Substantive as applied to the relative merit of any given post could be interpreted to mean almost anything. I wonder if that was the original intent of the people who sponsored this contest? If so then I suggest a better goal would be that the winning random finalists must submit the three most substantive posts in order to win and that those posts be judged by a panel of judges who are members of the magazine staff.

In your OP announcing the contest you made no mention that the eligibility requirements included a prerequisite that the three random posts must be substantive, but I understand where you’re coming from. Perhaps you’d like to take this opportunity to define any other unspecified eligibility requirements? Just my 2 cents.

There are no additional prerequisites and the post you quoted is really more of a clarification than anything else. A member posting "Me too" for the sole purpose of being eligible for this contest was not the intent. There's no need for a panel and all but the most obviously superfluous posts will be allowed for the contest.

--jeremy

Thank you for the clarification. IMO you have lowered the bar considerably but not so low as to include “Me too” posts.

Providing substantive posts to the lonely threads in the Zero Reply Area is a great way to start. You can find it in the lower main menu to the right of the screen.

AFAIK posted questions are eligible for the contest too assuming of course that they aren't “obviously superfluous”.

They are, but helping people is what we're here for, so unless anyone has a question that hasn't already been answered, the best way to get super-secret-kudos-points is by providing answers

Are you introducing a new contest requirement that eligible posted questions must be unique?

I never cared much for secrets.

Really nothing sinister here. We regularly promote the zero replies threads, so combining helping out someone with an older problem and no replies and making an entry into this competition would seem like a good thing to me. But if you feel otherwise...

I neither said, implied or believed that there was anything sinister.

Encouraging people to help others is IMO a noble goal but AFAIK it is not a requirement for eligibility in this contest and I think it would be misleading to imply otherwise unless you are certain that in order to be eligible the winning posts must be deemed helpful. AFAIK posted questions and even posts that are merely commentary in nature are also eligible. An example of a commentary post might be simply stating a preference either for or against something. Such a post could convey an opinion but might not necessarily be construed as helpful.

I do disagree with your characterization of this contest as a “competition”. AFAIK the winner will be chosen at random therefore IMO it’s not a competition. If it were a competition then it would seem reasonable that only the three most substantive posts should win the “competition” but that idea has been thrown out and the only requirement AFAIK is that the winning posts must simply meet what is IMO a much lower standard of “not obviously superfluous”.

Since I haven’t been told otherwise I will assume the answer to the question I posed previously is that posted questions that are not unique will be eligible for the contest.

win_to_lin_migrant, you're really attempting to turn something that was meant to be fun and rewarding into much more than it is. You have my clarification, which I hope makes the requirements pretty explicit.

--jeremy

I’m sorry you feel that way. That was not my intent.

I understood you perfectly: Three posts, chosen at random which are “not obviously superfluous” in nature.

IMO XavierP had implied that the contest requirements were something other or more than what you had stated and I was having what I perceived to be a friendly discussion with him about what he meant. I now understand that the contest is your purview and no further discussion with him is necessary as it is not his responsibility.

I hope it won’t be too much of an imposition but could you please describe the method that will be used to randomly select the winner and who will accomplish this task? Thank you for your patience and your reply.

Why should anyone believe that, especially when you end the same post with:

Why are you so incessant on knowing all the fine details? You sound like you are implying that it might not be done fairly.

Friendly hint: Reread your own posts in this thread with that perspective; Maybe then you will understand XavierP and Jeremy's last posts... and this one.

The winners will be chosen randomly via a script we've written for past contests. Basically a SQL SELECT is done based on appropriate criterion (in this case members with 3 posts between contest start and end time), the resulting users are stored in an array and $n+$x (in this case n = 3) elements are selected in order from that array using array_rand(). After the usernames are output I manually look to verify that everything looks good. If there is an issue such as one of the members do not want the prize in question, the +$x comes into play and alternate members are contacted in order.

--jeremy

Whereas a contest is not necessarily a competition as this one is not it can be considered a game and in order to play any game you need to know the rules. Jeremy has made those rules clear and I now understand them perfectly. He has also answered my question about the selection process and I have thanked him for his answer.

I see no need to address your opinion about the motive for my inquiries concerning the contest rules and or process. You appear to have made up your mind.

Thus far I feel no animosity towards anyone in this thread. It is my desire to keep it that way. I hope this is agreeable with you and that further discussion about the motivation for my inquiries concerning the contest will not be necessary. TIA

i just wonder if a member who get the chance to get this subscription，but he does not live in america，how can it make through?