Simply put, you reply with three lines:
I'm sure you all know this routine by now, so get to it. You could win something. Maybe. Who knows?"^" for a response or comment about the previous post
"<" for your own comment
"v" for what you want to say about the next response
^ There's no one above me, so use your imagination.
< Is making pointless posts instead of scripting the final NPCs.
v Fell into this trap.