This is inspired by the recent MV drama, but I have seen this issue elsewhere, with regards to dominance.
The idea that a contest should be 'fair'. I honestly don't see how a contest where people have to adhere to a set of rules and put forth a certain amount of effort can be 'fair'.
With the MV thing, the staff apparently has a certain aesthetic they both like and want for official holiday items, which the skins are, and thus players that make the effort to figure that out, and make entries that conform to that aesthetic are naturally going to win more.
Wishing that the staff would expand the aesthetic doesn't come under the idea of the contest being 'fair' it just means that the player base has a different idea and wants different skins to win.
I have seen things tossed out about not allowing the same person to win the skin contests X times in a row (usually twice, but it has varied a bit), but how would that make it more 'fair'. If someone doesn't conform to the aesthetic, those skins are not going to win. Especially since we don't know why the staff didn't pick them in the first place. Sure it might mean one of the honorable mentions wins, but still no guarantee that it will be one the players of the site want to win. Especially since such a rule has the potential to make it so that few people want to enter less liked contests, especially if they are before one that many people like designing for. As it is now, players can enter skins for all contests without worrying about winning and ruining their chances to enter the contest they really wanted to enter.
I guess to me, most of the ideas people toss around to make these contests 'fair' are more about punishing winners and making it unfair, or at least much harder, for those winners to actually win or enter said contests.
Contests and 'Fairness'
The idea that a contest should be 'fair'. I honestly don't see how a contest where people have to adhere to a set of rules and put forth a certain amount of effort can be 'fair'.
With the MV thing, the staff apparently has a certain aesthetic they both like and want for official holiday items, which the skins are, and thus players that make the effort to figure that out, and make entries that conform to that aesthetic are naturally going to win more.
Wishing that the staff would expand the aesthetic doesn't come under the idea of the contest being 'fair' it just means that the player base has a different idea and wants different skins to win.
I have seen things tossed out about not allowing the same person to win the skin contests X times in a row (usually twice, but it has varied a bit), but how would that make it more 'fair'. If someone doesn't conform to the aesthetic, those skins are not going to win. Especially since we don't know why the staff didn't pick them in the first place. Sure it might mean one of the honorable mentions wins, but still no guarantee that it will be one the players of the site want to win. Especially since such a rule has the potential to make it so that few people want to enter less liked contests, especially if they are before one that many people like designing for. As it is now, players can enter skins for all contests without worrying about winning and ruining their chances to enter the contest they really wanted to enter.
I guess to me, most of the ideas people toss around to make these contests 'fair' are more about punishing winners and making it unfair, or at least much harder, for those winners to actually win or enter said contests.