abraham wrote:
I agree. Also sometimes there are comments posted as constructive but actually to influence other voters. Another advantage for anon contest is any member can post 2 entries without worrying the voters will vote only one of the two.
You sound more worried about winning than improving. You're not even saying you totally disagree with the comments, just the intentions.
What do you mean by influence? Is it the kind of influence that makes choppers say, "hey this artwork has been deemed a piece of shit because "blankety blank" doesn't look right but "nice try anyway" or is it the kind of influence that causes a chopper to reexamine their own work so they don't make the same mistakes and post it in a big hurry in order to meet a contest-deadline-kind-of-influence?
I'm just one person with one opinion, but the choppers who take the time to correct their work while a contest is ongoing score big points in my mind. And many have gone on to win because they received critical feedback right at the get-go and chose to do something about it.
The type of comments I'd like people to refrain from making are of the "this is the winner" variety. Everyone loves to hear they're a winner. I would rather it was done in private or after they've actually won. Focus on leaving comments about what the artwork does or doesn't do for you. People crave feedback and want to know how they're doing. It's the comments that drives them onward or over a cliff.