Cyberdevil 2020-10-09 09:59:06

You make #4 seem like a positive thing though. :) Alas, the time when ou could easily really stand out here may be more of a memory now... competition's tough! You really need to put out stuff that people have an interest in, and make sure you promote yourself well enough they really start partaking in your work to start with.

#5 Could it be that some days there is simply such a large surge of new submissions that it takes longer for people to sift through them? That not enough people manage to vote through one, before another comes along and pushes it down the list, making it a steady stream of almost-past-judgement submissions that don't get the required attention fast enough to pull through as fast as they usually do?

As I vote on all UJ submissions it's easy to keep track of which ones are new via the darker purple tone when I've already clicked the link, and certain mornings the portal's flooded. There's over 50 new submissions overnight, so you can't even reach them all via the Portal page, whereas most mornings it's more like 20-30 new ones. Sometimes less. I've been wondering if there's any pattern to how this varies, but I assume it has a lot to do with current jams and trends and other things (whenever Ludum Dare comes around there's usually a flood). Also seems to be slightly more during the weekend, but amounts are never really consistent.

Anyway that's my theory there!

#6 Amen to that. :) Love this place.

Was fun to read these observations, and this is also really the kind of thing that might just make me get into your series too. Been seeing your name frequently in the P-Bot posts lately but never really took the time, The passion you radiate here though: inspiring. :)

Also submission times. I haven't experimented much with this, but at least back in the day you used to get the highest score just past judgement, so if you can time your submission so that it passes judgement just before P-Bot presents the list you should potentially rank the best. I believe this is because a lot of users just vote on stuff to gather B/P, and at least a group of users vote as high as possible on anything they want a save on, and as low as possible on something they want to blam (whichever state they believe the submission leans towards), and as such the initial votes are either a real boost or vice versa. With this in mind users who submit often are probably easy to recognize as ones that'll pass, and thus get an even bigger boost overtime. In addition the larger your number of fans the more initial views with a tendency to give you a high give right away, and then for the score overtime to even out as people who maybe don't like your work as much partake in it and rate it too.

Of course, presentation has a lot to do with the initial votes people give too. Like you said with how your female thumbnail got more attention, you'll probably get a certain boost in scores if you manage your clickbait content well, too. :) So much factors in. In a way it seems a bit unfair in that the more popular you are the more popular you get. Scores and views rise by automatic exposure, rather than the quality of the content itself.

The theories above seem to hold true as even amazing submissions can, if they're the first thing a new user submits, pass by on a trophy entirely. People just don't expect the content to be good. They neither have the necessary fan count to get an initial boost, nor the initial support of all those who vote for points, and skew the scores as they do. It's a fair system in some ways but unfair in others, it's like there's a portal guard that does keep out trash, but occasionally also accidentally kick out the wrong people just because they seemed a bit shady.

Anyway, with regard to time again, it seems like depending on popularity it'd be good to adjust your upload time too. The faster your submissions go through judgement the closer to the P-Bot post you can submit. if you really need to cater to any of this. :) Good content speaks for itself too! As a new user you might actually want to submit as early during the day as possible, to get more exposure and more fair votes if you really do have an amazing first submission.

Regarding submission previews I've never been good at selling those. Don't think at all about what people will click but more so what I want there to be there. It's an art though! If a thumbnail is clearly clickbait you might get a backlast for it, but done right you'll be happy you clicked it. Gotta match expectations but bring out the best in your work at the same time to have the perfect balance... I believe.

And hell yeah NG has changed! :D Lately for the better. Mostly. So much. I could fill the character limit on that though so I'll just end this with a: thanks for an inspiring read, instead. You've definitely mastered the clickbait writing thing... if that's a thing.

Will definitely check out the series when I have some time. Really cool you've been able to keep making it a daily thing so long now. If you have...