Architect Awards noms: Analysis


Apollinaris

 

Posted

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

 

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Originally Posted by Dalghryn View Post
. . . we should also recognize that those arcs that may not be our favorites have all received very positive feedback from some sectors.
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).


 

Posted

#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!


Astoria in D Minor, a horror arc. Arc ID: 41565 - The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts. Arc ID: 170547 - Ignition of the Machine, a story with robots. Arc ID: 318983
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.

 

Posted

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.


 

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Originally Posted by The_Cheshire_Cat View Post
#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!
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".


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!)

 

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Originally Posted by Eva Destruction View Post
Also 9 of the 15 arcs are nominees in the Player Awards.
This is the statistic I was actually looking for, Thanks Eva.

Congrats to all of the nominees in both contests.


Sure today is the first day of the rest of your life. But so was yesterday. And look how that turned out.


 

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Originally Posted by Geek_Boy View Post
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.
Well...

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)

 

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Originally Posted by Shagster View Post
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".
Unless we get the chance to buy more slots past 8 down the line, it had very much better not be. If that is the case, then when the 3rd one comes around hardly anyone will be able to submit arcs.


 

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Originally Posted by Bubbawheat View Post
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.
Congratulations Bubbawheat! Couldn't have happened to a nicer person after all you have done and are doing to help out your fellow MA authors. I don't know about the other nominees but your arc was really well done and you handled the time travel aspect pretty ingeniously.


 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geek_Boy View Post
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.
There was no room in the mission accept text for an EB warning, since it was maxed out making sure we knew just how upset the contact was at a woman being put in a fridge.


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

 

Posted

I didn't make it into the Best Enemy Group category, obviously the Devs are racist towards lizardgirl space amazons.


 

Posted

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
----------------------
Fighting The Future Trilogy
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Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geek_Boy View Post
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).
You know, there are some people that play this game... and participate in this forum, that forget it's a game. They hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to play Simon Cowell, thinking somehow that demeaning other people, or their work, somehow makes them great purveyors of art or some such.

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

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalghryn View Post
You know, there are some people that play this game... and participate in this forum, that forget it's a game.
Totally copping out again. What I'm saying has merit whether you agree with it, like it, or not. My name is Jesse Miller. I'm 31 years old and live in Ohio. I do community theater and am working on a graphic novel. There. I'm not anonymous and I still don't like this arc and still find it offensive.

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.


 

Posted

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

 

Posted

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!"

 

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Quote:
My opinion is not worthless because it differs from yours.
It's worthless because it's not even an opinion, it's just an aesthetic preference.

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"

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by PoliceWoman View Post
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....
If this is true you need to say which arc so I can play it right now.

(I'm picturing this)


Astoria in D Minor, a horror arc. Arc ID: 41565 - The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts. Arc ID: 170547 - Ignition of the Machine, a story with robots. Arc ID: 318983
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.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalghryn View Post
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.
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.

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.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geek_Boy View Post
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.
If I'd signed up to CoH solely for the purpose of learning how to create arcs, inent on getting college credit and perhaps making a career of it -- or at least using it to further my career -- then I'd expect some level of critcism that may be painful. That's not what this is all about, however. Just saying.

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

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by PoliceWoman View Post
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....
That arc sets ham sandwiches back a century. They've fought hard for their rights!


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalghryn View Post
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.
Thank you for posting this!

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

 

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Originally Posted by ArrowRose View Post
Are you trying to provide input to make an arc better?
Without breaking any forum rules, let me see how subtly I can put this: I spent a good long while typing up posts to tell the author things that I thought they could do to improve the arc, but that conversation no longer officially happened.

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.


 

Posted

Quote:
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'm not crazy about this rule and break it on a regular basis. I've one arc where the contact doesn't know there's a not required for mision completion EB waiting to attack the player so having it revealed in the mission accept text would undermine the whole story. 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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Originally Posted by Irresponsible View Post
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.
It's almost like a game to me. I know I need to do it to have any chance of a dev ever liking it, so I try to find new ways to do it with each mission. I enjoy the challenge, but then again I have three arcs up (all of which I at least tinkered with on Test before I15 ever went live and gradually had the warnings edited in) and haven't bought any extra slots. If I was doing an arc a week or something it would have driven me batty long, long ago.