Shirt.Woot

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Woot changed the "winners" rules once again. I think it was a smart move after watching the number of votes dropping so much, and I am pretty sure it is affecting the sales as well. I hope the number of people voting start to grow once again now that 1st and 2nd place are decided by votes.

It can be frustrating for us artist to see so little participation on the derby knowing that a few months ago it had 3-4 times more. By monday morning, 10th place used to have between 300-400 votes, while now it barely has +100. I count on you voters to bring Shirt.Woot back to it's glorious days.

But Woot can help with the motivation as well. We used to receive the nominations for the Honorable Mentions the week after the derby. Now we have to wait 2-4 weeks. I believe the HM system it's an excellent tool to keep artists interested in participating each week. Sometimes that (almost) instant recognition is the key to keep artist motivated, even if their design doesn't make it at all.

I have a 9 hours full time job, 1 hour of commute each way, and a needy girlfriend. My free time isn't that much. Every time I decide to participate in a derby, it means that I'll go to sleep @ 3am that thursday. That's the only chance I have to design a shirt so I can submit it at my lunch break next day. I do it because I LOVE doing it. Thursdays nights are MINE. It's my escape from reality.

I'll be around for a long time and I have a lot to thank Woot and Wooters for. I just ask a little more motivation from the people that can make it happen.

Thanks for reading this, see you at the derbies!

omarfeliciano wrote:It shouldn't surprise anyone that Woot changed the "winners" rules once again. I think it was a smart move after watching the number of votes dropping so much, and I am pretty sure it is affecting the sales as well. I hope the number of people voting start to grow once again now that 1st and 2nd place are decided by votes.

It can be frustrating for us artist to see so little participation on the derby knowing that a few months ago it had 3-4 times more. By monday morning, 10th place used to have between 300-400 votes, while now it barely has +100. I count on you voters to bring Shirt.Woot back to it's glorious days.

But Woot can help with the motivation as well. We used to receive the nominations for the Honorable Mentions the week after the derby. Now we have to wait 2-4 weeks. I believe the HM system it's an excellent tool to keep artists interested in participating each week. Sometimes that (almost) instant recognition is the key to keep artist motivated, even if their design doesn't make it at all.

I have a 9 hours full time job, 1 hour of commute each way, and a needy girlfriend. My free time isn't that much. Every time I decide to participate in a derby, it means that I'll go to sleep @ 3am that thursday. That's the only chance I have to design a shirt so I can submit it at my lunch break next day. I do it because I LOVE doing it. Thursdays nights are MINE. It's my escape from reality.

I'll be around for a long time and I have a lot to thank Woot and Wooters for. I just ask a little more motivation from the people that can make it happen.

Thanks for reading this, see you at the derbies!

For a lot of artists who design a quality on theme shirt the chances of getting printed were much better with an Editor's Choice than from the popularity contest.

Participation on this site has been declining for a while now and is due to several factors, not just the change in derby rules.

There are some numbers floating around here for the derby voting trends, but I don't recall the change in the procedure being the cause for the drop in votes. From my perspective, it was a multitude of factors and an offshoot of the diminshed customer base.

While I still vote, my participation here (and thus, feedback to the artists) is much less than it used to be. There's still that nagging aspect when I click "I'd want one" too, when in reality it's "I like the design, but I won't be buying it for other reasons"; FWIW, it's not just the blanks.

I agree the HMs should be a bit more timely, though given how they're less staffed in multiple departments now, I'm not surprised the behind-the-scene operations are taking longer these days.

I had lost interest in participating and even voting after the winner selection rule change. I personally didn't care for votes only counting for first place. I liked the old system but I can live with this latest compromise. I'm hoping the derby comes roaring back.

I do like the top two, plus a third wild card. It gives an illusion of hope... Or maybe allusion to hope... hmmm.
Anyway. I am in the same boat omarfeliciano. Not much time. So my submissions have been much more simplified. Which I think is the common trend. There used to be many subs, every week with crazy effort. But now, it's seems like there is an awful lot of "phoning" in the designs. I loved the diversity back in the day!
On a side note; there should be a poll on the side of the page for potential upcoming derby subjects... just sayin'

benjaminleebates wrote:There used to be many subs, every week with crazy effort. But now, it's seems like there is an awful lot of "phoning" in the designs. I loved the diversity back in the day!

memes and geek culture refs beat diversity most weeks.

Good conversation ! It does carry more weight coming from an artist ! The time line could be improved by at least giving a general heads up on the the new derby contest. I see my other ( not better) half sitting up late trying to get a good start on the derby each week. I am torn between the popularity vote and the new/old rules......I think woot needs a better analysis of the type of shirts that have sold, even better idea.... different categories. i.e. Adult, kids, pop culture, etc.... jmo

On a side note; there should be a poll on the side of the page for potential upcoming derby subjects... just sayin'[/quote]

This, my friend, is a phenomenal idea. I usually work on my derby entries Thursday and Friday night then submit late Fri. night or Sat. morning. A week's notice would allow for some AWESOME designs !!! Which, IMO, would bring back voters and sales.

deborah11565 wrote:I see my other ( not better) half sitting up late trying to get a good start on the derby each week.

who is your other half?

no1 wrote:who is your other half?

That'd be me..

Votes and community will improve when woot address the elephant in the room, Anvil shirts replacing AA...

I haven't purchased many since the change in shirt mfg, but part of it has much more to do with the designs...or lack of design for winning shirts. I get a kick out of some of the pop culture references, but it truly is tiring to scroll through 1/2 of the submissions rehashing some video game, television show, movie. I know there's nothing new under the sun, but something unique on occasion would be encouraging.

I used to visit the derby a few times a week, but in the last couple of months, I've actually missed several derbies altogether. I have never submitted a design, but I used to try to participate in pre-derby threads to respond to requests for input. Now, I rarely check the pre-derby. This is the only shirt site I frequent.

I totally agree with OmarFeliciano's opinion... I really miss the Honorable Mentions each week. I know Woot has a lot of work to do lately...but it's been like...5-6 derbies? that we didn't have honorable mentions... For the designers they are a great motivation...

wirdou wrote:I totally agree with OmarFeliciano's opinion... I really miss the Honorable Mentions each week. I know Woot has a lot of work to do lately...but it's been like...5-6 derbies? that we didn't have honorable mentions... For the designers they are a great motivation...

just curious ... statistically, how many hms go out to designers who have never been printed before? seems like if a designer is already getting printed, an hm wouldn't be necessary for motivation...

no1 wrote:just curious ... statistically, how many hms go out to designers who have never been printed before? seems like if a designer is already getting printed, an hm wouldn't be necessary for motivation...

I got 3 HMs before I got printed. It did a lot to make me feel I was doing something right.

no1 wrote:just curious ... statistically, how many hms go out to designers who have never been printed before? seems like if a designer is already getting printed, an hm wouldn't be necessary for motivation...

HM's are pretty big. We've gotten a couple and they do a lot for morale. You're probably right that they aren't as exciting for an artist that prints. I see them as one of the steps toward glory. Step 1. Get more votes than you have family members that woot. Step 2. Hit the hotness in a derby. Step 3. 100 votes. Step 4. Honorable Mention. Step 5. Finish in the fog. Step 6. Print!

Still looking for number 6.

I've never received an HM, but I have received a few Best Loser Awards when those were still around, and they did motivate me to keep trying, even when I was only getting 20-30 votes. I'm guessing an HM would be just as cool and motivating.

orabbit wrote:I got 3 HMs before I got printed. It did a lot to make me feel I was doing something right.

Yes, HMs were really encouraging for me too. I got my first HM long before I printed and it really pushed me in the right direction.

I was given my only HM the same day I received THREE rejection letters... It was perfect timing...

*bump*

Hi guys,

I went through the forums a bit to see what's been going on and I thought I'd chime in here.

I've been absent from the derbies for a good while myself. I think some of the changes really impacted how I personally felt about the derbies, the votes, etc. I read here that I'm not alone.

I think the biggest change for me came with the way winners were chosen. By taking away power from the voters (which I am also one of), it really gave them very little reason to be here, thus impacting the number of votes, the excitement, the fun/heated discussions, the passion etc. There was just no excitement or reason to root somebody on or get involved. We did get some interesting prints, but the feel of the derby was sort of put out to pasture in doing so. Just my personal feels of course, but there you go.

The shirt blanks had little impact on me at first, however, it's been some time later. I've found the Anvil shirts dont hold up nearly as well as the AA. They look older faster, and the fit is inconsistent. I still buy Woots from time to time, but I do really miss the AA shirts. When I do laundry Im always super happy to find one of my older Woots on an AA . They still generally look really good and feel good.

The last reason I've been missing is just life in general. I switched jobs, got married, dealing with some ongoing physical health crud, etc. I've also been sucked into various internet doohickies and taking some online art classes. Mayhem!

I was happy to actually get an email about the 300th derby. I think Woot might consider making a derby mailing list to alert people to the theme, new rules, bonus wins, monster attacks, all that stuff. It actually reminded me that things are still here, which Im happy about. I never left due to ire or anything, I simply have the memory of a goldfish, so I need reminders. That was cool though, might be a good way to get artists to get in gear and submit more stuff ^_^.

So that's about it. Sorry I've been out of the loop! I hope to get my stupid bodily crap under control soon so I can do more art. It's really the main reason I've been gone. (just take my spine and feed it to bears for god's sake) Good to be here though and hope you are all doing well!

Welcome Back Bassanimation!!!

I had just been saying how I missed seeing you, DianaSprinkle, and some other artists in the derby and the forums..... and here you are! So glad.

Congrats/Best Wishes on the marriage. Sorry to hear about the health issues. As someone with a nasty spine, I can relate, but if our spines were fed to bears we'd be called spineless, which is never a compliment unless you're an insect.

Again, from someone who loved laughing with your comments, welcome back!

gsedlak wrote:Votes and community will improve when woot address the elephant in the room, Anvil shirts replacing AA...

This comment right here is exactly why I have stopped participating in Derbies and the purchase of tshirts. I am glad to hear Woot is at least trying to help the winners, which I'm sure are suffering at the lack of participation. There's really no point for me to vote in the Derbies anymore because even if the design wins, I won't be able to purchase it because unfortunately I'm part of the female portion on this site that has been left without options. If Woot would at least make AA shirts an option again, even if I had to pay an extra couple dollars, I'd start buying shirts again (many from the all designs) and participating in the derbies-- and I'm sure many others would too.