The Grand Tour '20 / The Grand Tour '20 - Grand Final Voting Revision

Dear all,

 

over the past two weeks, a number of hints for potentially fraudulent accounts have amassed, and it's been thanks to the reports by some of you that we were able to look into them further. A special case of interest has identified itself to be the Grand Tour Finals poll, where sadly we found 8-10 votes that seemed illegitimate. They were given by accounts that registered ~24hrs after the poll went up, voted for only one of the parks in both poll questions, and showed no logins the weeks after. Although this pattern sadly looks very obvious, we have tried to learn more about these accounts, and reached out privately to those whose parks are concerned. Long deliberation and discussions have followed.

 

For some, NE has created a kind of lifestyle of competitive creative expression through RCT. This means it is not unusual for people to become very passionate about their creations, and attach to them emotionally. Thus I have good understanding for the occasional extreme reaction. Given this intensity, we believe as admins it is our responsibility to be extremely mindful of fairness, and establish an environment that enables it.

 

Strictly speaking, it's impossible to prove or refute the above case, but we feel we cannot leave it unaddressed. We have looked for an intervention that would in principle treat all parks the same and not single one out, regardless of what votes were given. We have decided to remove all votes from the GT finals poll that were given by accounts with a registration date younger than the poll itself. This ensures they come from members who have been with NE prior, and should they have been created to swing the poll result, will no longer count. This may also mean however a vote by someone who discovered NE through the finals poll will be lost, and whilst we're sorry about that, we think it's more important that a potentially fraudulent voting scheme is no longer staying successful.

 

And by this point you will have guessed, that this has in fact changed the outcome of the Grand Tour final. We have updated the new data accordingly in the winner announcement, and see that Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen is now ahead of Kugluktuk Lodge & Resort: https://www.nedesign...oting/?p=768537

 

Dear FK+Coastermind and Zarathustra, surely this means there's a lot to react to here for you. It's become clear to me from the voting data that in fact you have very likely been the rightful winners of this contest all along, without being pronounced so. It has been such a wonderful contest, and we were far from expecting a malicious intent to watch out for. I'm sorry it has had to be late, but I no less congratulate you on a superb park, and in fact the title of this contest.

 

This has been a heads-up for us, a warning, to be more mindful and attentive, and check for these things so they have no chance to arise in the first place. Needless to say we hate having to do it, even worse backpedal like this. It is also a warning to whoever thinks a contest can be won illegitimately. All of the data entered into NE is recorded, and while most of it isn't public can still be seen if need be.

 

Be truthful, be yourself, be kind, and enjoy RCT enthusiasm together with everyone. It's a luxury we can.