Dedication System:

My friends,

Many people have indicated that they would like to help me reach my dream of beating the DA system. However, I felt that just asking for your faves and giving nothing in return would make me kind of an ass really, so here's what I'll do.

Anyone who faves my poem within the first hour, will receive dedications the next day in my journal.

What is a dedication (ded)? Basically I will thank you publically in my journal and your icon will up here for all to see. This means that as people visit my page to see my popular content, you get some show-time as well.

If 100 people fave in the first hour, then I'll do 100 dedications.

You give me, I give back, that's how Chen the Pirate rolls. So tell me, you in or out? :3

By the way, if you want to know my update timing. I always post at MIDNIGHT. This is a strict update schedule I will be keeping to, the main content is always posted at midnight, though it might be later than Midnight (it will rarely be earlier). How do you know what time to come in and fave? All you have to do is work out the time difference. I live in Perth Australia, just google the current time in perth Australia and you'll be able to figure out when midnight is in Perth and therefore when midnight is for you.

If you help me reach my dreams, then I'm gonna back you guys up as well. So whoever can hit me in the first hour, do it :3. I will give as good as I get. Tonight's post will be at 12:18am or so, because I need a bit of lag time between when I posted yesterday and today.

Oh, and I'll give dedications whether I reach frontpage or not, because I will give back to the community no matter what. It just helps those getting dedz if I reach FP because then your icons get more show time and more chances of being clicked :3.

Once again, it will cost you nothing, just a click of the button within the first hour of my submission. I do hope that people will click even after the first hour is past though xD, but yeah this is a special way of thanking those who help me get FP :3.

-Captain Chenbeard of the Black Fedora Pirates

A Frustrated Poet's Appeal:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today I come to you bearing important news and a desperate appeal. Last night, I made a discovery that holds the key to the front page of deviant art. What is this key?

FAVES

Apparently this one statistic is ALL that the front page will take into account, it doesn't care about comments or views AT ALL.

How do I know this? Last night, I submitted a poem called "They Watch You Sleep", within 40 minutes, it had close to 228 views, 10 comments and about 36 faves. I was obviously very happy as I got to the front page of deviant art.

However, within the next 2 minutes, another poet came along and blew my poem out of the water.

How did they do this? Within 30 minutes, they got 60 faves, 99 views and 0 comments.

This means that as soon as they posted something, 60 of their watchers/friends happened to be online at EXACTLY the right time and gave them 60 faves without even commenting. This made it impossible for my poor piece to catch up and it was completely blown out of the water.

Now, I am not saying that this poet did anything wrong, in fact they are BLESSED. They are LUCKY to have 60 friends who will willingly do that sort of thing. Most of us actually have to earn the faves and views before we even get anywhere.

Instead, I am extremely disappointed and pissed off at the deviant art system, because the system is telling me that your comments, and viewership actually counts for naught.

A man with just 60 friends who knew the exact timing of his pieces could come online and blow any piece out of the water, selfishly claiming the front page slot for himself, and pretending that he/she is talented because the views and other faves and comments will always naturally follow.

According to what I heard of the system, it was supposed to give FAIR EXPOSURE across different categories. Last I heard fair exposure wasn't based on faves, it was based on categories.

All that this proves to me is that the Deviant Art system is still highly  based around statistics (as I previously thought) and what's worse is that we even know EXACTLY which statistic it is. "Faves"

Basically deviant art, rather than encouraging the development of art, is suggesting that what is popular can instead by rigged. All you need to gather is enough friends to do it and kaboom instantly popular artwork that appears talented...

Now then, I want to remind everyone. The person who helped me discover this last night is a genuinely nice person, again they should not be attacked or anything else. That person is a good person at heart. They were not rigging and they were not cheating. They were lucky to have that many friends.

However, until the system actually starts taking into account comments and viewership, I am going to have to lower my head and beg for faves.

Previously I have asked for faves on pieces that I was unsure about to get a market measure, however now I find myself actually being dependant upon faves.

Why is popularity seemingly so important to me? Because poetry is my job, without showing that I can earn a decent viewership I will not be able to earn an income and help out my family.

I still have a full year to go before I graduate from college and an additional year if I intend to do honours. In that time, my father and mother both past 58 (since they had me late), have no way of earning an income (I am also an only child). We live off what my father has saved but that is dwindling and I need to do something about it. In order to secure a good job I need to maintain top grades which is why I don't go out and flip burgers. Instead I try to do what I can from home (that is to say poetry) whilst I have a textbook open next to me.

I am not a natural genius, I am nothing. I am just a guy who's trying to get by and who spends most of his time burning the candle on both ends. I am not afraid of hard work and I never will be. However, the system doesn't care how hard we work, only how many people fave our work.

Hence, in order to achieve what I need, I will now implement a fave appeal system in every single poem that I post. Basically, I am going to lower my head to the dirt and shamelessly beg for a fave with every piece that I post.

Why do I need to do this? Because. I need to build up a market for my works and get people aware, I need to earn publishing deals and contracts. The only way to do that is to show that my work is capable of being popular. And since deviant art's rule of popularity is based on faves. Then I guess that's what I have to compete on.

If you wish to hurl abuse at me for this, if you wish to call me a "fave-whore" I will still accept that with a smile, as long as you spare me a fave on my piece after reading it. You can spit on me, kick me, or do whatever you want, I will still smile and thank for a fave.

Like a vagrant with a cardboard sign, I am not asking you for points, nor donations. I don't need any of that right now and probably will never ask for points or things like that. Instead, if you want to help me out and if you want to just give me that small tiny boost to help me earn a real income. Then please, I am begging you, fave the pieces that you read and like; because that is all that is going to get me anywhere.

Thank you for reading this selfish, shameless appeal of mine.

-Chen Yuan Wen