Gurushots Survival Guide — Part IV

You can be a Gurushots Guru as well

I thought I would never write this article. I said somewhere in one of the other parts of the series, that I would write a fourth part if I ever get to Guru status on Gurushots.

Today is the day, I finally did it [Correction: As I haven’t published the article straight on the day, this is no longer true, it is now a couple of weeks back]. Or better said: someone else did it, as getting to Guru status means that you have to win at least one challenge. And winning a challenge means that you either get the most public votes, or you get the top Guru Pick. If you have no clue what I am talking about, I would recommend reading the other three parts first.

So, I always thought if I am going to win a challenge, then it would be the Top Guru Pick. Winning the public vote requires you to have impeccable timing and knowledge about how the current implementation of the Gurushots system works. When do you enter your images, when do you swap? Which images will be popular? When is the best point in time to fill and boost? Strategy and Tactics of the game. The quality of the images is important, yes, but also the mastery of the game mechanics. You are playing a game.

For the top guru pick, you ‘only’ have to convince the Guru that your image is the best one fitting the brief and taste of the Guru. A guru puts more thought into the voting than the regular player, so images that are a bit more subtle and need a second look have a chance. And poor images have less of a chance. I am used to putting images into photo competitions as I am a member of a physical local photo club (actually, I am a member of two clubs, but that’s not important here), so I know a bit about what is important to impress a judge. Or what puts them off. There are no secrets to it, everything you need to learn is readily available online. But there is also an element of luck in it. You don’t know if the Guru will see your image at all during a voting session. And if you get the Guru pick, will other guru picks be better in this specific challenge? I had 77 Guru Picks before I finally won a challenge with a top guru pick. Others might need only one, or have over 100 guru picks, and still not a win.

So what have I learned on my journey to the Guru status? Be patient. You can’t force a win. Submit quality work, keep growing with your photography, and eventually, you will win when all the stars align at once.

What happens when you get to Guru status?

It is surprisingly unspectacular. You get a message on your screen that looks like this:

First I wanted to click it away, as you get so many notifications on GuruShots, but something looked unfamiliar, so I had a closer look. And then it dawned on me, I won a challenge! Finally! It is quite exciting, I can tell you. And you get a number of perks for free as well.

But once you are a Guru, there is not much that differs from your normal screen. You get a new banner and a new progression bar:

After all, you now have a new goal, get to Guru VIII status. I think they should have worded the levels differently, but it is probably hard to come up with more superlatives above Guru. In case you are interested, you get to the Guru VIII level once you have satisfied these requirements:

That will take a while. But I am not in a rush, now that I have reached my first goal of getting to Guru status.

I am currently having a break from Gurushots, it was getting quite addictive. So be careful when you play the game, it is not free. You pay, maybe not always in currency, but with your time spent on the platform, and other parts of your life might suffer because of it. Find a balance you are happy with.

I wish you luck and have fun playing the game.