Architect Awards noms: Analysis
. . . we should also recognize that those arcs that may not be our favorites have all received very positive feedback from some sectors.
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I guess I should also suddenly think all the terrible comedies titled "_____ Movie" are suddenly good because they made money.
I think I'll take down all the quirky art pieces I have around my home because Anne Geddes is way more popular and there's no way I could get sick of looking at babies in funny outfits.
Also, Carlos Mencia is suddenly hilarious even though I've heard all the jokes he's telling from other comedians who actually wrote them and were funnier.
If we all lived by that motto Disco would never have died and I'd still be a white boy with a bat symbol shaved into my head (hey, it seemed awesome in 1989).
#1, #4, very much #7
Though with a few simple re-writes, I think I could get Tomorrownauts to hit all 7. I know what I'm entering next year!
Captain Skylark Shadowfancy and the Tomorrownauts of Today. Arc ID: 337333 - Signal:Noise, where is everybody? Arc ID: 341194
@The Cheshire Cat - Isn't it enough to know I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
12 second horror stories - a writing experiment.
Oh wow, I have #2 and #7 in one of my arcs. I didn't enter any of my arcs in the contest though. Didn't know about the contest. Been kinda busy playing another NCSoft game lately. <_<
But I would like to congratulate all the nominees! Good luck to you guys and gals.
#1, #4, very much #7
Though with a few simple re-writes, I think I could get Tomorrownauts to hit all 7. I know what I'm entering next year! |
to be eligible for the 2010 Architect Awards, will an arc have to have a publication date after the entry deadline for the 2009 Awards? or will it be more open than that?
I'm thinking it might be like the Academy Awards. must be "released" during the covered "year".
I'm a published amateur comic book author: www.ericjohnsoncomics.com
******MA Arcs****
Arc 5909: "Amazon-Avatars"
Arc 6143: "Escalation" (Nominee: Architect Awards, Nominee: Player Awards, and Dev's Choice!)
Also 9 of the 15 arcs are nominees in the Player Awards.
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Congrats to all of the nominees in both contests.
Since I find it offensive (I'm really hard to offend until it comes to sexist or anti-semitic imagery - haven't found anything anti-semitic, but I'm being totally open here), I'm kind of sickened to see that particular entry in there.
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It may have started out sexist, I don't know, but it's clearly gone mainstream. Ralph Dibny is zombieing it up in Blackest Night right alongside Sue.
The larger problem is not that women are fridged, it's that a character who gets fridged is being considered, not as a character in their own right, but as just a means to make another character react.
And that happens left and right in comics. Often during massive companywide crossovers. Often at editorial direction. And it's always terrible.
This is why the saying goes around in comics-writing circles, "if you love something, kill it". Because if you don't, when somebody else is on the book and they or the editor don't love your character, they gon' get fridged. At least you can give them death with dignity.
(this is allegorically examined in the Astro City collection "Family Album", specifically volume 2 issues 11 and 12)
Now, being white and male tends to improve a character's chances of being "defrosted" -- revived, repowered, EMpowered, whatever -- but the fridging is just as much a problem whoever it happens to.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
Hm. what will be the restrictions on which arcs can be entered each year?
to be eligible for the 2010 Architect Awards, will an arc have to have a publication date after the entry deadline for the 2009 Awards? or will it be more open than that? I'm thinking it might be like the Academy Awards. must be "released" during the covered "year". |
Only 9? That's actually lower than I would have expected.
Wait a second, you're talking about the official architect awards. I've been spending way too much time and thought on my own awards I almost forgot about those. *checks announcments* *sees name* *squee!* And gratz PW on your own nom too, as well as those other 7 regulars who are also nominated in the player awards. It goes to show that the devs and players do share some good taste. |
Since I find it offensive (I'm really hard to offend until it comes to sexist or anti-semitic imagery - haven't found anything anti-semitic, but I'm being totally open here), I'm kind of sickened to see that particular entry in there.
Especially since even though the devs have said over and over that you can't have an EB in a mission without describing it in the mission accept text and said arc commits that sin, too. Or at least it did when I tried to play it and gave up in frustration and disgust. |
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
I didn't make it into the Best Enemy Group category, obviously the Devs are racist towards lizardgirl space amazons.
No wonder I didn't make it. I only had #3 and it was only 1 mission out of the 4. I don't know how I will get in next year, #1 is a killer. I am lousy at doing little girls.
Wait, that doesn't sound right.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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That's a cop-out. Britney Spears is absolutely terrible at everything she does, but she has at least one Grammy. So since someone else thought it was good I'm supposed to suddenly forget that I disagree on many, many, many levels?
I guess I should also suddenly think all the terrible comedies titled "_____ Movie" are suddenly good because they made money. I think I'll take down all the quirky art pieces I have around my home because Anne Geddes is way more popular and there's no way I could get sick of looking at babies in funny outfits. Also, Carlos Mencia is suddenly hilarious even though I've heard all the jokes he's telling from other comedians who actually wrote them and were funnier. If we all lived by that motto Disco would never have died and I'd still be a white boy with a bat symbol shaved into my head (hey, it seemed awesome in 1989). |
Everyone has their opinion about what's good or what's bad, but that is all it is -- an opinion. Simply because you have a level of intelligence that allows you to speak that opinion in some kind of lucid fashion, does not render differing opinions worthless.
This *is* a game, and real people are playing it. It isn't high art, and none of us are paid critics. I'll stick to my guns here. The manner in which some opinions have been displayed here is just bad form. You can justify it any way you like, but that doesn't change the fact.
It's one of the drawbacks of the Internet. Unfortunately, it's one some people take advantage of far too often.
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
You know, there are some people that play this game... and participate in this forum, that forget it's a game.
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You're right that "Simply because you have a level of intelligence that allows you to speak that opinion in some kind of lucid fashion, does not render differing opinions worthless." My opinion is not worthless because it differs from yours. Other people are allowed to have their opinions too, and if they want to defend them they're more than welcome to. I'm stating my opinion and supporting it. You're welcome to post yours and support it. It's called a conversation. Telling me I'm a bad person for not liking something is essentially trolling IMO.
I'm not sure I'm completely on the same page with Glazius re: the meaning of "Women in Refrigerators" since I understand it to be more about female characters existing for no other reason than to die horribly to motivate the "more important (usually male)" characters around them.
I also love Blackest Night and don't see it as using that trope at all. No new characters were killed this way and most of the characters have been dead for a good long while. Ah well. I'm a giant Green Lantern fan and that's not what this thread is about.
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.
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
In one of my arcs, I have a ham sandwich in a refrigerator, and the ham sandwich pays the ultimate price in order to give one of the male characters stronger motivation to defeat the bad guys....
@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"
My opinion is not worthless because it differs from yours. |
I find the whole WiR thing to be outrageously overblown and usually trumpted by men trying to prove how "sensitive" they are. Women are overrepresented as victims in comics because comics (Western mainstream superhero ones anyway) are written for adolescent boys. That's because it's adolescent boys who buy them. Publishers have tried writing comics for girls; girls don't buy them and they get cancelled. Yes, I'm sure we have lots of females of various ages here who read comics, but this isn't exactly a proper subset of the population. Arguing whether or not the portrayal of women in comics is sexist is on a par with Canute ordering the tide not to rise; it doesn't matter if it's nature or nuture because either way it's not Marvel or DC's or any other publisher's fault or problem.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
In one of my arcs, I have a ham sandwich in a refrigerator, and the ham sandwich pays the ultimate price in order to give one of the male characters stronger motivation to defeat the bad guys....
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(I'm picturing this)
Captain Skylark Shadowfancy and the Tomorrownauts of Today. Arc ID: 337333 - Signal:Noise, where is everybody? Arc ID: 341194
@The Cheshire Cat - Isn't it enough to know I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
12 second horror stories - a writing experiment.
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.
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With that kind of background, I tend to think people need to grow a bit thicker skin and that they're too coddled nowadays. Not everything you do is good and you don't always get points for effort out in the real world.
Oh, and as usual Venture is a terrible poster and I'm going to put my fingers in my ears and go "LAH LAH LAH" because even if Jesus, Ghandi, and John Lennon registered City of Heroes accounts and lambasted every word of one of his posts, proving him wrong factually, grammatically, and theologically, he wouldn't admit he was wrong. There's just no point in me wasting my fingers on it.
I will admit I can be a tad blunt. Blame my art school instructors back in the day. Spending weeks at a time getting less than 4 hours of sleep a night only to turn in projects that had literally sometimes included your blood (knives are sharp) only to have your professor basically tell you you're a bad person who should be ashamed of themselves gives you a thick skin.
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Now, sorry for the temporary hijack, PW. I'll try to be a good boy from now on.
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
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. |
Anyone who submits their arc to this board has either put their heart and soul into a creation, believes it is good and is seeking affirmation, or is pouring their heart and soul into something and seeking help on this board to make it better. In either case, what purpose is served by bashing the arc?
What people like in art, literature and movies is so subjective. Just because a board critic dislikes something doesn't make it bad. Especially in this format, there are all sorts of arcs that I find enjoyable and for many different reasons. I have enjoyed arcs because they have a story I love, because they are funny, because they are fun to play, because they have an emotional impact or because or they make me think. Some board critics have tunnel vision. If an arc does not meet their concept of what is logical or their model of what makes a good arc, they bash it. Or worse yet, they find one detail (or lack of detail) in an arc that they find objectionable and they label the entire arc as bad. They can't look past a flaw and find what might be good in an arc.
We are all human and are bound to like different things. No one is asking board critics to like everything or 4 and 5 star everything. Just ask yourself why you need to bash something that someone else poured their heart and soul into in such a nasty way? Is it to help the author or to make yourself seem important? Are you trying to provide input to make an arc better? If so, do you really think that most people whose arc is attacked, will look past the nastiness and take away anything of value?
Dalghryn said it perfectly. "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."
@Gypsy Rose
In Pursuit of Liberty - 344916
The Vigilante - 395861
Suppression - 374481 - Winner of The American Legion's February 2011 AE Author Contest
In-game I even gave them a star more than I really wanted to because I could tell they had put a lot of effort into putting this arc together. It's obviously something they are really proud of.
It has some glaring problems and an image that is literally an icon for how not to write women. I gave and would be happy to reiterate my thoughts on how to improve this arc (since I think the idea is a really good one and its the execution I dislike), provided the author would actually be interested in hearing them instead of reporting posts to mods because someone dares to dislike their arc and generally being what I would politely call, "unable to take criticism." My experience thus far shows they are more inclined to do the latter, but I am happy to be proven wrong.
As far as this arc goes, nothing would make me happier than to see it improved. For purely selfish reasons, I'd love for there to be another arc out there that touches all the bases for me that I would want to play over and over again. As the arc currently stands, I would be disinclined to play it again, even just to find things I think the author should change to improve it. With a few minor tweaks (albeit ones that would make a gigantic difference), though? Well, with a few tweaks I'd be happy to add it to my rotation and recommend it to all my friends.
Assuming, of course, that the author would like to hear some constructive criticism and not just another thread of people saying, "This is fantastic and you're a good person because you wrote it!" I want to be perfectly clear that I want this arc to be better and think it has the potential to be truly great. The plot and theme are good ideas, which is far more than most of the arcs out there (in the MA and the official content) have going for them.
Especially since even though the devs have said over and over that you can't have an EB in a mission without describing it in the mission accept text and said arc commits that sin, too. |
I always give warning in the mission description text about EBs/AVs and almost always put a warning somewhere in the contact's dialog that the player sees before a mission about the need for having a team when going up against an EB but being restricted to doing it every time in the mission accept dialog feels too restrictive.
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You know... I'm disappointed that neither of my CoW arcs made the cut, too. I'd love to know what mine didn't have (or did have) that these did (or didn't). It's taken me a day to get past that (and, trust me, my wife can testify to my lousy mood last night). But the bottom line is, we all recognize the quality of many of the arcs that got nomination and -- personal preferences or feelings aside -- we should also recognize that those arcs that may not be our favorites have all received very positive feedback from some sectors.
Bad mouthing the creators of these arcs, or the arcs themselves, is simply bad form. It reeks of sour grapes.
So, for my part... congratulations to each and every one of you. Well deserved, and well done.
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496