Horation

Simple, I (or someone else you nominate) counts the votes in the Private messages they get, it means you don't have to count votes on a thread, it avoids the bandwagon effect, and enables immediate messages to tell voters of their errors in their votes. But I think @YellowFrog's idea of a shortlist that would then be voted on publicly is a better option.

That can be any quite active member on the forum. I agree with @Yperio_Bricks that you don't see much of a difference between this and a public vote. So I think one solution is to have the judges pick, say the top 4, then the voters get to vote on the winning order for the entries, this makes it a) easier to choose b) less annoying to count votes for and c) facebook-poll friendly

I'd be down for that, I'd even be ok with becoming the ballot box, I think it would also mean less work for @Mister Phes, since it would allow for another to deal with all the counting, processing, and bonus votes. I do have to suggest just going to the contest thread, otherwise we'll transform this into an unofficial "contest critique thread".

First time I see a model kit that takes longer to build than the original item! Kidding, this is a really impressive project, I'm glad you are still working on it. There's cool and then there's this ship, which really is in a league of its own. Just one thing to say : I hope to live to see it be completed!

For you, perhaps, but I think I'm done! Large entries (with bonus points) Steves challenge by Christophh : 10 10 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 9 19 Steves youth at the imperial manor by brickshipyard : 0 5 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 18 28 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 8 18 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 6 16 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 3 8 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 4 14 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 11 21 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 26 36 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez : 7 7 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 20 30 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 22 32 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 3 13 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 10 20 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 3 8 The Final task by Math Wizard : 5 15 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 5 15 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 10 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 3 8 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 8 18 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 12 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 15 25 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 4 14 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 23 33 Enchanted Island by Horation : 8 18 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 4 4 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 15 20 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 5 15 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 10 20 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 7 12 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 5 15 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 21 21 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 4 14 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 3 13 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 14 24 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 9 19 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 3 13 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 14 24 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 11 21 And for creative Critique : Horation : 19 Math Wizard : 13 Autumn : 8 YellowFrog : 7 Mazin : 1 I have an excel file which I could share, but I don't know forgot how to do so.

A really nice set! I don't personally mind the gaps, but I can see how they bother others. I'll probably get it without the minidolls if I can find it on bricklink.

Generalwinter (that's the account I used to post my entries, so shouldn't be too hard to find).

Final update before the contest ends, I'll do a full update after and me and @Mister Phes and Co. can validate the results. To date, there are thirty-seven (37) valid ballots. Large entries (with bonus points) Steves challenge by Christophh : 9 9 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 9 19 Steves youth at the imperial manor by brickshipyard : 0 5 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 17 27 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 8 13 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 6 16 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 3 8 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 4 9 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 11 21 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 25 35 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez :6 6 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 20 30 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 22 32 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 3 13 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 9 19 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 3 8 The Final task by Math Wizard : 5 15 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 5 10 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 10 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 3 8 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 8 18 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 12 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 15 25 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 4 14 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 23 33 Enchanted Island by Horation : 8 18 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 3 3 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 13 18 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 4 14 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 10 20 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 7 12 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 5 15 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 20 20 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 4 14 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 3 13 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 14 14 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 9 19 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 3 13 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 13 23 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 11 21 Creative Critic (with bonus points) Horation 13 59% 19 39% Math Wizard 5 23% 11 24% Autumn 2 9% 8 17% YellowFrog 1 5% 7 15% Mazin 1 5% 1 2% @Mazin, this is your last chance to get bonus points! (And have a say on the winner) Let's review the current tallies for entries, here's the current top threes without bonus points : Large Tapu Island : 25 votes Escape from the Imperial trading post : 22 votes The merchant vessel margaret hamilton : 20 votes Captain Steve of the revenant is closest to the podium with 17 votes Small The king's merchant : 23 votes Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune : 20 votes Sneaking Steve : 15 votes Steve's origins : Meeting Redbeard is closest to the podium with 14 votes Now with the bonus points : The large entries podium stays the same, since all entrants voted (congrats!) But as for the small entries? The king's merchant : 33 Sneaking Steve : 25 From merchant to pirate : 23 And the mini imperial trading post is 4th with 21 Meanwhile, @Juhlhaus is fifth, tied with Elephant Knight's build which got half the votes, so I'd hurry up and vote if I were him, or else he'll miss out on winning a prize!!! And @Oky would be in the top three with all the bonus points if he voted! Now, as for all the entrants who haven't voted at all : @Christophh, @Johnnyopies, @KolonialbeamterdeMartinez, @lotr, juhlhaus, @LeChuck-MD, Oky There are a few entrants who still haven't voted for critique : @Brickshipyard, @Brendan McGnarley,@CaptainDarkNStormy It's possible I've made a mistake, let me know if that's the case!

[redacted-pointers]

As I mentioned in the other post, I'd love to help! Just DM me with any info and I'm happy to join in!

I sent an Email using the form on Classic-Pirates.com, but I never got an answer! I'd love to help, I have a flickr account and an account here, but no social media. <<whistles innocently>> -Oh I made a lot of posts? Nah, I was quite reasonable, it was all the @Math Wizard and @YellowFrog's fault! (kidding, though all three of us combined made more posts than the rest of eurobricks combined during the contest, I think...) @Elephant Knight, I partly agree and partly disagree, the more entries does mean the most sucessful, but if you have few votes, it means people aren't enthusiastic about the contest, which is quite bad...

I quite like castle as well, and I guess I can understand the nostalgia towards those older castle sets influencing you towards older sets, but I really feel like that's clouding your opinion a little, newer sets are more detailed across the board (from 10305 to 10320, and even when you compare old town sets with newer city sets), which generally looks nicer. Then again, older stuff does have a charm to it, so I can see where you're coming from. Personally : Pirates of Barracuda Bay Imperial Flagship New Eldorado Fortress Original Barracuda Skull Eye's Schooner Imperial trading outpost

[redacted-pointers]

I feel like next time you ought to split the work, maybe have some community members deal with some of the forum-stuff so you can focus on things like promoting the contest and moderating. For example, I'm currently counting the votes unofficially, but next I could do it all by myself, or say you could nominate a community regulator to update the entries index, or some other splitting, so as to free up some time, because this is too much work for one person.

Well, out of curiosity, what would your top 5 look like? As for the older sets you mention, I have to disagree, they feel objectively worse to me ; they have far less detail, and no interior caves under the baseplate. on top of that, and while building with the baseplates is much faster, you literally can't put a figure on the ramp without it sliding down or falling, and that alone is enough to make me prefer the newer set, even if is more "tedious" (this isn't the colisseum, it's only a total of 700-800 parts that you build for the baseplate, and there is some variety).

To date, there are thirty-seven (37) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 9 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 9 Steves youth at the imperial manor by brickshipyard : 0 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 14 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 5 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 5 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 3 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 4 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 10 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 22 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez :6 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 19 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 21 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 3 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 9 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 2 The Final task by Math Wizard : 5 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 5 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 2 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 8 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 13 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 3 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 21 Enchanted Island by Horation : 7 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 3 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 13 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 4 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 10 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 7 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 4 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 18 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 3 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 2 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 13 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 8 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 12 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 11 Creative Critic Horation 8 47% Math Wizard 5 29% Autumn 2 12% YellowFrog 1 6% Mazin 1 6%

I think that's the main problem I think that's the best solution, plus it'll allow you to avoid overunning the budget due to exchange rates.

That's a fair point you about stringentness, so I'll drop my proposal. But I do have another point about the rules ; they felt really spread, it took me a good 10-15 minutes to find them all in the megathread with all its links and subsections. So the next time I'd do one simple rules page, something like this : [2-3 sentences to explain the contest theme, with a picture or two to clarify certain rules, ex : you don't need a Steve minifig to enter, here's an example without] [1 sentence to explain the deadline rules/rules about entries made before the start of the contest] [1 sentence per category to explain each section's requirement] [3-4 sentences for the voting mechanism and restrictions] [1 ALL CAPS-BOLDED SENTENCE ABOUT VOTING FOR YOUR OWN ENTRIES!!!] [1-2 sentences about prize-claiming procedures] [1 ALL CAPS-BOLDED SENTENCE ABOUT VOTING FOR YOUR OWN ENTRIES!!!] And then I'd add a few sentences per challenge if needed, but remember the KISS principle (keep-it-stupid-simple), fewer threads and rules actually makes it more likely people will read them all/understand them, since they'll have to focus on fewer things.

Also, captain Braunsfeld voted for his own entry, but you gave him bonus points, it does appear like fatigue is settling in...

@Captain Braunsfeld I'm from Québec, which used to be called "New France", and I can attest that it should be "Fort du Soleil", but I didn't want to sound like a pesky grammar corrector...

Thanks! I was just about to do the same thing in the vote counting thread... While I'm at it, I see that @Arjo, @Retrocity and @sporadic have all been busy in this forum, so I invite them to vote, especially in the building category. And both @iragm and @Mazin were quite active last time around, maybe you could vote this time as well?

Mandatory = must be done, I'd disqualify an entrant who didn't vote (I'd obviously give them ample warning, like a reminder 7 days before the end, and another one a few days before the end, and if someone was unable to vote for external reasons, ex : they were away for the time of the voting period and they informed me beforehand, I'd let them vote early/vote late by private message). As I said, a little rough, but we clearly tried the "good cop" method with bonus points, maybe the "bad cop" method would work better.

Thanks for letting me know! To date, there are twenty-eight (28) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 6 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 7 Steves youth at the imperial manor by brickshipyard : 0 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 10 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 5 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 5 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 2 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 1 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 9 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 16 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez :4 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 12 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 15 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 2 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 8 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 2 The Final task by Math Wizard : 4 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 5 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 2 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 7 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 10 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 13 Enchanted Island by Horation : 3 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 3 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 10 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 3 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 9 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 6 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 4 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 13 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 3 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 2 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 9 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 6 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 11 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 9 The critic vote is unchanged from the last update

"Some" is an understatement, most entrants still haven't voted in the critique category, and barely above 50% have done so in the building category. I know this might seem rough, but I'd make voting mandatory in the future, might avoid some trouble...

I think this is because they aren't trying to make the whole figure in an intentional manner, they are mostly adding those parts as fun references for adults in sets which are often still targeted at kids (ex : a collectible minifig's torso, then a motorcyclist's helmet, then a scuba diver's tanks, etc...) the designers aren't trying to make some highly desirable minifigure hard to get, they're just adding variety in the parts they use, I mean sure its annoying if you are collecting those, but it isn't intentional.