In the past it's been understood that members of the Mod Team shouldn't enter any of the contests here due to the perception that we might be able to somehow influence the voting to increase our chances of winning. However, the way the anonymizer software is set up, even Moderators are blocked from seeing who wrote which story, and our voting privileges are the same as those of any member. We can't see which way the voting is going without first casting a vote, and we've got no way of blocking, shifting, or otherwise fiddling the totals in the voting. So, after conversation amongst ourselves and with the members most involved in the contests, we have decided to allow ourselves back into the contests. We'll be on the same anonymous basis as everyone else, bound by the same rules. There won't be any announcement if there is or is not a mod entry in a contest, and if we do enter, we'll take our lumps and losses like anyone else. Contest administrators and fellow mods will not be informed if one of us chooses to enter; everything will be on an even footing for all entrants. May the best story win!
Good! I can't see why mods should not be allowed to enter. I welcome the competition! Anyway, if you're influencing the votes, it ain't working.
It wasn't so much a rule as the end outcome of our prior incarnation as a VBulletin forum. The format of the contests was different, as was our staff structure. We just didn't enter because the prior paradigm inevitably handed the conspiracy wackadoodles endless fodder. So, we just didn't.
