Hello, I would like to sum up some disagreements with statements in your reply and potential concerns regarding your jam submission:
- Your game is free with ads. If there is any way you can generate ad revenue from people simply trying to play/test your game for the jam, it should not be allowed as a jam submission.
- Your game is only available on the Google Play store, meaning those without access to it cannot play your game. You also included a misleading download button with no downloadable files, otherwise it probably wouldn't have been allowed to be submitted in the jam.
- "...and frankly we were very disappointed that even though we took the time to check everyone's efforts, most of you did not do the same."
Your game was the 3rd most rated game, with 22 ratings, most of which came from outside the jam according to romsteady. For those that participated in the jam, some of them may not have been able to play your game as, again, they did not have access to the Google Play store. - "...this behavior is not fitting with the game developers' community, and even more so with the itch community."
"...I think none of us has ever come across such rude behavior in the past, and I feel that this is more about the prize pool than anything else"
These statements come off as extremely arrogant and make it seem like you're trying to play the victim here. Where is this coming from? No one in previous discussion posts or even your jam submission comments was rude to you, as far as I can see. There were only concerns as to how your game was submitted, the inclusion of ads in a jam submission, and the way you received votes.
Just to clarify, I do not benefit whether your game is disqualified or not, however, I believe it is unfair to others in the game jam if your game remains in the jam due to vote manipulation and the existence of some of the described issues. And if you "certainly could not care less about who wins the prize money", I hope you can understand as to why many of us believe this way. For the good of the game developers' and itch community, I hope you choose to resolve some of the above issues in future jam submissions, and I wish the best of luck to you in future jams.