Rockin
Member
Things are getting stranger. Voted once 15527, voted again 15474.
Also at the pace Nick is going, he'll be over 20k before the end of the day.
Also at the pace Nick is going, he'll be over 20k before the end of the day.
Adam Becker is the #ultimatesternpinballfan
- Thread starter mwong168
- Start date
15,566. Hopefully, more to come later today.
That's a huge leap up for Nick- wow.
I guess for a $10k premium pinball, recruiting a large number of voters or securing some kind of voting program, makes it worth the extra effort. Have a feeling there are going to be more strange movements in the votes to come before contest ends.
That's a huge leap up for Nick- wow.
I guess for a $10k premium pinball, recruiting a large number of voters or securing some kind of voting program, makes it worth the extra effort. Have a feeling there are going to be more strange movements in the votes to come before contest ends.
meegis
Well-Known Member
I think the system might be messed up. Tried the link to Adam from facebook on my phone earlier and it said I was vote # 10,014 which is clearly wrong. I then refreshed it, and it was at 13,678, but both of these are WAY lower than what I see from my home PC.
Odd.
Odd.
websherpa
Active Member
websherpa
Active Member
Yeah I wish I'd been smart enough to think of that earlier. With a little cash there are ways to get thousands of votes cheaply from multiple IPs but I figured that it wasn't really honest. I forgot just how much a NIB pin would mean to me after all these years in the pinball ownership hobby (technically from 1976, albeit with gaps in between).
I'll bet Stern will get enough heat over this that they'll think twice before doing it again. Although, when you think about it: No publicity is bad publicity.
Good luck Adam, you have a ways to go since it looks like the top three have all figured out a way to start pulling ahead quickly.
websherpa
Active Member
Who knew there was a whole industry built around buying Internet votes: https://www.google.ca/search?q=buyi...rls=en&ei=6r1RWM7eGI7KjwO52pKADA&start=0&sa=N
Just google "buying online votes" or "buy contest votes" - I have no evidence that that's what's happening.
Just google "buying online votes" or "buy contest votes" - I have no evidence that that's what's happening.
Vengeance
Well-Known Member
The contest has devolved into voting bots and bought votes.
If you don't do one or the other, there is no point in even trying at this point.
I'm still weighing my options at this point.
If you don't do one or the other, there is no point in even trying at this point.
I'm still weighing my options at this point.
Adam, yeah it certainly looks that way. If Stern is allowing voting bots/bought votes, it has evolved into an entirely different kind of contest.
The way the other contestant votes have jumped up by the many thousands, it is unlikely that 'normal' voting is taking place. Odd that Stern is allowing this kind of voting. Essentially, a contestant is going to buy their prize via these services- but at what price I wonder.
Regardless, good luck and we'll keep supporting you- 15,615.
The way the other contestant votes have jumped up by the many thousands, it is unlikely that 'normal' voting is taking place. Odd that Stern is allowing this kind of voting. Essentially, a contestant is going to buy their prize via these services- but at what price I wonder.
Regardless, good luck and we'll keep supporting you- 15,615.
scylla
Member
stiffler4444
Active Member
15737. Man, this contest is going to get ugly and cause more trouble than it's worth trying to crown a winner. Heck, just trying to select finalists. Some pretty suspect numbers going up for the top 3 right now IMHO.
scylla
Member
People are buying votes - I think that's pretty obvious - and it's also very easy to do. Wonder how much the top three have spent so far. Wonder how much more they will spend before round 1 is over and by the end of round 2...
Anyway - still voting for Adam just because...
Anyway - still voting for Adam just because...
websherpa
Active Member
kevin the 1984 kid
Active Member
15765 one day left let's push this for the Canadian guru!
Rules:
Based on your votes, 3 finalists will be chosen on 12/16/16 and a new round of voting will begin, with the vote counts reset. The photo with the most votes by 12/31/16 will be the champion! Once we confirm that the votes were legitimate,
Rules:
Based on your votes, 3 finalists will be chosen on 12/16/16 and a new round of voting will begin, with the vote counts reset. The photo with the most votes by 12/31/16 will be the champion! Once we confirm that the votes were legitimate,
stiffler4444
Active Member
ya I just keep throwing in 3 a day and see where it lands. Occasionally I get a security screen to filter out bots, but not all the time.
Vengeance
Well-Known Member
Yes but Jody at Stern has already confirmed that "anything goes" essentially as long as everyone has access to it.
Everyone has access to purchase votes
Everyone has access to build voting bots.
The only thing he said that would concern him is if someone had 100,000 votes compared to say 10,000 votes for the rest of the field.
End of the day I don't hold any ill will, I just don't like gambling so I'm not going to spend potentially thousands on bought votes to possibly get nothing in return.
And I haven't figured out a bot scenario like Cristin and Vince had. When you see people going up 1000 - 2000 votes during the hours of 1am - 8am it's fairly clear what is going on. Also their voting has been constant on almost a 24 hour schedule. So you'd have to be an idiot to try and claim it's not a bot running votes.
I'm the only honest candidate I was up front right from the beginning in this thread about what I was doing
So at this late stage I'm too far behind the 8ball to mobilize the technology to keep me relevant.
It was an amazing effort and the support has been outstanding. But to me it looks like I'll be having a "Nice Try" party rather than an unboxing one
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
That's too bad Adam and what's even more remarkable is that these same guys are likely going to have to go thru both the expense and spend the time to do the same thing again in the final round of voting. I have a feeling it will get even uglier at that point.
This contest is certainly not about the Ultimate Stern Fan but rather about a contestant's ability and willingness to buy votes and/or manipulate the system.
I'll still be happy to attend your 'Nice Try' party.
This contest is certainly not about the Ultimate Stern Fan but rather about a contestant's ability and willingness to buy votes and/or manipulate the system.
I'll still be happy to attend your 'Nice Try' party.
Last edited:
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
They really botched this whole contest. They should have tied people to a logon from something (FB etc), and just done a single vote per unique ID. You could still have bought votes from fake FB users, but it would have been harder. Would have forced people to use their networks (and get the word out), more than just spamming vote bots etc. I suppose it's exposed at least a few new people to the fact that there's still pinball being made, which is probably the goal. Burning goodwill among collectors probably isn't keeping them up at night-we'll still show up to buy new games after all, no matter what PR bullshit they start pulling.
Either way, it was a good try, but some people are clearly willing to buy their way through this contest.
Either way, it was a good try, but some people are clearly willing to buy their way through this contest.
meegis
Well-Known Member
Seems like the voting for Adam has just been halted. Up until the bot discussion, Adam was side by side with the front runners, accumulating about 500-1000 votes per day, but hasn't accumulated much anything at all in the last 3 days.
Weird.
Weird.
Vengeance
Well-Known Member
I stopped voting for myself once I saw what it was going to take to keep pace. I also stopped promoting as well. I was in the process of building a voting farm, but couldn't find a VPN provider with enough external IP's to make it viable. I thought about going the purchase vote route, but I've very much risk adverse. I'm not going to drop $1000 to end up with nothing and since I can't drop $1000 and guarantee I end up with something there is no way I'd be willing to gamble.
