Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 22, 2012 - 6:50pm
curious, jason. what story/ies do you think avoided the prompt?
Jason, after all this I'm also very curious which story you feel didn't address the prompt. I'm not one to try to put another person on the spot, but you continually bring it up. So, which story is it that has you so riled up? We can all look at it and, although it will not be disqualified, it will give us all an idea of what you mean and maybe give us some better defined direction going forward.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 22, 2012 - 6:55pm
@avery - no, not really, i don't think you said it wrong. every prompt draws a story out of you that you might have written - with different specifics, a different catalyst - anyway at some point, or something with the same elements, the same style. a lot of times a prompt can function as a framework to fill in with interesting characters and setting, with subtle guidlelines as to plot direction. that's why i jumped in this thing. 'give me a reason to make up new people and a place to put them. they're rattling in there somewhere, make me dig them out.'
@pandamask - YES. fun and improvement.
this has all worked out really well, and i totally underestimated the writing ability in here.
if for no other reason than these particular stories were produced, it was run perfectly.
and well-organized to a bizarre extent. AND input was accepted and adjustments were made (i.e. the running time days) at the last minute with no complaint. everybody should play nice before Utah quits.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 22, 2012 - 6:56pm
yeah, i actually went back through and tried to figure out which story and i don't know.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 22, 2012 - 6:57pm
"well-organized to a bizarre extent"
Yeah.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 22, 2012 - 6:57pm
Utah's not going to quit. So far it seems as if around 97% of people are happy.
Thanks for the kind words, ms. lynn.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 22, 2012 - 7:02pm
I had no problem with my prompt. I thought all the prompts were great. Some were a little more specific than others, but they were all simple enough that the writer could add their own flair to the general gist of the story.
That said, to address what Avery mentioned, the whole point of a prompt is to "give you a new set of pawns to place". Some of us might feel a bit restricted. Some of us might cheat a little (and honestly, if the prompt is in the story, I don't really see where the wrong is.) Granted, those who read and vote might have their own feelings about the prompt's importance in the whole spectrum of WAR, but the voting process is hit and miss, just like the literary market itself.
As for me, I felt that I didn't write the way I always write, which is why nobody has yet seemed to figure out which story was mine. I felt that my story had the same sort of elements that I always focus on, but I did write it a bit more "transgressive" than I usually do. My story also sort of forced me to write about things I don't really ever write about. that said, my writing is still in the story; it's just my subject matter that's changed a bit. Hopefully that isn't giving away too much, but I just thought it was interesting.
PandaMask
from Los Angeles is reading More Than HumanMarch 22, 2012 - 6:59pm
True Manda.
I think Utah already has enough on his plate, unless I'm mistaken. Adding more junk isn't gonna help.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 22, 2012 - 7:04pm
"Utah's not going to quit."
Yeah. Because we'd call him a quitter and throw rocks at him.
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsMarch 22, 2012 - 7:07pm
In my mind prompts stop being important once the stories have been written. When reading a normal story by an author I have no connection to, the seed of their idea does not matter one millicent on how well crafted I thought a story was or how much I enjoyed it, though I would be curious to know. The stories are the important part here.
But Jason, I can understand your frustration and I'm sure there're a few others who feel similar who aren't airing it out there to be acknowledged like you are. Consider if this were a themed anthology instead of just a fun contest between friends, if you strayed too far from the theme or buried it too deep they would send you a big fat REJECTION. But we don't have editors in this competition, we have voters that have the discretion to withhold a vote if they feel the story didn't hold up to the prompt.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 22, 2012 - 7:08pm
Lol. Jesus, there's nothing to quit! This thing is going great and the next round is just around the corner. I'm happy as a crab in high tide. Ready to write a new story. I'm in it's-all-good land. A hitch or two along the way is inevitable and that doesn't bother me.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 22, 2012 - 7:09pm
I think the accusations are coming from a place of sore loserness.
I think when we started this thing we all agreed not to take it personally.
If you lose in this competition, it doesn't mean you aren't a good writer.
It's one story. It's wrote the story best and yes, that can be a matter of opinion.
I have a feeling this is going to get worse and I don't like seeing so much ego.
Just remember, this is just a contest, it's not a grade, it's not going on your permanent record.
It's not a cash prize, it's a gift card, a coupon, membership months. You don't get a scholarship. It's just a few fun things and recognition. IT is meant to be FUN!
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 22, 2012 - 7:13pm
Okay, since this is, for the moment, seeming to degrade into a group beating up on a person, I'd like to derail this for the time being. Let's all go our merry way for an hour or a night and let this issue rest. We all have some other shit to do in our lives.
I give you this:
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 22, 2012 - 7:17pm
Thanks for mentioning that, Alien. I'm sure if this topic were posted after WAR was completed entirely, the response would be a bit different. But right now half of us are winners and half of us are losers. Well, maybe four of us have no idea because of the current ties, but nevertheless, there are still fresh wounds here.
Even mini golf gets upsetting at times.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 22, 2012 - 7:17pm
I have no probs with the way it was ran and I'm a big fat loser. So there!
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesMarch 22, 2012 - 7:24pm
@jason - "If you're voting for the best story period then there's no reason to adhere or even have prompts then because ultimately they matter nothing."
that's not what i meant. we have prompts. they need to be addressed. how you work that prompt into a story is PART of the challenge. but ultimately, the prompts are only a jumping off point. they are the creation of the idea. how you execute it, is up to you. unless you blatently ignore the prompt, you are free to take whatever risks and chances you want to. it's your story. BEYOND the prompt, it's the best story, and whatever "best story" means to YOU the individual voter.
and you never answered my question, jason. which story/ies did you feel blatently ignored the prompt?
don't worry, Utah. this won't get out of hand.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 22, 2012 - 7:37pm
Hell, there's nothing to worry about. I'm as curious to see the answer to this question as you are.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 22, 2012 - 7:50pm
Me too! I'm soooo curious.
closure
from Australia is reading The Ghormenghast Trilogy, by Mervyn PeakeMarch 22, 2012 - 7:58pm
I have been meaning to post for a while, and the Utah-love in this thread has put me over the threshold.
WAR is a complex thing, you can see that from all the posts that are being made here. Prompts. Voting. Scheduling. Seeding. Keeping things anonymous. Keeping instructions succinct. Keeping things as fair as possible with so many subjective variables.
Competition, in any form, will show the weaknesses of its containing system very quickly as competitors exploit them for an edge. With WAR, these have been kept to a minimum with regards to what can be reasonably enforced. It is so easy to foul this up.
The way WAR has been run is incredible, and I want to thank Utah first and foremost, and the others behind the scenes that have made this happen.
The only suggestion I would make for next time has already been made - a category or a tab to separate out the WAR polls and other material. Other than that, jolly good show!
War (huah!), what is it good for? Improving your writing.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 22, 2012 - 8:10pm
That's it! I've had it.
@Jason- "It's like saying, "Oh, what's your favorite sci-fi novel?" "Easy - 'Gone With The Wind.'"
NO IT's NOT!
Call out the fucking story that ignored the prompt or can it already.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 22, 2012 - 8:17pm
I think WAR is working out pretty well. The prompts push people in a good way. And the word count, once dreaded , has been a weird blessing in disquise for me. So all hail WAR in its original conception. Anyone that wants to whine and complain can just bow out already and leave it to people that actually want to do something called WRITING.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsMarch 22, 2012 - 8:40pm
I'd just like to say that i think all the talk about seeding and who votes and prompt issues should be viewed as minor distractions.I loved this. I think it gets us caught up in writing,and i hate to see it end.I'd like to see some sort of thing for the people who lost. Sixteen of us coudl get a prompt for one last try. Just to keep us in the game and writing. The competiton encourages you writing spirit. I hate to see it end when you loose. Something for the 16 losers would be awesome. Maybe one prompt for all, i don't know...i just woudl like us to focus on ways to keep people writing rather than all the other issues which seem petty. I know they aren't petty but sometimes they seem so. I know this is a lot of work for a lot of people, but i'd like to see it more often. I really enjoyed being envolved. Now i feel a free-fall.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 22, 2012 - 11:15pm
I think everyone should get a prize. Even the losers. brownie buttons for everyone!
voodoo_em
from England is reading All the books by Ira LevinMarch 23, 2012 - 2:37am
A great big thank you to Utah for not only organizing war, but also for inviting me into war.
As far as voting goes, you can't tell people how to vote and I don't think there should be a criteria for that. It's all down to what makes people tick, everyone likes different things in movies, music, art, whatever. I don't want to judge a story solely on its technique, but also how it makes me feel. And as long as war doesn't become about who wrote the stories rather than the stories themselves, I have no problem with how people are voting. (If this was a popularity contest, I wouldn't have even bothered entering)
Just for the record I have no problem with how anyone used their prompts.
A separate War category would be good.
War should not be more than twice a year, otherwise it won't mean as much and also because otherwise Utah will hardly get anytime for his own writing (and for Mrs Utah)
War: never been so much fun
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 4:55am
"And as long as war doesn't become about who wrote the stories rather than the stories themselves, I have no problem with how people are voting."
And yet one of the things everyone has tried to do is guess who wrote what story. :)
Flaminia Ferina
from Umbria is reading stuffMarch 23, 2012 - 4:57am
Oh, com' on now. That's just part of the fun. Not to be taken seriously. Just have a laugh sometimes!
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 5:00am
That one was a joke...
Here's another critique - if you're going to post a video don't post it for autoplay.
Flaminia Ferina
from Umbria is reading stuffMarch 23, 2012 - 5:05am
Ok we're laughing then :) Cool.
I personally think that the guess game is an interesting part of this competition. War authors went out of their comfort zone in order to avoid identification. Threats like 'I know what you did there' are there just to give that extra itch you know.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 5:26am
that's the creepiest Peter Pan i've ever seen. he's like the Michael Jackson of Peter Pans. i would never take my kid to play golf there.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 5:32am
SINCE 1948, though! If it's still up and running after that long, you know it's safe.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 5:33am
Also, I'm with Jason on the auto-play YouTube video thing.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 5:36am
if you're going to post a video don't post it for autoplay.
Nonsense. One of the biggest joys in life is forcing people to listen to the music I choose for them. If you're not careful the next one will be Devo.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 5:39am
i bet the family that owns and operates is like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. evil Peter Pan. he won't stop looking at me. i bet on the put-put course they have skulls embedded in the green, so when you have success at a shot, you reach down and unknowingly pull your cute little green ball out of an eye socket.
i have to stop looking at that picture!!
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 5:44am
I get you, Utah but after a YouTube video interrupts my music, and I have to scour the page to find the fucking video to shut it off every time the page reloads, there's only so much I can do about my rage.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 5:50am
@Beka: That's why it's there, obviously! To inspire rage. It was actually there as a bad 80s diestraction to keep people from group-beating on Van Horn. What do I get in thanks? Snide remarks from Van Horn (who still has not answered the Big Question of the last two days). So fuck it. Autoplay remains engaged.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 5:53am
Okay okay, but that should be it's only use, because at this point I almost prefer surfing this forum on my shitty phone. It's the ultimate website flaw, is having autoplay shit.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 5:56am
I'm thinking about having Rocket Man autoplay at the same time as the one that's already on. And maybe Like a Surgeon by Weird Al. That would make a great combo.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 5:59am
I prefer the discussion we're having on the other forum. Anger face.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 6:00am
"It was actually there as a bad 80s diestraction to keep people from group-beating on Van Horn."
It didn't really do a good job then, because what started out as a simple criticism and an 'opinion' I had has turned into said group-beating and yelling at me.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 6:03am
you're SO MAD. so mad. and you keep not becoming un-mad. i think it's resulting in 'distract each other with shiny things because there seems to be no possibility of resolution.'
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 6:04am
It's okay, Jason. Nothing ever works out right. *headpat*
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 6:10am
Jesus, I can't believe I spelled "distraction" like that.
*kicks self in nuts*
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 6:14am
@Utah - You coud have edited it, but I respect you more for not.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesMarch 23, 2012 - 6:15am
we're not mad at you, jason. you made an accusation, but yet, you still refuse to identify, even in a cursory way, the story/ies that offended you. if you have a valid argument, then back it up. if you were just whining, then stop. Utah has worked very hard to set this up, and i think that everyone in this competition has worked very hard and has done a great job (yourself included). i pushed to get this competition some legit status and some prizes, and if there are issues, or people not playing by the rules, then i'd like to see them addressed. that's all.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 6:20am
I will PM Utah then and leave it at that.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 23, 2012 - 6:31am
Jason, you are making it harder for me to whack off to your Morissey photo. Just stay pretty and agreeable.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 23, 2012 - 6:32am
Might not be a bad idea to just put it out to all of us though so we can discuss it. Maybe you'll convince us, maybe we might have reasons to convince you.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 6:38am
i assumed there had been a PM of some type a long time ago. i didn't realize all the vagueness wasn't just so no one would be exposed while voting was still going on. and yeah, out with it, if no one cares. this whole 'i think somebody's cheating but i won't say who' thing has been the only undercurrent of blah in a fantastic first round.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 6:39am
Well, he clearly feels awkward about it. And we can all draw our own conclusions from that if he doesn't want to let it out.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 23, 2012 - 6:43am
It's typo's fault, you can't trust a man with an orange head.
Liana
from Romania and Texas is reading Naked LunchMarch 23, 2012 - 8:05am
The soccer reference I made refers to creating groups of 4 players at the beginning, where maybe in the course of 2 rounds a clearer winner would emerge among those 4, so you'd get the same amount of eliminations within 2 rounds but where there would be less possibility of a tie? That's not exactly how the World Cup works but hey, just an idea. It may make things more complicated, I don't know. Also from soccer: ties are broken with 11 meter penalty shots. What if we had "penalty shots" of flash fiction, where people were given one day to write a short-short and it would be voted on immediately. That is, if Utah you feel that it's hard for you to play the role of tie breaker. Or, the people who are tied would both make it to the next round and be used instead of stand-by's? Or 3-ways like Alien suggested, though would that be fair to those who now would have to fight against 2?
Jason, after all this I'm also very curious which story you feel didn't address the prompt. I'm not one to try to put another person on the spot, but you continually bring it up. So, which story is it that has you so riled up? We can all look at it and, although it will not be disqualified, it will give us all an idea of what you mean and maybe give us some better defined direction going forward.
@avery - no, not really, i don't think you said it wrong. every prompt draws a story out of you that you might have written - with different specifics, a different catalyst - anyway at some point, or something with the same elements, the same style. a lot of times a prompt can function as a framework to fill in with interesting characters and setting, with subtle guidlelines as to plot direction. that's why i jumped in this thing. 'give me a reason to make up new people and a place to put them. they're rattling in there somewhere, make me dig them out.'
@pandamask - YES. fun and improvement.
this has all worked out really well, and i totally underestimated the writing ability in here.
if for no other reason than these particular stories were produced, it was run perfectly.
and well-organized to a bizarre extent. AND input was accepted and adjustments were made (i.e. the running time days) at the last minute with no complaint. everybody should play nice before Utah quits.
yeah, i actually went back through and tried to figure out which story and i don't know.
"well-organized to a bizarre extent"
Yeah.
Utah's not going to quit. So far it seems as if around 97% of people are happy.
Thanks for the kind words, ms. lynn.
I had no problem with my prompt. I thought all the prompts were great. Some were a little more specific than others, but they were all simple enough that the writer could add their own flair to the general gist of the story.
That said, to address what Avery mentioned, the whole point of a prompt is to "give you a new set of pawns to place". Some of us might feel a bit restricted. Some of us might cheat a little (and honestly, if the prompt is in the story, I don't really see where the wrong is.) Granted, those who read and vote might have their own feelings about the prompt's importance in the whole spectrum of WAR, but the voting process is hit and miss, just like the literary market itself.
As for me, I felt that I didn't write the way I always write, which is why nobody has yet seemed to figure out which story was mine. I felt that my story had the same sort of elements that I always focus on, but I did write it a bit more "transgressive" than I usually do. My story also sort of forced me to write about things I don't really ever write about. that said, my writing is still in the story; it's just my subject matter that's changed a bit. Hopefully that isn't giving away too much, but I just thought it was interesting.
True Manda.
I think Utah already has enough on his plate, unless I'm mistaken. Adding more junk isn't gonna help.
"Utah's not going to quit."
Yeah. Because we'd call him a quitter and throw rocks at him.
In my mind prompts stop being important once the stories have been written. When reading a normal story by an author I have no connection to, the seed of their idea does not matter one millicent on how well crafted I thought a story was or how much I enjoyed it, though I would be curious to know. The stories are the important part here.
But Jason, I can understand your frustration and I'm sure there're a few others who feel similar who aren't airing it out there to be acknowledged like you are. Consider if this were a themed anthology instead of just a fun contest between friends, if you strayed too far from the theme or buried it too deep they would send you a big fat REJECTION. But we don't have editors in this competition, we have voters that have the discretion to withhold a vote if they feel the story didn't hold up to the prompt.
Lol. Jesus, there's nothing to quit! This thing is going great and the next round is just around the corner. I'm happy as a crab in high tide. Ready to write a new story. I'm in it's-all-good land. A hitch or two along the way is inevitable and that doesn't bother me.
I think the accusations are coming from a place of sore loserness.
I think when we started this thing we all agreed not to take it personally.
If you lose in this competition, it doesn't mean you aren't a good writer.
It's one story. It's wrote the story best and yes, that can be a matter of opinion.
I have a feeling this is going to get worse and I don't like seeing so much ego.
Just remember, this is just a contest, it's not a grade, it's not going on your permanent record.
It's not a cash prize, it's a gift card, a coupon, membership months. You don't get a scholarship. It's just a few fun things and recognition. IT is meant to be FUN!
Okay, since this is, for the moment, seeming to degrade into a group beating up on a person, I'd like to derail this for the time being. Let's all go our merry way for an hour or a night and let this issue rest. We all have some other shit to do in our lives.
I give you this:
Thanks for mentioning that, Alien. I'm sure if this topic were posted after WAR was completed entirely, the response would be a bit different. But right now half of us are winners and half of us are losers. Well, maybe four of us have no idea because of the current ties, but nevertheless, there are still fresh wounds here.
Even mini golf gets upsetting at times.
I have no probs with the way it was ran and I'm a big fat loser. So there!
@jason - "If you're voting for the best story period then there's no reason to adhere or even have prompts then because ultimately they matter nothing."
that's not what i meant. we have prompts. they need to be addressed. how you work that prompt into a story is PART of the challenge. but ultimately, the prompts are only a jumping off point. they are the creation of the idea. how you execute it, is up to you. unless you blatently ignore the prompt, you are free to take whatever risks and chances you want to. it's your story. BEYOND the prompt, it's the best story, and whatever "best story" means to YOU the individual voter.
and you never answered my question, jason. which story/ies did you feel blatently ignored the prompt?
don't worry, Utah. this won't get out of hand.
Hell, there's nothing to worry about. I'm as curious to see the answer to this question as you are.
Me too! I'm soooo curious.
I have been meaning to post for a while, and the Utah-love in this thread has put me over the threshold.
WAR is a complex thing, you can see that from all the posts that are being made here. Prompts. Voting. Scheduling. Seeding. Keeping things anonymous. Keeping instructions succinct. Keeping things as fair as possible with so many subjective variables.
Competition, in any form, will show the weaknesses of its containing system very quickly as competitors exploit them for an edge. With WAR, these have been kept to a minimum with regards to what can be reasonably enforced. It is so easy to foul this up.
The way WAR has been run is incredible, and I want to thank Utah first and foremost, and the others behind the scenes that have made this happen.
The only suggestion I would make for next time has already been made - a category or a tab to separate out the WAR polls and other material. Other than that, jolly good show!
War (huah!), what is it good for? Improving your writing.
That's it! I've had it.
@Jason- "It's like saying, "Oh, what's your favorite sci-fi novel?" "Easy - 'Gone With The Wind.'"
NO IT's NOT!
Call out the fucking story that ignored the prompt or can it already.
I think WAR is working out pretty well. The prompts push people in a good way. And the word count, once dreaded , has been a weird blessing in disquise for me. So all hail WAR in its original conception. Anyone that wants to whine and complain can just bow out already and leave it to people that actually want to do something called WRITING.
I'd just like to say that i think all the talk about seeding and who votes and prompt issues should be viewed as minor distractions.I loved this. I think it gets us caught up in writing,and i hate to see it end.I'd like to see some sort of thing for the people who lost. Sixteen of us coudl get a prompt for one last try. Just to keep us in the game and writing. The competiton encourages you writing spirit. I hate to see it end when you loose. Something for the 16 losers would be awesome. Maybe one prompt for all, i don't know...i just woudl like us to focus on ways to keep people writing rather than all the other issues which seem petty. I know they aren't petty but sometimes they seem so. I know this is a lot of work for a lot of people, but i'd like to see it more often. I really enjoyed being envolved. Now i feel a free-fall.
I think everyone should get a prize. Even the losers. brownie buttons for everyone!
A great big thank you to Utah for not only organizing war, but also for inviting me into war.
As far as voting goes, you can't tell people how to vote and I don't think there should be a criteria for that. It's all down to what makes people tick, everyone likes different things in movies, music, art, whatever. I don't want to judge a story solely on its technique, but also how it makes me feel. And as long as war doesn't become about who wrote the stories rather than the stories themselves, I have no problem with how people are voting. (If this was a popularity contest, I wouldn't have even bothered entering)
Just for the record I have no problem with how anyone used their prompts.
A separate War category would be good.
War should not be more than twice a year, otherwise it won't mean as much and also because otherwise Utah will hardly get anytime for his own writing (and for Mrs Utah)
War: never been so much fun
"And as long as war doesn't become about who wrote the stories rather than the stories themselves, I have no problem with how people are voting."
And yet one of the things everyone has tried to do is guess who wrote what story. :)
Oh, com' on now. That's just part of the fun. Not to be taken seriously. Just have a laugh sometimes!
That one was a joke...
Here's another critique - if you're going to post a video don't post it for autoplay.
Ok we're laughing then :) Cool.
I personally think that the guess game is an interesting part of this competition. War authors went out of their comfort zone in order to avoid identification. Threats like 'I know what you did there' are there just to give that extra itch you know.
that's the creepiest Peter Pan i've ever seen. he's like the Michael Jackson of Peter Pans. i would never take my kid to play golf there.
SINCE 1948, though! If it's still up and running after that long, you know it's safe.
Also, I'm with Jason on the auto-play YouTube video thing.
Nonsense. One of the biggest joys in life is forcing people to listen to the music I choose for them. If you're not careful the next one will be Devo.
i bet the family that owns and operates is like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. evil Peter Pan. he won't stop looking at me. i bet on the put-put course they have skulls embedded in the green, so when you have success at a shot, you reach down and unknowingly pull your cute little green ball out of an eye socket.
i have to stop looking at that picture!!
I get you, Utah but after a YouTube video interrupts my music, and I have to scour the page to find the fucking video to shut it off every time the page reloads, there's only so much I can do about my rage.
@Beka: That's why it's there, obviously! To inspire rage. It was actually there as a bad 80s diestraction to keep people from group-beating on Van Horn. What do I get in thanks? Snide remarks from Van Horn (who still has not answered the Big Question of the last two days). So fuck it. Autoplay remains engaged.
Okay okay, but that should be it's only use, because at this point I almost prefer surfing this forum on my shitty phone. It's the ultimate website flaw, is having autoplay shit.
I'm thinking about having Rocket Man autoplay at the same time as the one that's already on. And maybe Like a Surgeon by Weird Al. That would make a great combo.
I prefer the discussion we're having on the other forum. Anger face.
"It was actually there as a bad 80s diestraction to keep people from group-beating on Van Horn."
It didn't really do a good job then, because what started out as a simple criticism and an 'opinion' I had has turned into said group-beating and yelling at me.
you're SO MAD. so mad. and you keep not becoming un-mad. i think it's resulting in 'distract each other with shiny things because there seems to be no possibility of resolution.'
It's okay, Jason. Nothing ever works out right. *headpat*
Jesus, I can't believe I spelled "distraction" like that.
*kicks self in nuts*
@Utah - You coud have edited it, but I respect you more for not.
we're not mad at you, jason. you made an accusation, but yet, you still refuse to identify, even in a cursory way, the story/ies that offended you. if you have a valid argument, then back it up. if you were just whining, then stop. Utah has worked very hard to set this up, and i think that everyone in this competition has worked very hard and has done a great job (yourself included). i pushed to get this competition some legit status and some prizes, and if there are issues, or people not playing by the rules, then i'd like to see them addressed. that's all.
I will PM Utah then and leave it at that.
Jason, you are making it harder for me to whack off to your Morissey photo. Just stay pretty and agreeable.
Might not be a bad idea to just put it out to all of us though so we can discuss it. Maybe you'll convince us, maybe we might have reasons to convince you.
i assumed there had been a PM of some type a long time ago. i didn't realize all the vagueness wasn't just so no one would be exposed while voting was still going on. and yeah, out with it, if no one cares. this whole 'i think somebody's cheating but i won't say who' thing has been the only undercurrent of blah in a fantastic first round.
Well, he clearly feels awkward about it. And we can all draw our own conclusions from that if he doesn't want to let it out.
It's typo's fault, you can't trust a man with an orange head.
The soccer reference I made refers to creating groups of 4 players at the beginning, where maybe in the course of 2 rounds a clearer winner would emerge among those 4, so you'd get the same amount of eliminations within 2 rounds but where there would be less possibility of a tie? That's not exactly how the World Cup works but hey, just an idea. It may make things more complicated, I don't know. Also from soccer: ties are broken with 11 meter penalty shots. What if we had "penalty shots" of flash fiction, where people were given one day to write a short-short and it would be voted on immediately. That is, if Utah you feel that it's hard for you to play the role of tie breaker. Or, the people who are tied would both make it to the next round and be used instead of stand-by's? Or 3-ways like Alien suggested, though would that be fair to those who now would have to fight against 2?