Monthly Kudos Changes

[BEAR.]

Hey all,

Due to a lack of votes, both Ship of the Month and Non-Rom Relationship of the Month have been removed. For the time being, we're keeping Character and Roleplay of the Month, but this is subject to change depending on how their activity fares.

If Monthly Kudos gets more traction, we might consider reintroducing the removed threads as 'Pair of the Month' - a combination that can be either romantic or not. If this happens, the award users received will be based off whether their pairing would be romantic or non-romantic.

If Monthly Kudos falls into further inactivity, there's a good chance it will be removed from the site entirely. There's no reason to keep it around if users aren't interested in it.

[Tundra]

I don’t know what Monthly Kudos are or how to use/get them...

[BEAR.]

I don’t know what Monthly Kudos are or how to use/get them...

I'd suggest looking at the COTM / RPOTM threads within this category. MK is basically a chance to have a character or roleplay be recognized for excellence. Your content needs to be nominated by a user to have a chance to win, though.

[NightWarrior4Life]

I'd like to see pair of the month...it's a shame monthly kudos is going inactive...I've noticed it started going inactive since the changes were made to it.

[BEAR.]

I'd like to see pair of the month...it's a shame monthly kudos is going inactive...I've noticed it started going inactive since the changes were made to it.

It was going inactive before that. The changes briefly boosted the activity but it fell back down.

[Hexict]

I use to vote, but then the rules became unfair so I stopped... that may be the reason why many have stopped voting as well.

The new rule that the winner is randomly selected seems very unfair, whereas before it was if the character/roleplay/couple/ect. were believes to actually be the winner OTM they would win. It just seems very unfair that someone could get five votes against one of another's, but the latter may win because they are randomly selected :/

It's no longer a vote that all the members can get involved with since they may wish to vote for someone who was already selected, so now they can't vote - since it's OTM, people shouldn't be reduced to voting for their second favorite or further down the list, but rather who was their favorite of that month. People may feel like there's no use to voting because of this, which I know I do....

I understand this may have been an attempt to make it more fair, but if so, it had failed in doing so. If you changed the rules back - or possible set up a poll on the matter - the activity may change back to how it use to be?

[Crow]

I use to vote, but then the rules became unfair so I stopped... that may be the reason why many have stopped voting as well.

The new rule that the winner is randomly selected seems very unfair, whereas before it was if the character/roleplay/couple/ect. were believes to actually be the winner OTM they would win. It just seems very unfair that someone could get five votes against one of another's, but the latter may win because they are randomly selected :/

It's no longer a vote that all the members can get involved with since they may wish to vote for someone who was already selected, so now they can't vote - since it's OTM, people shouldn't be reduced to voting for their second favorite or further down the list, but rather who was their favorite of that month. People may feel like there's no use to voting because of this, which I know I do....

I understand this may have been an attempt to make it more fair, but if so, it had failed in doing so. If you changed the rules back - or possible set up a poll on the matter - the activity may change back to how it use to be?
the old monthly kudos rules were actually a lot more unfair. every time, the winning otm was created by a popular person and voted for because hey had a lot of friends, or a high rank who got attention simply for their position.

it was impossible to apply a less well-known otm because no one would vote for them, even if they did deserve it. randomizing the results allows anything to be nominated, regardless of how well-known it is. the voting was a flawed system and basically a popularity contest.

it simply makes no sense to have a voting system. otms would return to only winning because they were popular characters or rped by a popular user.

[Hexict]

the old monthly kudos rules were actually a lot more unfair. every time, the winning otm was created by a popular person and voted for because hey had a lot of friends, or a high rank who got attention simply for their position.

it was impossible to apply a less well-known otm because no one would vote for them, even if they did deserve it. randomizing the results allows anything to be nominated, regardless of how well-known it is. the voting was a flawed system and basically a popularity contest.

it simply makes no sense to have a voting system. otms would return to only winning because they were popular characters or rped by a popular user.

I can say from personal experience that that is actually untrue, I had won and I barely knew anyone on the site. They voted not because I was popular or anything like that, but because they genuinely believed I should win. And that's how I use to vote as well. When I won I was nearly a new member and I was so happy to have won - though now there is no point in voting since not everybody can vote for who they think should win :/

[Momotaro]

the old monthly kudos rules were actually a lot more unfair. every time, the winning otm was created by a popular person and voted for because hey had a lot of friends, or a high rank who got attention simply for their position.

it was impossible to apply a less well-known otm because no one would vote for them, even if they did deserve it. randomizing the results allows anything to be nominated, regardless of how well-known it is. the voting was a flawed system and basically a popularity contest.

it simply makes no sense to have a voting system. otms would return to only winning because they were popular characters or rped by a popular user.
On top of what Hexict said, the only reason high ranks were picked because they were good characters - the reason they were chosen for both things.

I hadd an ok HR Wheatfur, and i did not get an OTM month because there were better characters, even though one person voted for him.

[Bandido]

I never voted on any OTM, because I saw it as unfair. When I joined, I saw that only high ranks get voted on or the person that's most recognized. To me, it wasn't even about the character. It's User of the Month.

[Mango]

I love character of the month and ship of the month.

[ameko]

I never voted on any OTM, because I saw it as unfair. When I joined, I saw that only high ranks get voted on or the person that's most recognized. To me, it wasn't even about the character. It's User of the Month.

agreed. people would always see a bunch of people voting for something and be like, "oh i'll just vote for that too" or someone with a lot of friends would have the most votes simply because they were popular
and while there are the few that manage to get OTM without being popular, the majority of the voting proceeds like what i said (and what crow said)
-
anyway, i'll try to participate in monthly kudos and be a bit more active than i have been as of late!

[BEAR.]

agreed. people would always see a bunch of people voting for something and be like, "oh i'll just vote for that too" or someone with a lot of friends would have the most votes simply because they were popular
and while there are the few that manage to get OTM without being popular, the majority of the voting proceeds like what i said (and what crow said)
-
anyway, i'll try to participate in monthly kudos and be a bit more active than i have been as of late!

this is why we changed the system. a lot of people would focus on just voting on high ranks and other people would bandwagon vote for them. requiring people to have unique votes each eliminates this as a possibility and forces people to look beyond the characters on the sidebar or their friends who were already suggested.

[Thistledawn]

A lot of stuff being said here reminds me of voting for Homecoming/Prom court. The popular kids at school always become Hoco/Prom King and Queen. It always happens and all of the non-popular kids thinks that it's hopeless to nominate anyone that isn't popular. But that's not the case. Non-popular kids don't make it to court because none of them bother to vote for themselves anymore (**This is in my experience, I can't stress that enough**). They've simply given up hope. This past fall, one of the the guys from my band program (nobody from band is popular at my school) won Homecoming King. He won simply because we all put in the votes for him. All of the seniors from the band (and his friends who aren't in band) banded together to vote for him and in the end that overpowered the votes for the popular guys.

I agree that a lot of "popular" people do receive rewards for Monthly Kudos. I personally think that more often than not, they deserve it because a lot of cats and roleplays are really thought out. That's one of the big differences from Homecoming/Prom and Monthly Kudos. We're all friendly to each other here and I'd go as far to say that I consider everyone here a friend, even if we haven't talked at all. We all share one big thing in common; a love for a book series. While the popular kids at school who get Hoco/Prom court may not deserve it, I think more often than not, MK winners do deserve it. I think we should at least be happy for the winners as they probably deserve their win.

I see a lot of people who are saying they don't vote because they think that MK is unfair. We've seen that the site admins and mods are trying hard to make changes so that MK becomes more fair (thank you site staff!). They've gotten rid of that awful system of voting that just consisted of I second this! I third this! I fourth this! Admittedly, in the year that I was roleplaying on WCO in the past, I never voted for MK because it was just a mess. Once someone was nominated, people would just second it or third it until it was impossible to compete. With this new system, everyone has a fair chance. It's at least possible to compete. This new system also pushed me to look outside of my own rps and view what others were doing with their cats. I really wanted to vote for the December MK because I'd never voted before and I wanted to get my chance in just in case it was going to be discontinued. I searched long and hard through all rps, popular cats and not popular cats, until I found a cat that I thought deserved recognition. The cat that I nominated had an equal chance of getting picked as all the other nominated cats did, and I think that's such a big improvement from the MK I experienced when I first joined WCO. This system should, theoretically, inspire everyone to nominate a cat or cats that they truly think deserve recognition.

I realize that this is a little ranty and super unorganized, but I really wanted to voice my thoughts considering I have a lot of them and I've kept them to myself for a long while.

TL;DR || Nominate cats you think deserve recognition!!! If you think MK is unfair because only "popular" cats win, then nominate a cat that you think deserves recognition. Nothing will change unless you make that change! It is possible to make a change! Popular or not, let's give recognition to cats who have earned their MK win. Let's not alienate winners or make them feel as if their win isn't valid. They were nominated for a reason c: Let's all look past rank and social standing and just vote for and nominate cats who deserve recognition. In the end, we can either make a change or we can let MK die.

[Hexict]

The thing is... a lot of popular people on this site do have interesting cats. In fact, the only reason they are popular is because of their ability to roleplay - people love roleplaying with others who are really good at it, hence why people become popular (since this is a roleplay site). But it doesn't mean they are voted because they are popular, there is a good chance of it's just a coincidence. I doubt so many people on this site are so shallow, despite what the staff and some other members may believe.

There aren't actually a lot of HRs that won... sure at first the winners happened to be HRs, but then there was a long streak were there weren't any winning. Recently there had been a few who had won, but the last couple weren't (for COTM). It's a bit unfair on the roleplayers of the HR to hold it against them since they couldn't vote for themselves, and also blame the members for voting for HRs when it's clear that HRs aren't the only winners and there is a good amount of people who have won that aren't a roleplayer of a HR.

I always voted for people that deserved it, whether or not they happened to be 'popular'. And I've seen many people do the same. It's a bit harsh to claim that everyone on the site is so shallow that they only vote for people that could be considered 'popular'... especially given that there are people who voted for who they believe deserved it.

Like I said, my main problem is that not everybody gets a say and vote for who they want just because somebody else also believes that person should win.

[SuspiciousMindz]

Can I just say, I was never nominated/really RPed with until Blazing was a deputy and it only increased more once I earned staff. So I have a right to say that a majority of members are guilty of choosing "well-known" members. I feel as though the new rules are fair.

The old "I second this, third this" stuff was rather annoying to me as people are sheep and will just vote what everyone else is. Even with the rule change, just because they didn't win one month doesn't mean you can't nominate them again the next month.

[Empress Of Evil]

The thing is... a lot of popular people on this site do have interesting cats. In fact, the only reason they are popular is because of their ability to roleplay - people love roleplaying with others who are really good at it, hence why people become popular (since this is a roleplay site). But it doesn't mean they are voted because they are popular, there is a good chance of it's just a coincidence. I doubt so many people on this site are so shallow, despite what the staff and some other members may believe.

There aren't actually a lot of HRs that won... sure at first the winners happened to be HRs, but then there was a long streak were there weren't any winning. Recently there had been a few who had won, but the last couple weren't (for COTM). It's a bit unfair on the roleplayers of the HR to hold it against them since they couldn't vote for themselves, and also blame the members for voting for HRs when it's clear that HRs aren't the only winners and there is a good amount of people who have won that aren't a roleplayer of a HR.

I always voted for people that deserved it, whether or not they happened to be 'popular'. And I've seen many people do the same. It's a bit harsh to claim that everyone on the site is so shallow that they only vote for people that could be considered 'popular'... especially given that there are people who voted for who they believe deserved it.

Like I said, my main problem is that not everybody gets a say and vote for who they want just because somebody else also believes that person should win.

I very honestly believe that the members who are well-known did get most of the votes before the new system came into place. And I'm sure that their characters are worthy of the award, but I also think that there are a lot of the 'less well-known' members who have wonderful characters that deserve it as well.
I personally think that popular members aren't necessarily good roleplayers. People become popular because they're friendly and fun to be around. It's like saying in real life, people are only popular because they're good at something.

There are actually a lot of high ranks who have won. At least, in COTM there is. More than half of the winners were high ranks. In fact, before the new system, 18 of the COTM winners were high ranks and 11 weren't. If you take a look, you'll notice that the September, October, November and December winners weren't high ranks. So that's changed the 11 to a 15. In September, the old MK system was replaced with the new one, and that's when the non-high rank streak started. I think that the new system is the cause of this.
You've also said that it's unfair for members and high ranks to get blamed. No one has blamed anyone for voting for the high ranks only. As it was said in The Direction of WCO 'Due to a lack of voting and variance within competitors, it was temporarily removed' No one is being blamed. And also, you're right. The high ranks aren't the only winners, but they do get voted a lot, regardless of whether they win or not.

In my opinion, I think that the new system is better for everyone. WCO is kind of like a school. People have those few people that they always roleplay with and they can really get to know those characters. While they might venture out of their 'group' and roleplay with others, there are those members who we're just really familiar with. And so those who are less well-known get to nominate those characters which they know very well, but 'the popular people' might not have even heard of. And they can do it with the hope that they can indeed win. Because everyone has a fair chance once they've been nominated. Like Thistledawn said, people can often lose hope if they think they aren't popular or see loads of votes for another character. Why bother putting forth the nomination in the first place? This might sound really complex, and I'm even finding it hard to type up what I'm trying to say. But my point is that the new MK system seems fairer for everyone because everyone's chances are equal. And even if you can't vote for your favourite character one month, you can always vote for them in the next month.

Anyway, I'm sorry if my argument has offended you but I've done my research and I've stated my opinion along with the facts.

[Starfall]

Monthly Kudos has gotten quite inactive [I myself haven't been voting recently] which is really sad to see, but I believe it's mainly because people are getting fairly busy, school and collage and more stuff like that are taking up quite a bit of the member's time.

Honestly I believe this is a lovely idea, toning it down a tad makes it easier to bring in more people, especially those who have just joined the site :heartbounce: And the recent change of rules has really made it equal. Though both sides are correct, this just makes it more, oh dear, how do I put this? Well, it makes it even more fair and fun.

Yes, people would vote for 'popular' members and less known members, it was really the people who had time on their hands, they were the majority of the voters. Not a whole lot of the members could state that they both stalked a roleplay post for post and watched their vote interact with multiple different characters. While other's would vote for their friend and or vote for the person they're roleplaying with other's would stalk and go over each and every little detail about the character they voted for.

Other's would just spot a character they know and vote for them, this both makes it equal for everyone and encourages newer members to join the voting process by giving them less to do [haha gosh that sounds lazy]

But that's just my opinion, figured I would say something as well :heartbounce:

[BEAR.]

Monthly Kudos has gotten quite inactive [I myself haven't been voting recently] which is really sad to see, but I believe it's mainly because people are getting fairly busy, school and collage and more stuff like that are taking up quite a bit of the member's time.

Honestly I believe this is a lovely idea, toning it down a tad makes it easier to bring in more people, especially those who have just joined the site :heartbounce: And the recent change of rules has really made it equal. Though both sides are correct, this just makes it more, oh dear, how do I put this? Well, it makes it even more fair and fun.

Yes, people would vote for 'popular' members and less known members, it was really the people who had time on their hands, they were the majority of the voters. Not a whole lot of the members could state that they both stalked a roleplay post for post and watched their vote interact with multiple different characters. While other's would vote for their friend and or vote for the person they're roleplaying with other's would stalk and go over each and every little detail about the character they voted for.

Other's would just spot a character they know and vote for them, this both makes it equal for everyone and encourages newer members to join the voting process by giving them less to do [haha gosh that sounds lazy]

But that's just my opinion, figured I would say something as well :heartbounce:


in all honestly, it's been fairly inactive for a long time. a lot of the attention the threads got in the past were 'i second this!' and i wouldn't count that as activity because they weren't adding anything new to the thread. repeatedly, the same users were voted for over and over again. prior to the update, it was rare to see a user not on the sidebar be nominated for MK.

we even had users publicly come out to say they didn't like the changes because they couldn't just vote up the characters and roleplayers they knew (high ranks.) they didn't want to participate anymore.

It's no longer a vote that all the members can get involved with since they may wish to vote for someone who was already selected, so now they can't vote - since it's OTM, people shouldn't be reduced to voting for their second favorite or further down the list, but rather who was their favorite of that month. People may feel like there's no use to voting because of this, which I know I do....

Hexict

you don't think it's a bit ridiculous you don't want to vote for your lesser favorites simply because your first was already nominated..? were they not good enough they don't deserve even a chance at being recognized?

if your initial candidate was taken, you should keep an eye out for others. there's thousands of characters on this site and you shouldn't limit your search to just one because they're the only one that's caught your attention thus far.

[No One's Beeswax]

The reason I have never once participated in COTM is purely because I forgot it existed.

[Ariii]

I haven't participated because I don't do Main Roleplay much, and when I do, I get bored of it. So I don't know any of the Non-Romance pairs or the Characters, or roleplays, or Ships.

[NightWarrior4Life]

Could it be possible to have monthly kudos for Alternative warriors Roleplay and non-warriors Roleplay?

[BEAR.]

Could it be possible to have monthly kudos for Alternative warriors Roleplay and non-warriors Roleplay?

You can make one yourself in the General Board, but the staff doesn't plan on implementing one.

[NightWarrior4Life]

You can make one yourself in the General Board, but the staff doesn't plan on implementing one.
Ooh...that sounds like an idea! Thanks!

[BEAR.]

Removing RPOTM. It only got one post.