Used and Abused - Round of 16

[Shocker]

This might be a weird question, but are the entries visible enough? So far the response to this round of stories has been rather subdued, especially considering the overwhelmingly strong response to the German contest.

One thing I did notice, was that when the stories got released last Sunday they didn’t show up in my “unread posts”, so I made sure to comment early to get them that visibility.

When I log into this site either via phone or from my pc, I just check “unread”, read all the new stories, or new chapters of stories I already follow, that way I don’t miss stuff. So I’m seriously surprised on the current contest, looking at the ratings it appears that perhaps 4-6 people have rated the entries yet. And there are some really good stories in this contest, so this slow burn surprises me.

[Blue]

I think @shocker's question about whether the competition is actually visible enough is justified.
I just checked how many votes have been cast in total in the current competition. The highest-rated story so far has only received 13 votes. Considering that some readers cast the full three votes, there are maybe four or five members who voted per story.
And there's one more thing: A competition with eight duels, where five participants advance without having to face the competition, isn't a real competition for me.
Yes, of course, it can happen that one or the other – for whatever reason – can't participate in the competition. But if more than half of the participants advance without facing an opponent, it's no longer a competition for me. The moderator team should have perhaps seriously considered whether there were other options that would allow for a fairer evaluation before opening the voting.

[Lucius]

This might be a weird question, but are the entries visible enough? So far the response to this round of stories has been rather subdued, especially considering the overwhelmingly strong response to the German contest.

The separate voting sub-board is the main novelty introduced with that contest. I think it is quite noticeable there on top, but perhaps it's played a role.

There's been a general decline in forum activity this week.

One thing I did notice, was that when the stories got released last Sunday they didn’t show up in my “unread posts”, so I made sure to comment early to get them that visibility.

Much appreciated. Since then the contest stories do show up as unread, but that's something we'll have to look into.

[Lucius]

Yes, of course, it can happen that one or the other – for whatever reason – can't participate in the competition. But if more than half of the participants advance without facing an opponent, it's no longer a competition for me. The moderator team should have perhaps seriously considered whether there were other options that would allow for a fairer evaluation before opening the voting.

Not sure 'fair' is the right word here. Any knockout competition where the absent opponent doesn't lose on forfeit seems unfair to me. Okay, 'set aside and reschedule' is an exception perhaps, but that's hardly an option for story contests.

A different arrangement was later offered in this thread by @Vela Nanashi, but it would've resulted in messed-up quarter-finals.

[Werewolf]

Look, I've only got two more days of waxing gibbous, so I need to keep the introduction short, alrighties?
I'm Werewolf. You can tell me by my canines. (Lupines? "Canines" never sounded quite right.)

Oh fuck, who let the dog out?! I knew I smelled wet fur somewhere... What are you doing here, mutt? Listen, if we cross paths during this event we'll turn this tournament from Used and Abused into Mortal Kombat and I'll finish you!

Look, Mimic, if I want to hear wit from you, I'll say it first so you can repeat it back to me.

[Claire]

Somewhat late but maybe not too late we got another story for the R16-8 match by @Werewolf. Can it make up the 10 point deficit this late into the game?

[Claire]

This might be a weird question, but are the entries visible enough? So far the response to this round of stories has been rather subdued, especially considering the overwhelmingly strong response to the German contest.

One thing I did notice, was that when the stories got released last Sunday they didn’t show up in my “unread posts”, so I made sure to comment early to get them that visibility.

When I log into this site either via phone or from my pc, I just check “unread”, read all the new stories, or new chapters of stories I already follow, that way I don’t miss stuff. So I’m seriously surprised on the current contest, looking at the ratings it appears that perhaps 4-6 people have rated the entries yet. And there are some really good stories in this contest, so this slow burn surprises me.

Partially, that's because @Vela Nanashi and I haven't commented yet and I will certainly do so before the voting period is over. But more than that, activity on the forum has been on a downward trend roughly since the beginning of July. The momentum we had with the Gang Rape Galore contest simply did not carry over. I took the last two to three days off from the forum and I didn't have a single notification in the meantime. The main problem remains that maybe one out of 30 to 40 people who register become somewhat active for a while. But for every new user who creates a few posts, another seems to stop being active. That issue is still the Achilles' heel of our community.

[Claire]

The Round of 16 is over!

In match R16-1 @Foot Lover advances to the quarter final with a 15 to 12 score, knocking @Capt. Asparagus out of the tournament!

In match R16-2 the @Traumatized Teddy prevails... due to a lack of competition. The @Photographer is thus eliminated from the competition.

In match R16-3 @Gross Indecency also wins by default because of no competing story from @Mr. Kinky Guy.

In match R16-4 we had a very close 11 to 10 victory for @Your Mum over @Marquise. The result came down to a last minute vote!

In match R16-5 we see our very own dice roller @Perverted Mimic make the cut because @Elephant didn't hand in a story.

In match R16-6 @Alien Drunk beats the @Ink Splotter also by default because of no competing story.

In match R16-7 @The Purgatory Knight edges out a victory over @Bukkake Power Wash with a 15 to 14 points victory.

In match R16-8 @Werewolf manages to beat @Parasite with a 13 to 11 score despite arriving plenty late to the party.

The quarter final will consist of @Foot Lover, @Traumatized Teddy, @Gross Indecency, @Your Mum, @Perverted Mimic, @Alien Drunk, @The Purgatory Knight, @Werewolf

A big thank you to all who participated and leave the tournament after the round. I hope people will give their stories a read nevertheless. I certainly still have a bit of reading to do for those entries that had no competition.

I didn't reveal who the real identities are of the knocked out participants this time in case they would like to use their pen name accounts to engage in some more anonymous role playing. But if you have been knocked out and want to reveal your real identity, please do so. In that case I will transfer ownership over your story thread to your real account.

I will now match the remaining 8 participants for the quarter final and assign them their themes. And then you have again two weeks to write your story for your quarter final match!

[Claire]

The thread for the Quarter Final is now pinned and shows the matches and themes for the next round:

Quarter Final

[Bukkake Power Wash]

That was another exciting voting final. Congratulations to @The Purgatory Knight, I have a hunch who's behind that pseudonym, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to advance and then win the competition.

The new topics for the next round would have appealed to me, too. But I'm not really sad about being eliminated. Our round received the most points of all and was also the most exciting.

Good luck to all participants in the next round.