Beauty Contest Rule Change

[June Scarlet]

My post was getting kind of lengthy, and I hope for discussion, so I decided to make a new thread for this. There's been a new rule change to the Beauty Contest, namely that you can now advertise on all Neoboards (but not offsite).


From the editorial: www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=893

Hi there! Why is it that people advertising for the CC are allowed to advertise it in their signatures while BC art isn't? I totally get the whole "spam" part and people spamming to get votes in the CC isn't considered ok. However, I feel like this is still pretty unfair to those who make art for the BC as their efforts are usually takes more time and people pour their hearts into art and aren't even allowed to advertise in their signatures even when not spamming. A lot of the enthusiasm and votes have disappeared since the rules kicked in and won't even allowed to engage people on other boards, it feels like the contest is slowly dying away. So with this I'm asking if there's a possibility to give the BC contestants the same treatment as the CC people-- to be able to advertise their entries in their signatures as long as they don't spam. Thank you for reading and I hope you understand my intentions with this! ~~brother_red

Hi, You are right, spam of any kind is not welcome on Neopets, so we need to be careful that we don’t accidently encourage spam.

So let’s do this, since it does seem to be a popular request, the rule about BC spam has been re-considered and we will make a slight change in the rules regarding advertising for your BC entries.

Now, please read all of this so you can keep your account safe. I (tnt_contest_judge/kikocat) will make a post after the news and editorial is out to address this on the Art Board and I’ll repost these new rules for advertising there.

As of right now, your BC Link in your NeoSig is NO longer restricted to any boards, meaning you can keep your Neosig with your BC link and post anywhere you would like.

Now, the same rules as the CC will go into effect with this (really old BC rules actually if everyone remembers those), your posts must contribute to the conversations, so no one word posts or “GLT” type posts. Basically don’t just post a couple words to get your NeoSig seen and then just jump from board to board to repeat that. This is the definition of spamming.

Now, what will happen if you are caught spamming. Your entry will be removed for the week to make sure the contest is kept fair for all.

Warnings for this will be up to the monitors discretion so if it looks like spam, it will be considered spam. They will then send me a list of usernames who they warned for spamming and I will have to remove your entry. Please do not make me remove an entry, I would rather not. So be careful out there and please play by the spirit of the rules.

Just to add, you still can only advertise from the same account that the pet is on. So please do not post all your pets from your main account. Sorry to keep this part of the advertising rule but it is to make sure no one is advertising for anyone else’s pet. It keeps things fair for all entering.

Happy BC’ing!!

From the thread "BC Rules" by tnt_contest_judge: www.neopets.com/neoboards/topic.phtml?topic=160371457

For a list of the most rules (and I did double check these before sending them to the editorial that day). Please use www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=850 (just scroll to the bottom).

Ignore the part:

In addition Neosigs are only allowed on the Art Boards/Spotlight Boards...

I'll get that updated this week.
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Just remember, if you are posting offsite, make sure you are contributing to the conversation. Monitors will be watching for spam posts that contribute nothing but are there only to advertise.

We will be removing entries from those who are caught doing this.
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- offsite advertising has never and will never be allowed.

From the thread "New Advertising Rule " by tnt_contest_judge: www.neopets.com/neoboards/topic.phtml?topic=160371445

Hi everyone,

I wanted to make a post when the editorial was released but I am not sure when they updated that. So yes, you can now keep your Neosig on any boards.

If new people do not know the rules and report that is fine, the monitors are all aware this rule has changed and they know when to warn and when not to warn.
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That changing sigs was actually a huge complaint, monitors got reports a lot for people asking for boards to be removed because they forgot.

There's also a thread called "Anyone Read The New Editorial?" by a user, tnt_contest_judge replies towards the end, but it's mostly interesting to read for the discussion: www.neopets.com/neoboards/topic.phtml?topic=160369542

***

Somewhere, Kikocat explains this is to align better with the Caption Contest Advertising rules, which do allow you to advertise anywhere so long as you aren't spamming.

[Twillie]

I wrote up some of my thoughts on this rule change, then I went and read that whole Neoboards thread of people talking about it, and now all I want to do is hole up and make my NT comics and not interact with any other part of the Neopets community =.= Sometimes it's just really tiring hearing the constant drama of why the latest changes are making everyone upset, y'know.

And like, I get the arguments both for and against the rule change, but I think like a lot of other Neopets drama, much of the arguing comes from past hurt and bitterness and people getting upset really quick when the new staff unknowingly digs it up. Even with me, reading through the Neoboards thread, a lot of my thoughts on the matter were starting to be affected based off of some usernames that I recognized that dug up personal hurt for myself.

Initial reaction, I had no problem with the rule change, as I saw it as an opportunity to invite those outside of the ArC into the Beauty Contest. Rather than BC regulars constantly inundating each other with their entry links, now's the chance to potentially increase the voter pool and bring in more BC artists as those outside of the ArC would get more involved with the BC. Even for those that regularly have their BC siggy link posted outside the ArC, while that increases visibility and the chance at votes, it doesn't guarantee that everyone who sees it will vote. Just like advertisements that get millions of views, only a small fraction of those views lead to clicks and further action.

Biggest sticking points for people are the vague definition of "spam," no faith in the board moderators, and the Pound Chat.... just the Pound Chat. The PC is a place that creates drama just by existing, such a volatile place. And like I said, I get it, these are all real concerns. I'm not sure I'm on the "this will 100% make things worse, I'm quitting the BC forever now" train, but I wasn't around when this was the rule before, so I dunno. I think also, because of aforementioned personal hurt, it's making me want to dig my heels into my original opinion purely out of stubbornness.

I'll be curious to see how this affects the BC in the coming weeks, as I doubt changes will be visible immediately. I have a feeling most future drama will take place on the Pound Chat, as it's the other most active board outside of the ArC I believe, so it could get even messier over there.

[June Scarlet]

A user posted a message they'd gotten from TNT:

Yeah, this. I posted a board on the PC complaining about it and was contacted by TNT, they stated this:
HI, Yes, it is allowed to keep your Neosig as long as your engage in active conversation, bumping your own board is not active conversation and is therefore considering spamming. Sorry for the confusion but this one time your entry will not be removed. Please do not bump threads with no engaging conversation in the future with a BC link.

Wait, what? Board bumping is considered spamming? But only if you have a BC link in your signature?

... What?

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I was around before the rule change, in a way. I entered Wanmei my Striped Meerca and got a silver trophy just from my friends, basically, without going on the art chat. Meerca's not a popular category, and I only did it for the avatar. So pretty much an outsider.

I do remember when the rule change happened, there was an editorial about it, and I actually went to the art chat and read as many threads as I could, trying to figure out what was going on. It was mostly all drama, though. This drama is quite tame comparatively.

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Argh, back to the spamming thing. People have been getting warnings and posts removed for posting outside the art chat, even though that's okay now. And people have been getting warned for "spamming" their own threads. But thread bumping is a real thing, I've done it, my friends have done it. And is it considered spamming in the Pound Chat, or all boards? Because the warnings happened in the pound chat, but people bump threads in the Art Chat all the time with their BC link, so that'd be like a new rule they didn't even tell us about.

I think I'll just... skip out on the BC for now. If they're going to be all cagey about what's considered spam and what's okay.