This post will be a portal for everyone to point issues and post suggestions for the contest page improvements, hoping to catch moderators attention
i would want to share few points that moderators either missed during some of the contests as well i will specify some examples.
users are not complying with the contest theme or rules at all.
users uploading non related but close enough to the theme while using the keyword of the contest in the title to make it relatable.
users upload a join the contests with the same design with a miner change such as Version1, version 2, version 3, and some others with different words/numbers on the model.
AI generated and AI renders (that looks like a real 3D print) without being tested nor printed are being uploaded in increasing quantity,
this is a negative impact on creators who play it fair and stick to the rules, i would be looking for the next challenge before time and prepare for it, and for the short period before the contest starts i would be spending extra effort and brainstorming to make something that could stand out (i am not appraising myself but the intention is that the work should be decent enough for a contest, something new and not COPIED from others).
in other words if i can do something good for it i join the contest, if i can’t i dont need to join nor shove some unrelated or meaningless object for the hopes of maybe.
now let me address the elephant in the room - Moderators and judges:
i’ve noticed that there is no quick action nor any action towards these violations from moderators side, i still see unrelated uploads getting very well exposure, that i’m sure moderators didn’t miss it among the huge amount of uploads.
this would seem unfair and too strict but joining a contest should have download in their account record as a threshold for entry similar to exclusive program of 100 downloads (100 is too low btw for the exclusive program, that should be higher to prevent newcomers and AI repulsive upload behaviors).
i have no idea how judges vote for winners, but there was unrelated designs been in the winners list, while some really outstanding related work been disregarded. (NOT talking about my uploads).
i don’t want to call out designs or designers, but i will mention the contests maybe you can look deeper into it.
Travel essentials contest:
non related uploads.
is a bunch of copied work.
multiple upload of the same object minor change ( v1, v2, v3).
alot of contest keyword usage in the title but not a related design (travel wallet, travel salt container)
winners list are not related to travel essentials but more towards random containers and camping gear !!.
Board games contest:
filled with wrong uploads such as fidget spinner…etc.
a lot of miniature objects with no effort such blank coins.
Trip to north pole contest:
the contest had no context until contest day, to find out its about christmas.
again multiple upload of the same object from the same user with only words being changed.
Castle contest (which is a master contest):
again unrelated uploads (old buildings, board games, lanterns, and badges).
In general, contest pages need more attention and improvements, this portal is being misused a lot lately, which has become unappealing to work hard for it, nor looking at the uploads.
i understand the website it still work in progress, and i always will be rooting for the success of it, i hope this will be in beneficial for the developers for future improvements.
if i have missed any crucial points, please share here.
Honestly I think they just don’t have the manpower to police these contests. They’re rely on people reporting things that should not be in the contest and at least in my experience they will take out things that are blatantly not supposed to be there.
The judging is just a total crapshoot though. But there are several threads including one I started recently wondering how they possibly judge things and award models with hardly any downloads but the general consensus is just not to get hung up on it.
Something I did notice which I’m not sure if it’s new or not but in the contest rules it now says that there must be photos or renderings of the model which sounds like they are ditching the requirement to have a photo of the thing actually printed.
Include photos or renderings of the model(s), preferably showcasing actual makes of the model.
That’s been there for a while. Technically a guideline, not a rule.
I suppose they think this compensates for all the irrelevant entries. Sure, maybe they won’t win, but they’re getting a ton of downloads, and therefore also a bunch of points. All for disregarding rules. Amazing.
Lol wow that is surprising to see a message like that from them. I guess even they are disappointed by the stuff people are uploading to this contest, but it’s so bad that they just don’t even want to bother policing it anymore.
It’s too late now but I wish the current contest was a fall related contest that would include Thanksgiving stuff and fall decorations. Then save all the Christmas and winter stuff for the actual Christmas contest, but make it Cozy Holidays so that it’s not so focused on Christmas specifically and includes other holidays and just winter vibes s in general.
if they have a window to apply for a moderator position i will be the 1st to apply, i have QMS certification i could put it in benefit for this website
Thanks for the suggestions. We will seek to make some improvements regarding the information provided on the Contest Page in the coming updates. Thanks!
Some of the judging is pretty discouraging to me. I felt quite confident that several of what I thought were the nicest models would place in the hometown one (all of which are near the top in likes and downloads, including one of mine, but certainly not just mine) would at least place, and none of them did.
A couple of the honorable mentions are… not very high quality I guess I’d say, and even worse one of them had zero downloads when it was judged and still has less than 25 downloads five weeks later. It’s pretty obvious why. A couple others didn’t really put in the effort on the hometown part like was requested in the rules too, but I guess I can assume that the person is from that city?
I don’t really expect contests to go the way I’d judge them, but seeing some of these outcomes makes it unlikely that I’ll create models specifically for contests anymore.
it is always better not to base contest results on number of likes or downloads, due to there is a lot of method to gain likes (legitimately or cheaty ways) if that was implemented as winninging criteria no one would even bother to join the contest.
yes, it should only be based on judges votes, but the judges seems to bail mid way and just choose anything ( i was shocked by the travel essentials contest results the 1st place is letteraly a salt and pepper container and the 3rd place is a chair leg adaptor for a chair not everyone has, not to mention the honorable mentions has a multiple sized cylindrical containers and a paint supplies bucket and jewelry display stand) how disappointing to see some efforts gone to waste, oddly enough non of these are travel essential.
i will see what will happen in the castle contest because i did a unique design which i focused on for 6 days in designing and testing and 18 hours printing, i would not be upset if it didn’t win, at least i can put it in different website, but i will be upset if non related junk been picked for winning.
after that i will decide how much effort i will be putting in maker world.
Note: i’m not saying the winners of travel essential designs are bad, but im saying they are winners for the wrong contest.
