Below are the rules for the award voting 2011. There are no major changes compared to the rules of 2010 which is why they are quoted for the most part and mostly the dates have been changed:
Hey Gang!
Below are the official rules for engagement for the 2011 Gang of Five Membership Awards. Please read the following statements below carefully as these outline the DO's and DO NOT's of the voting process of this year's awards. These are here to help guide you as you cast your votes particularly for those new nominees eligible to vote and gain awards this year.
The voting process will officially open on SATURDAY 18th JUNE 2011 and will be kicked started by an opening speech from one of the members of staff of the GOF.
***DO NOT START VOTING BEFORE THEN!!!***
Voting for the initial 7 categories (listed below) will last for 2 weeks and will close at 12midnight on 2nd JULY 2011 (forum standard time)
Please take time out to read these statements carefully so not to accidentally (or otherwise) breach any of the rules
***OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR 2011 GANG OF FIVE MEMBERSHIP AWARDS***
- All selected GOF members listed are invited to participate in the GOF Awards. These candidates have been granted participation on clearing of the following conditions:
1. Have a post count of at least 100 posts
2. Have actively posted on the GOF within the past 3 months
3. Have been a member of the GOF for at least 3 months
The list of eligible candidates for this year's awards can be found right below the post of these rules. If your name is NOT on that list, you are NOT eligible to receive an award in this year's nominations. If you find you fulfill the three criterias listed above and still are not on the list, please contact one of the admins about it. We do our very best, but mistakes are always possible.
- The main categories for this year's Awards are as follows:
~Fanart Award
~Feedback Award
~Friendly Member Award
~Helpful Member Award
~Philosopher Award
~Proactive Award
~Role Play Gamer Award
- The Appreciated Member Award will also be included but nominations for this award will be conducted AFTER the main 7 categories have been finalised and the awards distributed. DO NOT reveal your nomination for the Appreciated Member Award alongside your votes for the initial 7 categories because it won't be counted.
- You are to offer ONE (1) nomination per category highlighting the nominee's GOF username in underline and/or bold to aid with the tallying process. We strongly advise all participants to vote in ALL categories if they can. Understandably there may be some areas you are not too sure on if you haven't been involved directly (e.g. the RPG section) or are genuinely unable to select one candidate but we urge you try to offer a nomination if you can.
- No member participating in the GOF Awards 2011 is entitled to an award if they DID NOT vote in at least six (6) of the initial 7 categories. By NOT voting in at least 6 categories, you WILL NOT receive any awards you may be entitled to once the results are recorded and finalised. The award will instead go to which ever member gained the second highest amount of votes in that category provided that no other rulings have been breached.
- You are permitted to skip a maximum of one (1) of the 7 initial awards. By skipping no more than two votes, you will still be eligible for any awards you may have coming your way. Skipping more than one vote will see you being stripped of any award you may obtain once the results are recorded and finalised with the award going to which ever member gained the second highest amount of votes provided that no other rulings have been breached.
- All nominations MUST be accompanied with a few lines or a brief statement as to why you feel your choice deserves the stated award. It doesn't have to be an essay nor does it have to hail them as royalty but it will help enforce your choice and can be counted as vaild reasoning. Please feel free to express credit to those members you felt were close contenders for an award if you so wish. Nominations that DO NOT include these explanatory lines for your choice will be considered INVALID and WILL NOT COUNT towards that member's score tally. Furthermore, nominations without explanatory comments will COUNT AGAINST YOU AS A SKIPPED VOTE and may jeopardise your own chances of obtaining an award you may be entitled to.
- When casting your votes, if you DO NOT complete all of your nominations in one post, please submit the remainder of your nominations IN A SEPERATE POST. Please DO NOT UPDATE OR EDIT OLD/PREVIOUS POSTS as this can confuse record keeping of who has cast what votes in which category. The Admin team will keep a record of your voting progress which will be viewable once voting has started.
- We VERY STRONGLY DISCOURAGE voting for yourself in any given category for the GOF awards. If you genuinely feel that there are no other eligible candidates who deserve a specific award then you are permitted to vote for yourself in one (1) category ONLY. Voting for yourself in more than one category will INVALIDATE your nomination and will be counted as a SKIPPED VOTE. In the event of a tie in number of votes for a category, the candidate who DID NOT nominate themselves within the category will be granted the award as the overall winner.
- The eligible candidate who got MOST VOTES for a given award will be permitted to add one of the drafts of the said award to his or her signature. If the eligible candidate with the SECOND MOST VOTES for an award achieved at least A THIRD OF THE NUMBER OF VOTES OF THE WINNER he or she qualifies for a RUNNER UP AWARD. He or she may then add one of the drafts for the award in question THAT HAS NOT BEEN PICKED BY THE WINNER ALREADY to his or her signature.
- We VERY STRONGLY DISAPPROVE AND DISCOURAGE any kind of activity that deems as cheating, vote fixing, conspiring, bribing or any general misconduct of ensuring that any one GOF member will be guaranteed an award. If any admin or moderator suspects members conspiring to ensure that a pre-determined candidate receives an award by solely voting for them without a certifible reason for the nomination, those members involved will be: 1. Disqualified from the nominations. 2. Not be permitted to participate in the remainder of the event including being stripped of any awards they would potentially receive. 3. Face disciplinary measures outside of the awards which may lead to membership suspension or possibly permenant exclusion and banning from the Gang of Five forum. By any judgement, the word of the Administration Staff of the GOF is FINAL.
-The award vote is a public and democratic decision in which the voters have to state the reasons for their decisions. Individual members therefore DO NOT HAVE ANY "CLAIM" TO AN AWARD UNLESS ELECTED. Because whining and complaints of members who cannot accept the decisions of their fellow members KILL THE FUN for the other members and COMPROMISE THE CONTINUATION OF THE AWARD VOTING complaints and whining about not winning an award can result in A MEMBER'S EXCLUSION FROM THE AWARD VOTING AND DISCIPLINARY MEASURES OUTSIDE THE VOTING PROCESS
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