Hi all, Atvelonis here. In December 2015, the wiki administration held a fun little raffle for members of the community and staff. You basically entered a number onto that thread, and at the end of the allotted time one number was randomly selected: whoever was closest received an actual TES-themed prize from the Bethesda Store.
At this time I'd like to announce the beginning of a similar contest, with a couple changes from last time. Instead of the winner being chosen completely randomly, this contest will relate directly to adding content to wiki articles. The methodology is discussed in greater detail below, but the idea is that by adding more useful content to the wiki you have a greater chance of winning the contest and receiving a prize funded by the administration.
Eligibility
We have a few basic rules for who is considered eligible for this contest. I don't think any of them are too restrictive, but let me know if you think they are.
- Only edits made within December 1st–January 1st will be considered.
- Eligible users must enter the contest in the official thread (simply comment your interest below).
- Eligible users must be editing with a registered account.
- Eligible users must not have been blocked between November 1st–January 1st.
- I am obviously not eligible, but other members of the staff and community are.
Rules
The rules may change slightly as the contest goes on, if I observe certain unwanted behaviors taking place among participants. However, this is what we'll be starting with.
- The total byte size of all edits made during the contest will be added up for each user. Then, every participant is assigned a unique range of numbers reflecting their total byte size: more bytes results in a larger range. Finally, a script is run to randomly select three winning values within the total range.
- A high-quality image or audio file is going to be worth 250 bytes, regardless of summary or image size. This value is subject to change. Images tagged as poor quality are disregarded.
- Edits that were reverted, highly modified, are simply unnecessary, or are stretched out needlessly to increase byte size are also disregarded.
- All existing wiki rules and style guidelines apply, so no plagiarized content, no huge unsourced blocks of text, etc.
- If I see anyone trying to undermine the spirit of the contest by sabotaging the work of others or otherwise trying to find unsportsmanlike loopholes in the rules, they may be disqualified. Try to keep it fair!
Prizes
Edits adding a large amount of correct, relevant, properly-formatted, and useful content to the wiki will result in the greatest chance of winning the contest. However, there are still elements of a raffle in this contest, so it's possible for any participant to win.
- There will be three winners, all randomly selected using the script mentioned previously. Of these three, the order of first, second, and third place will be determined by how many total bytes the winning users contributed.
- The winners will receive any TES-related item(s) from the Bethesda Store, Steam, GOG, etc. of their choosing, under a certain price (to be determined). A prize might be something like a game, a t-shirt, or a book, but it's up to the winners.
- If two selected values are within the range of one user, I will choose another value until there are three distinct winners. If two byte sizes of the winners are tied, I will choose the order randomly.
- If a winner decides that they do not want a prize after all, another user will be chosen to receive it.
If you don't know how to edit, I'd recommend you read through my syntax guide for editing in Source mode and take a look at the wiki's policies and style guidelines of the wiki, and ask a staff member for help if you need it. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the contest, and remember to enter the contest on this thread or else I will not count any of your edits. Happy editing!