There had been complaints in the Orgasm Army forums that we don't send out enough free products, so this monthly prize was a way for reviewers to get free products. And for the best reviews to get an extra "Thank you" from Orgasm Army.
If people don't like the idea of a prize, we shan't have it and will save ourselves the hassle and go and spend the fifty quid down the pub!
Anyone coming? ;-)
Seriously, though, is the idea of a monthly prize for the best review really that controversial? Would we be better off without it than with it?
Would the book world be better off without the Booker Prize than with it? People don't write books trying to win the Booker Prize - the write their books and if they win that's a nice bonus. That's how this monthly prize should be (though not quite on the same level!).
The idea of this thread is to highlight reviews that people like, just by saying "Here's a good review:" and then providing the link.
It's impossible for one person to read every single review on the site each month, so this was a way to be open about choose a winner and to let the members suggest some good reviews.
You can nominate one of your own reviews or somebody else's - please don't regard it as something political or as engendering rivalry. Be pleased for the person that wins!
We've had people wondering how the first winner was chosen (and even an accusation that it wasn't a genuine review) so this is a more public way of getting a shortlist of good reviews.
If the idea of a prize for the best review really is objectionable, then we shan't do it again.
But I (for one) thought that it would be fun for people to highlight good reviews that they've seen and a good way of drawing attention to them.