"emkaah" <emkaah@yahoodotcom> wrote in message 
news:421f47f7$1@news.povray.org...
>
> Why can't you enjoy the competition with a top prize? I don't know if 
> *most of us* would like a competition with simply a free poster for the 
> winner. Although it is healthy to set your goal realistically (a place in 
> the top 10 or top 20, for example), a big prize gives a good incentive to 
> give it your best (top 10 would be ok, but winning is better:) ). Winning 
> a competition where judging is involved mostly incorporates a bit of luck 
> anyway (although in POVcomp the winner is apparent, in most competitions 
> the top five can be very close).
>
> As you say most people enjoy the New York Marathon, while there are hefty 
> prizes to win.
>
> http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/prizemoney.html
>
> So, I repeat, why can't you enjoy POVcomp with a top prize?
>


I did enjoy it.  :-)

Other people apparently didn't. :-(

My point was simply that these large prizes elevated this competition to a 
level that we are not used to seeing around here.  The number of entrants 
was relatively small.

We've had a similar turn-out for the IRTC, which doesn't even have prizes 
anymore.  Sure, I would have liked to have won, and I'm sure that's why we 
had many of our top POVers competing.  But almost all of those people have 
also competed in the IRTC, for nothing.  Much less pressure and (when taken 
as a whole) has produced comparable images.  Something bridging the gap 
between the two competitions seems ideal to me.

-- 
Jeremy
www.beantoad.com