Dalghryn

Yeah, you did open a can of worms, but eventually *somebody* had to do something with the elephant in the room, and it's too late to close the barn door once the cows get out, so no sense crying over spilt milk.

In keeping with my NOT Sour Grapes, but I'm really curious theme... has everyone noticed that the winners of the 2009 MA Awards were made into regular Dev's Choices?

I have to admit to a little disappointment in this decision. I mean, if they can make new icons for Guest Writers, I kind of thought they could make one for contest award winners. Had they done so, then they could have immediately given the runners up Dev's Choice, or even created a MA Award Runner up Icon and listed them below the winners. After all, the winners would still have the leg up in prizes.

Then they could have started giving arcs that almost made the cut Dev's Choices, thereby spreading the wealth a bit and adding incentive for future award submissions. It just seems like another lost opportunity to promote MA activity.

Probably more, actually. I'd be much more interested in those prizes.

Check out Lithrei's review here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...2&postcount=11

You'll find my reply just a little further down the page.

Lithrei, thank you very much for the review. I'm honored that I was your first. From an objective perspective, it was pleasant while still being critical; detailed without being over-spoilery (not that spoilers of my arcs would make any difference after so many reviews). I see you having a long and fruitful future as a reviewer here.

Subjectively, when you get time to run CoWII, I think you'll see why I went with some of the NPC choices I did. The hardest part of creating these arcs (besides making them individually self-sufficient while at the same time making the two arcs one cohesive story) was finding a balance between letting the player character matter and have significance while allowing the NPCs enough sun to make the player care about them. If I give the NPCs more face time in one arc, it begins to distract from what the player character can accomplish and experience. How close I came to finding that balance depends on the perspective of each individual player, I guess.

In any case, thank you again. It was very much appreciated.

Ok, I'll line up to be the first guinea pig, if you like. My arcs are listed in my signature. Hope you enjoy it (or them).

And thanks for your time.

I wasn't pointing any fingers. It's been a very civil discussion. I just don't want to be critical, even constructively, of Bubba and company (that'd include you and everyone else that have helped him). Any argument that says anything along the lines of, "Well, it's wrong that people can vote for their own arc," no matter how well worded, is saying Bubba was wrong. I'm not dissing people that go there, I just don't want to be one of them.

I'm not going to weigh in on this because I think the entire argument smacks of rude, since Bubbawheat (and friends) have gone to extraordinary lengths to make these awards special for all of us. Whether or not I agree with that decision, or any of the mechanics behind this contest, I feel owe it to Bubba to be absolutely supportive.

I'm not meaning to be a Pollyanna, or to necessarily be critical of people that have weighed in on it. That's just the perspective I'm coming from.

One other thing to consider when taking a reviewer's opinion into consideration is the fact it's... well... a review. In many cases they were likely stopping to take copious notes, sometimes taking screen shots, and generally approaching the run from a work perspective. Having run several arcs from the same perspective, I can attest to the fact that it definitely interferes with a person's ability to enjoy the arc and see it as a whole.

Some reviewers have more difficulty with this than others, but I suspect they all experience this to some extent, which is why reviewers tend to grade more critically than the average Joe that runs your arc for the heck of it.

I don't disagree with Airhead often, but here's one for the books. I tend to think that an iconned award is appropriate. Heck, I'd even be good with two of them -- "2009 MA Award Winner," and "2009 MA Award Nominee," leaving some of the other arcs that were close, but didn't quite make the cut, subject to Dev's Choices.

I'm not sure any arc's every going to be perfect, and every arc's level of "perfection" is really in the eye of the beholder. I say, go ahead and give them lock down awards. Compared to many of the arcs already locked down, these are gems.

Did I miss something? Where was it that Police Woman was compared to Simon Cowell? I can see a couple of other reviewers earning that honor on occasion, but PW... No way!

First, and to re-iterate my comments in other threads, a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to *every* winner in the First Annual MA Awards. The variety of winners shown, and the fact that not all arcs were five star popular, shows that there are as many opinions out there as there are noses, and good stories aren't all dictated by the number of runs an arc has.

That said, am I the only person that submitted an arc that's really curious about what went on behind the scenes? For instance, there were several technical aspects to the submissions -- making certain certain files were submitted, for example. Were arcs immediately rejected because a file was missed, or files weren't sent in directories? Were close contests won simply because the images a person submitted were bigger or crisper than others? What was the elimination process for arcs that weren't rejected on technicalities, and what was the voting process.

I doubt we'll get answers -- and I'm not trying to sound critical if we don't -- but I can't help wondering if my arcs, or other quite capable arcs, didn't even make it to the starting gate because of a technicality, even though the authors did their best to comply with the submission process as they understood it.

Really, this isn't sour grapes. As an author who's arc didn't make the cut, I'm simply very curious. Anyone else?

Ok... So... Instead of Lazon exploding, I'll have The Transluscent Girl angsting about death and the war just before she witnesses her dog being crushed beneath Hro'Dath's boot.

Yes!

Thank you, LJ and Eva! You're inspirations to us all!

Wait!

I'll have the dog crushed and then...

Wait on it...

Wait on it...

Stuffed in a refrigerator!

OMG!!!! That's IT!

Well, CoW has a teenaged superheroine whose entire supergroup is killed from around her and her world's being devastated by an alien invasion. Guess that doesn't qualify as being sucky enough, huh?

Boy, will two of those stir up some controversy given some of the talk this forum's seen, or what?

But, as far as I'm concerned... Congratulations one and all!

There's a stroke of timing, given that LaserJesus is the perfect example of what he just said. He was actually the first person to review my arc. He gave me a 3, which all but crushed me given the fact I was quite sure CoW was a gift to the MA at the time. His critique, however, was mostly spot on, and the changes I made to CoW - Part 1 as a result (he hasn't reviewed part 2, yet...) have been among the most significant.

Not once did he attack me or demean me, unlike the *second* person to review my arc.

Painful as it was (likely the second most painful review I've had), it was still personable and unbelievably helpful. That's the way negative critique should be handled.

Not trying to get the thread locked, Venture, but as an outsider looking in, I've got to wonder when the whole matter's going to be "let go," myself. I'm not questioning your bona fides one way or the other, but it certainly seems to me that a person with your intelligence should eventually be able to come to a point when it's done. Constantly (or, at least somewhat often) using "Blight" as your whipping boy really isn't doing much more than stirring a pot that should have long since settled, and it distracts everyone -- whether they've been in any way involved in the ongoing fracas or not -- from your other intelligent (if sometimes controversial) thoughts and comments.

If you've never considered something the proverbial "dead horse," before now, maybe now's the time to do so?

Welp, now that we're officially out of the running for the First Annual MA awards, and things aren't looking much swoofer for the Players' Choice awards, I figure it's safe to go ahead and make what will probably be the last significant changes to the arcs I'll be making. Those being:

1) Changing the titles to "Consequences of War," and "Consequences of War II." I'm simplifying them to deemphasize the up front push to show they're a two parter. I think that may be part of what's getting me beat up for awards and such.

2) Change the chapter titles to real chapter titles instead of just "Chapter 1," etc.

3) Add some color to the titles if space permits.

4) Change Commissioner G's given name to something not quite as derivative of certain DC characters.

5) Add text that suggests the Heavy Battle Suit worn by Dro'Vidt is a prototype. I was originally going to remove it since they technically didn't exist in the first war, but there's nothing to fall back on that provides the challenge and suspense I need. Hopefully it'll placate the anti-anachronists out there.

If you have any other thoughts, please let me know.

I'm not copping out at all, Jesse. My name's Steve and I live in Texas. I've been a cop for almost as long as you've been alive. I've seen many things worthy of making people feel bad about. This game, and a person's attempt at creating something they're willing to put their heart into isn't it.

I'm not saying you're opinion is invalid. If I'm saying anything is out of place, it's how an opinion is acted on. There are people in this forum that use their opinion as a bludgeon, without regard for how that bludgeon affects the real person behind the creation. If the shoe fits, and you feel the need to continue being defensive, have fun with that. I simply believe that a person can have a negative opinion of someone's work without being durrogatory to the person, and if they choose to be ill bred, then at least we know what we're dealing with.

Oh, and for the record, I'm a *huge* fan of Blackest Night, myself. I tend to think some of what they're doing is quite similar to what I've heard about the "woman in the refrigerator," biyt you're right -- that's a topic for somewhere else.