So two people basically rotate winning this contest? Think I'll be passing on this event in the future.
Well, it's true that Rukaio can make things frustrating because he's so good at humour, and when you read half a dozen gloomy stories and hit his, well written and that makes you chortle, it can feel a bit like a thievery of votes
You vote for him and you think that everyone else will...
But then so what? A few are better than others, get more votes, and hence win. Some people are more beginner than others, or write well but are a bit off-topic etc. Trust me, having strong contestants makes it even more valuable when you win a month. I would not bypass the contest out of fear of seeing Rukaio or Jmack steal the votes from you. It took me 9 months to win a contest, and my writing progress is invaluable, I would never have gotten to that level if I hadn't been in the contest.
Not only does it forces you to come up with new ideas and make it interesting in less than 2k words, but you get to see what makes a popular story, or a better story than yours, and you get the opportunity to get your work critiqued.
Why shy away from that? It's like wanting to quit democracy because your party doesn't get the votes. It just means you need to get better, and the best way to do that is to write more, get critiques and reviews, try again, repeat.
I guess we might have some people who end up being "fans" of the work of others, and it's true that I often give my votes to the same people, but not always. And the more people we have voting, the less favouritism is bound to appear.
Poll