Which do you like better? Just kidding. Since it's clearly one tank meant twice, that makes things easier.
I'm thinking that, in this case, the entrant couldn't decide which version was better so he decided to pay twice and submit the tank both ways. Or maybe he's just trying to sneak in double the number of photos of one tank -- in which case he must not have much faith in his photos or his tank.
I'm not sure I like it, but I don't think I would prohibit it now.
This is a tough area in general: If someone sends in the same tank twice but with rearranged plants, would that be okay? If so, then how much rearrangement would be diff enough? X number of plants? What if 10 tiny plantings are diff but 98% of the plant mass is the same? What about two diff tanks but the very same layout -- nevermind; that's a whole diff issue that hasn't come up. There's a diff that matters, but it's not something that can be obviously quantified or inarguably demarcated.
I think you get into a very grey area trying to decide when two apparent instances are really the same individual. Plus, aesthically, a small physical change can make a big diff. I have no prob making a rule that the judges decide -- they're making subjective judgements anyway and should be the final arbiters. But even if we do decide to establish a rule, we haven't yet.
Not really to the point but consider, with two "same" entries, the entrant could split the votes he gets and force himself out of contention. ;-)
Anyway, thems my thoughts. I've been wrong before and I'll be happy with whatever folks decide. After all, it's all supposed to be for fun, right?
sh
----- Original Message ----
From: Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>
To: AGA Aquascaping Contest Planning <aga-contest@thekrib.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 8, 2007 9:43:01 AM
Subject: Re: [AGA-Contest] up to 38 entries with photos
It is most definitely not a mistake. I don't want to influence the judges
(half of whom are on this list now), but the tank background is strikingly
different between the two, like day and night, and the title is "blah blah
tank Version 1.0" and "blah blah tank Version 2.0". The description is
identical. Clearly they are trying to have the same tank, with two
different backgrounds, judged as two separate entities.
- Erik