New Year's Q&A

Questionable Evolution

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome to the last Clinic post of the year. I sure picked a hell of a week to go on vacation. I returned to discover Fark management had instituted a change in the voting procedure. Entries can now be judged on two purportedly different criteria: "best" and "funniest".

Q: How were the new changes received?

A: A quick straw poll of the PSAEF saw the new system being almost universally panned. What can I say, Photoshoppers don't like change. I changed my underwear once, and it was awful. When it comes to deviating from a system that has worked perfectly well since forever, the general response among PSers was something akin to this:



Q: Is the concern warranted?

A: I tend to think so. There have always been two camps among Photoshoppers, call them the "skills" set and the "silly" set. For as long as anyone can remember, the two groups have openly argued about the essence of Fark Photoshop. Should humor prevail, or should a well-made entry win the day in votes? This new change is an obvious kowtow to both camps, whilst simultaneously doing each of them a disservice.

Q: How are both sides poorly served by this new system?

A: I tend to think of Fark contests like what the Academy Awards would be like, if whatever current weepy Oscar-bait had to compete against a Youtube clip of a guy getting hit in the nuts. The Oscar-bait had to be that much better than the nut shot was funny, if it wanted to win. Now the serious and funny pics are no longer in contention with each other. It may seem like apples an oranges to some of you, but I believe the two sides drove each other more than we actually realize.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. We'll just have to wait and see how the new system works out. Maybe the powers the be will see reason, and mercifully return us to the old way of voting. Maybe not. I'll continue to follow how the situation evolves. Thanks again for stopping by, and happy new year to you. I hope the Photoshop Gods (or God if you're a Photoshop monotheist) smile upon you in 2012.

Stay tuned for more blasphemous blessings from the Doctor!