Quote Originally Posted by Jiro View Post
The contest this year is a lot harder and some would say less fun, but if this is just a staff ploy to boost activity then good on 'em. Anyone that gets seriously disheartened by not progressing in this contest shouldn't be in it.

You just show up, have some fun and if by some stroke of luck you become a CK, then well I'm not sure what happens then but you just do it. At the end of the day, it's all about having fun. If everyone failed in the first round, we'd still get CKs out of it so it doesn't really matter.
Can we make Jiro a CK just because he's awesome?

Jiro is right, if you can't or don't feel like doing all this, bow out, take a leave, no one will question you if you do so gracefully. Those who stay in are just going to promote precious activity throughout the forum and for those who actually like forums they'll have a blast! If you had no chance from the beginning and you went all the way, but didn't make it, look at the ride, not the end. The other option is the staff quietly discusses and picks like what was tradition (which they are quite obviously doing as well this way anyway) and the rest of the forum misses out on some fun.