Boycott the "Donuts" Challenge

I'm very late to the party, not that unusual for me. I've to say, I've had my suspicions. I've submitted funny, some good work, plenty of rubbish and I know, although I'm a colourblind, not an artist, I should have fared better. My good work would only achieve the same status and my rubbish. I know, if my work is in 50th place, my work was streets ahead of the top 10 in quite a few challenges. My friend in NC cannot for the life of her, get places and she always takes her time and has created magical pieces. I have my suspicions there is at least one cartel, if not more. here's hoping you find cartel members and maybe downvoting them might scupper the cartel, if it exists.

You're a numbers guy...

Take note at what has happened to engagement on what used to be the 'Top Hourly' page (or feed) since major update to the feeds. It's dropped a cliff. A really nice pic (with no connection to a daily challenge) could pick up plenty of engagement (30-50 likes) if it took off. Now, that top hourly engagement number has plummeted.

Ask yourself. What's the need to drop engagement on those feeds, and stifle organic account growth outside of having to finish in the top echelon of the daily challenges regularly... even more importance is placed on DCs, and siphons more activity geared solely towards those challenges. It's not a change for the better.

Love your "Donuts" and sad to read all the comments below! I have always steered clear of challenges and the like. After many, many years on this earth, I have learned all about the problem of popularity versus talent! As a Renderosity vendor you may well have found similar situations??? During my working years it became clear to me that "unfairness" is all around us and the least talented are very often the most rewarded!!! It is, I'm afraid, a consequence of the modern way of thinking....must win at any cost!! Time to just ENJOY being creative 😊😊

That’s really sad. I had a conversation about this with someone last week he is of the same opinion. He as complained about as well but got nowhere

Heyho Doublecrash! I haven't read all the comments under your statement but I know exactly what you mean. I often wonder and have asked the support about the voting systems and asked for transparacy - no result. I even asked for the security of the side 'cause i have watched similar things than the ones you have described, not only by the dayly challenges. But the support isn't very supportive in this way so I decidet to think my stuff just good for a view selected pple and I'm thankful to have them. For the rest, I will not pay any longer a single cent 'cause I think NightCafe is really great but greedy! Not even a single Christmas event of free coins for christmas or new year. So don't worry, you're not alone! ✨💖

They look better than mine

Yum!

I don't think our submission's rating is shown in real time, so when the day ends and they show us the result, it looks like there's a discrepancy. And as far as organised groups trying to rig the system? I don't know, that sounds time-consuming and extremely random. What are the odds of finding the creation your group wants to promote? And I'm sure a sudden influx of downvotes from the same group of users would be flagged by the automod.

That being said, I don't think obsessing about our "position", badges and challenges is very healthy. Why can't people just enjoy making cool art?

[Continued on previous comment]

... and yes, this crew (which she was invited to join) had a system in place, for voting challenges also, in order to elevate each other and tear everybody else down by handing out 2's (mixed in with 3's, so it doesn't appear too suspicious) like lollies across multiple rounds of voting or blocs of twenty.

I think these cats shared each others' entries on Kik, or similar, so they had a visual reference of what not to downvote.

"DOMINATE THE DAILY CHALLENGES" "First you get the votes, then you get the credits, then you get the glory."

And again, right underneath: "Gather the crew. Critique, cajole [...] until you've claimed the daily challenge and conquered all the credits as your own."

^^^ That's damning because it morally stinks, but also incredibly sad because it probably illustrates the fact that these same people (who are organising and/or participating in these systematic downvoting or"dominate the challenges" crews) don't have much in the way of productive lives beyond pixel land. Because let's be honest this sort of systematic & methodical gaming, of the game, has to be time intensive.

To follow up on a previous comment. A friend of mine, whose sidehustle is also in the photography/editing field (like me) was invited to join a so-called engagement pod. They run exactly like Instagram engagement pods, where it's all about boosting 'the team's' odds of trending that 'vital' first hour after posting.