w4I4q1O1, while you may not be out to 'win' by reaching the 'best of' page
A lot of B3tans are. I'd like to make it clear I'm not one of them, by the way, which is why I haven't posted a story on QOTW for months. But if we let someone post an urban legend, a story which required no original thought or particular writing talent (as it is avaliable in many different forms online) 'win', as you put it, then what's the point in taking the time to post a truly original story?

At no point have I suggested every story should be 100% fact, by the way - this isn't a scientist's forum. As I've already mentioned, many of the posts on my profile have had tweaks here or there to help the story flow or to make it funnier. If someone posts a story that's total bull, but it's original, funny, and (preferably) believable, I have no problem with that. My issue is with someone taking a story from elsewhere and reproducing it as there own. If the original poster had mentioned it ws an urban legend, or a story they had heard from their mates, it would be fine, but they didn't, and that's what pisses me off. QTW should be about originality, even if it's a terrible pun, or a 2 line answer - if it's funny and original then it belongs on QOTW. If it's neither, it doesn't. That is my point.

EDIT: Also, the story that came top of the 'procrastination' QOTW was obviously untrue - that was the joke. It was well-written, clever and original, and it quite clearly took some time and creativity to type up. It was obviously BOATongism's own work, and hadn't just been shamelessly lifted from somewhere else.
(Pavlov's Frog figures no-one really reads sigs anyway, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 18:15, Reply)