Contest January-February 2026 Contest (Entries closed)

NIGHTBRINGER · Mar 24, 2026 at 10:10 PM

J.Logan said: ↑

how does "90k posts" compare to writing a masterpiece that is then voted as amazing?
Click to expand...

NIGHTBRINGER said: ↑

I'm glad you "asked". Let's break it down!!

~Rarity~

17 people have entered a winning short story in the contest's history. Only 1 has ever achieved 90k posts. With rarity comes value.

Winner: 90k posts

~Visibility & Grandeur~

Both achievements have dedicated threads, so let's compare them:

We're looking at 56 replies versus 3,964 replies and 21,607 views versus 530,832 views. That is already definitive, but that's not all:

The forum features a special area highlighting the top posters: https://lustria-online.com/members/ . The short story contest carries no such distinction.

Additionally, for each and every post one makes, the forum proudly (and automatically) displays their post count.

Winner: 90k posts

~Longevity and durability~

Another short story contest winner will eventually come along. Within only a single contest they can (potentially) make it on to the winners list. On the other hand, the mark of 90k posts will either never be recreated or at the very least it will be a very, very, very, very, very long time before it is matched. It is by far the more enduring achievement.

Winner: 90k posts

~Quantitative versus Qualitative measure~

The short story contest is a subjective achievement. A relatively small group of voters (in the ballpark of 5 to 10) decide the contest. If another group of voters replaced them, then you might end up with an entirely different set of winners. So you've got both a subjective measure and an extremely small sample size of voters. Those two concurrent factors are problematic from a statistical point of view. If you know anything about statistical analysis, then I don't have to remind you that it is extremely hard to achieve statistical significance under those conditions.

On the flip side, post count is a quantitative record. Objective > Subjective. There are no if's, and's or but's about it. Pure mathematical precision. The difference between my 90k and the next most prevalent poster is so vast that it leaves no room for doubt or statistical fuzziness.

But if you miss the subjective flavour, I've got 277,680 (and counting ) little reasons to justify my 90k mark.

Winner: 90k posts

So to bring it all together and to answer your question, the mark of 90k posts is rarer and a more acclaimed distinction that is both more enduring and carries greater statistical significance.
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Scalenex · Mar 25, 2026 at 2:42 AM

Yeah, but what if you had 90,000 posts and a short story contest win?

NIGHTBRINGER · Mar 25, 2026 at 3:58 AM

Scalenex said: ↑

Yeah, but what if you had 90,000 posts and a short story contest win?
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It'd liken it to the example of having $1,000,000,000 versus $1,000,000,001. The value of $1,000,000,001 is technically greater, but infinitesimally so... to the point where does it even really matter?

NIGHTBRINGER · Mar 25, 2026 at 4:02 AM

Haven't you missed my antics @Scalenex ?

Scalenex · Mar 25, 2026 at 11:16 AM

NIGHTBRINGER said: ↑

It'd liken it to the example of having $1,000,000,000 versus $1,000,000,001. The value of $1,000,000,001 is technically greater, but infinitesimally so... to the point where does it even really matter?
Click to expand...

I disagree with your simile.

It's not like have two different quantities of money, it's like having two good things that are not fungible.

It's like being handsome and smart.

NIGHTBRINGER · Mar 25, 2026 at 7:58 PM

Scalenex said: ↑

I disagree with your simile.
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The intention was not intended to correlate them in kind, but rather as a tool to illustrate the relative discrepancy in value between the two.

Scalenex said: ↑

It's not like have two different quantities of money, it's like having two good things that are not fungible.

It's like being handsome and smart.
Click to expand...

Let me refine my point. It's like leading your team to win the FIFA World Cup, versus leading your team to win the FIFA World Cup AND winning a municipal rec center poetry contest. The double win is technically the greater feat, but the poetry contest is so miniscule in comparison to the World Cup win that it is essentially irrelevant. The person would be celebrated for their World Cup win by billions of people versus an old retired couple in terms of their poetry victory.

Besides, have I not in some sense already won the SS contest? Chaos Dwarf stories have been continually penned (and haven risen to crush their competition), we've seen multiple stories featuring the Nightbringer and now an entire contest theme in honour of the Dawi-Zharr. I have already captured victory, just in a much more Tzeentchian way! That seems more like the style of the forum's trickster than a traditional SS victory. There is no escape from Chaos, it marks us all.

NIGHTBRINGER · Mar 26, 2026 at 2:25 AM

J.Logan said: ↑

He'll likely just give off that pretentious waffling that is his effort to hide the fact that all those titles he likes to tout are nothing compared to "winner of a Lustria Online Short Story Contest".

Because really... how does "90k posts" compare to writing a masterpiece that is then voted as amazing?

This is totally my attempt to shame him into entering an entry. Do you think it will work?

Click to expand...

NIGHTBRINGER said: ↑

I'm glad you "asked". Let's break it down!!

~Rarity~

17 people have entered a winning short story in the contest's history. Only 1 has ever achieved 90k posts. With rarity comes value.

Winner: 90k posts

~Visibility & Grandeur~

Both achievements have dedicated threads, so let's compare them:

View attachment 172302

View attachment 172303

We're looking at 56 replies versus 3,964 replies and 21,607 views versus 530,832 views. That is already definitive, but that's not all:

The forum features a special area highlighting the top posters: https://lustria-online.com/members/ . The short story contest carries no such distinction.

Additionally, for each and every post one makes, the forum proudly (and automatically) displays their post count.
View attachment 172304

Winner: 90k posts

~Longevity and durability~

Another short story contest winner will eventually come along. Within only a single contest they can (potentially) make it on to the winners list. On the other hand, the mark of 90k posts will either never be recreated or at the very least it will be a very, very, very, very, very long time before it is matched. It is by far the more enduring achievement.

Winner: 90k posts

~Quantitative versus Qualitative measure~

The short story contest is a subjective achievement. A relatively small group of voters (in the ballpark of 5 to 10) decide the contest. If another group of voters replaced them, then you might end up with an entirely different set of winners. So you've got both a subjective measure and an extremely small sample size of voters. Those two concurrent factors are problematic from a statistical point of view. If you know anything about statistical analysis, then I don't have to remind you that it is extremely hard to achieve statistical significance under those conditions.

On the flip side, post count is a quantitative record. Objective > Subjective. There are no if's, and's or but's about it. Pure mathematical precision. The difference between my 90k and the next most prevalent poster is so vast that it leaves no room for doubt or statistical fuzziness.

But if you miss the subjective flavour, I've got 277,680 (and counting ) little reasons to justify my 90k mark.

Winner: 90k posts

So to bring it all together and to answer your question, the mark of 90k posts is rarer and a more acclaimed distinction that is both more enduring and carries greater statistical significance.
Click to expand...

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Contest January-February 2026 Contest (Entries closed)

NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

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