Why I don't like the current voting system in challenges

By Arcturus

6/4/2026
First of all I would like to apologize: mine is not meant to be a criticism or a complaint. Also, challenges and competitions are not my thing, so everyone is free to evaluate what I'm about to say as they see fit: if you agree with me, you can give a like, and if the likes reach a certain number, BudgetPixel's team may take that into account, if they want. This is just an expression of my personal opinion. Obviously, under the current system I'm free to vote or not, but if I do vote I'd like to be able to provide a coherent and well-reasoned evaluation for every image I see. So, I would like to display every image individually in the largest possible size. I know you can now zoom in on images, but I'm a lazy guy with little time on my hands, who rarely zooms in on an image to examine it in detail. Then I would like to be able to rate each image with a score from 1 to 5 or, better yet, from 1 to 10. Nowadays, I sometimes find two images that, in my opinion, both deserve a high score, and by choosing one, I end up penalizing the other. Or sometimes I find two low-quality images, neither of which outshines the other (in which case I skip the rating). In any case, I am forced to make a drastic decision that does not allow me to appreciate the value of each image with the range of gradations that I would like. And since this system must be used by all voters, the final results often resemble a lottery more than a reasonable assessment. I could evaluate a single image for its originality, its consistency with the challenge theme, its technical skill, and even its humor, and all of these elements together could determine a score that would be added to those given to that image by all the other voters. I can't imagine how the same result could be achieved in a system where one image trumps another, which is simply discarded, so that a good image can be rejected because it is paired with a better one, and a low-quality image can be rewarded only because the other is worse. Another observation I would like to make is that when paired two by two, rectangular images with very unequal sides (16:9 or 9:16, for example) appear smaller than square or rectangular images with more similar sides. Of course, I think the BudgetPixel team has its good reasons for adopting the current voting system. As I said, I've just expressed my (humble) opinion. Thank you!

Tags: challenge, score, votingsystem