Hairstyle Contest winners announced!

The rules on how "Likes" would be handled were clear from the very start of the contest. And yet (based on the confusion in this and other threads) many people either didn't read them carefully enough or at all, despite the fact that others tried to clear up the confusion numerous times in the various discussions.

It was even mentioned early on that the entries which appeared to be in the lead were not necessarily the ones actually winning (since it was possible for players to "like" more than one entry, and yet only the last 'like' given counted as a vote). At no point did we have any concrete proof that one particular hairstyle held the most votes, since we could never actually track the valid votes, we could only see "likes" under each entry (which, while useful as a vague measurement was by no means a guarantee).

*How* the finalists were selected to begin with (e.g. not by players) is a valid complaint, but claims that SE screwed up by changing the voting rules as the last moment are false. Yes, SE *clarified* the voting rules towards the end (as many players seemed to be confused and in need in clarification), but the clarification of the rules did not change the actual rules, they just simply restated information that had already been available from the beginning. In this respect it is the players complaining who failed to properly comprehend (or read) the rules from the start. You have nobody to blame but yourselves on that one.

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Originally Posted by myahele

Well, at least they'll be available in 3.1/ weeks from now

Entry # 9

http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/haird...697.1424468065

should have one based on the number of votes alone.

But due to SE's system in how it counted votes, it didn't. Ironically, the winner for males would be 3rd place if we merely go by votes: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-M%C3%A4nnlich

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Honestly, they should have done a poll and allowed only one entry.

The "like" system is flawed in the fact that you're *allowed* to click on more than one, and the rules were not 100% clear right at the start. If they only intended you to be able to vote once, it should not have been possible to "vote"(aka "like") more than once in the thread.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

In this respect it is the players complaining who failed to properly comprehend (or read) the rules from the start. You have nobody to blame but yourselves on that one.

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I would like to state that I did only vote for one. Not sure if I made that apparent or not yet, but I'm still not happy about the confusion it caused the general public because that gets reflected in the results.

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

Honestly, they should have done a poll and allowed only one entry.

The "like" system is flawed in the fact that you're *allowed* to click on more than one, and the rules were not 100% clear right at the start. If they only intended you to be able to vote once, it should not have been possible to "vote"(aka "like") more than once in the thread.

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Agree wholeheartedly.

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Originally Posted by Ashelia_Ferron

Darn was really hoping that the first runner up would've won instead (for females).

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According to the votes on final day it did not sure what happend it had 6544 votes compared to the side ponytail which had 6192
Either they let someone with dyslexia determine the winner or what we knew they would do and go the easy route. Really dissappointing its like a fighting game claiming to have 39 characters and 10 of those characters being the same guy just different style. Looking at you Naruto.

While I admit I didn't read the rules on the contest every single day since the post was released, I still think that they botched it bad. I read on the first day, apparently didn't understand it correctly. Then proceeded to vote the way I did. Getting to the actual voting seemed simple when you got there. Oh you can like multiple things that must mean you can vote for whatever you like out of what there is and your votes will be counted. If they truly wanted to do it a "you get one choice" thing, then they should have taken a half an hour (if that) and made a poll system instead of having the option to vote for several different things. Because then it would have been completely clear that you only get one vote. Or even better if they didn't feel like doing that, on the first page in HUGE BOLD LETTERS they could have put "YOU ONLY GET ONE VOTE"

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Originally Posted by Gyson

snip.

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The mere fact that they had to clarify the rules at ALL shows that they weren't as clear as they should've been.

You know why? Because the rule about likes was thrown into the damn description of how the Scarf of Wonders contest would work. They just threw it at the end of that description. The added clarification they put to the rule set should have been there day 1

Wow, both winners and every runner-up was Japanese. Guess no one in the west can draw or design, that's got to be the reason right?

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

Honestly, they should have done a poll and allowed only one entry.

The "like" system is flawed in the fact that you're *allowed* to click on more than one, and the rules were not 100% clear right at the start. If they only intended you to be able to vote once, it should not have been possible to "vote"(aka "like") more than once in the thread.

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From the very start SE stated that only your last "like" given in each category (male/female) counted as a vote towards determining the winner. What was not 100% clear about that?

Yes, it was possible to "like" more than one entry (as that's how the forum works), but used in conjunction with SE's simple instructions it should have been clear to anyone how to handle this.

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Originally Posted by Ashelia_Ferron

The mere fact that they had to clarify the rules at ALL shows that they weren't as clear as they should've been.

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No, it can also show that many players have trouble following instructions or often don't bother reading them at all before charging into something they don't understand (is anyone really surprised by either of those revelations)?

Many people did find the instructions to be perfectly clear. That means it was possible to comprehend the instructions initially given. Realizing that, was the flaw with the instructions? Or was the flaw with the people who failed to understand/read them?

I'm going to lean towards the latter on that one.

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Originally Posted by Ashelia_Ferron

You know why? Because the rule about likes was thrown into the damn description of how the Scarf of Wonders contest would work. They just threw it at the end of that description. The added clarification they put to the rule set should have been there day 1

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No, they made it clear from the start that X number of voters would be "randomly selected" for winning a scarf. What part of "randomly selected" did you equate with having anything to do with the part of your last "like" given counting as a vote? They even gave a summary of the rules in a simple and clear bullet-point format in the initial post.

Also, if you voted for more than one, and later realized that only your last "like" counted, then went back and un-liked the ones that weren't your favorite leaving only one with a "like" from you, I'm pretty sure that vote would still not be counted correctly. The last "like" button you touched was not the one that kept your "like" at the end, but either the last one you hit "like" on the first time or the one you un-liked last, depending on how they counted it.

Flawed system is flawed, end of story.

That said, congrats to the winners.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

The rules on how "Likes" would be handled were clear from the very start of the contest.

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The simple fact that the "winners" appeared on the later pages shows the flaw in the design.

Standard human behavior is to go "ooh, I like this one, and this one, and this one... *flips page* Oooh! This one is cute, this one is cute..."

The simple fact that you *could* vote more than once, just in itself, shows the flawed nature of the system. Which is my biggest problem with it. And think they should learn from it next time. The forum software they're using doesn't prohibit them from using polls, they just chose not to for some reason.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

From the very start SE stated that only your last "like" given in each category (male/female) counted as a vote towards determining the winner. What was not 100% clear about that?

Yes, it was possible to "like" more than one entry (as that's how the forum works), but used in conjunction with SE's simple instructions it should have been clear to anyone how to handle this.

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See:

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The mere fact that they had to clarify the rules at ALL shows that they weren't as clear as they should've been.

You know why? Because the rule about likes was thrown into the damn description of how the Scarf of Wonders contest would work. They just threw it at the end of that description. The added clarification they put to the rule set should have been there day 1

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Originally Posted by Gyson

From the very start SE stated that only your last "like" given in each category (male/female) counted as a vote towards determining the winner. What was not 100% clear about that?

Yes, it was possible to "like" more than one entry (as that's how the forum works), but used in conjunction with SE's simple instructions it should have been clear to anyone how to handle this.

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I'm sorry, but your argument is invalid. Why? Because over HALF of the voters voted incorrectly. It doesn't matter what they said or when they said it, objectively speaking, the rules were unclear. Even if they were clear to you, a system that half the people misunderstand is not a clear system.

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

The simple fact that the "winners" appeared on the later pages shows the flaw in the design.

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If this doesn't prove how flawed it is idk what will. I had a feeling this would happen...really sucks.

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Originally Posted by storm

Wow, both winners and every runner-up was Japanese. Guess no one in the west can draw or design, that's got to be the reason right?

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Sorry to disappoint you, i did the "samourai ponytail style" for male (entry9 ) and i'm 100% French :p

The order you vote musn't dertermine what's your favorite, and it's pretty illogical. In general, you first vote for your favorite.

SE > Here is a tips for your next contest.
Take your Number of message, divide it by 7
add 6
If your number is pair add 2
If not add 1

If your number is pair, your vote count for one
else learn to count.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

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They still handled it bad. This is not the player's fault for voting in a wrong way, EVEN THOUGH it was written, it wasn't visible at all, unless you take the time to read everything you wouldn't know about it. I myself didn't know, I read really fast and missed the most important point, and realized 3 days later I couldn't vote for many hairstyles. I had to cancel all my votes. What I call visible is "You have only one vote" in bold underlined size 29 red typo. Make it short, clear, visible, so no one can miss it. That's the point.

I hate the male one (not the artist, just the hairstyle, let's be clear -_-) and its victory is wrong. It's a fact. It wouldn't be at the 1st place if everyone knew the rules from the very begining.

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

Honestly, they should have done a poll and allowed only one entry.

The "like" system is flawed in the fact that you're *allowed* to click on more than one, and the rules were not 100% clear right at the start. If they only intended you to be able to vote once, it should not have been possible to "vote"(aka "like") more than once in the thread.

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agree and knowing that the last vote was the valid one ** Added on September 2, 2015 at 8:30 p.m. (PDT) **the second day of the voting ...when a lot of people already voted without knowing that and surprisingly the winners of this contest were the last (beautiful) drawings at the end of all entries maybe a lot of people didn't noticed that i wanted to support the beautiful drawing but those last votes were the valid ones>.<
they need to change voting system in the future :( or to add information that important at the beginning of the info for the voting process

Also account the fact that to vote, you had to have a forum account.

Which makes this scenario possible:

Person A: Hey the hairstyle contest started, go vote!
Person B: How?
A: make an account on the forums then go here for the male contestants and here for female (posts direct link to male and female finalist pages, which don't have the rules listed on them)
B: How do I make my choice? I see no options
A: Just hit Like on the ones you want to vote for!
B: Oh okay that's easy. Hmm I like 8 but I also like 16, and maybe 21 too but not that much (hits like for all three, never comes back to forums again, turns out only that last vote counted even though it wasn't their number one choice)

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

The simple fact that the "winners" appeared on the later pages shows the flaw in the design.

Standard human behavior is to go "ooh, I like this one, and this one, and this one... *flips page* Oooh! This one is cute, this one is cute..."

The simple fact that you *could* vote more than once, just in itself, shows the flawed nature of the system. Which is my biggest problem with it. And think they should learn from it next time. The forum software they're using doesn't prohibit them from using polls, they just chose not to for some reason.

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That is not necessarily true. On the Everquest Next forums it is the first few posts/votes that tend to get an overwhelming number of likes (compared to the following pages) as the pages that follow are less and less likely to be read by players who typically have short attention spans. Having seen that all too often, if anything I would expect the first few entries to get the most "likes" via human nature, not the latter ones.

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Originally Posted by Nyalia

I'm sorry, but your argument is invalid. Why? Because over HALF of the voters voted incorrectly. It doesn't matter what they said or when they said it, objectively speaking, the rules were unclear. Even if they were clear to you, a system that half the people misunderstand is not a clear system.

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And yet apparently HALF the voters voted correctly. Are we assuming they did so through dumb luck? In your mind the voters who misunderstood the voting are not at fault, the voters who understood the voting were simply lucky and/or blindly stumbled across the correct way, and SE is to blame for not writing instructions in a manner that a child can understand. Does that about sum it up?

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Originally Posted by Evirianne

Sorry to disappoint you, i did the "samourai ponytail style" for male (entry9 ) and i'm 100% French :p

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French buddy, your hairstyle deserves a spot in the game, the majority of the voters decided it by votes. Fair votes ! I'm rooting for youuuuuuuu

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Originally Posted by Gyson

That is not necessarily true. On the Everquest Next forums it is the first few posts/votes that tend to get an overwhelming number of likes (compared to the following pages) as the pages that follow are less and less likely to be read by players who typically have short attention spans. Having seen that all too often, if anything I would expect the first few entries to get the most "likes" via human nature, not the latter ones.

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I am fairly certain anyone who wanted to vote on hairstyles would have gone through them all. There was no reading, so attention span isn't really an issue.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

And yet apparently HALF the voters voted correctly. Are we assuming they did so through dumb luck? In your mind the voters who misunderstood the voting are not at fault, the voters who understood the voting were simply lucky and/or blindly stumbled across the correct way, and SE is to blame for not writing instructions in a manner that a child can understand. Does that about sum it up?

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If only 50% of the people understand the instructions, then yes there is a problem in how the instructions are put forth. The instructions are there, obviously. However, it's the responsibility of the person writing instructions to make sure they are clearly understood by all, not a select few. For me, I didn't see ANY instructions. I saw a post that linked to a female voting thread, I went there and there were a bunch of pictures. The instructions for voting were on a completely separate post that I hadn't seen until about 5 minutes ago.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

That is not necessarily true. On the Everquest Next forums it is the first few posts/votes that tend to get an overwhelming number of likes (compared to the following pages) as the pages that follow are less and less likely to be read by players who typically have short attention spans. Having seen that all too often, if anything I would expect the first few entries to get the most "likes" via human nature, not the latter ones.

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See the thing is, when we got into the pages it was "choose your favorite out of these 25" and we had the possibility to like multiple options. When I go through a list of things and I'm asked if I like something or if i don't like something, usually I go through from the beginning. And am like Ooh I like this one, a couple later, oh this ones nice, next page, this ones good, and this one, last page, ooh these all look great. Chances are when choosing out of FINALISTS several of them are going to appeal to me.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

And yet apparently HALF the voters voted correctly. Are we assuming they did so through dumb luck? In your mind the voters who misunderstood the voting are not at fault, the voters who understood the voting were simply lucky and/or blindly stumbled across the correct way, and SE is to blame for not writing instructions in a manner that a child can understand. Does that about sum it up?

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Wow, remind me not to hire you for quality control.

"How did testing go?"
Half the units failed.
"That means half worked right? Good enough".

Seriously stop being asinine. Having half the people misvote means it was not clear, even if you think it was. Fact>Opinion

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Originally Posted by Bhuni

I feel like this was more a contest of who drawn the better art than actual hair considering the winners.
Too bland and uninteresting :/

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THIS THIS THIS

Also it seems like all the winners are Japanese....

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

For me, I didn't see ANY instructions. I saw a post that linked to a female voting thread, I went there and there were a bunch of pictures. The instructions for voting were on a completely separate post that I hadn't seen until about 5 minutes ago.

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And holy crap, this.

I usually go straight to forums, not the lodestone. Someone made a post saying voting has begun and posted direct links to the finalist pages. I voted that way. I didn't see the post with the rules until two days after

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Originally Posted by Obysuca

Sadly, thats exactly what it was :/ Based on skill rather than creativity. I'm sure there were plenty that were more creative but not drawn as well. Notice how all the ones SE showed in the live letter and the finalists, all being extremely well drawn, but most were bland.

Also, no change for my au ra. All the good ones that could have won and but that one did :/

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Which is why I wish I could draw, because it seems like everyone, not just SE, is biased toward better art these days. Creativity can go jump off a bridge; as long as it's drawn well, who cares if it's uninteresting!

I just saw the winning hairstyles, and it disgusted me. Sorry.

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Originally Posted by Yarukiba

French buddy, your hairstyle deserves a spot in the game, the majority of the voters decided it by votes. Fair votes ! I'm rooting for youuuuuuuu

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Haha thank youuuu <3

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Originally Posted by Yarukiba

They still handled it bad. This is not the player's fault for voting in a wrong way, EVEN THOUGH it was written, it wasn't visible at all, unless you take the time to read everything you wouldn't know about it. I myself didn't know, I read really fast and missed the most important point, and realized 3 days later I couldn't vote for many hairstyles. I had to cancel all my votes. What I call visible is "You have only one vote" in bold underlined size 29 red typo. Make it short, clear, visible, so no one can miss it. That's the point.

I hate the male one (not the artist, just the hairstyle, let's be clear -_-) and its victory is wrong. It's a fact. It wouldn't be at the 1st place if everyone knew the rules from the very begining.

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I underlined the parts of your statement that seem to directly conflict with your claim that "(SE) handled it bad" and that "This is not the player's fault for voting in a wrong way".

Some of you folks have an issue with taking responsibility. What was your rush in voting before reading the instructions completely and carefully? You had nearly a week to digest that information and vote. And this:

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Originally Posted by Yarukiba

it wasn't visible at all

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..is just untrue, as it was visible from the start, which is how I and others managed to follow directions properly.

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Originally Posted by Ashelia_Ferron

Wow, remind me not to hire you for quality control.

"How did testing go?"
Half the units failed.
"That means half worked right? Good enough".

Seriously stop being asinine. Having half the people misvote means it was not clear, even if you think it was. Fact>Opinion

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And remind me not to hire you when it comes to a task that requires following simple instructions. I also don't think you're understanding the meaning of the word "fact".

I have to say that I want to see the male winner hair on my female character lol Would look really cool, imo.

Idk if someone bothered to count them like this but here, see by yourself :

The samurai hairstyle #9 lost 1983 votes (48.76 %), that's almost HALF of the votes it had.
The entry #11 lost 2181 votes (56.53 %), it's MORE than half of the total votes it had.
The actual winner and entry #23 lost only 1195 votes (32.32 %), it's way less than half of the votes.

Results ? It just proves the actual winners shouldn't have won the 1st place. IF the rules were that clear, then it doesn't make sense at all to see that many cancelled votes. SE should have changed their rules, that's all.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

And remind me not to hire you when it comes to a task that requires following simple instructions. I also don't think you're understanding the meaning of the word "fact".

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The fact that they had to restate the instructions AT ALL means they weren't clear enough from the start, what do you not get about that.

Beyond caring anymore, congrats to the winners, shame on SE, and all that rot. I'm not against a side ponytail however I feel the accessory is what made the hairstyle not the actual style itself the way it's drawn it's clear the artist wanted to feature that enormous flower that isn't part of the players head unless we're becoming potted plants in 3.1. I feel styles that featured unneeded additions or props should have been auto disqualified. An example of essential accessories, combs, pins, minor very small additions which are not large or noticeable. The minute that hairstyle goes into game there will be an immediate forum posted cry to let people dye it, mark these words. A side pony tail is fine but what won that contest was the flower, not the hair. I say implement runner up 1 and add a few Flower head pieces call it a day.

Personally i chose Runnerup 1 after both styles I preferred were clearly falling behind on day 4, i still have no idea where all those braids are coming from, imagine how long her hair would have to be it makes no sense, creative yes logical no but the style is all hair there's no fancy uncustomizable ornament involved it is a legitimate style of hair. The winning style looks like wet hair held down by an enormous undyable plant and is far from an adequate representative for the side ponytail look as it does not feature the hair alone. I feel SE could have handled voting better with an anonymous poll at the top of each voting thread that accepted one vote then locked that user from making any further votes. I feel they should try again even if they are running close to 3.1's deadline yes sad for the artists to get a win then lose the prize because of a revote but I feel there was enough trouble with the way this was run that it is essential to redo the entire process. I realize western style democratic elections are not approved of worldwide i'm not sure how they do it in Japan but I guarantee there are 6 different ways this should have been handled since this did not even qualify as a popularity contest since the final numbers would have been taken to represent the true strength of support for the winner and an obvious loser.

The male hair style that won is awful

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Originally Posted by Gyson

Some of you folks have an issue with taking responsibility. What was your rush in voting before reading the instructions completely and carefully? You had nearly a week to digest that information and vote.

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Do you read the terms of service to the game completely and carefully every time you play? Didn't think so. The majority of people don't because it's usually the same general idea. You are presented with a contest, you read the post for the most part because a lot if it is pretty boring and you want to get to the good part (looking at all the new possible hairs for your character to wear). So you generally read through, "yada yada yada" typical voting stuff I've voted on stuff before, I can handle it. You get there, are put with a layout that gives you multiple voting options, you vote. Fawn over your favorite for awhile, pick the ones you hope don't win and then you leave and go eat food or something.

I love that male hairstyle it's super cute! I can't wait for it to be added to the game

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Originally Posted by TThibi

Beyond caring anymore, congrats to the winners, shame on SE, and all that rot. I'm not against a side ponytail however I feel the accessory is what made the hairstyle not the actual style itself the way it's drawn it's clear the artist wanted to feature that enormous flower that isn't part of the players head unless we're becoming potted plants in 3.1. I feel styles that featured unneeded additions or props should have been auto disqualified. An example of essential accessories, combs, pins, minor very small additions which are not large or noticeable. The minute that hairstyle goes into game there will be an immediate forum posted cry to let people dye it, mark these words. A side pony tail is fine but what won that contest was the flower, not the hair. I say implement runner up 1 and add a few Flower head pieces call it a day.

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This is so amazingly accurate. I said the same thing about people getting upset about not being able to dye the flower.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

That is not necessarily true. On the Everquest Next forums it is the first few posts/votes that tend to get an overwhelming number of likes (compared to the following pages) as the pages that follow are less and less likely to be read by players who typically have short attention spans. Having seen that all too often, if anything I would expect the first few entries to get the most "likes" via human nature, not the latter ones.

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Except that the rules, when clarified, explicitly stated the *last* "like" counted.

As most folks will go through the pages, yes, the ones in the beginning will have a lot of votes, but a lot of the final "likes" will be on the last ones.

The sheer numbers discrepancy between "likes" and winners shows this.

Especially since, as you said, apparently only half voted correctly.

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Originally Posted by Gyson

And remind me not to hire you when it comes to a task that requires following simple instructions.

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It seems you can't follow simple instructions either...

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Originally Posted by FFXIV Forum Guidelines

In addition to the restrictions set out in the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, the following actions are not allowed while participating in the forums.

• Posting aimed to create a negative impact on the community or its members.

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sigh I am not the least bit surprised at the winners. If you know anything about the playerbase, even without looking at the votes, it's obvious which entries did and did not have an actual chance of winning.

Personally, I wanted this entry for females to win, but whatever. Once again, "cutesy" triumphs. I hate democracy.

Congrats to the winners!

However, I wanted one of the female runner ups to win, they were so much better and unique compared to the side ponytail (No offence to the person that made it :P) I personally hate side ponytails generally because I think they look ugly from the back (and that will usually be the perspective from which you look at ur character)

I can only hope they'll do more contests like this and use a poll and/or better formulated rules >.< And also instead of putting 1 hairstyle per post, make a collage of all of them in the SAME post. So there's no page hopping to see all of them if they ever decide to use this voting system again.