour, after learning some of his many secrets, I started to type. You can all thank this wonderful man for my eventual participation. And I gained a new respect for him - writing fast is not all that easy!

At 3:38 p.m. Thursday, February 5, 2009, I typed the last word. The story was done.

A scourian masterpiece?

Perhaps not. But so what? It can’t help but be better than ninety percent of the stories in the contest. So read it. It’s a non consensual, romantic comedy. Its # 406,009 on the LITEROTICA register. Here’s the link:

[size=+3]

Allie T - Valentine Virgin Violated

​

[/size]

And I’d suggest you get to it soon. Once MANU kills all those innocent votes I’m going to take it down and then you’ll have to read it on another site.


I’m james r scouries and I inspire stories…

[size=+2]Dolphins love Allie T…[/size]

 

[Darkniciad]

101 stories.

Snapshot of the moment:

17 Hs
in 8 categories

(2) 4.8
(1) 4.7
(6) 4.6
(8) 4.5

No way of knowing if they all have the 25 votes, but an idea of where you might stand.

Speaking of 25 votes -- now is the time to sound off if you haven't reached that threshold, or you're a little too close for comfort, once the Lit Hoover rolls through.

 

[oggbashan]

Dear Ms C.

When does the voting end? I could go back and re-read all the rules, but I'm sure all of you know them by heart and can just spit out the answer in unison.

You can call me lazy from now on.

The winners are announced on February 12, so you can vote until then.

Og

PS. Even I had to look that up.

 

[DG Hear]

Speaking of 25 votes -- now is the time to sound off if you haven't reached that threshold, or you're a little too close for comfort, once the Lit Hoover rolls through.

The sweeps have arrived on my stories. Story one votes down from a high of 450 to 282.
Story two down froma high of 398 to 363.

Just can't understand 'how this happens' contest after contest. If someones vote isn't any good, it shouldn't be accepted in the first place. Has to be more than voting more than once.

I know I'm going to get hit some more. (because it happens every contest) I do feel sorry for the unsuspecting writers, newbies, if they get cleaned out.

Oh well, business as usual. Good luck all.
DG

 

[YoursSINSerely]

The winners are announced on February 12, so you can vote until then.

Og

PS. Even I had to look that up.

My Dearest Og,

I want to thank you for doing my legwork on the contest closing dates and the voting process. I'm finding so much "stuff" on this website. I hope someday I will be able to meneuver around it by myself to find what I'm looking for in it.

I appreciate all you guys putting up with me in the meantime.

 

[oggbashan]

My Dearest Og,

I want to thank you for doing my legwork on the contest closing dates and the voting process. I'm finding so much "stuff" on this website. I hope someday I will be able to meneuver around it by myself to find what I'm looking for in it.

I appreciate all you guys putting up with me in the meantime.

The easiest way to learn your way around is to read the "stickies" - the threads permanently at the top of the Authors' Hangout.

But don't worry. I've been here a long time and I still don't know everything about Literotica.

Og

 

[Darkniciad]

The sweeps have arrived on my stories. Story one votes down from a high of 450 to 282.
Story two down froma high of 398 to 363.

Just can't understand 'how this happens' contest after contest. If someones vote isn't any good, it shouldn't be accepted in the first place. Has to be more than voting more than once.

I know I'm going to get hit some more. (because it happens every contest) I do feel sorry for the unsuspecting writers, newbies, if they get cleaned out.

Oh well, business as usual. Good luck all.
DG

Multi-voting, low voting every story in the contest ( or every story except one ), habitual problem voters... There's probably a myriad of things.

Preventing someone from voting in the first place takes a hell of a lot more coding, and isn't really all that effective for the effort. Every method you can use to prevent someone from voting ( without requiring a login ) is easily circumvented.

If I lost any votes on mine, they were replaced +2 before I woke up this morning, and I find that unlikely. I'm sure I'll get hit with a fair sweep before it's all said and done, though.

Other than the one bump in last year's Nude Day contest, the percentage of votes swept off mine is typically low -- maxing out at 25-35%. Combination of stressing One story, one vote -- and don't down vote others to pump me up on a regular basis to my readers, and typically writing in categories that don't seem to have massive populations of low-voting troll bombers, I believe.

I think the hostile warring elements of the LW readership probably contributes to your typical vote loss, more than anything. It's a short leap from multi-comment arguments with other commenters on the PC board to multi-voting to back up your argument.

 

[DG Hear]

Multi-voting, low voting every story in the contest ( or every story except one ), habitual problem voters... There's probably a myriad of things.

Preventing someone from voting in the first place takes a hell of a lot more coding, and isn't really all that effective for the effort. Every method you can use to prevent someone from voting ( without requiring a login ) is easily circumvented.

If I lost any votes on mine, they were replaced +2 before I woke up this morning, and I find that unlikely. I'm sure I'll get hit with a fair sweep before it's all said and done, though.

Other than the one bump in last year's Nude Day contest, the percentage of votes swept off mine is typically low -- maxing out at 25-35%. Combination of stressing One story, one vote -- and don't down vote others to pump me up on a regular basis to my readers, and typically writing in categories that don't seem to have massive populations of low-voting troll bombers, I believe.

I think the hostile warring elements of the LW readership probably contributes to your typical vote loss, more than anything. It's a short leap from multi-comment arguments with other commenters on the PC board to multi-voting to back up your argument.

The story that took the big hit went up a few points. The other stayed the same. When all is said and done it doesn't seem to make a big difference in my score.

When I go through my submissions (about once a month to read update comments) I see that I lose votes on most every story. Some that I wrote back in 2005. Last month I had about 5 that were barely on the hot list and all are now at 4.49. Weird huh?

Anyway I expect this to happen since it has happened in every contest. I was just wondering if many other authors get hit like this?

On other sites where I post if a person tries to vote a second time it says 'You have already voted'. Although it will take the 1 or 2 bomb which lowers the average.

I know it just sounds like I'm complaining, which I am, but I'm also trying to let others become aware of the system.
Good Luck all
DG

 

[manyeyedhydra]

The story that took the big hit went up a few points. The other stayed the same. When all is said and done it doesn't seem to make a big difference in my score.

When I go through my submissions (about once a month to read update comments) I see that I lose votes on most every story. Some that I wrote back in 2005. Last month I had about 5 that were barely on the hot list and all are now at 4.49. Weird huh?

Anyway I expect this to happen since it has happened in every contest. I was just wondering if many other authors get hit like this?

On other sites where I post if a person tries to vote a second time it says 'You have already voted'. Although it will take the 1 or 2 bomb which lowers the average.

I know it just sounds like I'm complaining, which I am, but I'm also trying to let others become aware of the system.
Good Luck all
DG

The sweeps are for the army-of-alt votes. Not sure how the other sites work. Do they stop you voting even if you happen to be logged in under a different identity?

I like the sweeps personally. At least the site owners are making an effort (as much as can be done anyway) to keep the contests reasonably fair. But that's probably because my contest scores always seem to jump up by around 0.2 after a big sweep

Oh, and speaking of alts... there does appear to be a new little infestation...

 

[Darkniciad]

The sweeps are for the army-of-alt votes. Not sure how the other sites work. Do they stop you voting even if you happen to be logged in under a different identity?

I like the sweeps personally. At least the site owners are making an effort (as much as can be done anyway) to keep the contests reasonably fair. But that's probably because my contest scores always seem to jump up by around 0.2 after a big sweep

Oh, and speaking of alts... there does appear to be a new little infestation...

Some of them are making an attempt to turn over a new leaf, though. Not perfectly -- but trying. I'm taking the approach of give 'em a chance, or give 'em enough rope to hang themselves if they can't break away from the old ways.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

My story is still new enough that I don't know if I lost votes. I actually have twice as many as I had yesterday. My score has dropped some though.

 

[DG Hear]

The sweeps are for the army-of-alt votes. Not sure how the other sites work. Do they stop you voting even if you happen to be logged in under a different identity?

I like the sweeps personally. At least the site owners are making an effort (as much as can be done anyway) to keep the contests reasonably fair. But that's probably because my contest scores always seem to jump up by around 0.2 after a big sweep

Oh, and speaking of alts... there does appear to be a new little infestation...

On all sites I post, (including this one) I only have one identity, DG Hear. So I'm unable to answer your question.

When a story gets two to four hundred votes, a vote here and there doesn't affect much. Funny when I lose votes they must be both good and bad. Score either changes for the good or stays the same. After losing around 170 votes on story one, I did gain some.

Story two stayed the same after losing near 40 votes.
I was hoping when they put in the new voting system that it would solve a lot of the problems. Appearently it didn't.
With respect
DG

 

[Darkniciad]

On all sites I post, (including this one) I only have one identity, DG Hear. So I'm unable to answer your question.

When a story gets two to four hundred votes, a vote here and there doesn't affect much. Funny when I lose votes they must be both good and bad. Score either changes for the good or stays the same. After losing around 170 votes on story one, I did gain some.

Story two stayed the same after losing near 40 votes.
I was hoping when they put in the new voting system that it would solve a lot of the problems. Appearently it didn't.
With respect
DG

It probably cuts down on people accidentally/casually double-voting, but it won't do squat for someone who wants to do it maliciously, either high or low.

SOL gathers all of your names under one banner by default. You can keep them secret from the readers, but not from the system. Naturally, there are ways around that, too. Not nearly as complicated to gather up alts as it is to pick out individual votes without a login, though.

Just not going to happen here, because Lit appears to be dedicated to not forcing a login.

 

[DG Hear]

It probably cuts down on people accidentally/casually double-voting, but it won't do squat for someone who wants to do it maliciously, either high or low.

SOL gathers all of your names under one banner by default. You can keep them secret from the readers, but not from the system. Naturally, there are ways around that, too. Not nearly as complicated to gather up alts as it is to pick out individual votes without a login, though.

Just not going to happen here, because Lit appears to be dedicated to not forcing a login.

Look I'm not trying to be a hard ass here. It's just that I get all these votes taken away but it doesn't end there. I keep losing votes once it starts. I just lost 9 more votes on story one. I know it's going to happen to my second one eventually.

It's like they got rid of all the double votes and trolls and whatever else. I'm fine with that. But here I am a few hours later and losing more votes. That's why I post my votes after the first couple of days. So I can see the onslaught of vote losses later.

My previous stories from 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 are still losing votes. Grant it some stories scores go up while others go down.

I guess it just amazes me. I should just leave well enough alone and not talk about it. I'm lucky that a story site even posts my writings. Guess I should just keep to myself and laugh at the roller coaster ride.
Respectfully
DG

 

[manyeyedhydra]

It's like the current banking crisis. It's not a case of the votes going somewhere, it's more that they didn't exist in the first place

 

[oggbashan]

I don't lose many votes, perhaps because I don't have many in the first place, but all my older stories gradually lose their Hs and the ratings drop slowly towards 4.00.

Og

 

[Darkniciad]

Not trying to sound like I'm bitching at you, DG Just giving some hints of what's going on behind the scenes, from a programming standpoint.

There's no sure way to know what the criteria for a questionable vote is. Revealing that would make it easy as pie for assholes to skip by the filters. With the old votes vanishing, it's very likely that one of the things that the Hoover does is pick out some of the worst offenders of the system, and wipe out votes associated with them, no matter when they were cast. If someone bombs every story on the first page of a toplist, for example.

No doubt, there are probably perfectly legitimate votes removed, both high and low, by every sweep -- collateral damage. It's a balancing act that's probably ever evolving from data collected during the sweeps of the database, trying to improve the Hoover.

The only real alternative, without forcing a login, is to leave everything alone, opening it up for even one person with too much time on his/her hands to completely skew the scores of any story. Someone with a couple of hours to spare and basic understanding of how the limited controls on multi-voting work could bomb a new story with hundreds of ones ( or fives).

 

[Katiecat]

Any particular reason why they allow votes and comments by "Anonymous"? I've seen some really awful, unfair, rude comments by "Anonymous" on several stories, and I'm starting to wonder if they are all from the same person who is trying to mess up everyone's scores. It's transparent, and extremely childish. And I know that not everyone who posts anonymously is rude or has an agenda (I've received some very encouraging anonymous feedback), but some of the slams I've seen are so cutting and ruthless that it's ridiculous. I don't even have a story entered this time around, but it's definitely discouraging for the future.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Any particular reason why they allow votes and comments by "Anonymous"? I've seen some really awful, unfair, rude comments by "Anonymous" on several stories, and I'm starting to wonder if they are all from the same person who is trying to mess up everyone's scores. It's transparent, and extremely childish. And I know that not everyone who posts anonymously is rude or has an agenda (I've received some very encouraging anonymous feedback), but some of the slams I've seen are so cutting and ruthless that it's ridiculous. I don't even have a story entered this time around, but it's definitely discouraging for the future.

My complaining about so called anonymous feedback fell on deaf ears when the nice folks here at Literotica called me a whinner.

It makes sense to me that anyone should read a story, but if they want to comment on the story they read, they should sign in, as they must do when posting a comment to any of the forum boards.

Can you imagine how badly people would act if they were allowed to anonymously comment on the forum boards. Well, you don't have to imagine. You just need to read some of the comments posted to writers' stories, writers who work hard at crafting their stories, writers who pour out their hearts, only to have some emotional disturbed person, who thinks it's funny and who thinks they are smart, leave their shit behind.

With free speech aside, I don't understand why Laurel would want her site, a site that could be a much greater place for reader and writer, to be destroyed by those who, generally, don't contribute anything to the site by writing a story.

I think it's time that every writer who has been bashed anonymously banned together and complain to the only one who can make a positive change to this site, Laurel.

Anyone who wants to post a comment to a story, must log in. Yeah, sure, that won't cure the bashing, but it will stop a lot of it. After a while, if they were required to log in, we will all recognized and ignore those bashers and not take what they write to heart.

Even though I no longer post stories here, I've always been a big fan of this site. There's not another one, that I know of, like it. I'd hate to see it ruined by a few people who don't appreciate what this site is for writers and readers.

 

[Munachi]

ah well, with each of the (few) new votes, i get, my score gets lower. and a sweep is unlikely to get me an H, but likely to put me under 25... and still only two PCs...