I opened the polls a tad early :3 This was supposed to start tomorrow but I'm working more overtime so I wouldn't be able to do it XD

It's voting time!
You can vote here
http://www.drunkduck.com/Drunk_Duck_Awards_2010/
or here
http://www.justnopoint.com/test/

All you have to do is type a user name and fill out the forms for each category with the name of the comic (or character name if applicable) that you wish to vote for.

~One ballot per person.
~No voting for yourself.
~Drunkduck hosted (or mirrored) comics only.
~Comics must be actively updating or completed within the last year.
~You may enter a comic in more than one category.
~You don't have to fill out every category.
~You can come back and edit your votes later.

The ballot will be running until July 20, 2010.

Banners to advertise the awards are below. Feel free to ask questions here in the comments or in the forum or PQ me. I'll try my best to answer them. (or someone will)
After the voting is finished I'll tally the votes and announce the finalists then we can start assigning judges and presenters.

sweet.

with the categories... should it be what we think is a comic is or by what the author classed it as when creating it, I ask this as some I would call one thing are classed by the creator as something else entirely.

Genejoke
with the categories... should it be what we think is a comic is or by what the author classed it as when creating it, I ask this as some I would call one thing are classed by the creator as something else entirely.

I think that's a bit of a grey area, especially since many comics will fall into more than one category anyway. Most superhero comics, for example, will probably also qualify as action comics and adventure comics.

I'd suggest you take the creator's categorisation as a guide, but that doesn't mean you can't vote for it in other categories as well (or even instead!)

You are allowed to vote for a comic in more than one category, and the two-stage voting process creates checks and balances to prevent abuse of this. Firstly, if it turns out your view of a comic is not just different to the creator's but is also completely out of step with everyone else's, then it's unlikely that the comic will get enough votes in that category to make it through to the judging panel stages.

Secondly, in the unlikely event that a comic does make it through to the panel stage of an inappropriate category (for example, because it has legions of fans who just voted for it in every category!), then it's likely to score very low with the judges in that category. I believe some finalists have even been disregarded by judging panels in the past.

So, no, you don't need to feel constrained by the creator's own classification. Reach out with your feelings, Luke. Feel the force!

Thats cool, trying to put forth votes for all categories and want to be well rounded so checking out a lot of comics. hardest are absract and sociopolitical, so any that might be worth looking at please put them forth.

I added a list of "rules" to the ballot site to pre-answer some potential questions.

I basically copied all the same rules over from last year. Those who participated last year know this stuff already, but we aren't all veterans -- and in my experience, "unspoken rules" just aren't useful.

~One ballot per person.
~No voting for yourself.
~Drunkduck hosted (or mirrored) comics only.
~Comics must be actively updating or completed within the last year.
~You may enter a comic in more than one category.
~You don't have to fill out every category.
~You can come back and edit your votes later.

We came up with this last year, and it went through discussions and revisions. It's a little late in the game to make new rules right now, but if something has been left out or needs reworded, let me know. I'll be happy to explain the reasons for any of the rules as I remember them (or look them up).

Oh, and judging for most categories (excluding "completed comic" ) will be based primarily on work completed since the last awards.

usedbooks
~One ballot per person.
~No voting for yourself.
~Drunkduck hosted (or mirrored) comics only.
~Comics must be actively updating or completed within the last year.
~You may enter a comic in more than one category.
~You don't have to fill out every category.
~You can come back and edit your votes later.

I'm not sure if this one is still the case. JustNoPoint stated in the first post here as well as on the voting site itself that you can vote for yourself. But the rest of that all sounds about right.

Strain42

usedbooks
~One ballot per person.
~No voting for yourself.
~Drunkduck hosted (or mirrored) comics only.
~Comics must be actively updating or completed within the last year.
~You may enter a comic in more than one category.
~You don't have to fill out every category.
~You can come back and edit your votes later.

I'm not sure if this one is still the case. JustNoPoint stated in the first post here as well as on the voting site itself that you can vote for yourself. But the rest of that all sounds about right.

I believe he made a mistake on that, as I don't recall it being discussed anywhere to change that rule. It has been in place for the previous two years and seems to be really a GOOD rule for the sake of sportsmanship and for fun.

Otherwise, we'd have more of the fill out one comic in every category stuff. Plus, people would be more likely to put their own comic in "best writing" or other general categories rather than filling out one they felt truly deserved it. Basically, it's a conflict of interests and puts any voter who runs his own comic into a moral quandry. Not much fun in that. It has been discussed extensively every year except this year, and, unless I missed something, was not decided to be changed.

If I'm wrong about that, we can change it. I doubt it would be a huge deal one way or the other. I'd just like to see the discussion on it and reasons the alteration is being made.

Yeah, I noticed that after I swung back by the voting ballot. I changed my votes so that i'm abiding by the rules and I actually came here to delete that post xD

Believe UsedBooks. She knows stuff.
And, besides, JustNoPoint is working far too much overtime to be trusted to get the rules right!
;-)

It was certainly the case in the past that you could not vote for your own comic. Although, in practice, I'd guess that - if you do vote for yourself - that one extra vote probably won't make enough of a difference to determine whether or not you get into the final five finalists that go before the judges.

Plus, it would be sooo unsportsmanlike!

DAJB
Although, in practice, I'd guess that - if you do vote for yourself - that one extra vote probably won't make enough of a difference to determine whether or not you get into the final five finalists that go before the judges.

I assumed that to be the case after JNP said it in the earlier post, either way makes no difference to me, I was having a hard time justifying to myself to vote for my comics when there are others in the same categories I think are stronger entries.

Genejoke

DAJB
Although, in practice, I'd guess that - if you do vote for yourself - that one extra vote probably won't make enough of a difference to determine whether or not you get into the final five finalists that go before the judges.

I assumed that to be the case after JNP said it in the earlier post, either way makes no difference to me, I was having a hard time justifying to myself to vote for my comics when there are others in the same categories I think are stronger entries.

Yeah, it probably makes no "technical" difference, but it seems to change the spirit and makes voting less fun and care-free. That particular rule is more for maintaining the spirit of the awards than affecting the results of them. I still think that it's an important rule.

As was mentioned, I think JNP just made an honest mistake and didn't intend on altering any rules from last year. (Even seemingly innoculous ones went through a kind of discussion/approval process.) He's just been working really hard on so many things, basically putting this entire project together himself without any help. (So nitpickers like me can come in and tell him he screwed up. Sorry, JNP. ^_^; )

I reckon the nit picking is the kind of help he needs, stop the minor issues before they ruin things. i am sure JNP appreciates these things.

Nit-Picking always helps in the end, if it weren't for nitpicking we wouldn't have...um...er...

How did chocolate chip waffles get started again?

Yaaaay! I love this time of year. :D A big kudos to all of the wonderful people who've helped get this rolling.

I left way too many blanks...

Having a mind fart...

Honestly I didn't remember the rule NOT to vote for yourself. And I didn't find the rules from last year. I looked, but I must have missed them :spin: I just thought that was kind of a good sportsmanship thing to not do so. But didn't remember it being stated as an actual rule. I know plenty of people voted for themselves last year and me and Amanda just counted them anyway. It's not like it was ever a deciding vote. And if it was I wouldn't let it be the final decision to make them a finalist.

It's not a big nit pick ^_^ Thanks for adding the rules Vickie! You rock!
Since it was a stated rule I'll stick by it and apologize for the misinformation. *copies down rules to the 10 easy steps to making dd awards thread =p

EDIT:

DAJB
And, besides, JustNoPoint is working far too much overtime to be trusted to get the rules right!
;-)

You're not kidding! XD And I don't even get off for 4th of July! So I have to work the next 3 days 12 hours each and probably another 10 hours Tuesday. @_@

But after that I should get a break till July 23rd. Hooray scheduled vacations!

JustNoPoint
Honestly I didn't remember the rule NOT to vote for yourself. I just thought that was kind of a good sportsmanship thing to not do so. But didn't remember it being stated as an actual rule. I know plenty of people voted for themselves last year and me and Amanda just counted them anyway. It's not like it was ever a deciding vote. And if it was I wouldn't let it be the final decision to make them a finalist.

It's not a big nit pick ^_^ Thanks for adding the rules Vickie! You rock!

It was definitely a rule. (I have a memory that simply won't release me from trivial details of mundane things.) But we didn't post rules on the ballot page anyway, so most voters wouldn't know. It didn't/doesn't affect results, but it's a nice rule to have -- even unenforced. Takes pressure off comic makers to make those decisions. I am a fanatic about structure, so I like having the "guidelines" upfront.

Glad I didn't step on your toes anyway. Heh.

Hooray for order *throws confetti and fun size bags of m&m's*

I've started having some trouble with the voting form. I've been back to mine on several occasions to vote in different categories but, when I tried to revisit it today, it presented me with a brand new form.

Has something changed in the last day or so?

Probably your IP has changed.

Kind of the flaw of it. The way it remembers you is by IP. I had to reset my modem the other day so mine is blank again too.

Sorry about the inconvenience of that. You can still PQ me and tell me which category you want to make a vote in or change. Alternatively you can make an account under DAJB2 if you like. I still encourage people to PQ me when/if they do this so I can factor this stuff in come counting time. I'll check for potential duplicate accounts anyway but that will make it easier to not miss.

EDIT: If you happened to be at a different location this time when you looked at the ballot then it should fix when you go back home? I know this helped a few people that encountered the same issue with laptops.

JustNoPoint
Probably your IP has changed. If you happened to be at a different location this time when you looked at the ballot then it should fix when you go back home? I know this helped a few people that encountered the same issue with laptops.

No, I'm using the same PC, same modem and same service provider as before. And, being a desktop, I'm using them in the same house too! ;-)

I take it the categories I had already voted in are still registered for counting?

Yep. Every vote you have submitted thus far is counted. If you make a new account or send me new votes via pq I'll use the newest comic title in the event you are wanting to change your vote on the old one. If you would like me to send you a copy of all the categories you already voted in I can do that as well.

Not sure why it forgot you. Again sorry for the inconvenience!

If anything goes wrong or any votes are not being counted corectly, the fairest thing is just to assume they intended to vote for Harkovast.
It is the only way to be completely fair.

*opens his mouth to say something, closes it*

...

I can't really argue...that does seem fair :P

HAHAHA

Yay, I've been waiting for this all year =D

it lost my votes, IP address thing i guess, so I reposted it under genejoke amended...

should be obvious what is going on though.

Genejoke
it lost my votes, IP address thing i guess, so I reposted it under genejoke amended...

should be obvious what is going on though.

Cool deal. No problem!

I have a sort of problem re voting as in I am on the same IP as Doctor Shadow and it says my vote has already been registered. Which it hasn't of course, it's Doctor Shadows vote!

Can't vote from elsewhere such as work, Drunk Duck is firewalled due to content *eyerolls* lol!

So how do I vote? :D

Since mine is blank again I guess you can send me a PQ with your votes if you want. I know it's a lot of trouble for you. But if you wish to do that I'll copy your votes and fill out the ballot for you.

I think I did a pretty good job with the voting. Almost filled out every category.