Thanks for the compliments everyone. To be honest, I used to be one of the competitors that never won anything.
I believe I have only won one competition so far.
Yes, but back in the day, the competition was quite fierce, with dozens of entries having to be weeded down to be even considered poll-worthy. One win, is successful, compared with the old standards. About half of the entries entered these days wouldn't even make it to poll, let alone win.
Also back then, competitions actually had short and firm deadlines, rather than waiting for a month for a competition to go to poll, they would poll weekly. Which in-turn kept the competitive juices flowing, and also retained interest in the competitions.
Now the way things run, you put in your entry, and wait the eons until it goes to poll, by then you have already lost any interest in the particular theme, and forgot who shot what, and actually have to do research to offer congratulations.
I'm still of the opinion that the comps and polls should roll with short deadlines, and if the poll only has 3 entries, so-be-it.
But in all reality, it's amazing the longevity of the game, considering the game is going on it's seventh year since release.