SugarLoot

The MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS is nothing more than having 2 or more registered accounts in SugarLoot with different profiles or identity. It is considered by SL as illegal and once they are identified, all those accounts will be de-activated permanently by them. Please take note that it doesn't matter how many accounts you created, only 1 vote will be validated each day for each entry from the same Internet Connection or IP address.

The GUESTS don't have to be registertered in order to vote but they can not interact. Anyone including those already registered can be a guest. This is one of the flaws of the voting system. The same person can jump around to another IP address and vote as guest.

The MULTIPLE IP ADDRESSES is the most dreadful of all. Anyone who has the capability of acquiring this can either vote or downvote an entry several times by the hundreds as a Guest at any given time. This is the real flaw that I have been talking about. Some knows how to camouflage their dreadful deeds but some are just blunt about it.

Whereas, downvoting itself is not really an illegal act neither it is a cheat unless you lie and decieve the one you are voting for.

You have to understand how SugarLoot makes money in order for you to understand why they choose such kind of a voting system. SL gets some amount from the sponsors of the contests but most of all from the ads being placed on the pages. The ads pay certain amount for each time the page is opened up. The more people vote the more money they make. This is why they allow people to vote daily for the same entry. They even encourage people from other web sites such as MySpace to cast their votes as guests.

The winner is based on the highest average of votes and not by the count of votes recieved. This is to give a chance for everyone to win even they join late in the contest.

Example of averaging system: If one entry recieves 5 votes with a rating of 10 each, the total is 50 (5x10=50), but the average score is 10 (50/5=10). When it receives another vote with a rating of 9, the average score drops down to 9.8333 but SL will only show 2 decimal numbers so it is 9.8.

The average score is equal to the sum of votes (50+9=59) devided by the number of votes which is (5+1=6).

59/6 = 9.8

Please take note that the higher the number of votes, the harder it is for an average score to go up because the vote of 10 will be split by the total number of votes. Although, at the same time the downvote will also be less effective making your score stable and secured.

The simplest way to figure out how many number of votes you need in order to raise your score is by using the ratio and proportion equation which is;

FOR EVERY 100 VOTES YOU HAVE, YOU NEED 10 MORE VOTES TO RAISE YOUR AVERAGE SCORE BY 0.1.

Say your number of votes is 540 (SL calls it ratings) and your averave score is 9.2. You need 54 more votes to raise it to 9.3 considering no downvotes of course.

Joining a contest may be fun but I have to warn you guys that it is really tough. You can be honest in trading 10s but it's not gonna help unless you have lots of friends to support each other's entry. Not to mention that you need to spend so much time on line to get those votes. Otherwise your entry will go into a deep slumber. I have observed that most newbies especially those teeners are fund of downvoting others on the same contest because they think they can raise their score. They soon realize it is the opposite. You also have to accept the fact that there are hackers everywhere that will conduct the outcome of the contest. They can twist the result by promoting and demoting entries as much as they like even in just a matter of 2 hours before the contest ends. Who would ever believe that an entry can be hit with rapid succession of 300 solid downvotes (1s) in 2 hours before the contest ends and dropping it from 1st Place to 6th Place while the rests were untouched? Those who could have won but were over taken by these hackers have already left the SL site right after the contests because of disappointments.

We know who these hackers are. They are shameless and don't care about others who have spent counless hours for their entries only to get robbed of their winnings in the end! It is just frustrating when SugarLoot is helpless in preventing such activities. There is even a suspicion that SL has something to do with it since they don't do anything to prevent such unscupulous acts.

If you are not in a faction with these hackers, your chances of winning is very slim. Therefore, I advice everyone just to take it easy and have fun. Do not kill yourself overdoing it. Avoid conflict with anyone. Everybody is saying that they are honest and I believe some of them. Downvoting is just part of the game but you need to use it sparingly, otherwise an avalanche occurs where everybody will keep doing it and you know what happens.

I would like to emphasize though that the contest is not really about how good your entry is, but rather how quick you can get those 10s while your friends are backing you up so you stay of top. This is some kind of a "Reality Show" where everyone is endulged in a "free for all" survival strategy.

One thing that throws me off is when you trust somebody trading 10s and find out later that you have been getting 1s all along. It is okay if someone downvotes me anonymously or telling me frankly but asking for a 10 and giving me back a 1 in return is really an unthinkable cheat. They would even keep mentioning their honesty at their pages. There are some who just leave notes that they gave you a 10 but actually they don't. They think it's the fastest way they can get those 10s. They are lucky if nobody tracks down their incoming votes but there are some smart people who does.

I use an Excel form to record each one's progress that automatically computes the average score. It will tell you how many 10's or 1' you are getting and you will identify those people who are cheating. Let me know if you need a copy and I will send it to you.

So, with this little advice I hope everyone enjoys and have fun!