The Adventum Contest

[Goswick]

Rule 7 of the contest rules is, " Using bots to increase your statistic will get you disqualified and blacklisted from future competitions." How is this rule enforced if no one is moderating the contest entries?

If an author uses bots say one or two days in a row to put themselves on the front page trending list, won't the fact that they are on the front page much longer without having posted new chapters lead to more eyeballs on their work meaning more views? Even if they only use bots to get 5% of their total views, won't the other 95% of legitimate views then be compromised?

I think some people misunderstand me here and probably assume I am being a sore loser or something, I can assure you I really have no interest in winning a prize here, I am asking because I noticed when my own story shot up to the place it is now, that several other stories that were written at the same time as my own are consistently in the trending list. Take a look at the top 20 in the contest and the top of the trending list, you'll see what I mean. The Trending list flips around from time to time but certain novels always seem to be within the top 20 and they are some of the contest entries, it just seems off.

I'm going to remove my story from the contest now, just to assure people I am not raising the issue to promote my own story.

The trending system may be a bit wacky, but I don't think it's rigged. Most of the stories that are on there have gotten there because they're getting good engagement and putting out a lot of content, and that's what matters. At the end of the day, it might be frustrating, but if you're really competing in the contest simply to get eyeballs to your work (which is what I'm trying to do too) then you probably shouldn't be so ready to drop out because you're disappointed with the trending algorithm - especially when you've gotten nearly 10k views in 20 days. If it was just about the story getting views, you'd probably get more out of it being in the competition than not.

After all, it's a free tag to put against your fiction, and people do look at the tags. You were still at Rank 11 or 12 in the comp, which means you'd probably at least get a few views through there. I'd kill to be that high lol.

Do I disagree with the way trending works? Sure. Stories can tend to yo-yo up and down after getting reader spikes from the previous day's trending, which means that usually it can be hard to break onto the front-page of trending itself, but if there's authors who are in the comp and are currently on trending - then they had to deal with that too in order to get on trending in the first place. At the end of the day, the contest is not about writing the "best" or "longest" story, it's about writing the ones that engage with readers the most - whether that is through rapid-fire updates, cultivating an engaged audience that regularly comments on your work, or getting a lot of favourites: the choice is yours.

Anyway, I probably spent a little too long on this, but I think at the end of the day - if you're dissatisfied with the competition, you have every right to leave and be annoyed a little with the algorithm - but you shouldn't immediately assume that everyone on trending has cheated their way onto the front page. It's an immature assumption. If you're disappointed with the trending algorithm, be annoyed with the algorithm, but don't take it out on the other authors - they still had to deal with the same system you did, you know?

 

[Queenfisher]

After all, it's a free tag to put against your fiction, and people do look at the tags. You were still at Rank 11 or 12 in the comp, which means you'd probably at least get a few views through there. I'd kill to be that high lol.

Erm... who would you kill? Just curious ^^. *whisper* I swear I won't tell anyone. I am on the 13th spot right now, so I feel I'm kind of safe, that's the sole reason I ask.

Regarding the ranking system and the trending mechanism, I am as baffled as everyone about how it works. I frankly have no idea how my novel is even on the first page, and so high up (for my genre), too! Like, my main tag is a bit unfortunate (the only other people with that tag are below 50th spot and struggling). And my ratio of views vs readers is just... let's say, very unique among the first 25 to 35 spots. But hey -- I'm not complaining (in fact I'm very happy I ended up so high! did not expect that). Albeit I can't help wondering when I will be squeezed out of there with such bizarre ratios.

In any case, I am excited to participate regardless of views and ratios. It's surprising in many ways, and fun. And also -- please tell me who you would kill because I enjoy murder mysteries a lot+_+.


Ah, and to add to the others -- @XianPiete, please don't leave the contest just to prove a point! Rating and trending mechanisms are weird, and we all wonder about them. It's natural. Come back, it was fun racing alongside you for a while that we were in the ranking vicinity! (Although you made me growl in annoyance quite a few times, but it was fun nonetheless).

 

[Alverost]

@Fuyutsuki_Kaori I couldn't contact you because you disabled your profile page but your entry was removed due to it being connected to a different series.

 

[Goswick]

In any case, I am excited to participate regardless of views and ratios. It's surprising in many ways, and fun. And also -- please tell me who you would kill because I enjoy murder mysteries a lot+_+.

I can't tell you that... it'd ruin the mystery lol.

 

[Fuyutsuki_Kaori]

@Fuyutsuki_Kaori I couldn't contact you because you disabled your profile page but your entry was removed due to it being connected to a different series.

i just read it, I get it thank you. hahaha I did not get any notifications about this earlier.

 

[AliceShiki]

I can't tell you that... it'd ruin the mystery lol.

 

[Mihou]

I can't tell you that... it'd ruin the mystery lol.

A new series was born this day on History TV... "The Target of Goswick"

 

[XianPiete]

Ah, and to add to the others -- @XianPiete, please don't leave the contest just to prove a point! Rating and trending mechanisms are weird, and we all wonder about them. It's natural. Come back, it was fun racing alongside you for a while that we were in the ranking vicinity! (Although you made me growl in annoyance quite a few times, but it was fun nonetheless).

Oh, I only added my story to the contest because I wanted to give myself a little pressure to write (deadline mainly) My story already went far beyond the needed 40k words so that reason for being in the contest isn't there to hold me. I just want my story to be read at this point. I decided to put it on a site with more eyeballs. I think the contest will be just fine without my story and the authors who need the prize shouldn't have to compete with someone like me who isn't really interested in winning the prizes.

As for my complaint here, it's as I said. The trending system seems to make no sense what so ever for this contest when books started around the same day with a similar number of views, favorites, and readers sends one book to the top of the trending list and then other to so far down the ranking that it would never see a view. One book gets exposure while the other doesn't. There are only a few books in the top twenty for the contest that stay around in the top twenty of the trending list, and as Tony said here in the thread, none of us know how the trending works. How are we to guess how one author stays on the front page of the site while the others can't even make an appearance?

As for the trending list being only for well-written books? I would wager more than a few authors and readers would disagree. In a contest like this, for it to be fair for all entrants you have to give every story the same level of advertisement or it's doomed to only allow those who run into the luck of meeting the trending criteria or who have figured out the trending criteria through trial and error to have a better chance of winning. That seems contrary to having this be about the work.

Anyway, since Tony says the site is working as intended, I won't bother anymore with it.

 

[xluminaheart]

Sorry if this has already been asked before, but do ghosts or spirits count as non-human?

 

[Alverost]

Sorry if this has already been asked before, but do ghosts or spirits count as non-human?

If the character just become their own ghost then no, you'll have to elaborate on spirit tho.

 

[xluminaheart]

If the character just become their own ghost then no, you'll have to elaborate on spirit tho.

Ah I meant if they became someone else's ghost (reincarnated into a dead person lol)

By Spirit I mean like... Not a conventional ghost? Does that make sense? Like they don't have a clear form and can barely talk or interact with the environment because of it.

 

[Alverost]

Ah I meant if they became someone else's ghost (reincarnated into a dead person lol)

By Spirit I mean like... Not a conventional ghost? Does that make sense? Like they don't have a clear form and can barely talk or interact with the environment because of it.

Then that's fine

 

[Maple-Leaf]

Newbie author, thought I might participate.
I wanted to ask:
(And I don’t know if anyone’s asked this before because I’m lazy and didn’t feel like reading 7 pages of the forum)
As long as the story has magic and technology, does it matter what happened before that? Like, for a very convenient example, the main character is an immortal who woke up in modern times but magic also exists, and he plays his part in a ridiculous story with little to no plot?
I’ll probably participate anyway and if I get disqualified, I get disqualified, but just thought I’d ask.

 

[Alverost]

As long as the story has magic and technology, does it matter what happened before that? Like, for a very convenient example, the main character is an immortal who woke up in modern times but magic also exists, and he plays his part in a ridiculous story with little to no plot?

For theme 3, yes. That's fine.

 

[LostLibrarian]

I mean plot is no requirement. Or else all the SoL-Stories would fail *duck and cover*

 

[Nahrenne]

I mean plot is no requirement. Or else all the SoL-Stories would fail *duck and cover*

Mine has plot!


X

 

[LostLibrarian]

Mine has plot!


X

It seems you are still in denial...

 

[Nahrenne]

It seems you are still in denial...

Read it and prove me otherwise!


X

 

[Maple-Leaf]

For theme 3, yes. That's fine.

Thanks!

good luck, me!

 

[MisokoFukumoto]

[A question for the second theme of reincarnation as non-human.]

I have a couple of plots in mind and I always find it hard to choose one and I always find it hard to choose one path of fate I laid in my mind for each plots.

One of the plot, that I had in mind, involves the majority of the story for the MC (Main Character) to be in their original human self, as the past has got more spotlight than after death's scenes, where they may or may not have reincarnated into non-living objects.
Is that cool? or the majority of the story has to be about their time as reincarnated existence?