Sticky: 2013 Survivor Rules and Registration Thread

[Boxlicker101]

2013 Survivor Rules and Registration Thread

Official Rules for the 2013 Survivor Contest


Entering the Contest

• You may enter the contest any time before midnight, Eastern Time Zone (UTC-5:00) on October 31, 2013.
• You may officially enter by pressing "Post Reply" in this thread and giving notice of your intention to participate. You will be notified via Private Message (PM) once your scoring thread has been created, and you may begin tracking your scores immediately after. In order to enter the contest, you must have Private Messaging enabled in your User CP.
• You must enter the contest in order to be eligible for prizes.
• You may only enter the contest under one UserID.

Eligibility

• The contest is open to all persons over the age of 18, where legal.
• Entrants found infringing copyright or cheating will be automatically disqualified.
• Literotica reserves the right to disqualify entrants for cause at any time without notice.

Objective

• To write as many new and original stories in as many different categories listed on the main story index in the course of the year as possible.

Winning the Contest

• The participant with the most points wins!
• Ties will break in favour of:
  1. the participant with more categories with at least one submission or immunity;
  2. the participant with more submissions entered in the contest.
• Winners to be announced shortly after 1/5/2014.

Prizes

[tr][td]Top Survivor ........................... [/td][td]$500[/td][/tr][tr][td]2nd-Placed Survivor ................ [/td][td]$250[/td][/tr][tr][td]3rd-Placed Survivor ................. [/td][td]$200[/td][/tr][tr][td]4th-Placed Survivor ................. [/td][td]$150[/td][/tr][tr][td]5th-Placed Survivor ................. [/td][td]$100[/td][/tr][tr][td]6th- to 15th-Placed Survivors ...[/td][td]$25 Amazon.com gift certificate[/td][/tr]​

Scoring

All Submissions

There is an initial cap of 3 submissions allowed for points per category (including the Poetry categories). If an author completes his/her scorecard with 3 submissions in each and every category, the cap for that author will be increased to 5. If he/she then reaches that cap in each and every category, the cap will again be raised to 6, then 7, then 8, and so on.

This is only verified at the end of the year, as always, and as happens to all aspects of Survivor. The order in which stories are written is irrelevant. This means that by the end of the year, the 4th submission by a contestant in any category will only be considered valid if that contestant has 3 submissions or 1 immunity in all categories.

Stories

(except Novels and Novellas)

• First submission posted in the first cap level of each category: 3 points;
• Each subsequent submission posted in each category: 1 point;

(Novels and Novellas only)

• First submission posted in the first cap level of this category: 6 points;
• Each subsequent submission posted in this category: 2 points.

Poems

• First poem posted in the first cap level of each category: 3 points;
• Each subsequent poem in each category: 1 point.

Immunities

• Weekly immunity: 0 points

Bonuses

• For having submissions or immunities in 10 categories: 5 points;
• For having submissions or immunities in 20 categories: 10 points;
• For having submissions or immunities in 30 categories: 15 points;
• For having submissions or immunities in all categories: 30 points;
• Special Contest bonuses:
  • For each entry on a Literotica Special Contest (limited to 1 entry per Special Contest): 5 points;
  • For having entered all Literotica Special Contests: 30 points.

Your ScoreCard

• All entrants will have a ScoreCard thread created in the Survivor contest forum for the purposes of tracking scores upon entering.
• Official ScoreCard Threads will be the basis for judging the winners of the contest.

Rules

Stories and Poems

1. Stories and poems must be accepted and posted at Literotica.
2. Literotica reserves the right to reject a submission at any time. Entrance in the contest does not guarantee publication.
3. Literotica reserves the right to change the category under which a submission is entered, if it is judged not to correspond to the characteristics of that category.
4. Only stories and poems with posting dates on or between 1/2/2013 and 1/1/2014 are eligible for the contest.
5. Contest entries submitted after 12/20/2013 must be clearly marked SURVIVOR CONTEST in the notes field for the editor. Failure to do this may result in stories not being posted in time for the contest.
6. Multi-chaptered stories are only eligible for the contest if each chapter is at least 3,000 words long.. Stories which are not considered chapters must be completely original and completely independent. Stories can feature recurring characters, they can contain passing references to each other, but they must be entirely, unequivocally, standalone. The only exceptions allowed to this rule are:
   1. the Chain Stories category, which is multi-chaptered by definition; each author will only be entitled to one chapter eligible for Survivor per chain per contest year.
   2. the Novels and Novellas category, where submissions can either be standalone stories with 7500 words or more; or chapters of a larger work, as long as each chapter has 7500 words or more.
7. Stories and poems used for points in 2012 may not be used for points in 2013.
8. Each story or poem must be original work from the entrant for points to be awarded. Stories and poems that had already been posted at Literotica.com, as well as translated, illustrated, narrated, transcribed or templated versions of submissions already entered in the contest are not eligible for points.
9. Novels and Novellas: All submissions made to the Novels and Novellas category must be 7500 words or more to be eligible for the contest. Chapters are allowed for this category.
10. Audio stories and poems: All audio stories must be 750 words or more to be eligible for the contest. There is no minimum length for poetry submissions. The accompanying text must be an accurate transcript of the submitted audio, and must be posted in the Text With Audio or Poetry With Audio categories as applicable. See Audio Story FAQ for information on submitting work.
11. Illustrated stories and poems: All illustrated stories must be 750 words or more to be eligible for the contest. There is no minimum length for poetry submissions. All submissions, including the illustrations, must be original work of the entrant, i.e. photographs taken, or drawings or paintings created by the entrant. The use of royalty-free and/or public domain images will make a submission ineligible for points. The use of the same illustration in more than one submission will render all said submissions after the first ineligible for points. The use of images in the production of which the contestant was not directly involved, either by creating or by being portrayed in them, will make submissions in the "Illustrated" and "Illustrated Poetry" categories ineligible for points in Survivor. That means that you can use photographs that you yourself took or that were taken of you, or paintings or drawings that you yourself created. It also means that you cannot use royalty-free or public domain images, or images pulled from somewhere off the web. See Illustrated Story FAQ for information on submitting work.
12. Non-English stories and poems: Submissions in all languages are eligible for the contest and must be posted in the corresponding categories as applicable. There will not be a specific non-English category in the scoreboards. All submissions must be original work of the entrant, and subsequent translations in any language are not eligible for points.
13. Chain Stories must comply with Literotica guidelines. See Chain Story FAQ for more information.
14. If a new category is created in the course of the year, it will be added to the contest.
15. Special Contest bonus: In addition to the 35 regular categories, ScoreCards have a Special Contest Bonus heading. Submissions under this heading must be valid entries accepted in a Literotica Special Contest. Only one entry per contest is eligible for this bonus, and if it is counted under this heading, it cannot be counted under a regular category.

Immunities

1. Immunities are awarded on a weekly basis.
2. There is no requirement to participate in Immunities. An entrant may forego all Immunity activity.
3. Immunities must be posted in an official immunity thread. Posts in any other threads will not be counted.
4. Immunities are won based on the weekly Wednesday Lottery available here: http://lottery.merseyworld.com/
5. Entrants can select a single number between 1 and 49. The selected number must be posted by the entrant prior to 7:30 PM GMT on Wednesday for the number to be consider for that day's draw. That is 7:30 PM in London on Wednesday. For the timezone illiterate: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html
6. Immunity will be awarded if the entrant's guess matches any one of the winning numbers or the bonus ball listed at the top of the page at http://lottery.merseyworld.com/
7. Immunities must be claimed by 7:30 PM GMT on the following Wednesday.
8. Immunities are only available for use in a cap level that has not been filled by a story or poem. For example, if you do not want to write any Incest/Taboo stories for cap level one, use your immunity in that category and that cap level.
9. Immunities apply to each category's cap level. If you use an immunity on any given category, that will close down that cap level to any further submissions. That immunity will be worth no points. For example, if you use an immunity, the first cap level is filled (first cap level being 3 submissions.) If your cap is then raised to 5 submissions, you can only fill it in this category by using another immunity, which will be worth no points or by writing two stories. If your cap is raised to 6, you will need another immunity or story; and so on, a new immunity or story for each cap level. A cap level can only have either one immunity or the required number of stories but not both. Immunities will not count for points, regardless of the cap level. Categories filled by immunities will still count towards the bonuses regarding the total number of categories filled.
10. If you've won an immunity, the first thing to do is make a post in the official immunity thread corresponding to that month (and only that thread) that you've won an immunity and which category and cap level you will use it for. This is the only way you will earn the immunity.
11. Do not edit the post after 7:30 PM GMT on Wednesday. If you do so, your immunity will be invalidated. This post is the only way we have to verify the immunity and the category you choose.
12. When an immunity is scored in your ScoreCard, please list the date the immunity was won and the category and cap level it fills. For example, if you win an immunity on the 2nd of January, please list it as: Immunity 1/2/2013.
13. Once an immunity is claimed, it cannot be erased and replaced with a story.
14. At the end of the year, all immunities claimed will be considered valid, as long as there is one completed cap level filled with regular submissions for each immunity. e.g.: You must fill cap level one for a category before one immunity would be valid. Two cap levels must be filled for two immunities to be valid. At the end of the contest, if you had 7 immunities, but you only had cap level one for 6 different categories completed, then only 6 of the 7 immunities would be considered valid.

Scoring

1. Stories must be published at Literotica in order to earn points. Stories that are pending review or in submission do not count for points in the contest.
2. Each contestant will have his or her own ScoreCard thread to keep track of scoring.
3. Entrants must track immunities as soon as they elect to use their immunity.
4. It is the entrant's responsibility to accurately track story scores, immunities, and bonus points.
5. Entrants are encouraged to track their points regularly and maintain their ScoreCards updated at all times.
6. Entrants have until midnight Eastern Time Zone (UTC-5:00), on 1/4/2014 to make any changes to their ScoreCards. Winners will be announced on or shortly after 1/5/2013.
7. Scoring is subject to random checks by the moderator without notice for purposes of quality control.

Miscellany

1. All entrants will be responsible for tracking their own progress through the Contest.
2. Entrants and winners retain copyright to all works submitted.
3. Sections 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of Official Monthly Contest Rules apply.
4. Plagiarism or cheating will result in expulsion from the Contest and potentially other actions taken by Literotica.
5. Rules are subject to change without notice.
6. Questions should be directed to the moderators. You may privately contact the moderators at any time by pressing the PM button at any of their posts.
7. This contest is sponsored by Literotica.com. Literotica.com claims no liability in the administration of this contest.

Notice:
Please do not request immunity numbers in this thread. They will not count. All immunities must be dealt with in official immunity threads.

 

[Neonurotic]

First, I'm in.

 

[CallMeBambi]

Yes, please.

 

[Cinner]

Is this where we suggest rule changes?

 

[Remec]

Sure, I'll try it once more.

 

[SusanJillParker]

Ready to play again

If there is a 2013 Survivor Contest, I'd like to play again.

The contest challenges me to write stories in categories that I wouldn't ordinarily write stories.

Sign me up please, Box.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Is this where we suggest rule changes?

This is the place.

 

[theravenfox]

I'm ready for the 2013 Survivor Contest! Can't wait. It will serve as incentive for me to keep submitting.

PROPOSED RULE CHANGE:

I'm going to participate regardless, but I just thought I'd try again. Here's my suggestion:

At least for the purposes of the Survivor Contest, allow audio stories to have a category other than "Text With Audio." In other words, allow audio submitters who create a story that would fit in say...the Lesbian Sex category to be allowed to get 3 points for that category instead of all audio stories only counting as Text With Audio. It has to have at least 750 words written out to count as an entry anyway! That's the same requirement for every other non-novel story entered into the contest. I do not suggest having audio stories count in more than one category. Example: an audio submitted for the Lesbian Sex category could not also fill the Text with Audio category. It would only count as one or the other.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I'm ready for the 2013 Survivor Contest! Can't wait. It will serve as incentive for me to keep submitting.

PROPOSED RULE CHANGE:

I'm going to participate regardless, but I just thought I'd try again. Here's my suggestion:

At least for the purposes of the Survivor Contest, allow audio stories to have a category other than "Text With Audio." In other words, allow audio submitters who create a story that would fit in say...the Lesbian Sex category to be allowed to get 3 points for that category instead of all audio stories only counting as Text With Audio. It has to have at least 750 words written out to count as an entry anyway! That's the same requirement for every other non-novel story entered into the contest. I do not suggest having audio stories count in more than one category. Example: an audio submitted for the Lesbian Sex category could not also fill the Text with Audio category. It would only count as one or the other.

That sounds like a good idea, and it would make some categories more interesting. However, it would require a change in the rules and/or customs of Lit. If a story is accompanied by a recording, it is posted to Audible Stories. However, if Lit. allowed a story in the Lesbian category or elsewhere to also be audible or to be accompanied by illustrations, that story would go onto your scoresheet in the category where Lit. placed it. The mods here have nothing to say about where a story is placed; that is strictly up to Lit. Management.

BTW, did you ever have an audible story about a celebrity? If so, in what category was it listed?

 

[theravenfox]

The mods here have nothing to say about where a story is placed; that is strictly up to Lit. Management.

But Box, the Amazing Mod might suggest taking my suggestion!

BTW, did you ever have an audible story about a celebrity? If so, in what category was it listed?

I haven't ever done one, but I have heard that was the only exception to the category placement because all Celeb stories have to go under the celeb disclaimer.

 

[theravenfox]

However, if Lit. allowed a story in the Lesbian category or elsewhere to also be audible or to be accompanied by illustrations, that story would go onto your scoresheet in the category where Lit. placed it.

I'm only suggesting it for the sake of the scorecards/Survivor contest. I'm ok with the categories on Lit staying as-is. I don't think it would be a difficult change to implement.

 

[Cinner]

Suggestion for change of the rules for scoring the Survivor Contest

First of all I have to say that I have enjoyed the 2012 Contest thoroughly; and I am saddened genuinely that I cannot afford to participate in 2013 because of work and school commitments. With any luck in my school work I might be able to participate again in the 2016 Contest, and I will just have to content myself with that carrot. That said, I hope that everyone in the 2013 Contest has the best of luck, stamina and inspiration.

I was going to wait until after the end of the 2012 contest to make this suggestion, but if you are all discussing suggestions for change for next year then now is the time to put this idea on the table. My suggestion for a rule change for the 2013 Contest would be for the abolition of the bonus points for completing all the special contests. The reason for this is that as things stand now, these points, earned in other contests by only some of the contestants, exert an undue influence on the scores for this contest, and bias the statistics in favour of people who work hard in contests other than the Survivor Contest.

My reading of the rules is that the objective of this contest is “to write as many new and original stories in as many different categories listed on the main story index in the course of the year as possible”. In scoring however, the rules negate that objective by awarding the win simply to “the participant with the most points” and the score that actually rewards writing a multitude of stories will come into effect only in the case of a tie in which “the participant with more categories with at least one submission or immunity [or] the participant with more submissions entered in the contest” would be adjudged the winner.

I understand that the owners want to encourage people to enter the Special Contests, but the fact that these score five points per story means that they each already have a bonus of two points over any of the other stories except for those in Novels & Novellas. By giving bonus points only to persons who enter all of these contests (without prorating the scores for others who do not), the result is to reward some persons twice, while ignoring others who have done the same work in other contests. An example of this would be to get the five points for an entry to the Summer Lovin’ contest for a person who enters four or five of the six contests but effectively 10 points for the same single entry in Summer Lovin’ to someone else who entered all six contests.

This defeats the purpose of the Survivor Contest since to catch up the person who missed one of the Special Contests would have to write enough stories (six for any category other than Novels) to fill two categories in order to earn the same points as someone who wrote one single story for the special contests. In short, as things stand now, someone can write six stories and gain 60 points while someone else has to write 18 stories (17 if one is in Novels & Novellas) to gain the same 60 points even if that person entered five of the six Special Contests since the only bonus that that person would have received would be the five points for completing 10 categories.

The situation with scoring is made even more interesting when one considers the use of the Immunities. These are seemingly worth nothing, unless one fills a cap level in another section, for each immunity claimed. They become very valuable though toward the end of the Contest since they are used in the count for completing the 35 categories which means that someone who is very lucky could fill the categories and gain all of THOSE bonus points while writing five stories (say) fewer than someone who was unlucky in the lottery for immunity numbers and whose number did not come up five times during the year.

I am not a mathematician, so I can’t tell you what would be most effective in scoring this contest beyond a simple count of the number of stories written. I found the strategizing to get to the score that I have for the contest this year to be part of the fun in doing it, and that fun should be preserved regardless of the scoring used; but I don’t know how much of a disincentive it is to good writers to enter in any given year if they are late. I don’t know if people stockpile stories from one year to the next if they are late for the Survivor Contest (late being a case of missing the Valentine’s Day Contest); I suspect not since the prize money may not warrant that; but it is something to consider if you have gone to the trouble of stipulating that people must not use otherwise copyrighted material or enter under several names in any year, which is why it may be a good idea to scramble categories from time to time, and perhaps take a subset of story categories to be eligible for the Contest in any given year.

Perhaps someone could ask one of the mathematicians, statisticians, actuaries or engineers lurking in these threads to work something out for you. I think it would be worth the effort to do this since the contest stretches the contestants in a good way, and so there should be nothing by way of disincentive for anyone wishing to participate in any given year.

Take care everyone and have a wonderfully productive and prosperous 2013 in all that you do.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I'm only suggesting it for the sake of the scorecards/Survivor contest. I'm ok with the categories on Lit staying as-is. I don't think it would be a difficult change to implement.

Stories have to go in the category where Lit. puts them, unless they are used to fulfill a theme contest entry. To do otherwise would be chaotic. You are suggesting being able to allocate a recorded story to either Audible or to the category which fits the subject matter, for instance Lesbian. However, many stories could fit more than one category. If you can do that, what is to stop somebody from writing Gay Male stories involving anal sex and, after filling the Gay Male Category, allocating them to Anal? Or write about lesbians using strapons and, after the Lesbian category is full, allocating some of them to Toys and Masturbation? There are many other possibilities, and I'm sure you can think of them.

Personally, I think it would be really neat to allow some stories in various categories to include sound effects and/or illustrations, but that would have to be something Lit. decides.

 

[theravenfox]

Stories have to go in the category where Lit. puts them, unless they are used to fulfill a theme contest entry. To do otherwise would be chaotic. You are suggesting being able to allocate a recorded story to either Audible or to the category which fits the subject matter, for instance Lesbian. However, many stories could fit more than one category. If you can do that, what is to stop somebody from writing Gay Male stories involving anal sex and, after filling the Gay Male Category, allocating them to Anal? Or write about lesbians using strapons and, after the Lesbian category is full, allocating some of them to Toys and Masturbation? There are many other possibilities, and I'm sure you can think of them.

Personally, I think it would be really neat to allow some stories in various categories to include sound effects and/or illustrations, but that would have to be something Lit. decides.

I think you misunderstood. I'm basically saying that for the sake of the Survivor contest, forget "Text With Audio" as it's own category. It would be like making "Written Sex Stories" a category. That way, those of us who submit audio stories with actual plot and character development, etc get a chance to have our work recognized as different than just some moaning and sound effects.

Also, Literotica doesn't have a problem categorizing multi-themed written stories, so why would multi-themed audio stories create chaos?

If things stay as they are, then that's just fine. I love the site and all that they do. I make the same suggestion every year. I'll make the same suggestion next year and the year after that. The status quo won't make me think of Literotica as any less my home.

 

[Boxlicker101]

First of all I have to say that I have enjoyed the 2012 Contest thoroughly; and I am saddened genuinely that I cannot afford to participate in 2013 because of work and school commitments. With any luck in my school work I might be able to participate again in the 2016 Contest, and I will just have to content myself with that carrot. That said, I hope that everyone in the 2013 Contest has the best of luck, stamina and inspiration.

I was going to wait until after the end of the 2012 contest to make this suggestion, but if you are all discussing suggestions for change for next year then now is the time to put this idea on the table. My suggestion for a rule change for the 2013 Contest would be for the abolition of the bonus points for completing all the special contests. The reason for this is that as things stand now, these points, earned in other contests by only some of the contestants, exert an undue influence on the scores for this contest, and bias the statistics in favour of people who work hard in contests other than the Survivor Contest.

My reading of the rules is that the objective of this contest is “to write as many new and original stories in as many different categories listed on the main story index in the course of the year as possible”. In scoring however, the rules negate that objective by awarding the win simply to “the participant with the most points” and the score that actually rewards writing a multitude of stories will come into effect only in the case of a tie in which “the participant with more categories with at least one submission or immunity [or] the participant with more submissions entered in the contest” would be adjudged the winner.

I understand that the owners want to encourage people to enter the Special Contests, but the fact that these score five points per story means that they each already have a bonus of two points over any of the other stories except for those in Novels & Novellas. By giving bonus points only to persons who enter all of these contests (without prorating the scores for others who do not), the result is to reward some persons twice, while ignoring others who have done the same work in other contests. An example of this would be to get the five points for an entry to the Summer Lovin’ contest for a person who enters four or five of the six contests but effectively 10 points for the same single entry in Summer Lovin’ to someone else who entered all six contests.

This defeats the purpose of the Survivor Contest since to catch up the person who missed one of the Special Contests would have to write enough stories (six for any category other than Novels) to fill two categories in order to earn the same points as someone who wrote one single story for the special contests. In short, as things stand now, someone can write six stories and gain 60 points while someone else has to write 18 stories (17 if one is in Novels & Novellas) to gain the same 60 points even if that person entered five of the six Special Contests since the only bonus that that person would have received would be the five points for completing 10 categories.

The situation with scoring is made even more interesting when one considers the use of the Immunities. These are seemingly worth nothing, unless one fills a cap level in another section, for each immunity claimed. They become very valuable though toward the end of the Contest since they are used in the count for completing the 35 categories which means that someone who is very lucky could fill the categories and gain all of THOSE bonus points while writing five stories (say) fewer than someone who was unlucky in the lottery for immunity numbers and whose number did not come up five times during the year.

I am not a mathematician, so I can’t tell you what would be most effective in scoring this contest beyond a simple count of the number of stories written. I found the strategizing to get to the score that I have for the contest this year to be part of the fun in doing it, and that fun should be preserved regardless of the scoring used; but I don’t know how much of a disincentive it is to good writers to enter in any given year if they are late. I don’t know if people stockpile stories from one year to the next if they are late for the Survivor Contest (late being a case of missing the Valentine’s Day Contest); I suspect not since the prize money may not warrant that; but it is something to consider if you have gone to the trouble of stipulating that people must not use otherwise copyrighted material or enter under several names in any year, which is why it may be a good idea to scramble categories from time to time, and perhaps take a subset of story categories to be eligible for the Contest in any given year.

Perhaps someone could ask one of the mathematicians, statisticians, actuaries or engineers lurking in these threads to work something out for you. I think it would be worth the effort to do this since the contest stretches the contestants in a good way, and so there should be nothing by way of disincentive for anyone wishing to participate in any given year.

Take care everyone and have a wonderfully productive and prosperous 2013 in all that you do.

I am inclined to agree with you about abolishing the thirty point bonus for entering every theme contest. I believe there should be some reward - such as five points - for entering a contest, but I think that should be all. The current bonus seems unfair to those who join Lit. after the middle of Feb. and want to participate in this contest. Such people start at a disadvantage already, because they have less time to fill their scoresheets than the rest of us. However, that thirty point handicap would almost certainly keep them from winning first place, although they could still place in the money.

This is something I believe should be put to a vote sometime after the first of the year, assuming there will be a contest. I have no reason to believe there will not be a contest, but I don't really know for certain.

 

[HottieKatie]

Count me in!
Last year was a nice start, I want to try again

 

[Cinner]

I think you misunderstood. I'm basically saying that for the sake of the Survivor contest, forget "Text With Audio" as it's own category. It would be like making "Written Sex Stories" a category. That way, those of us who submit audio stories with actual plot and character development, etc get a chance to have our work recognized as different than just some moaning and sound effects.

Also, Literotica doesn't have a problem categorizing multi-themed written stories, so why would multi-themed audio stories create chaos?

If things stay as they are, then that's just fine. I love the site and all that they do. I make the same suggestion every year. I'll make the same suggestion next year and the year after that. The status quo won't make me think of Literotica as any less my home.

Actually, now that you've clarified the abolition of the Audio category I agree with this. Of course there are people who come here for only the audio stories (my Dom is one of them) and having them in a special category works in the same way that it would for people who came here for only romances or Mature stories. I noticed also the creation of the new "series" stories section on the site...stories with multiple chapters. These were stories with many themes e.g. scifi, nonHuman etc. This suggests to me that stories could be categorised in both Audio and in their substantive themes quite easily; although I don't know if there is any problem with bandwith (???) and storing the audio files.

 

[MikeyLoves269]

Sign me up!

 

[SusanJillParker]

I humbly disagree.

Anyone who takes the time, the effort, and the hard, dedicated work to create, develop, write, and edit stories in every theme contest deserves to receive bonus points over another writer who comes to the party late or who cannot think of a story to write for the Valentine's Day or Winter contest.

I like the idea of having bonus points. It gives a writer a reason to reach beyond his or her limit to write in a contest that they normally would have not written a story in to compete.

Taking it a step further, why even bother giving 3 points for the first story in a category? Why not assign one point to each story written.

I like the contest the way it is. A lot of thought has been put into the current structure by participants and by those who manage the contest.

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it."

For those who join late, too bad. I'm sorry but there's always next year. We don't make special concessions for professional athletes who join a team late and why should we make special concessions for you. It is what it is. Get over it.

For those who feel cheated out of bonus points because they joined the contest late, then do the smart thing. Stay in your room and write stories for next year.

"Where's Cinner?"

"He's in his room."

"He's always in his room."

"What's he doing in his room?"

"He writes stories."

"Why?"

"For the 2013 Survivor contest. He didn't want to join late in 2012 because he'd missed the bonus points so he decided to wait until next year to dump several hundred stories on the board."

See? That's how it works Cinner. Listen, I'll see you in 2016. By then you will have amassed 1,000 stories, nearly more stories than me. Good luck in school. What grade are you in now?

I am inclined to agree with you about abolishing the thirty point bonus for entering every theme contest. I believe there should be some reward - such as five points - for entering a contest, but I think that should be all. The current bonus seems unfair to those who join Lit. after the middle of Feb. and want to participate in this contest. Such people start at a disadvantage already, because they have less time to fill their scoresheets than the rest of us. However, that thirty point handicap would almost certainly keep them from winning first place, although they could still place in the money.

This is something I believe should be put to a vote sometime after the first of the year, assuming there will be a contest. I have no reason to believe there will not be a contest, but I don't really know for certain.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I see what Cinner is saying in regards to the special contests points and how by entering Survivor at the starting gate and entering all the contests puts a person way ahead of another. I would not be opposed to this part of the contest being changed.

I agree with Box, that a reward of some sort should be given if a person chooses to enter a contest - not a reward for every entry - but a reward for entering one. Perhaps a 5 pt. bonus for entering one contest. This means the gap for a late comer can easily be caught.

In regards to Immunities and being lucky. I was lucky this year. I'm the first to admit it, but also unlucky. For every immunity I won I still had to produce 3 stories for every one I used. I won six immunities, so to make sure every last one was valid I had to produce 18 stories and cap 6 categories to level one. I see no reason at all to change Immunities or how they are handled. So far I don't think anyone has suggested that, but if they do, that's my opinion.

I do not see the Text with Audio suggestion as a reasonable one. This contest is designed to work with the categories Lit. offers. To start dissecting the categories to fit other preferences is a confusing headache in the rules and completely unnecessary. IF Lit. wants to make life easier on its members and guests than Lit. will dissect the Audio category and break it into subsections.

A Text with Audio is a category, period. What you put in it is up to you. If you make it a lesbian story, put that in the description line and sell that aspect with the tag lines.

To completely rid the contest of it, is just removing another challenge from a contest that is supposed to be challenging.

Many people get hung up on this category and it's often the first to get an Immunity slapped in it. People go in thinking they have to read the story, that's not the case. I believe you can have another read it for you. Also people feel pressured to do the "sound effects " - again it doesn't have to be a sexual moan and groan story. It just has to be read.

ETA: If you dissect Text with Audio, then what will happen is Illustrated works will be next and again - an unnecessary headache to an already complicated contest for those not use to the ins and outs of Survivor.

 

[Cinner]

Hi Susan,

You're missing the point. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be rewarded for their work. What I'm saying is that they were rewarded already by getting five points instead of three for these stories AND because these stories are counted at all in this Contest. If you think about it, that does not happen anywhere else, because except for the fact that you can't win a contest within six months of winning your last contest, the results of the contests don't influence each other; except for the Survivor Contest being influenced by all the others. To double the score for only some of the people who entered these other contests biases the results even more in this contest. In any situation where people work hard they do deserve to be recognised and otherwise rewarded; but in a case designed to encourage volume of output, where someone can write six stories and earn the same number of points where someone else writes 18 stories, then that system is flawed and should be fixed.

I'm not crying foul at all; I had wanted to make this observation after this Contest but since Box made the invitation to make recommendations, I thought that now was the time to put this on the table. If no change is made it doesn't alter how I feel about the Contest. I value it greatly, and have defended it against the criticisms of some of my friends here, and from someone who offered me serious editorial support, and coaching, in order to improve my writing for a more mainstream audience.

The truth is that I have learned so much this year that I ought to be paying Literotica for the experience of participating in this Contest. I would recommend that everyone commit to it, or something similar, seriously even once in their lives if they are serious about honing their skills in this area.

Thanks for the good wishes; I hope to have my PhD in another 18 months or so, and then I need to work on some conference papers to which I have already committed myself...Although I am a girl, Xavier Martin's sentiments (real Xavier Scores!), are very much mine!

-Cin

I humbly disagree.

Anyone who takes the time, the effort, and the hard, dedicated work to create, develop, write, and edit stories in every theme contest deserves to receive bonus points over another writer who comes to the party late or who cannot think of a story to write for the Valentine's Day or Winter contest.

I like the idea of having bonus points. It gives a writer a reason to reach beyond his or her limit to write in a contest that they normally would have not written a story in to compete.

Taking it a step further, why even bother giving 3 points for the first story in a category? Why not assign one point to each story written.

I like the contest the way it is. A lot of thought has been put into the current structure by participants and by those who manage the contest.

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it."

For those who join late, too bad. I'm sorry but there's always next year. We don't make special concessions for professional athletes who join a team late and why should we make special concessions for you. It is what it is. Get over it.

For those who feel cheated out of bonus points because they joined the contest late, then do the smart thing. Stay in your room and write stories for next year.

"Where's Cinner?"

"He's in his room."

"He's always in his room."

"What's he doing in his room?"

"He writes stories."

"Why?"

"For the 2013 Survivor contest. He didn't want to join late in 2012 because he'd missed the bonus points so he decided to wait until next year to dump several hundred stories on the board."

See? That's how it works Cinner. Listen, I'll see you in 2016. By then you will have amassed 1,000 stories, nearly more stories than me. Good luck in school. What grade are you in now?

 

[theravenfox]

I do not see the Text with Audio suggestion as a reasonable one. This contest is designed to work with the categories Lit. offers. To start dissecting the categories to fit other preferences is a confusing headache in the rules and completely unnecessary. IF Lit. wants to make life easier on its members and guests than Lit. will dissect the Audio category and break it into subsections.

A Text with Audio is a category, period. What you put in it is up to you. If you make it a lesbian story, put that in the description line and sell that aspect with the tag lines.

To completely rid the contest of it, is just removing another challenge from a contest that is supposed to be challenging.

Many people get hung up on this category and it's often the first to get an Immunity slapped in it. People go in thinking they have to read the story, that's not the case. I believe you can have another read it for you. Also people feel pressured to do the "sound effects " - again it doesn't have to be a sexual moan and groan story. It just has to be read.

ETA: If you dissect Text with Audio, then what will happen is Illustrated works will be next and again - an unnecessary headache to an already complicated contest for those not use to the ins and outs of Survivor.

It's not confusing at all if you remove audio as its own category. Then, audio stories work just like written stories...fitting into the category that fits the theme of the story. That's pretty darn simple, in my opinion. As I said before, in my opinion...having "Text With Audio" as a category is just like having "Written Sex Stories" as a category. I'm simply saying let audio be one option of format in which to submit a story for the Survivor contest.

And while I've not submitted an illustrated story, I can imagine that they are based on a theme or themes that extend beyond the included picture. So why not?

Anyway, as everyone keeps saying, it's up to the owners of Literotica to make that call. I was just making the suggestion.

 

[chocolatecookie3]

I'd like to enter. I'm new to the site but I'm pretty sure I can write 35+ stories! Hopefully people will like them, too!

 

[Boxlicker101]

I think you misunderstood. I'm basically saying that for the sake of the Survivor contest, forget "Text With Audio" as it's own category. It would be like making "Written Sex Stories" a category. That way, those of us who submit audio stories with actual plot and character development, etc get a chance to have our work recognized as different than just some moaning and sound effects.

Also, Literotica doesn't have a problem categorizing multi-themed written stories, so why would multi-themed audio stories create chaos?

If things stay as they are, then that's just fine. I love the site and all that they do. I make the same suggestion every year. I'll make the same suggestion next year and the year after that. The status quo won't make me think of Literotica as any less my home.

First, I want to say I really enjoy your audible stories. Reading a story and listening to it at the same time is really great, and the sound effects, if that's what they are, make for a terrific combination

As I understand it, you want Lit. to retain the Audible Stories category but remove it from the Survivors' Contest. That way, when an audible story is posted, the writer-recorder can allocate it to any category he or she thinks is appropriate. Of course, this would mean the moderators would have to verify that the allocation was correct. If you wrote a story about a man fucking his daughter and allocated it to EC, I would read it and change it to Incest. That would be easy. If you had a woman extorting her daughter-in-law into having anal sex using a strapon, that would not be as easy. There are five possible categories there.

This would be a considerable departure from the current rules. For the first time, an author would be deciding in what Survivor category a story would be placed.

 

[SusanJillParker]

Dr. Cinner

You joined the site in 2010. You have amassed more than 30,000 forum board posts. Perhaps, had you stopped posting on the forum boards to read the contest rules, you may have joined the Survivor contest in January and not missed two contests and all of this discussion would be mute.

I like the idea of having bonus points. Not everyone can think of a story to write in every theme contest.

Congratulations on your Ph D. Wow. Awesome.

Good luck to you...Dr. Cinner.

Hi Susan,

You're missing the point. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be rewarded for their work. What I'm saying is that they were rewarded already by getting five points instead of three for these stories AND because these stories are counted at all in this Contest. If you think about it, that does not happen anywhere else, because except for the fact that you can't win a contest within six months of winning your last contest, the results of the contests don't influence each other; except for the Survivor Contest being influenced by all the others. To double the score for only some of the people who entered these other contests biases the results even more in this contest. In any situation where people work hard they do deserve to be recognised and otherwise rewarded; but in a case designed to encourage volume of output, where someone can write six stories and earn the same number of points where someone else writes 18 stories, then that system is flawed and should be fixed.

I'm not crying foul at all; I had wanted to make this observation after this Contest but since Box made the invitation to make recommendations, I thought that now was the time to put this on the table. If no change is made it doesn't alter how I feel about the Contest. I value it greatly, and have defended it against the criticisms of some of my friends here, and from someone who offered me serious editorial support, and coaching, in order to improve my writing for a more mainstream audience.

The truth is that I have learned so much this year that I ought to be paying Literotica for the experience of participating in this Contest. I would recommend that everyone commit to it, or something similar, seriously even once in their lives if they are serious about honing their skills in this area.

Thanks for the good wishes; I hope to have my PhD in another 18 months or so, and then I need to work on some conference papers to which I have already committed myself...Although I am a girl, Xavier Martin's sentiments (real Xavier Scores!), are very much mine!

-Cin