[Parallax]

IMHO, some of the biggest complainers here have pretty low post counts.
What did you do to help make this happen in the first place?

No it means complaining has become a national pastime. Mistakes happen and we are entitled to nothing but honesty and the best efforts of others.

Thank you!

[aslyfox]

I hope none of the mods get p o ed and decide helping out the members of the forum isn't worth being accused of wrong doing

[SirTomster]

Welcome to one of our newest members

The moderating team here are all regular, unpaid members who do what they do to assist in the smooth running of the forum.

Both of the moderators you refer to tried to enter this morning's raffle thread but were too late to do so. The fact that they managed to post entries this time is fortunate, but certainly not engineered.

Any delay on opening was down to me, as I had to deal with a minor family emergency (my mother), so you'll forgive me, I hope. Thanks to my colleagues for opening the thread in my short absence.

There you go folks. Proof it was an inside job. Someone got to BigMackCAam's mother! Wow what levels people will go to.

I really hope the sarcasm of the above statement did make it through.

Or in the immortal words of Forrest Gump. "It Happens"

[Amicus]

Welcome to one of our newest members

The moderating team here are all regular, unpaid members who do what they do to assist in the smooth running of the forum.

Both of the moderators you refer to tried to enter this morning's raffle thread but were too late to do so. The fact that they managed to post entries this time is fortunate, but certainly not engineered.

Any delay on opening was down to me, as I had to deal with a minor family emergency (my mother), so you'll forgive me, I hope. Thanks to my colleagues for opening the thread in my short absence.

Thanks for your reply. I hope you could solve your family emergency well. Nothing comes before that.
As you can see I'm not a newbie here, registered now 5 years ago, longtime read only member.

Can assure you I'm long been on the "other" side as well, operating a mid-size German forum for years, also contributed as mod to 2 other forums also for years in the run, so I know how much effort it takes.

All I'm saying is it seemed fishy and at least messy, and also why take a manual approach when you obviously even have the automatism in the forums to let these special threads run along automatically?
(like now visible in the bonus thread).
And it seemed the forum and or mods weren't up to the way the "raffle" was chosen.

I even would support members demanding a more closed form of giveaway, more in a contributing way of activly sharing photos..even if I couldn't participate in it anymore.

But when you make an "open" style raffle, you would ensure its fair to all users and no one comes special.. Not even 2 mods that tried to enter this morning but failed (I'm sure they weren't the only ones)

Thanks for keeping it up anyway.

[pentax360]

I don't think the mods did any wrong doing, and I have no hard feeling for any of the lucky 100.
But even if it had worked right (it worked right at the first one) It's just not a fun or fair way to do a contest. (It wasn't unfair to me I'm speedy, and I unchecked “show signatures” and “show avatars” which cuts refresh time by 50%)

I have an elderly friend with failing eyesight who uses a Nikon and a slower PC, and there's no way he could hope to compete in a contest like this.

[Kozlok]

I appreciate the giveaway, and all that the mods do. You are literally giving away something, and people are bent about not having the raffle run the way they want. I'm certain anyone else who wanted to give away a K-1 would be able to do so with whatever rules they wished.

I've been around here too long to blame any of our mods for an inside job. Shame on those of you who throw accusations without proof.

Good on you BigMack for taking care of what actually matters; taking care of one another is something we should all strive to do more of.

[bertwert]

Thank you!

Why hello!

Haven't seen you in a while

[Parallax]

Thanks for your reply. I hope you could solve your family emergency well. Nothing comes before that.
As you can see I'm not a newbie here, registered now 5 years ago, longtime read only member.

Can assure you I'm long been on the "other" side as well, operating a mid-size German forum for years, also contributed as mod to 2 other forums also for years in the run, so I know how much effort it takes.

All I'm saying is it seemed fishy and at least messy, and also why take a manual approach when you obviously even have the automatism in the forums to let these special threads run along automatically?
(like now visible in the bonus thread).
And it seemed the forum and or mods weren't up to the way the "raffle" was chosen.

I even would support members demanding a more closed form of giveaway, more in a contributing way of activly sharing photos..even if I couldn't participate in it anymore.

But when you make an "open" style raffle, you would ensure its fair to all users and no one comes special.. Not even 2 mods that tried to enter this morning but failed (I'm sure they weren't the only ones)

Thanks for keeping it up anyway.

Here's the deal.
The threads, replies, etc., appear differently to mods than they do to others.
Mods are able to reply to closed threads and if we don't notice that it is closed we may not know the difference.
I have, more than once, replied to a closed thread without realizing it.
I am quite confident that there was nothing nefarious going on here.

[robtcorl]

I am quite confident that there was nothing nefarious going on here.

Never any doubt about that from the regulars who come here for the enjoyment of the forum and friends.

[aslyfox]

Never any doubt about that from the regulars who come here for the enjoyment of the forum and friends.

what he said

[bertwert]

Never any doubt about that from the regulars who come here for the enjoyment of the forum and friends.

what he said

Ditto.

[siriru]

I don't think the mods did any wrong doing, and I have no hard feeling for any of the lucky 100.
But even if it had worked right (it worked right at the first one) It's just not a fun or fair way to do a contest. (It wasn't unfair to me I'm speedy, and I unchecked “show signatures” and “show avatars” which cuts refresh time by 50%)

I have an elderly friend with failing eyesight who uses a Nikon and a slower PC, and there's no way he could hope to compete in a contest like this.

Or you can click on the Closed button (that's the same link when the thread is open) and refresh this page only. That way you don't have to worry about signatures or avatars.

[Adam]

Here's the deal.
The threads, replies, etc., appear differently to mods than they do to others.
Mods are able to reply to closed threads and if we don't notice that it is closed we may not know the difference.
I have, more than once, replied to a closed thread without realizing it.
I am quite confident that there was nothing nefarious going on here.

There certainly wasn't. And for next month, I'm setting things up so mods will be affected by the same rules as everyone else, since the threads will never be closed.

Thanks again everyone!

[mee]

There certainly wasn't. And for next month, I'm setting things up so mods will be affected by the same rules as everyone else, since the threads will never be closed.

Thanks again everyone!

They could just get regular accounts separate from their mod ones for such events.. that would solve that.

[bigdavephoto]

I am unhappy about the way the contest thread happened. At NO time did I even think any of the mods were doing something to rig the draw. Yes, a family emergency is more important than a contest thread.

What I am upset about is the only 50 post per thread and the rush to enter. I am also a little upset that I kept refreshing until 7:03 by the clock on my computer and never got a chance to enter. I also don't believe it is far to have a rush to enter concept when everybody does not have the same specs on their computer and internet access.

Nobody like it if somebody complains with out offering a suggestion.

Run the contest as the rules are written.

40,000 post per month,

Member in good standings

To enter the draw, must be a member for 24 hours or more and have made a minimum of one post during time limit. (June 1st to June 30th. July 1st to July 31st, August 1st to August 31st)

At the end of time period, if total post count is met for the month (40,000), a single thread will be opened for 24 hours (example UCT 1100 am June 30th to UCT 1100 am July 1st) to allow members to enter into the drawing but can only be entered into drawing one time.

Winner will be picked no earlier than UCT 1300 July 1st and no later than 2300 July 1st using a random number generator from the members who entered in the special thread.