Forum

Sometimes in the T&C's they have a contact email. You can just send a quick email and that should confirm if that have received your entry.

Good luck :)

No e-mail os available.
I called but they had no idea.
Oh well

Hmm sometimes changing browsers might work. It's possible had an issue with the browser when attempting to submit. One of reasons I've installed a few different browsers as it lot easier in a crunch to just switch and try again.

What's the comp link? I might check it out later if can find the email address sending to and the subject title.

To find the email address etc you might be able to find it by checking out the underlying HTML for the submit button. At least if you're calling up and enquiring it might help track it down.

To check what the submit button is doing would require using the browser developer tools and/or using the shortcut right click on the button and select INSPECT (at least in Chrome). Also view source HMTL option may help, thou the inspect option and tools available help search through the HTML DOM (Document Object Model) a lot easier. It may be "touch" over whelming for the uninitiated thou it's not rocket science. lol.

If using a direct email approach to act the same as the form submit, it might also wise to know how the form is formatting the email, so there wouldn't be a difference to other entries. Most likely thou might need to consider what additional info the program your using for emails eg Outlook, adds to the email. That might picked up with detailed inspection of emails/form submissions. I..e. Most likely it's acting like a email client and header info attached identifies the method it was sent.

I'm a bit rusty on form submits, it's something will be looking in more detail very soon my comping management project. Not looking to implement automatic entry for competitions , thou possible using browser automation. Looking into automatically logging into various social media eg FB/Twitter etc and obtain my notifications and compare against comps entered and draw/closing dates.

Good luck x fingers you haven't accidentally submitted a dozen entries for every push of the button.

Think found the comp
https://www.9now.com.au/today/2017/extras/competitions/competitions-folder/samsung-qled-form

At the bottom it mentions the following:

File upload (Max size 5mb)
(File uploads have been disabled for this form.)
IF YOU CANNOT UPLOAD YOUR IMAGE PLEASE SEND YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS, ANSWER TO THE COMPETITION QUESTION, AND PHOTO TO COMPETITIONS@NINE.COM.AU

So either you didn't see that message or it has been recently added to the form due to technical issues. It's highly possible your entry wasn't submitted. Try doing a direct email as instructed.

It doesn't mention what subject to put in email. From the HTML of the form it should be:

"Samsung and Harvey Norman Giveaway"

For the email content to make it easy for them follow the same format as the form at the competition link.
eg
First Name: Malcom
Last Name: Trumble
Phone: 000
Email: donations@email.com
Address: 287-289 New South Head Rd
City: Edgecliff
State: NSW
Postcode: 2027

In 25 words or us why you would like to win a brand new Samsung QLED TV?

Good Luck :)

Hmm a TV would be great. A screen shot of trying to watch TV in HD format on my PC/Media centre in all it's pixelated glory might help. At times like a Picasso artwork if doesn't manage to freeze up TV viewer first. :(

Gee: The best thirty-five (35) entries, as determined by the judges, will each win a Samsung Q7 55" QLED TV valued at $3999.

It might be worth entering. :)

It's changed again and now displaying the option to load the file, which didn't display for me few hours ago. It's possible due just doing a fresh instalation of Chrome which usually use.

It's lucky as got your answer what email to send to. :)

What's it now displaying for me:
File uploads may not work on some mobile devices.
Also the file upload option has appeared.

It's probably best to use the form or email as a last resort.

If emailing don't forget to include a subject, otherwise it might be lost amongst other competitions they might be running.

I decided to re submit and I got thank you the form was submitted successfully
Last time I got directed to the home page

@Compbee Great and thanks I've got around to submitting an entry. Good Luck :)

Good luck. Let us know when you win :)

Go for it!! :)

On fire!!!! Way to go mate.

Congratulations :)

Congrats

Like the big Tonka toy in the background too! Lol! Congratulations :)

Thanks all :)
@fourleaf that didn't want to include that one in my prize pack for some reason haha

Nice mate, good spirit :)

Thanks mate @Trevsta

Congratulations :)

Happy Dayz

Congratulations

Thanks all :)

Great news. Congratulations!

Big congrats. Way to go :)

Thanks guys. Its great everyone is so friendly and positive on this forum. Great bunch of people :) Wishing everyone a great night

Nice wins for sure :)

Cheers @JoLee

Congratulations, great wins there

good wins there mate!

Thanks all :)

Congratulations! :)

Thank you @fourleaf

Bloody awesome!!!!!!

I'd agree :) cheers @FARMERTYSON

Nope

Haven't won yet, maybe this week :)

The first month i joined I came 3rd and then 2 months later I won the guessing game, then another 3rd about 6 months later, talk about beginners luck :)

Only once courtesy of the birthday bonus :)
It took me about 18 months which is about the average time to win with roughly 40 active members. This year only had a couple of months over average scores. Most months been close to average scores. It would be nice to get over 180 points for a month for a change.

@moreofachance Yes what a coincidence and joined just in time on the first of the month and birthday month. I recall it well :)

@Anna2077 Your not going too bad for the month, just a few points below average. Still plenty of time with a outside chance. Hmm you need roughly 130 points from 18 days maybe a bit optimistic for top 3 this month. Always next month.

On the bright side you might win if end up in the top 10. Just you won't be able to cash it out anytime soon.

Not yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I won the leaderboard once and also 3rd too in 3 yrs :)

I won on my birthday month(April last yr) just, plus 3rd and also won the lucky number once, can't complain :). :)

I got 3rd last month, 25$ Happy Dayz

It does not matter if you go on everyday and enter every comp and do the guessing game. Still never near the top. I have found much better sites than this one and about to give up on it. I dont find it fair at all

Triple Crown in the Guessing Game and 3rd once I think!!

@Lemond same as last months, then I had about a week with daily numbers 1 - 3 .. now even I get to the top, and haven't since I joined, I will not get cash.

@Trevsta haven't seen you anywhere near the top this year ... luck should change :-)

U just never never know in this game@Anna2077!!! Good Luck. :)

@ouzocoke care to share the other comp sites, I'd like to know what else is out there.

@Trevsta you too :-)

@SunnyLife my fav is competition guide, theres no comp like this, but a lot more comps.

@ouzocoke yes I know the one. The first page is free then you have to pay to access the rest of the pages. Before you had to pay for it I used use that site and I've never won anything from that site.

Same here SunnyLife - that's why I don't use that site any longer.

And in 12 months 1st 3rd twice and guessing game once, thank you Comp God!!!

@moreofachance Argh today you guys get lower scores you could of done that yesterday. That's cruel to be a a couple of points short of a cigar. Robbed. lmao

@Anna2077 Well off to a decent start only 30 more days to go to have your dreams snatched away. lmao.
All you can do is maximise your chances and hang in there. You can't expect to win if slip up too much. The rough odds currently to win once every 18 months with around 40 active members. (That's assuming maximise your chances with the skill component)

So it's highly likely it may take a couple of years grinding it out for your lucky numbers to fall just at the right time.

@Lemond after 2.5 years and never in the top 10 ... your stats are wrong. .. strangely same people are always in the top 10, with repeat offenders in the top 3

Hi, @ouzocoke. Same experience here. I think the site's server/s went offline. Back in business now. yay

It was fine "early yesterday" around 12am. I then checked back around 8pm and the severs were offline until at least midnight. I think it was around 12:00-12:30am this morning it was back up.

I couldn't tick off yesterdays comps until around 12:30am this morning. Luckily I don't think there were any comps posted yesterday that also expired.

Yes but dont get the points for guessing game and if you miss one day you will never catch up

Something strange is going on as I go on every morning and have viewed every comp but leader board is showing I've only viewed 144 while leaders are on 152 viewed comps. There couldn't have been that many expired comps in 24 hours?

Agree. I am at 147 and I have no idea how other people reached 152 competitions.

5 comps with 0 days left to enter were added yesterday afternoon, so by this morning they were expired and deleted from forum, only by chance did I see this yesterday :)

Savvy

@moreofachance same here, when I logged in there were few comps that were added yesterday and expired yesterday

@ouzocoke if the competition is there and not expired you get your points.. yesterday few were added just for yesterday

@Anna2077 Just don't go trying clicking on expired comps posted in the same month. If that "feature" is still about it subtracts the point if you had previously viewed it. I've haven't tested since about Feb. I'm not game to try that again.

Usually expired competitions are removed quickly before most would trip over them. Only if you're online before the maintenance to remove them has kicked in. Most members wouldn't come across expired comps still listed, unless you go looking for them.

@Lemond I think @admin @Zedmin have nobbled that points deduction for clicking on expired comps. I ventured bravely there the other day, to no points loss. I just wish one could click on expired comps posted/hosted in the month, to catch up on missed points. I guess there's no incentive for site management to get value out of belated click-throughs. Bother!

If the site is down, which it was and you cant do the guessing comp for one day. you dont get the points and will never catch up. I dont find this site very good at all there are so many comping sites that are better but dont have your comp on.

@Lemond they weren't expired, they were open.

Clicked on a few expired in my first year.

The difference in competitions viewed is increasing. Yesterday I had 5 competitions less, today they reached 7. I have now 171 viewed surveys and there are people with 178.

All these complaints....I check the site at least 10 times a day. I don't miss many comps that are put up and expire the same day. If the site is down, I keep trying. it's reward for effort people...you can't expect to be rewarded if you want it easy.

Some of us work all day and cannot get on the site until night time and if it is down all night then you miss out on the guessing points as I am sure you can do the comps. the next night.

@toxicgherkin Well I don't mind not getting points for expired comps. It's part of the skill component to keep actively using the site etc.

I not game to test expired comps. If it's been fixed it's only been since Jan/Feb when accidentally rediscovered that feature.

Must say they have been a lot more active with posting comps this month. Also a lot more closing on the same day as posted. Keeping everyone on their toes.

Thou with last minute postings, if it's a brand new comp not really a desirable posting on the last day. If it was reposting a comp as a reminder that's expiring would be acceptable. Guess depends whether they are holding back on competitions found or just discovering some at the last minute. Also got the possibility of a one day comp thou don't come across those too often.

@spyglass Agree it's not hard to check for new postings and tick them off. Overall the leader board is one of the more interesting comps. I shows who the "determined/persistent" compers are. God for most comps you get hundreds eyeing off of a prize. The odds are pretty good compared to most comps if persistent.

@toxicgherkin your next movie script

A comping expert finds himself transported to another planet after conquering The Leader Board only to find out it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best comper's to defend their world from the attack. :)

@ouzocoke If ask the admin they might be able to give you a fix for the missed guessing game. I t was down for an extended period on that day. I'm not sure exactly how long somewhere between 6pm and midnight.

For competitions in general I've come across technical issues eg page won't let me submit entry or comps have closed early. In those cases see T&C's and better luck for the next comp. Always best to enter ASAP instead of the last minute. Now if only kept to that rule I might have better luck.

logged in in the early hours of the am and missed out on 3 comps from yesterday. When I checked around 9pm they weren't there.. 3 points will not make much a difference for me as my daily score today is a whooping 2

@Anna2077 These comps did you see them on the site earlier in the day? Guessing you know missed some if checking other members comps viewed.

I do recall some expiring comps posted most likely you didn't check close enough around 9pm. Unless there has been a change where comps are displayed as "expired" as soon as past the closing time, instead of at midnight. I haven't paid close attention if that's the case.

Some sites do list closing times if available and when the closing time expires the competition status immediately changes to closed. It not always consistent or correct.

You still got top 10 to hope for. Will probably need a slightly above score around 170-175 depending on how grouped the scores end up. Could end up with around 15 or more members "winning".

@Lemond didn't check around 9pm .. mostly only check one time a day.. now twice as I've noticed that some comps come up for a few hours.

No chance for top 10 as lost few days have been 2 1 4 daily scores... cannot ever remember finishing in top 10 either.

not even winning comps ... nothing in the last 6 months or is it 8? lost track

@Anna2077 I'm not 100% sure if the posts where removed before midnight for the day in question. The easiest method to find overlooked comps is using the filters. Occasionally some are "time warped" and are display posted as days or even weeks earlier.

@Anna2077 You never know you luck might turn and end up in the top 10. It be around 30-40% chance of making the top 10 each month with 40 active members. So over a year be like picking up 4th once. Mind you might need those compbux to fill in the discrepancies for 2nd and 3rd to be able to cash out immediately.

Also without the birthday bonuses the leader board should be fairly tight from 5th to 10th. There's the possibility that 10th could be a below average score i.e. for 30 days 165 random daily points required. It all depends how grouped the scores end up. I shouldn't say too much on that subject. I call it the Ophra scenario.

@Lemond I only search with filters

@Lemond haven't been top 10 either... money would be good now, or a win that would be a treat, but no! when I need something I have to buy as I don't win

@Anna2077 It will happen. :) I find the harder you try the less success you have. @toxicgherkin usually has a good strategy focus on the ROI for time spent. :)

I've done much comping for a few months. My ROI for comps entered isn't bad. i.e. the leader board about one of the few comp I focused on. The odds where too good at the time to ignore. lmao

Hmm after a few good days might have a shot at this months leader board. Still bit early to starting getting too excited. The random email might be my Achilles heel. I don't get the reasoning why they want members to find a random email in the haystack of spam emails. Especially if it just linking back to the site. WTF . Could save the trouble and just use the new messaging system or put whatever important enough prominently on the site. +1 For a big red button :)

I'm still preoccupied doing my Giveaway Entry Management System. It can be exhausting keeping up with all the emails and Facebook notifications etc when in comping binge.
It's making good progress this last week for one major section. Maybe by the end of the month that section will be a working prototype. Then need to revisit the interface section to manage comps to enter/entered.

I think be a couple of months before get around to linking comps entered to my emails and social media notifications. Aim to highlight any emails/notifications to comps entered. eg if expecting a draw or new comp announced. etc. Will act as a filter for comps entered. :)

I find programming more relaxing them comping any day. I.e. no deadlines every few hours for bonus entries, delete, delete, delete endless emails and endless notifications. I'm not missing keeping up with those.

@Lemond not won anything since Nov, Dec 2016.. only entering few comps for the crap that I need or want.. everything else is just clutter.

cannot even win chocolates or tix to see something.

need at least 20 days of high numbers to get anywhere.. may be after I've been here for 5 or so years my luck will change.

Money would be good to win as I have a huge dental bill hanging over me.

@Anna2077 Well all the random comps are a numbers game the more times you enter the better your chances, obviously! It's it matter of hanging in there and being persistent. They can be time consuming thou to pick up wins depending on how many entries.

You looking at requiring to enter and manage checking back for a few hundred at least each month. Occasional you might come across comps with a high number of prizes. There is one or promoters that come to mind that do a few comps each year.

The main skill for random comps is finding the ones off the main comping radar. Ok well also the skill of marketing for referrals etc. For some international random/referral based comps you've got your work cut out against some organised compers. For the aussies from what if noticed minor in comparison.

I've seen some international comps where can they get 300+ referrals which is about the core number of total active Aussie compers. If going down that track you need to work on networking skills.

Skilled based comps, if you got a forte at creativity for WOL, photography, video, comedy, beauty you may expect a higher ROI for time spent.

How you think @toxicgherkin gets those regular wins? It's not just his pretty mug. :)

@Lemond @toxicgherkin is good!!

I try 25 WOL but some of the answers that win don't even answer the question. FB are weird as people copy your answer and think that you will not find out

@Anna2077 Well you got just to got to find your forte there are plenty different types of creative comps. :)

Well if the comp is going around the Aussie comping circles the promoter is highly likely to be notified if in comper's opinions they think might be a breach of T&'Cs. Sometimes jump the gun and get "emotional" lol

Yeh @toxicgherkin is always good or good at it. If it's a matter being persistent with the WOL/creative generally having better odds. :)

@Anna2077 I only do the occasional WOL and probably not my forte. There's plenty of advice in the blogs and if check out previous winning examples can help you improve. It can be ongoing process. They can good fun and change of pace form the random draws. Overall they usually aimed at marketing the promoter and helps if have genuine interest in the promoter and/or prize for ideas. The Gruen Transfer was a great show for marketing ideas for WOL I miss the show.

Part of what I aiming at is keeping an organised record of my own responses and possible the winning one as quick reference for future. It might improve myself you need to be wary the influence they might have on your own responses. Sometimes key words or ways to cut down on words so it's not so verbose. (unlike my responses) lmao

The stage working atm giving it eyes to find comps to enter later.
From there list those entered for checking back and/or bonus entries etc etc. I did that part few months back. Note to myself must remember to add in features for storing WOL/creative comps.

Congrats mate!!

Thanks @smalot11 :)

Well done! I love to hear about people's wins.

Congratulations!

Congratulations Surferboy83

Cheers guys

Good stuff, @surferboy83. Congratulations.

Nice win mate, for a second there I thought you had won your 10th holiday, u have won quite a few, keep it up!!

Cheers toxicgherkin . Trevsta i thought i had too when i read the email header they sent me. 👍

Inspiration right there! Congratulations :)

:) Brookemaree93

Congratulations...soooo close :)

Congrats mate

That was close, nice one

Thanks all!

I was actually able to watch this time. The codeword was OCEAN

Good luck guys.

Two days ago I had a warning that I had already entered a number but I hadn't this week

The plot thickens!!!

It really does not matter at the end of the day sorry, cause I will win this week!! Lol

@Brookemaree93 lol. You can only hope. If I'm lucky I've entered your lucky number on the same day at 12:00 am and 1 second . :)

They haven't changed it to a "fairer" system where one entry is selected from random from all entries that picked the number?

@gaseja Interesting, so getting this right on Sunday you attempted to enter a number which gave you the notification it there was a duplicate guess? That sounds highly irregular I haven't come across that "feature". Did you try and reenter the same number with success?

The only other possible cause for allowing my duplicate number there might of been a space before the number. I copied and pasted the numbers from last week. If that was the case it may be doing a text comparison instead of a numeric comparison.

@Lemond I typed it in twice as I didn't believe it because I only had to cross check 2-3 numbers. I gave up and typed in another number.

@admin
Doh! Yeh can confirm that message. So that's at mean I've just unsubscribed the newsletters?

@Donek Did you get a resolution to your query, how to check if subscribed to the newsletter?

@Lemond I used the chat facility to check with admin who advised that an email would be out shortly. So if you don't receive something before the end of the month you might like to check likewise.

@Lemond Today's newsletter is headed "Win a house cleaner for a year". I had misunderstood the format and did not think messages like these were newsletters.

@Donek Thanks I don't think I noticed it. If it's still avail will check it out. Was that an email or from the site? Was preoccupied doing a fresh OS install to fix up some PC issues.

Argh the site was down at least all Saturday evening. Lucky I do my daily login usually around midnight. Thou hadn't got around to ticking off Saturday's comps.

@Lemond Ok will check out that comp win a house cleaner for a year! Yeh it is confusing if that's a "news letter"

Hi guys. How can we make it clearer that it's the newsletter. :) Just looking for some feedback.

They seek it here, they seek it there
Those compers seek it everywhere
Is it on the site or in the email shredder?
That damned elusive newsletter!

No luck finding it! A direct link be great or just a big red button. I know I'll just want to push it to see if it blows up the site! lmao

If these were called up in the subject title of the email as numbered updates or numbered newsletters together with other changes as needed (such as clear links/icons to subscribe/unsubscribe) it would be quite helpful.
Another option, which unfortunately would require more work, would be to rewrite/reformat these so that they indisputably were newsletters.

@Donek Ok so it's an email I'm looking for? I don't think I've had any emails for a few weeks, since the last compbux survey I received which wouldn't let me complete.

Oh I think I see emails also from competitions.com.au in my email shredder. I don't usually use Gmail I forgot about their spam folder. Gee for an account I don't use often its got plenty of spam.

@Donek So after finding these "newsletters" what was all the fuss about?

@admin
We don't need another email,
We don't need another way to your home.
All we want is relief for irritable email syndrome!

Regarding Newsletter Points - Random newsletters during the month will have a leaderboard link to earn you X number of points

Well I guess it's no surprise few actually read the emails even if they managed to find them. Be better off sending the information via the new messaging facility or making it available via the site.

Let me get this straight. You want to encourage members to go their emails, find it and then link back to the site. All I saying I know where I can find this site 99.9% of the time. :)

@Lemond I am treating the emails from competitions.com.au as newsletters.

@Donek Thanks finally found emails that look like your posted image which are "news letters"

It might help if they actually put that in the subject "News Letter"

I was wondering where the red highlighted "FEATURED COMPETITIONS" originated from. For the site's competition page it's highlighted in black.

It appears news letters are aiming to highlight featured comps which are already displayed on the site which was confusing.

Still.. my feedback why the hell encouraging members to check for a random email which maybe buried in the haystack of emails/spam.

I hope this random x points from news letters is referring to just required to click on the competition postings as usual. It's not well explained in the new leader board rules.

If it's generated by clicking on links in the email its most likely going to be a world of pain and another potential source of issues. Is there or will there be a new section in the your points for the month to show this?

The ultimate aim is to visit the site and if the information is "important" enough it should be to able to complete the "task" via the site.

They could utilise the new messaging feature for newsletters if can't easily display them on the site. Or provide a new menu option for newsletters. At least more likely to find this "news letter".
.
Give me Big Red Button please. lmao

Congrats. I used your link, no instant win, but maybe the big one :)

Cheers @Try2win hopefully $2500 will be coming your way :)

Nice mate

Thanks mate @surferboy83

Nice win, I and a few of my friends used your link,cheers and great luck be with you :)

Cheers mate, good luck to you and your friends too :) @Trevsta

Sounds good,,

Argh no more birthday bonus. At least got 1 full year of birthday bonuses in. Some of the birthdays from last June that didn't win might feel a bit gutted thou. Overall that bonus would eventually require adjustment if not scraped. Well lucky left that change till after mine. :)

The CompBux what's the current exchange rate?

Any members that have actually cashed in CompBux before what's their opinion on those?

The news letter how often is it sent out? Also when in the month would we expect to receive it?

I'm not sure I've ever noticed it, probably due it's filed away to an email account not used as often. Could there be a way to obtain this news letter directly form the logging into the site? It would save hunting for elusive emails. I think my luck is going to determined by finding it. hmm odds 1/30,000 lmao.

Well the good news my chances and any non birthday members this month have dramatically improved. :)

Gave up on the leaderboard yonks ago as the daily pints were so low. Now compbux only for prizes? They're a hassle, may as well give up on the daily guess also.

@Goldmember Thanks. It does sound like an extra level of complexity to clam your "prize".

Noticeably 2nd is short changed by 200 Compbux to cash out instantly to $50 and 3rd you cant cash out until have least 3400 Compbuxs i.e $30. So if you end up 2nd you may have to wait a few months and x fingers get in the top 10. Coming 3rd now you have to sit on your virtual windfall. The solution is cash in any previously accumulated CashBux and/or do surverys and then lose out on the exchange rates for payouts less then $100.

If there wasn't the discrepancies for cashing out lower then $100 and could cash out in $25 increments would be great.

I'm not sure if I've done any of the Compbux surveys, maybe a while back. I've got enough spare Compbux to bridge the gaps.

Hmm from closer expectation if screened out you get only a 5 points. Also it may take a couple of months to receive Compbuxs from a survey completed. It could be ages before you bridge the Compbux gap to claim for anything less then 1st.

@admin
I'm not 100% sure if done any of Combux surveys in the past. I tried doing one from an email received moments ago.

The message I got after getting past the initial part of a survey,

Thank you for your interest in participating in our surveys. Unfortunately we are unable to record your participation due to one or more of the following reasons:
You or someone else using the same computer has already participated in this survey.
The country under which you are registered does not match the location of the computer you are currently using.
Sometimes, if interviews are rushed through they can't be used and you may not be eligible for the survey reward.
Our security system detected that someone using this computer engaged in irregular activity.
A suspected or actual violation of our terms and conditions.

Any suggestions?

Or has anyone else come across this issue when attempting to do the Compbux surveys.

I had several surveys when I first subscribed to this site, which was about 2.5 years ago now, but not a single one since then! The one's I did do though I had no trouble with.

Sounds pretty confusing!

Yip I agree@Trevsta

I don't have PayPal!!!!

When teeing off to give player's on the fairway a sporting chance, remember to call fourrrrrrr! Fair enough? :)

First of all if that joke was supposed to be funny - its not. If it is random why do you see the same names at the top?

First of all you're forgetting rule 1.

Rule 1 : Competitions are all about the promoter.
Rule 2; Read the T&C's. If you're going to play the game know the rules.
Rule 3: See Rule 1

Competitions achieve what the promoter perceives will benefit them.

The leader board is weighted system that's predominately skilled based with a random element to decide the winner from members of similar "skill". The skill is being an active member filling in all the "prerequisites" and completing the daily tasks. You can call the skill determination, persistence or active member. Overall not a complex skill thou seems to weed out the hundreds of less active members and left with approximately 50 determined active members each month. So for starter's the leader board is biased towards the most active members.

You could argue that the penalties for not completing a task are excessive i.e. missing a day of the guessing game (-50 potential points) and are virtually a prerequisites to have a genuine chance of the top 3. That is likely by design to achieve rule 1 and encourage members to be active.

Now the random component excluding any skill components for competitions viewed etc which continually raises eyebrows.

I underlying burning question is there an issue with the random generator?
Most random number generator use pseudo random numbers generation. Not all random generators are equal. They simulate random numbers according to an algorithm usually based on a seed value. There are various tests you can use whether a random generator is robust enough for it's purpose.

One method is examining it's distribution/pattern. That may spot potential issues when scores frequently exceed expected outliers.

The total monthly daily random points for follow a cumulative distribution function. The shape of the distribution bit like a slippery slide which tappers off at each end. I.e. The odds of achieving a score higher or lower then the expected extremities tappers off fairly quickly. The majority of scores will be around the average monthly score. The expected scores depend on the number of days in a month.

So your absolute monthly score score and difference is meaningless by itself. You need to compare it to the expected average for a month. i..e. average daily score is (10+1)/2 = 5.5. and days in this month 31, 5.5*31 = 170.5. So if end up with a score around 171 expect to end up midway of active members. 50% mark

For 31 days the average top score is approximately 206+- about 5 points and the lowest is about 126 +-5. The +- is the level of confidence. I think with around 99.9% confidence top scores was around 220ish. Yes it's possible to achieve scores higher or lower but highly unlikely. The range of expected monthly scores for 31 days is around 90 points. So being 40 points behind the leaders is well within expected scores.

Looking at this months the top 3 scores 216, 208, 206 three scores equal or above the average expected top score. "interesting" I might have to dive into the simulation spreadsheet I did last year for rough odds of having that many. From memory possible and probably due for some scores higher then average. My impression of the last few months have been slightly below average top scores. The top score is getting close to limit where would start getting concerned thou in isolation nothing unexpected.

The combination probability of having the same 3 winners
Will have to think back 20 years. Could be some errors.

See for combination and permutations calculators:
http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/discretemathematics/combinations.php or
http://stattrek.com/online-calculator/combinations-permutations.aspx

Presume minimum 30 active members
nCr = n! / r! (n - r)! i..e n = 30, r = 3
30!/(3!*27!) = (30*29*28)/(3*2*1) = 24360/6 = 4060 combinations each month where order of top 3 not important

So odds of picking the top 3 in any order would be 1/4060 and in order 1/24360

For picking two out of three winners : (3*2)/(2*1) = 3 combinations i.e. (1,2; 1,3; 2,3)

Two members out of 30
C(n,r)=C(30,2)
C(n,r)=C(30,2)
=30!(2!(30?2)!)
=30!(2!(30?2)!)
= 435

For 2 members 435 combinations of those 3 combinations are top 3
so 3/435 = 1/145 both are in the top 3

So given member X and Y the odds of them being in the top 3 is 1/145.

Something like that will think it next month :)

eg For a 6 sided die if roll a 1 then probability of rolling a one next roll is 1/6. Given 1 then next two rolls 1/36.

I think using last month as your base reference ie given member X and Y then the probability is 3/435 chance they will be top 3. Nothing way out of the ordinary. If the same two end up the following 2 months =(1/145) ^ 2= 1/21,025

See how it goes in June.

The birthday bonus component is another point you and argue if fair or not. i.e. birthday distributions aren't equal and higher bonus the greater bias against higher then average birthday months. Think about it if set too high they on average they share the top prizes, the more birthdays the more sharing the same prizes and in effect lower odds compared to other months. Then you got the effect members wising up an going AWOL if feel the number of birthdays in a month is high. Might explain why it's posted as late as possible now.

Hmmm maybe still a touch high from memory with a slight disadvantage to higher number of birthday months. Something like 5% will have look it up later. 25 points thou is vastly better then 50 bonus points that was initially set last June. If less then 5 birthdays in a month I don't think was a significant issue. At some point it might need revising by lowering that bonus or increasing the number of prizes to compensate, if the number of active members increases enough.

ps From memory almost forget about winning in June, If it's not your birthday. If it's like last year which had at least 6 birthdays about,
you're likely to need close 210 points, a slim thou possible chance for non birthday members. Will place bets will see the return of @moreofachance etc being more active in June and at least two birthday winners. :)

Hmm one thing noticing is lack of lower scores expected around the 135-150 range.
Struggling to find many, I think should expect a handful at least. That will have to check on average roughly how many scores would expect in that range.

Possible due to the multiple fixes have pushed those active members off the leader board which usually show up.

Might be hinting the distribution might be skewed towards the higher end this month caused by abnormalities with the random daily points. Might also explain why top scores are a touch on the high side.

Can u please explain all that one more time lol

@Brookemaree93 lmao. Well the odds of any two members winning in a month is 1 which was the what @ouzocoke overlooked.

Argh worse thing knowing there're so many June birthday's about. I've got Buckley's chance this month. :(

Note for next year note there didn't appear to be many if any May birthdays for the active members.

The critical factors that determined the winners are:
*The total amount of random daily points you've accumulated throughout the month. (1-10 points per day)
*Also whether it's a members birthday month. +25 bonus points

Note:
An additional 25 birthday bonus are awarded at then end of the month. (Despite stating on the leader board page: 25 points - Rewarded on your birthday (just before mid-night AEST). It's was changed a few months ago to be rewarded right at the end of the month around 11:30pm AEST)

Due to the late addition of the birthday bonus the leader board may change right at end of the month. Good chance this month a couple of the current leaders, "might/likely" just end high enough to be unaffected if any birthday members about.

To have a genuine chance :
Visit the home page every day to obtain your random daily points
Do the guessing game every day to obtain it's bonus
View all the competitions that were posted within the current month before they expire.
Also for the new comps posted not expired in the current month viewed before the end of month to count.

It appears that you understand all that from logging each day etc.

Comparing your score to the leaders.
The leaders have 192 daily random points and you 152. Also you've currently view one less competition that was posted this month making it total or 41 points behind the leaders. So it all adds up no missed points from any of the guessing game issues this month.

You haven't been crossing your fingers and toes hard enough for the "lucky" daily "random" points. :)

Congrats.
Bags for the ginger beer you can keep the guava juice. :)

Brewtiful news!! :)

Congratulations! :)

Congratulations

Another one for the trophy room Tox!!

Congrats

Yeah MATE

I have left a message over the weekend.. nothing fixed.

I left a message in the forum yesterday and nothing is fixed

@admin Thanks. Looking forward to Fix 3. :)

Thank you for your hard work in fixing this.

I've let admin know if a flaw in the implementation of this fix where a number of people who had not entered their daily guess when admin made the adjustments subsequently entered their guess later that evening and effectively doubled up on points for that day as they were given adjusted points as well as their daily guess after the adjustment was made.

@spyglass I presume that will covered by fix 3. You know what they say when you assume.
I was wondering how long it would take members to do the the maths after the subtle hint in the meme. :)

Thank you :)

@spyglass Hopefully the @admin will be able to identify those user's that received the additional guessing game bonus easily and rectify it with fix for the fix, otherwise the winners will be "fixed".

A quick fix could be done either at the end of a day or the month by finding those with too many guessing game + fix bonus points.

Will add this quote from a users tagline on a computing forum was reading this morning.
The problem with making anything foolproof...is that fools are so darn ingenious! :)

Yes I was one of those people given an extra 50 points.I only missed out on 1 guessing game day and not 2.I have sent them a message to notify them of this. Was nice sitting on the top of the leaderboard !!

Received a reply back and this error will be fixed

@Winner1 Was standing out like a sore thumb at the end of the day, along with a few others. Possibly more down the list that haven't crossed a lot of comps off.
Maybe the admin was looking after it's favorite members. :)

I think in light of everything you should award everyone with 50points especially as you actually don't know who was effected, I went from #2 to way down the list overnight WT

@Lemond Not really sure about being a favourite member! Just did my guessing game later that day after they had done fix 2 and must have thought i missed out.Have been told they will do another fix and look into this as I have had a look and some other people have also got 50 extra points too.

Tough month this month

Difficult for @admin @Zedmin when issues like this arise....and ... issues will arise. It is, of course, an imperfect system. It places them in a difficult position. To @admin, thank you for reconciling points for this month. It demonstrates that you are truly promoting a level playing field. Thanks. :)

Gold!! Good luck mate

It's back!!!!

Good point to say thank you :) I'm always very thankful for the amazing prizes I win.

I am such a BIG believer in karma. I read online about people complaining about winners cheating and think 'Karma will get them' and move on. Why sweat the small stuff.

Congratulations, shine the light!!

:) @Trevsta

Nice win, Beaming!!

Congratulations :)

Awesome!!!!!!

Thanks all :)

Congratulations, nice prize :)

Thank you :) @Brookemaree93

Hmm one more just appeared. Guess the rest might show up bit later.

Argh if only had noticed the time stamps where out again Might of given the hint there might be issues for May 19th until 10 am.

Yes same here, have not received my daily points once again, so that's twice now. The last lot have not been added yet either!!!!!
Does this mean we need to check the time stamp each time we login, to try an ensure we get the points.

@wolverine Well that confirms you must of registered your guess as well before 10am today.

You might also notice the random daily points displayed were the same as yesterday and haven't actually been generated or added to the total. You'll have to make sure you revisit the home page after 10am AEST unless they have "fixed" the time issue before then.

Hmm you could try doing a test post each day and check first. Argh

@admin
The site time settings are out of sync again. Also the cascading issues resulting from that are back. I.e. The guessing game bonus not adding to the total, daily random points not generating until after 10am, expired competitions still being displayed as active etc. etc etc.

It appears whenever there are any time issues on the site the guessing game registration is working independently to everything else. i.e. working off AEST like it should. The guessing game bonus addition and probably everything else is most likely working off the server's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time.

Today's time issues might of started from yesterday May 18th around 2pm AEST when the site appeared down for a while.

@wolverine I've noticed that there might be a member who has two days not registered for the guessing game earlier this month. Their high daily random score hints that might be the case, thou possible they just forgot to do a guessing game. I don't think they have posted yet.

Really the @admin should be able to regenerate the calculation of the guessing game bonus instead of relying on members to know if bonus points weren't added.

I always log in early morning and I'm now missing 2 days of guessing game points, didn't even think about the bonus points being out too......well looks like this month is a write off

Also missing points, sure it will get sorted soon :)

sigh.....if only my lead was really as big as it's currently showing, but I expect a few of you will peg it back once the points issue is sorted...damn!

@spyglass well I just know from my current total daily points if got a realistic chance. The average is 5.5 points per day ie. for 31 days an average score is 171.

For top 3 looking around 192ish-206+. So 206/31*19 = 126 if around 120+ at this stage in with a realistic chance. :)

Easiest way to look at it how many points you're currently above average. 19*5.5 days is 105 and require on average about +25 before getting too excited. Allowing for a couple of birthdays looking at requiring 171+25 = 196+ plus. If it's your birthday month almost a formality.

Let me see your on 127 +22 above average currently, so good chance of top 3. Still need slightly above average till end of the month.
The downside you're overdue for bad week after about 6 weeks punching consistently above average scores. lmao

Maybe with all the current mess the top score might end up a touch lower this month. i.e. members not realizing didn't get a bonus due.
Depending how many birthdays about be good news for them. i.e. might still sneak in top 3 with close to average to touch below.

Argh I'm out of luck need around 90 points from 120 available. It's probably not going happen this month.

test post see what the time comes up

The "good news" for May 20th all seems fine.

Awesome news. Good to see some winning action on the forum :)

Very nice! congratulations

Go the Tox!!

Thanks, all.

lovely, well done

Congratulations, jennye. Omen? Hoping so. You deserve the best. :)

Congrats :)

Nice Jen :)

Very positive, congratulations :)

I don't enter those sorts of competitions but it would be interesting to see if the same person has won something with the same story on more than one occasion (and also how long ago the unfortunate event would have occurred - assuming they are being truthful as well)

My husband had cancer and I've only once used it as a comp answer. It was a story of my struggle with cleaning the bathroom on account of his hair falling out EVERYWHERE. I didn't win.

Yeh, good call!!

Congratulations

May, the Fourth, be with you, don't you mean, pizzaman? ;)

Anyone seen a winner for this competition

I'm one thanks, missing one day guessing game points, thanks

@admin have you noticed the date and time are still wrong

I haven't received my guessing game points it's 4 days in to the month and I only have 150 but should have 200, I have guessed 10 numbers since Sunday so should have more points. Thx

Yes I was affected, thankyou admin.

My points have been affected also.

Yeah me too

Hi also missing guessing game points. Thank you :)

I am affected today only, guessing game points :)

Also affected

Hi, @admin. My session this morning (4/5) was affected. I did not receive daily logon points and did not receive guessing game points. Thank you.

Thanks. Was effected didn't get May 3rd guessing game bonus.

@admin Maybe if you have got a way to calculate how many days members have registered a guess could reconstruct the guessing game bonus. It might be complicated adjusting for members with double guesses.

Assuming for the weekly guessing game the guesses each day are time stamped, for the first to guess the number to work maybe could do a query that obtains each day guesses were registered. Then group according to unique days guesses registered and then perform a count of days for each member. Also filter from May 1st onward, otherwise will count Sunday April 30th.

It would require converting guessing game time stamps to a date only, stripping out the time.

eg dateGuessRegistered = DateSerial(Year(guessTimestamp), Month(guessTimestamp), Day(guessTimestamp) )

There also could be a chance of royally stuffing up the guessing game bonus points while attempting to reconstruct them via a mass update, if not careful.

Or of course individually adjusting members affect scores which seems to be the current solution.

Good luck.

If relying on members to reply to this post an email might be advised. I don't get the impression a high percentage of members read the forum regularly.

Yes was also affected .Can see i have 10 numbers for guessing since Sunday 30th April and only have 150 points and should be 200.Thank you @ admin

Missed today's guessing game points admin :)

I am down 50:(

OMG The Dingo took my 50 pts!!!!!

The dingo took mine too , nah seriously, my fitty pts gone AWOL!!