So what makes a MOTM winner?

[Billz804]

I like that the votes are transparent, because it's always funny to see who votes for their own mag. For shame!

[mpsd]

Some people just buy there wins.

Hey, really? They must have sent the funds to the wrong account then!! Where's my cut!?!?? LOL

[mpsd]

Good thread. I look for uniqueness, as other people said. I look for custom parts, custom ano jobs, what marker components were used, if it has something really odd and, of course, if it pleases my eyes.

EDIT:

Let me add this as well, as I believe it is important:

When I started to manage the polls every month, the main modification I did was to make the votes public. I did this for transparency reasons as I want people to be able to see who are the ones voting. The funny thing behind it (and I'm NOT saying there was something wrong before) is that a few years back, it was common to see a specific marker getting like 10 votes on the very last day of the poll. It was almost like those crazy eBay deals where people wait until the last minute to bid, you know? Today, you can see that this behavior changed and most of the time you can see who is going to win just three or four days after I open the poll. Interesting.

Now, let me stop blabling here and do my job as we are on the 1st already and it's time for me to prepare July's polls.

On that, please feel free to provide me feedback on how I am setting up these polls, if I'm being too strict or too lose with the rules, if I look to be somehow biased etc, ok? I love getting feedback and I am absolutely open to it so don't be shy!

[OPBN]

Some people just buy there wins.






Jk jk

Oh, next thing you'll pull the race card!!!! lol

[river031403]

I'm sorry. I can't hear you up here on my winners pedestal.

* obviously joking for those with no sense of humor.

Some people just buy there wins.






Jk jk

[OPBN]

I've entered and I've never won. I hate you all.
Lol

I'm sorry. I can't hear you up here on my winners pedestal.

* obviously joking for those with no sense of humor.

[river031403]

I've entered and I've never won. I hate you all.
Lol

[OPBN]

The only "unfair" thing that ever strikes me is when you look at the voting and there's two or three markers that got all of the votes, say in open-class, a pump mag and an SFL. There will be some markers that ran a close second or third to either of those, but the distinct types gathered up all of the votes and makes it look like other markers are completely unappealing.

I agree with this. Obviously sometimes a Mag will be so outstandingly done that it will garner almost all of the votes, but it strikes me wrong sometimes if it gets a lot of votes just because it's an SFL for example. I've never kept track though so I really am not quite sure how often this really happens. There have definitely been some months that I didn't vote because I either didn't like any of the entries or knew pretty much which one was going to win regardless of my vote.

[Spider-TW]

I've always wonder how much pictures help. I spend a lot of time preparing and trying to take quality photos of my guns but I don't know if it's really worth it. I've started to take pictures out in my grassy front yard and I think they give a more "Natural" look compared to the white background. Here is an example:

The grass might be a little distracting and I've always been a fan of simpler things in life so might stick with the white background. It might take longer to clean up in photoshop, but I like the "Documented" feel of having an image with a white background.

Regarding voting on MOTM Guns....

I am a big fan of blue so that tends to get my votes most of the time, but that's my personal preference. It does go alone with my mantra of voting for guns that I could see myself playing with verses hanging on a wall. I have a price limit in my mind as well. Paintball guns are tools to me and I can't see myself using a tool worth $600+ when it does the same thing as a $200 tool but just has a nice paint job. Heck I'd play with my Tippmann before taking an Xmag on the field. One of the main reasons I won't own an Xmag unless I find one on ebay or craigslist for a stupid price.

If you have a polished or glossy marker, outdoor pics can be pretty nice. I kind of like "natural" pics, with air lines, barrels, loaders, and tanks. Pics aren't a huge thing, but it's nice to see how the mag hits the field. There are often some that simply look like an intermediate project pic. I'll give "points" for play-ability as well as high dollar glossy-ness. Also, highly photo-shopped pics start to look like complete fabrications or retouched. I honestly don't like plain blue markers, but I reckon that's why we are voting.

The only "unfair" thing that ever strikes me is when you look at the voting and there's two or three markers that got all of the votes, say in open-class, a pump mag and an SFL. There will be some markers that ran a close second or third to either of those, but the distinct types gathered up all of the votes and makes it look like other markers are completely unappealing.

[knownothingmags]

I think the over saturation is sunlight

I've always wonder how much pictures help...

a lot. you can have a great marker, but a bad picture will make it look a lot worse than it really is. also, i like the white background vs grass. speaking of which, the grass pic looks a little over-saturated to me.

[Sk8ermog]

Often it seems the best picture wins, which is obviously not ideal.

I've always wonder how much pictures help. I spend a lot of time preparing and trying to take quality photos of my guns but I don't know if it's really worth it. I've started to take pictures out in my grassy front yard and I think they give a more "Natural" look compared to the white background. Here is an example:

VS

The grass might be a little distracting and I've always been a fan of simpler things in life so might stick with the white background. It might take longer to clean up in photoshop, but I like the "Documented" feel of having an image with a white background.

Regarding voting on MOTM Guns....

I am a big fan of blue so that tends to get my votes most of the time, but that's my personal preference. It does go alone with my mantra of voting for guns that I could see myself playing with verses hanging on a wall. I have a price limit in my mind as well. Paintball guns are tools to me and I can't see myself using a tool worth $600+ when it does the same thing as a $200 tool but just has a nice paint job. Heck I'd play with my Tippmann before taking an Xmag on the field. One of the main reasons I won't own an Xmag unless I find one on ebay or craigslist for a stupid price.

[tbaggin]

Lol. I had to. I had a mag at tunaball this year.

[wetwrks]

Leave it up to tbaggin to throw a wrench in the entire July MOTM by a last minute entry of a pumpmag.

[Fred]

Quiet you. :P