Obviously, anyone who's spent some time at Newgrounds knows that the backbone of of the site is the flash portal, where anyone can submit any kind of animation or game and have it judged by the general internetty public.
There is no written rule that people who subscribe or visit the site MUST vote on submissions, but encouraged with benefits of site ranking and potential for winning a monthly prize.
Unfortunately, achieving high rank and gambling for the hundred bucks doesn't entice me enough to scar my psyche on pustulent steamers submitted to the portal. The main reason I've worked to get to level 13 rank is because I think straight razors are cool. (When I was younger, whenever I would get double freezer pops, after eating them I'd split off a piece from one popsicle stick and make a pseudo-razor and use the other stick as the handle. :3 I was weird in a playful way, not a suicidal way, mind you.)
I guess what's bothering me is that by not voting on a regular basis, does that make me a contributor to the flaws of the portal system? Should I vote and suffer through horrible stick figure tweens and bad voice acting for the greater good, or can I go on with avoiding the situation without feeling guilty about it?
Another reason why I have trouble voting on a regular basis is that I'm clearly biased when voting. I try to avoid anything rated "Adult" or "Mature", even though I'm 23 and shouldn't (in theory) be bothered by it. I'm put off by reliances on cock jokes, fad bandwagoning, cheesecake shots, sprites, Times New Roman font usage, and misogyny. Oh yeah, and don't get me started on rap... >:P
Usually the highest I'll vote on a submission is 3, unless I feel it's really exceptional, then I'll push for a 4. So how can I be an effective part of the system when my personal opinion affects what should be an unbiased vote?
I guess I can't help but wonder if anyone else has this dilemma.
mechanixnut
I don't seem to be bothered by most things. I know some people try really hard on their animations and they still aren't that good, but at least it isn't as bad as those who jsut don't give a shit about what they are making. I vote on the submissions according to how much effort was put in. Sometimes if I really like a funny animation that has really bad quality video, I am obviosly going to vote 5 on it. There are those that are fairly long that only some effort was put in that would get a 3 maybe a 4 if I liked it. On the submissions that are really horrible that I can tell they tried real hard on I just don't blam it cause it sucks. I give them a 1 and leave a review that could be fairly helpful to them. Most of the time those submissions just get deleted. I know I have had one thing I submitted blammed, but I really don't care I just wanted to see what people thought of it. I know some random person told me it was good, when it really wasn't. Some things are just weird like that. Most people just blam things that they don't like when in fact you tell them to try and do something better, they can't. Some can, but most can't. I don't know why they want someones work to get deleted when that person doesn't know how much work went into that project. I have to leave for work now.
Peace out
Mechanixnut