Friday, February 13, 2004

   OMFG!! I can see V7!!!

Yeah, so...if you've been reading my comments or you've visited various pages, I'm sure you've already seen at least some of V7. Right off the bat, I'm going to say that I'm pretty displeased with those who went around revealing the specifics of what they saw. Afterall, I don't spend a month working on it behind the scenes with Justin, only to have its cover blown at the last minute. Bear in mind also, this isn't just secrecy for secrecy's sake. There are two very good reasons why OtakuBoards hasn't been open while we work on it. Firstly, people spread rumors. There's a lot of gossip and discussion going on about the new site, which is understandable I guess. The problem is that someone may see something that is unfinished and they might go around telling others what they saw. So what happens? People start to get a false impression, en masse. And then when things don't turn out as they had expected, they think something went wrong. On principle, I don't like revealing a big project before it's complete. People's first impressions are important -- and I don't want to show something that isn't yet ready for public consumption. The second point is a really basic one. V7 is one of only a handful of forums (or perhaps the only one so far), which is using a heavily modified vB3. The work we've done on this software is proprietary in nature. That is, we haven't gone out there, taken someone else's template and used it. We've engineered our own templates and setup, from the ground up. Although our proprietary design will be out there eventually, I'd rather that it wasn't leaked beforehand. It would truly suck if another site decided to match their site to our template and launch before us. That'd really hurt all the hard work we've done. For those of you who haven't seen it, I'm asking you to be patient. I expect OtakuBoards to be online later today/this evening. I'm going to be working with Justin to ensure that it happens. For those of you who have seen it...I'd ask you not to spread things around. Just be patient. Wait until it's launched. And at least be thankful that you've seen a little snippet of what's to come. Edit: I'm thinking of holding a "launch chat" for V7. Do you think that's worth doing? Edit 2: We're very very close. I will open a launch chat very soon -- as in, within ten or fifteen minutes. ^_^

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Wednesday, February 11, 2004

A Question of Quality

Over the last couple of days, I've noticed a few comments here and there that really get to the heart of this whole "quality on the boards" issue. For one, I noticed Raiha's thread in Battle Arena (which I offered my comments in). I also noticed Shinmaru's comments to someone in the Mario Kart 64 thread (and that person's subsequent response). He was kinda spammy in his response - in the sense that he didn't need to use the thread to comment about it - but at least he acknowledged our requirements. So hopefully he'll improve. In the case of the Battle Arena thread, the argument about quality was pretty different to the usual. Usually it's a case of the staff trying to encourage someone to post longer, more in-depth posts. It doesn't mean that you need to write an essay, but it does mean that you should put at least a little thought into what you write. But the Battle Arena thread seemed to be the opposite -- we had a couple of members who were calling everyone else lazy for not reading their ridiculously long character biographies. However, isn't it evident that having unreasonably long posts is just as bad as having unreasonably short ones? It's like I said in that thread; if you can fit every element of your character's biography into the sparring match, fine. But this presumes that your actual in-spar posts will be massive in size and scope. And let's think about what a spar actually is. A spar, by definition, isn't as in-depth as an RPG. You are, afterall, talking about a fight between two characters. Sure, go into their background to help explain some of their actions in the battle. Talk about their personality and maybe talk about why they are who they are. But are such massive posts really necessary? In my opinion, the idea that you should have these huge posts is actually as newbie-ish as having wafer-thin posts. The attitude with these guys was like "If you're too dumb to read my awesomely huge post, you aren't good enough to do battle with me." It seemed less about post quality and more about post size. And we all know that it's not how big you are...it's how you use what you have. Yeah. I find it odd when someone asks me why I'm talking negatively about long posts -- afterall, isn't longer posts what I really want to see? Well, no. I don't want people to post massively long, rambly posts, just for the sake of doing so. That's not the point. The point is to improve the qualitative nature of what you write. It's about bringing forward a combination of sound ideas and eloquent writing. In terms of RPGs, I know that it's possible to write a couple of paragraphs, but still have them filled to the brim with beautiful wording and ideas. It takes far more effort to actually focus on those elements, than to sit there and type forever and ever. Oh well. I know that sometimes I face an uphill battle, when it comes to encouraging large numbers of people to focus on quality. But I strongly believe that there is a genuine market for quality forums out there. I would hate to let OtakuBoards become just another spammy anime forum. I think even the members with lower-quality posts would notice (and dislike) the difference, were it to happen.

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Monday, February 9, 2004

From the Ashes...

You know, Adventure Arena has truly become a cool forum in recent times. I'm sure you all remember a time, only a few months ago, where Adventure Arena was truly the proverbial wart on the butt of OtakuBoards. It wasn't because of Moderators (in fact, I think most people were really thankful that they were there to stop things from getting worse). It was largely because the lowest-quality posters on OB were apparently holding their national convention there. There were plenty of poor RPGs...and poor is putting it mildly. Of course, I don't want to paint everyone with the same brush. There were quite a few truly great RPGs. But that didn't seem to inspire other members to put more effort in on their own. When I look at how things have developed though, I feel that Kill Adam was a catalyst in Adventure Arena. It wasn't necessarily related to the RPG's quality either. At the time I posted the sign-up, Kill Adam was a big event. If you look at all the people to posted sign-ups, you'll see the evidence of that. A lot of things came together. The fact that the RPG was R-rated, the fact that it "looked" different to what people were used to (with the HTML and so on), the fact that it had a fundamentally different structure to other RPGs (the chapter/cast system) and the fact that I had placed very tight entrance requirements on it -- all of these things helped to make it a hot topic at the start. I get the feeling that a lot of members wanted to prove themselves by impressing me with their sign ups. Obviously that's reasonable; that's what you're always doing when you sign up for an RPG, especially when the creator decides to choose who will and won't participate. As it turned out, I didn't choose many people. There were many reasons, depending on the person. But by and large, most people didn't seem to grasp the violence/camp aspect that I was going for. And that's not necessarily their fault -- many hadn't seen the movie. So I didn't expect a lot of people to necessarily understand what the intent was. After the RPG went up though, things changed. And I think that this has helped to lead to a slightly better overall quality in the forum. Initially, a lot of people tried to mimmick Kill Adam in their own way, by creating "edgy" violent RPGs. Myself, along with the other staff, had warned that we'd expect "adult" RPGs to follow "adult" standards, when it comes to writing quality and so on. And at first, there was a very legitimate concern about the influx of violent RPGs. But I think that has changed. The novelty of doing this sort of RPG has started to disappear. And in recent times, we've seen a number of really robust attempts to produce unique stories with unique characters. In some ways, I think Kill Adam added a competitive nature to the forum. And I think it's great that people are competing to have more innovative, higher quality RPGs. It's a good goal to have. So what have I been impressed by lately? Well, I thought I'd create a list of RPGs that seem to be following this high quality trend. Subliminal Monarchy As soon as I saw the sign-up, I was impressed. FirePheonix727 has really opened up the box, as it were. This RPG has a really non-linear concept and so far, the writing seems to be pretty solid. The Silmarillion Well, Drix created this one. What more needs to be said? Drix's earlier RPGs (Vampire the Masquerade for example) were always well written and well-conceived. The Silmarillion is a really beautiful concept I think. It's a true fantasy tale and Drix has added a great deal of weight to the backstory. That kind of effort is really good to see. Laeth E'Thae Out of all the "recent" RPGs (those to be created within the last few months), Laeth E'Thae stands out. It stands out because of its sheer size (133 posts is actually quite big, considering the detail in each post). But it also stands out because of the insanely good writing involved. Arcadia's writing is descriptive, without bogging down the reader in too much detail. And Dagger...her writing is gorgeous. That's the best way for me to describe it. She really puts her wide vocabulary to amazing use. The Children of Sharess I think Raiha is probably famous for her RPG characters. Or "infamous", which might be the more suitable word. But I feel that this latest RPG is a clear demonstration of what Raiha can do when she puts her mind to it. The Children of the Sharess starts with a simple-enough premise, but even that premise is really well balanced. I enjoyed reading Raiha's positioning of different groups in society and how they relate to one another. And I'm enjoying the dark, somewhat gothic feel of this RPG so far. Again, some of Dagger's posts in here really amaze me. When Humans are the Enemy I didn't follow this RPG from the start, but I've been going through it lately. It has all the right ingredients too. The original concept is sound and the RPG itself is filled to the brim with OtakuBoards' top writing talent. Everyone from Solo and terra, to Yoda and Ben (of course -- he created it ~_^). Paranoia I don't have much to say about this one, admittedly. I still have to read most of it. But...please don't overlook it. Detailed writing and highly talented writers are involved in this one. If it survives, it should be a memorable RPG. Titans: Fight the Apocalypse So far, this one is also pretty short/early in its lifecycle. But I'm really impressed by vicky's improvement as a member in recent times. Her RPGs have steadily improved and expanded in scope. And her attention to detail is ever-increasing. She even scored Shy in this RPG, which is quite an achievement. Good job. I should do this more often. I think there are quite a few RPGs that deserve to be read, afterall. And now I hear that Shy and possibly Tony have new stellar RPGs up their sleeves. Kill Adam continues...and I'm planning for my next story. Considering the steady improvement in Adventure Arena over the last couple of months, I think we can expect great things from this forum on V7 (especially with all the lovely new formatting options).

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Saturday, February 7, 2004

   Difficult Thread Closures?

Well, if you've been visiting Otaku Lounge, you'll know what I'm talking about. In fact, I've talked about this kind of thing before on myOtaku. Last time, it related to an abortion thread I think. That thread started to get a little more out of control, but nonetheless, I felt that it was the right time to end this thread. I'm sure that there are some people involved in these threads that would rather I didn't step in. But I don't care. Honestly, there are a few instances where it's warranted...and this was one of 'em. Sometimes, when I think about the way things are in the world, I really feel that it's easy to loose hope. It's easy to look at the massive tide of intolerance that exists and to simply crawl under a rock and try to let it pass over you. It's tempting, because going against the grain is always difficult. If you look at civil rights leaders during the 60's in America...many of them were even killed because they dared to speak out. To some extent that still happens on various issues, though it's not as bad as it once was. But still, it's very intimidating. I'm certainly not some beacon for human rights or anything like that. But in general, I find it hard not to feel physically ill when I read some of the stuff Crimson Spider posts. Some of it is so incredibly ignorant that it really does make me want to loose faith in humanity. Thankfully, not everybody is like that. Oh well. At least I have things to occupy my mind...things to look forward to. And at least I do have level-headed people to talk to. Without that, I wouldn't be on here at all.

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Friday, February 6, 2004

   ???

This is going to be a great month. ^_^

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Tuesday, February 3, 2004

   New Blue

As you can see, I've modified my homepage a little. Although I was quite satisfied with the previous "BP" style, I really did feel like a change. You can see that the star of my page is Luigi. The silhouette is from Mario & Luigi. I loved the fact that poor Luigi was always the butt of everyone's joke in the game and since his role in Luigi's Mansion, he's definitely become a favourite character. Afterall, he was insanely cool in Luigi's Mansion. ~_^ Actually, when I think about it, Luigi's Mansion is the only game in memory that wasn't a questionable "Mario is Missing" type affair. Luigi had such amazing expression in Luigi's Mansion...his voice, his mannerisms, everything. They really fleshed him out. The fact that he's such a coward only makes him cooler in my book. Also, I have sympathy for those of you who spent hours toying with the Style Editor. The editor is really convenient, but this newfound editing power is really bad news for those of us who are incredibly fickle. I'm still not happy with all of my colour choices. Oh well. Anyway, things are going relatively well on all fronts I guess. My big non-Otaku project (the new N-Sider) is very close to completion. It'll launch today, I believe. It has, in reality, been years in the making. For those of you who know the site, I think you'll be very impressed with what we've done. N-Data is the most in-depth Nintendo library resource in the world; this is something I can confidently say. Although it's been a very tough job for everyone involved, we are about to launch a massive bomb on the gaming media...and that satisfies me greatly. ~_^ It has, of course, ensured that my time has been taken up by online work over recent months. The last two months in particular have been my most busy -- perhaps my most busy since I began working online. But it's good. I really enjoy seeing these projects develop and come to fruition. In the case of OtakuBoards, the site is basically ready. However, we are still in the process of implementing some of the most important user features. I know that some of you are frustrated that I'm not providing a specific launch date, but you must understand that there are some very touchy factors involved. For example, Justin and I planned to provide a "saveable" Style Editor for OB -- so that you can edit the font size, style and colour on your posts and save that setting. However, this is proving to be a near-impossible task. Virtual Bulletin 3 is an incredibly complex beast and creating this one addition requires us to edit multiple aspects of the vB technology. In short, even with the programming muscle we have, it's sort of like trying to find a needle in a haystack...and then thread the hay into a giant quilt. Yeah, that'll do. So we're thinking about how to deal with these issues. If the saveable Style Editor can't be done, we have something else that's just as good -- something that totally eliminates the need for vB tags in posts (at least as far as your style is concerned). So either way, I am sure that everyone will prefer V7's software to V6. There are a couple of big hurdles left, but we're getting there. I can guarantee everybody that V7 will launch this month. As for a specific date...I don't know. But I don't like to guarantee something unless I am certain that I can deliver it, especially because factors out of my control have broken promises for me in the past (ie: server meltdowns). Oh and before I go; thank you to everyone who has signed my Guest Book. Many of you have written some really kind messages and I appreciate it. I haven't had the time to go around and look through people's sites over the past few months, but I'm going to make the attempt to sit down and do it soon. I'm determined to sign everyone's Guest Books. ^_^

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Friday, January 30, 2004

   Unfinished Symphony

Again, I thought I'd take a break from my Otaku Awards posts. There's still some more to go, but I'll leave it for now. I might as well milk it for all it's worth, anyway. ~_^ I haven't posted here for a little while, as the last couple of weeks have been really bizarre. As some of you know, I broke up with my previous partner of four years late last month. And only last week, I was asked out on a date by someone else -- completely out of the blue. While I don't really want to get into the nitty gritty details (I don't think it's really necessary to do that on myOtaku.com), I will say that it has given the last two weeks a kind of weird feel. I can't really put my finger on it, but I've had a sense of unease over the last week. It's really a long story I guess, but I have a weird feeling that things may not work out. I hesitate to say that, simply because I tend to underestimate myself when it comes to this sort of thing. I tend to expect the worst and I tend to feel that I'm going to make a billion mistakes and screw things up. Though when I look back on the last two weeks, it's actually been a very smooth ride. So I don't know why I'm feeling this way. Again, maybe it's just my self doubt. In any case, it's kind of led to this week ending with me feeling just a little blue. I'm sure it's a temporary thing though. In other news...well...there isn't much other news at the moment. Actually, things have been moving along pretty steadily. Justin and I are still working on OtakuBoards and we're getting closer and closer to the end goal. It's very difficult at times and I know that sometimes it makes both of us want to tear our hair out...but we'll get there, no doubt. Anyway, I guess that's about it for this update. It's not much, but there hasn't been anything really interesting to talk about lately. I've had a very singleminded focus over the last two weeks I guess. I will say one thing though; OtakuBoards is going to be breaking a record for the longest ever AIM chat. In fact, I think we've probably broken it already. It's quite sad and quite exciting at the same time. Well, it's exciting if you're insane. And many of you are.

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Sunday, January 18, 2004

   Otaku Awards IV

Silliest Thread of the Year: I.....am Lone... Honorable Mention: Anyone interested in purchasing a used heart? What can be said about these threads? If you've seen Charles's signature, you'll know about the "I.....am Lone..." thread. It is perhaps the single most bizarre thing I've seen on a message board. Truly weird. And the used heart one...well, I think that the original intention of the thread was fine, but the title was misinterpreted by other members and the thread creator didn't put a lot of effort into the explanation. So, both were examples of weird threads. But there are many weird threads over the course of 2003. Avatar Award (Best Avatars Overall): Charles Charles has to win this one, hands down. Although there are members who produce avatars that are more aesthetically pleasing to me...Charles always manages to include a humorous message in his. His EPS one is possibly the most appropriate/fitting that I've seen. lol Signature Award (Best Signature Overall): Charles Honorable Mention: Sara Again, Charles wins this one for me. Always funny stuff in his signatures. I know from first hand experience how insane those AIM chats can be. And Sara...well, admittedly, I've seen the crayola thing before. But, Sara has always had interesting signatures -- witty little one-liners or larger things (R.E.S.C.U.E.) have always been noteworthy. Best Otaku Couple: James & Shy Honorable Mention: James & Queen Asuka Personally, I think this is the most silly award. These "Otaku Couple" things are getting so ridiculous. That is partly why I took the nomination only mildly seriously. ~_^ I chose myself and Shy, simply because we managed to produce Soju; I haven't seen any other miracle-working couples on OtakuBoards. And I choose James & Queen Asuka just because. So there you go. Best Looking Otaku: BabyGirl Honorable Mention: Juuthena In all honesty, this is another very difficult award. OtakuBoards is full of good looking people. So trying to choose the most good looking wasn't easy. But I guess I had to put Jenna up there, because out of all the women on OtakuBoards, I think she most fits my ideal of what is beautiful. And judging by what people have posted, a lot of members seem to agree with that. ^_^ And Juu...well, I put Juu there because she was the next member to come to mind. Juu's very pretty, I'm sure you'll agree. If only there were dozens of "Honorable Mentions" here... there are too many people to list. Best myOtaku: Charles Honorable Mention: Semjaza Azazel I like Charles's myOtaku primarily because it always has something interesting on it. Whether it's his Daily Otaku front pages, or his "Otaku-O's" breakfast cereal...you'll never be disappointed. If he updated a bit more often, I'd be even happier. ~_^ The runner up for me was Tony, because I like his design and I'm impressed with the way that he'd embedded his WiP stuff with myOtaku itself. Good use of myOtaku there and some great entries too. Poet Laureate: Charles The truth is, I don't read a lot of the poetry on OtakuBoards. And following that line...I don't read most "fan poetry" or "fan fiction". Why? Because much of it is just a chore to read. I don't like editing/critiquing writing like that, for various reasons. But because I'm always dealing with the editing of articles and things like that, it's possible that I simply want to avoid that type of thing as much as possible. I rarely come across fan fiction that really grips me, anyway. The same with poetry. I nominated Charles because, in my estimation, he's truly the best poet I've seen on OtakuBoards. On the one hand, his writing isn't full of cliches and it's not extremely bland. But on the other hand, he manages to write in a way that is both easy to understand and wholly unique. His ability to communicate a myriad of ideas through sound writing techniques is what impresses me the most. So, from my perspective, he gets the nod here. Writer of the Year: Shy Honorable Mention: Queen Asuka It's hard to choose an overall Writer of the Year. I chose Shy primarily due to Kill Adam. Although everyone has provided some amazing writing for Kill Adam so far, Shy stands out. He stands out primarily because his posts have fleshed out the background to the story like no others. Most of us have been concerned with fight scenes (obviously), but Shy has spent more time investigating the background of his character and others. Part of that is due to the chapters I placed him in, but he's handled it very well. I also nominated Queen Asuka for Kill Adam. I feel that in this RPG, more than any other, she came into her own. You can really tell that she invested a lot of thought and patience into the development of her character -- particularly in the chapter that looks at her character's past. It was well thought out, well organized and gritty. Considering that I don't often see Tori's writing on that level, it was a pleasant surprise and it demonstrates that she has a strong capability with writing in general. Original Story of the Year: OtakuBoards: Enter the Net Honorable Mention: Maverick Hunters: Personification As I mentioned above, I don't spend a lot of time reading fan stories and so on. But Solo's story has become something of legend in recent times. It's a very clever, colourful, well-conceived look at the community of OtakuBoards as it might be if one could truly see it as some kind of object or place. The sheer inventiveness is what has to win out here. Solo has taken very mundane things (like the Moderators forum) and developed them into a vivid, three dimensional world. I noticed that as I was reading the chapters of his story, I developed a strong sense of imagery in my head -- and that rarely happens when I read most fan fiction. So, it shows that Solo was able to capture my imagination very effectively. This is a well-deserved award, should Solo win. I also chose Maverick Hunters: Personification. Maverick Hunters has truly become an RPG saga on OtakuBoards. I don't know how many of you have been reading its multiple RPGs, but it is definitely a story with a great many twists and turns. Originally, the first RPG was based on the Megaman franchise (Maverick Hunters: Replimaters). And it was created by Final Flash, Warlock and Chaos. But when Personifiation started, Flash, Warlock and myself decided that we would actually develop a very detailed timeline to coincide with the RPG's events. We didn't want it to be "just another RPG" that can change for no reason; we wanted to develop reasons for characters' existence and for the events that take place. When I look at how far it has come now, with its characters, stories and settings...I'm actually quite amazed. What began as a unique spin in Megaman, has now become a truly original story with multiple layers. We are still writing Maverick Hunters: Personification -- and we hope to finish it completely. If you haven't read through it yet, I recommend it; especially the second half. Very good stuff. Role Player of the Year: terra Honorable Mention: Final Flash I mentioned terra because I think that she has demonstrated what "newbies" are capable of. As soon as she registered, she became a regular in Adventure Arena. And she continually showed all of us what truly great role players can do. For her inventiveness, her creativity and her commitment, I think she deserves my nomination. I also chose Final Flash as the honorable mention. What can I say? He is one of the people who spent a great deal of time fleshing things out in the Maverick Hunters series, along with Warlock and I. Although many people have been involved over the course of the RPGs, Final Flash has become one of the primarily developers of the plotline, along with Warlock and myself. He's done some truly interesting things with it and I appreciate the fact that he has constantly tried to think outside the square. He's done nothing in the plot development that is dry/boring or cliche. Otaku Social Member of the Year: wrist cutter Honorable Mention: SSJWolfGirl/Mei My apologies for not realizing that SSJWolfGirl is now Mei. At that time, I somehow felt that SSJWolfGirl had disappeared from the boards or something. Maybe it's just the fact that it feels like only yesterday that Mei registered. It wasn't long ago. In any case, both Mei and wrist cutter deserve to be nominated here, I think. wrist cutter -- when he isn't making casual one-liners -- is often able to set a great example in Otaku Lounge. His posts are always clear, concise and to-the-point. It's what I'm looking for. And it's what I encourage. ~_^ And Mei...well, I mostly remember her ability to reinvigorate Otaku Lounge when she first registered. She went in there and started that famous captions thread, which became quite popular. The great thing is, she asked me for permission first -- she didn't need to do that, but she chose to, because she respected the rules. And since then, she's gone from strength to strength. Definitely a great example of post quality with Mei. ^_^ Entertainment Otaku of the Year: wrist cutter Honorable Mention: Semjaza Azazel I wasn't sure who to vote for here. I chose people who came to mind for me at the time. I chose wrist cutter because I think he has educated a lot of people about Japanese music. He brings a level of knowledge with him that is important, especially when you get the occasional "OMFG!! I totaly luvv japanese muzic!!!!" Tony's a worthy mention, because he has made efforts to bring about discussions on lesser known music groups, rather than falling back on the "easy" threads about more well-known artists. Although we both have a somewhat different taste in music, I certainly respect Tony's passion for the artists that he loves. It's not some passing fad or something like that; it's a true passion. wrist cutter is the same. And that's something that has impacted my decision too, I think. It's something I respect.

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Monday, January 12, 2004

   Pet Peeve

I'm taking a short break from my regular Otaku Awards updates to mention something of concern. If you look at my last update (specifically, the comments), you'll notice that two myOtaku members posted advertising in there. Although we don't really have a set of rules for myOtaku...I believe that if you're going to comment in someone's Otaku Life, your comment should at least mostly relate to the subject of the post. In other words, you shouldn't use comments to simply say "Visit my site!" At least use the Guest Book for that stuff, rather than cluttering up comments. I noticed that articulosdecuera essentially ignored my comment on his site. I warned him not to go around posting spam in people's Otaku Life comments. The same is true of some other members. Although articulosdecuera has been the latest person to do it on my own page...there are plenty of people who have done it here or elsewhere. At this point, I want to be as clear as possible. People who go around spamming in others' myOtaku sites are at risk of having their accounts deleted. Your account certainly won't be deleted right away -- not without some advanced warning. However, it's important not to ignore warnings/suggestions from myself or Adam. When Adam talked about including music on myOtaku sites -- and making sure that they aren't automatically set to play -- he was talking about basic courtesy. Obviously listening to music on someone's site should be an option for the visitor. In the same way, comments should reflect common courtesy between members. Of course, I can delete comments that are offensive or inappropriate, within my own site. That's definitely an option for me. But at the same time, people can easily press "stop" if someone's myOtaku begins playing music without their permission -- neither of those abilities cancels out the need for a basic courtesy, though. So, in the spirit of fairness, I would ask all myOtaku members to take these issues into consideration. If you really want someone to visit your site, please use the Guest Book function. If you're going to use Otaku Life comments, you should be commenting on the subject of the Otaku Life post. If you throw in a reference to your own site too...that's fine. But at least make your comments somewhat relevant to the discussion at hand. I don't think that's too much to ask. Has anyone else been frustrated/annoyed by this kind of behavior? I'd like to hear whether or not you guys consider this to be an issue.

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Friday, January 9, 2004

   Otaku Awards III

Most Improved Member of the Year: Dan (Shroom) Honorable Mention: SaiyanPrincessX There isn't too much to say about this, really. When Dan was under his "Cyko" name, I always saw him as a "n00b" of sorts. I can't remember if it was related to post quality or what the content of his posts actually said. Either way, I know that I somehow formed this viewpoint. However, since changing his name to Shroom, Dan seemed to become more noticeable. I'm sure that a large reason for that was his more frequent posting in the gaming areas and his vigorous entrance into the "OB chats". All of those things combined tended to give me a better impression of him as a member. And as a result, I think he deserves this award -- for making himself noticeable because of his higher quality posting, rather than anything else. And SaiyanPrincessX...well, I do remember a time when her post quality was lacking. And generally, over 2003, she seems to have improved greatly. I just found that I noticed her posts more and more often, and found them noteable for their improvement. Other members deserve this award too. Vicky is one that comes to mind. Thread of the Year: The Shy One Honorable Mention: Care Bears: Quest for Care-a-Lot (Rated G for intense cuteness) Although there were many, many threads that came close for this honor...I felt that these two stood out for me. The Shy One was just plain cool for various reasons (more Shy is always a good thing for us rabid fans, isn't it?) And Sara's RPG...well, she bucked the trend of poorly-written "adult" RPGs. I almost feel guilty for making Kill Adam, because it kind of became the catalyst for a lot of really poor stuff (although some members really did write some pretty fantastic "adult" RPGs). In any case, Sara's decision to go against the grain is something that stands out for me. It definitely brought a smile to my face.

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