That seems a bit low was that for the Portraits ?

Yes. But I didn't advertise it this much. ^^

Ahh ya it was just in the journal and I have found people dont read journals all the time XD

You had a raffle?

Yes^^ two days ago!

Probably because you have a lot of watchers I suppose, so even though it's a large number on an absolute scale it's a small percentage.

In my experience people get less interested in entering a raffle once the number of entrants get close to 50 or so because the odds of winning are so low at that point.

^This

Numbers are numbers, I knew this percentage would be small. I could also have said that over 99% of my watchers didn't enter the raffle if I wanted. I don't mind the result and it won't affect my will or desire to do raffles again in the future.

Now about what you said, to say that a 4% probability of winning is "so low" surprises me a bit.

4% chance of winning is a 96% chance of not winning; that seems very low to me. I guess I'm kind of a "glass half empty" guy when it comes to raffles lol. I'm not paying anything so I don't get "salty" if I don't win, but it's hard for me to be optimistic. Why I never gamble or play the lottery.

I'm actually kinda in this category so I have to agree.
When raffles go over 20 people I already start to question if I enter or not.
Not because I have low chance of winning, but because I feel like I'm stealing an additionnal chance for all those people to win, and I ask myself "Do I really want it compared to all those people?"

Maybe I'm just dumb tho' xD

I missed my chance to... I wanted to, but the times that I check FA don't always line up with when you update.

Timezones always are a pain to deal with! With commissions it is always hard to open at various times of the day so everyone gets a chance to catch the journal. It is quite the same with raffles, and even if they last for a day or two (here I only made it last for 1 day because Christmas is coming), new journal entries tend to quickly get lost in all the other ones, and one doesn't always feel like reading tons of journals if they don't seem to have a relevant title !

it's the 1-9-90 rule in effect.

Given a population of people on a website like this, 1% are actively create content/feedback, 9% are otherwise active participants, and 90% are lurkers that don't interact much at all.

So around only 1% of your audience commenting makes sense, while there are a few reasons why they wouldn't enter a raffle.

Personally, I felt like you've drawn me enough that I didn't really need to enter a raffle. |3

Yes, I know the result being close to 1% is not that surprising. Still, I wanted to share it because it's always interesting to look at these numbers from time to time to put things in perspective =)

And I know plenty of people have a lot of reasons not to enter a raffle. I can't blame them for that, otherwise I'd be a prick!^^

I agree, statistics are incredibly interesting. I love when YouTubers show their statistics and trying to figure out why the things are the way they are.

And no, erotic mathematics is not a pastime of mine. Numbers are just sexy is all.

It would be nice if FA implemented something where it would allow us to see how many times a journal has been viewed.
Personally I tend not to enter raffles, only on rare occasion.
I'd prefer it when artists do there own thing or actually get paid for their work.

Journals get read so little as well, I'm guilty of this myself. I tend to delete 99% of them.

I think we all are a bit guilty of that :) I don't watch a lot of people, so I can actually read almost (if not all) journals (even if I don't always post comments when I don't know what to say!).

And I know not everyone likes or is interested in entering raffles. When I shared this result it was absolutely not meant as a positive or negative thing (well I should perhaps not have said "only" if I wanted it to be 100% neutral), but I thought it was a good example to put things in perspective =)

I'll be fully honest that I delete most journals without looking at them, unless the title is something attention catching. I'm watching over 200 artists at the moment, and I just don't have the time or inclination to read most of the journals I see, unless it's about an artist opening for commissions that I was waiting to open because I've been wanting one for a while (if I don't have money available to commission, or an idea I want to have done, I ignore those too). A lot of artists just use journals to vent, talk about their personal lives, share opinions about things having nothing to do with art, etc., and I have really zero interest in reading such things. Sometimes raffle announcements just get lost in the shuffle if a lot of artists I'm watching post journals at the same time.

That and well, odds of winning raffles are so low I don't often like to bother, unless it's an artist that opens so rarely that winning a raffle is about the only way I can get something from them. I don't like to beg for free art, but I feel no guilt in accepting it if it's freely offered.

I don't have a reference sheet and I didn't want to make it more complicated then needed...

I think I recall this criteria and refrained from participating for the same reason. That, and I tend to nuke journals that are about raffles, reminders for auctions, notices for commission price changes or slot opening, etc..

Yes, it's just hard to participate there...
Stream notifications as well.

Heh, yeah, those too. Though sometimes I'll watch a stream, but due to a lack of privacy at my place, it can be awkward even if labeled safe for work. DX

I don't recall asking specifically for a ref sheet. You may have noticed I never had a ref sheet for any of my characters, so I'd find that a bit petty to ask people to come up with one. It could have been a sketch, a description, a picture. If you ask any of my commissioner they'll tell you I actually take a lot of time to discuss about a picture with people either via notes or IMs, so no ref sheets is like absolutely no problem for me.

If I offer commissions or decide to hold these small raffles, I do it with the hope that somehow it will make people spend a good time and happier overall.

Well, my bad then... should have read it through more carefully.

Maybe another day...

Sure! ;)

I would like to open commissions again next year and hold a couple of raffles

Huh. How odd. I don't recall seeing a raffle entry notice for you. Did you post it in your art, too, or just in a journal? If it was just a journal, it may have been lost in all the other journals posted by artists I watch. I would assume something similar may have occurred for other watchers, too.

I only made a journal, and this time I was evil, the raffle was not mentioned in the journal's title =P

You sly dog.

I admit I didn't but I don't remember you having one, or maybe I did see you were having one but didn't for similar reasons I'll mention below.

I think some might also be the type that are too shy to enter. It's not thinking there's no chance of winning, it's more being afraid to win, maybe being unsure what to ask for if they do and being afraid of not asking for something they feel would be worthy. There's also people that might feel they should commission you and don't want to win and end up taking someone from someone who might not have been able to afford it.

If it makes you feel better, remember that some might also be busy given the time of year and might not have had the time.

Although I understand that totally, I'd just like to make it clear that when I hold a raffle all entries are worthy and people should never have to feel shy around me =) Also I like spending time with commissioners and people to talk about the picture they'll be getting so I make sure it will be truly meaningful!

C'est parce que tu fais pas des titres assez clickbaits ! :p

J'ai vu l'intitulé de la page là, j'ai directement cliqué ! Alors que les raffles et les auctions, je vois ça dans mes notifications, je delete immédiatement avant même d'avoir lu le mot à moitié ! Tiens, pour dire, je consulte FA tout les jours ou presque et j'étais même pas au courant que tu en tenais une ! '-'

(De toute façon j'aurais pas participé :° )

Je déteste les clickbaits comme les vampires détestent l'ail.

Je suis parfaitement conscient qu'une partie des gens n'a pas d'intérêt pour les raffles ou les commissions (ou même pour la vie des artistes en dehors de leurs dessins). Mais en tant que scientifique je regarde les statistiques et les résultats, de un parce que ça m'amuse bien, et de deux parce que ça me permet d'apprendre plein de petites choses subtiles sur le fonctionnement des gens et des différents sites web :)

I didn't see you were having one till it was over. ^^;

That is all my fault, since I didn't advertise the raffle a lot this time =)

But again I didn't share this result to blame people for not entering it or not reading my journals. That would be petty! I felt like it was an interesting thing to share and so far I think it was a good idea since this journal is full of interesting comments to read! ^.^

I saw it the day after it was finished. I would have signed up if I could.

Umm, it's pretty small percentage but maybe they just don't read journals and just enjoy yoru art, thus why they missed out!
Fait-toi en pas, tes super, sinon t'aurais pas autant de watcher! ^w^ <3

Oh je ne m'inquiète pas particulièrement, après tout dans l'absolu le nombre de participants était tout à fait correct et j'ai voulu garder ça restreint aux gens qui lisent les entrées de journal. :)
Les chiffres restent des chiffres. Et ça m'a amusé de regarder ce pourcentage juste pour me faire une idée

Hello! Since you bring it up: I read the journal, and I wish you a happy holiday, but while I like your art I just chose not to take part in the raffle. (Odds of winning were essentially zero, and art would happen regardless.) Plus, think of the word you'd have had to do just making the list if you'd got, like, five thousand of them!

The WORK you'd have had to do. Fumblepaws!

Well here with two winners and 46 entries the probability of winning was 4%! Not this high but also not this low! =)

Of course I didn't expect thousands of people to take part in the raffle, that would have been crazy (and I would have used other tools to hold the raffle/tickets/numbers etc.) ^^

Many people probably felt like there was no point. Raffles are very discouraging, especially when you participate in 10+ a year and never win.

Aw don't take it this way! I too don't win a lot, but most of the time I tell myself that the odds of winning are not very high, so I don't expect much, but it'd be a pleasant surprise if I am the picked one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKg4Bg8QIE

Well you DID hide the raffle in an inconspicuous journal entry - not everyone is reading every journal :P

As you wrote yourself: "..., to thank the people who actually take the time to read journals, I'm holding a secret Christmas raffle ..." (emphasis mine)

( But at least I tried and got a number :D )

Oh I know this, I didn't advertise it on purpose :)

Still, it doesn't change the result or its meaning (the only thing it changes is that it shouldn't be compared to results where the raffle was advertised either through picture submission, reminders or journal header), but I found it relevant and felt like sharing. So far it seems it was worth it, because it led to interesting comments

Well - I'm absolutely for more hidden and secret raffles - if only to increase my chances of winning :P
Alternatively: Open for commissions, so I can throw money at you, dammit! :D

I guess lots of people have been in quite an Xmas stress allready to read journals. Yet I also noticed that people seem to read less and less journals in general.

I tend to agree with you on that later statement.

Don't want to repeat myself too much but I fully admit I rarely read journals at all.

To watch nearly 4k people must lead to an incredible amount of submissions and journals to go through everyday, that's quite impressive !

And no, it doesn't discourage me at all. I like looking at stats and results sometimes. And I thought this one was an interesting one to share ^^

I don't know when you posted during the day where you are, but if around now, I was likely asleep...like I should be now. XD Plus, being in the US, I tend not to check journals regarding conventions overseas, since I can't attend, nor commission (not a PayPal user). I just watch for submissions, or journals I figure I could reasonably reply to. But...I'm awkward with conversation with someone I haven't spoken with much before. (I still sometimes miss journals, regardless.)

Yes it's perfectly understandable. I also tend to reply to journals only when I know I can write something relevant. And as I said in a previous comment, timezones are like always a pain to deal with when it comes to opening commissions and raffles^^

I've noticed that too on my old account. I used to try to do polls and interact with them but in the end only a handful contributed so I ended up just chatting with them on Skype, Steam and Discord instead.

Oh I tend to do that too, (although I should readd some people to Discord maybe I'm using it a little again). But it's not easy to hold raffles on these platforms! :D

I wouldn't know. X3

i have a bad feeling when i just enter a raffle by someone i didnt comissioned before

Why? Feeling like you don't deserve it or something?

yup

haha same here. I just tend to lurk and occasionally comment.

I know a lot of people feel guilty about getting free art. My philosophy has always been that I won't ever beg for free art, but I feel no guilt in accepting it if it's freely offered.

I think it's just simply I'm not a gambling man. I love the content. But I simply never win at them so why bother entering? I think over the last few years of entering countless raffles I've gotten lucky once. And it was because the number of participants was less than 20.

Just odds games suck. If I really want something I'll eventually just commission it. And that way I can actually enjoy the content more since it's got even my own idea attached with it.

This ^^ exactly. I just don't like getting my hopes up on winning something unless the odds are 5% or better.

Mmmhmm.
//shakes hand
Glad I'm not the only one with that feeling hah!

Well, since you have tons of watchers and surely not all are active or interested to get art in general, this amount is maybe not too surprising. Of course more is always better, but that says nothing negative about your quality or service as artist.

I think it's defensible data. It's happening only rarely that people actually notice sudden journals popping up^^

I wanted to but I missed out - while Christmas is close, the finals are way closer. Was too occupied with crucial work to check on sites frequently.

Good luck with the finals! I've been there, it's never the best moment of the year!

Tank you! Yeah, it's pretty tough but I'm sue I'll make it.

0,78% ?!

Bah ouais.

C'est vraiment pas beaucoup du tout o.O
Je pensais pas que si peu de personne lisaient les journaux meme si je savais que c'était peu

I didn't know. Sorry bro.

It's okay!^^

I think it's also because journals aren't placed in such a way that they're easy to view on FA

you have to remember to scroll down and if you're watching a lot of artists, there's a ton of usernames on the journals as well

Few people often participate in things, even if it's a simple activity and could get them something. I know I didn't for my own reasons.

Aww im sorry! :0
Ive been busy and had alot of bult up journalis

I totally missed it :O

Sorry to hear, though that seems like an interesting statistic. Wonder what causes that trend.

I saw the winners journal and I was dismayed that I missed the raffle! :<
Sorry about that, If I'd have known I would have spread the journal around!

That is a very small percentage, but there are probably good reasons for it. (Not too many read journals, less join raffles cause discouraged, and many many people on this site are "lurkers"). But that is pretty interesting only that amount participated.

I don't submit in raffles, because I'd rather do a trade with artists I like. That way I know the person who agreed to draw my character actually wants to do it, and doesn't think I'm gross or ugly (by OC or tastes), making the drawing not an agonizing process for them. This extends to standard commissioning as well.

Also I feel better because then I don't get a nagging feeling like I owe them something.

I didn't even noticed a raffle had gone up ^^; I get so many journals in one day that it's hard to keep track of em XP

(Also didn't help that I was a bit busy that day so that probably didn't help there, went out to do a little shopping, then I ended up having a dentist appointment since there was a cancellation. Not looking forwards to going back next week to have a tooth removed >_< )

I simply missed it, just saw the results.

I wonder what the stats would show for various artists. .78% is probably a pretty good turnout.

Shoot, totally missed that journal! X3 Will be cool to see the results, though! :D

missed it as well. just don't check journals enough really.

For me, it was a bit unlucky it was on a week I couldn't get on for too long. I'll be more vigilant for the next one tho ^^

That is a certainly interesting. Though I do admit myself that I miss a lot of journals.

Most people don't take the time to appreciate the artist as well as the art.

I saw the raffle, but couldn't enter into it because 1) I didn't really know what to offer for a portrait and 2) Finals week >.<

Huh, that's pretty interesting. Didn't realize the percentage was so low. I enter in raffles, but only on occasion, as I have zero luck when it comes to this sort of thing, haha. I pretty much never win raffles. You won't find me in a casino any time soon!

To which I say- "You had a small Christmas raffle? o_o"