I don't see an issue with letting someone else who has worked just as hard win. I mean if two people have worked hard on both of them and they see the other guy has won both then he's obviously going to be like "Well why couldn't he have won one and give me or someone else the chance to win it".

Not like a person hasn't won anything if he's already won one. That prize can be spent on someone else to make more people winners.

Seems silly and a bit harsh in my opinion.

Well if it's based on "best" then he should look at both of the things that user has won then choose the best out of those...OR if the prize value is different then he should pick the highest one for them to win at

So if a User won X and Y and X was worth $50 while Y was $25 then he would allow the user to win the $50 prize and then pick the article/review he thinks is the best while excluding the other winner...basically second best and let the runner up take the $25 one.

At the end of the day if a user has worked hard at a review or blog only to see someone (no offence but in your case, a mod aswell) win two contests then he's going to feel a little shitty and probably will be put off.

Again I'm just trying to look at their point of view.

Just stating it as I see it, no harm intended. I wouldn't like it if it happened to me and if I was on the other side and won both I probably would let someone take the lower value prize.

"Before directly responding to this, I'll be open and admit that I'd have a totally biased opinion for the current setup."

Huh, didn't expect that! Why would you of ALL people be biased? ;)

I don't see the issue with winning for a damn good blog and a damn good review, in all seriousness.

I do have a question though, since you are a mod and you vote on which blogs/reviews win, do you get to say "hey, i think that coolbeans blog was the best, just saying"

@-Foxtrot

"At the end of the day if a user has worked hard at a review or blog only to see someone (no offence but in your case, a mod aswell) win two contests then he's going to feel a little shitty and probably will be put off."

If anything, it seems like they can look at my recent work and come up with new ways to make better reviews+blogs than me. It's not like I got here without feeling similarly whenever others were chosen over mine during the years. I've worked hard with many of my blogs/reviews and come up short before.

Make no mistake: there's no hard feelings between us for you expressing your opinion on this. In fact, I do admire the honesty and I see where you're coming from. But even with us considering that, I still think the principle of equal opportunity and letting the cards fall where they may trumps forced fair outcomes and a user's feelings.

Now, if we were to make the opportunities more NUMEROUS that's something I can totally get behind. Perhaps having a standard 3 winner list for blogs and reviews at a lowered $75/$50? Sounds great to me. Either way, I'm still going to keep writing when I'm able.

@Concertoine

"I do have a question though, since you are a mod and you vote on which blogs/reviews win..."

Incorrect. I've never been involved in the voting process. If you go back to previous Contest Details you'll see blog + review winners are voted by the admin team.

That may be a negative bias on certain days when I bother him more often than not. ;)

Okay, I'm putting my serious face on now. In regards to the idea of favoritism being brought up, I've welcomed people to look at my win history since becoming a mod and you'd have to REALLY, REALLY stretch it to come to said conclusion, especially when:

-I didn't win a user review contest my first year (accumulative) after becoming a mod. The gap's between Quantum Conundrum (a little before mod, I think) to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (over a year into volunteering).

Edit: On top of that, getting as fortunate as I am now is BECAUSE I kept trying to do better at reviewing + blogging over the years. I've taken my share of criticism then and continue to thoroughly think through my arguments of x, y, z to keep improving.

The great thing is you don't have to take my word for it. Just open a few windows between my account and Cat's old contest blogs to verify that. And it's not like I can't come out empty-handed either...like just last month: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...

I'm not accusing mods winning all the time. What I'm saying is shouldn't there be a rule that exempts mods and admins from contests that are made for the community on this site.

It's the same way people may call foul is a Taco Bell employee wins a gold PS4...twice.

I know you and the other mods are not employees but volunteers but you have access to views and info we mortals dont and if we see you and other mods begin to win I'm sure these types of suspicions and questions will start to arise.

Anyways, congrats! I shall write a blog that will guarantee me winning next time!

Absolutely not. I mean, I know that's coming from a biased opinion such as mine, but...well look at what you stated:

"...exempts mods and admins from contests that are made for the community on this site."

But I AM of the community on this site. That's been made clear during each of the contest details rules listed.

"... but you have access to views and info we mortals dont and if we see you and other mods..."

Right, but that special access comes with the responsibility to moderate the site too. That's as far as the terms I agreed to went: with power comes responsibility. Volunteering my time shouldn't remove the option to try to win contests.

"...and other mods begin to win I'm sure these types of suspicions and questions will start to arise."

Sure, as they've creeped up a couple times before. But for that I'm just going to ask those making accusations to consider my recent work. Whether I win or lose, I believe it's quite clear I try hard to write up something that engages with those who read it (agree or disagree with my points).