Rate the Writers for VGR's 30 Days!

[GrooveMan.exe]

Hello ladies and gentlemen of the internet.
I've been taking a little break from running the VGR due to Exams, but now my summer has finally arrived; and I have the scope and free time to properly orchestrate the VG Resource's 30 Days of Gaming event.

Now if you recall, part of the event was to find wonderful people to be part of the VG Resource blog staff. Beyond that, it was personal curiosity to see just how many talented and entertaining writers we have here. And I've seen some very promising entries!

This thread is for you guys judging the entries we've seen. The tSR staff will be judging alongside in private, but your opinion means a lot to us.

Here's how it's going down:
To submit your votes, it's very simple.
- All votes must be done in this thread. I won't be accepting any votes by PM. (If you want to, feel free to spoiler-tag your votes.)
- Only vote for one Entry in each category, please.
- You don't have to vote in all categories (but I don't see why you wouldn't).
- Posts in this thread may only be votes, or enquiries about the established rules. Any other posts will be deleted.
- Those who have submitted entries are welcome to vote, but of course cannot vote for themselves.
- Mod Staff, don't vote here. This is for the general public stop ruining everything GOSH.

Categories for voting are as follows.
- Best-written Entry
- Funniest Entry
- Most Informative Entry
- Entry with Most Character/Best Presentation
- "Close, but no Cigar" Entry
- Booby Prize Entry
Please include the Day and Username of the entry you are voting for, along with a short description (or a longer one if you have some legit C&C to dole out) as to why you chose that Entry. Votes with no descriptions may potentiallly be discounted.

Voting will continue throughout June and close on July 1st.

Archive of Submitted Entries
Day 1: Very First Video Game
The_Doom-ed_One (Spider-Man)

Day 2: Your Favourite Character
GaryCXJK (Yoshi)
RadSpyro (Spyro)

Day 3: An Underrated Game
TomGuycott (Secret of Mana)
RadSpyro (Fur Fighters)

Day 4: A Guilty Pleasure Game
Tachikoma (The Sims 3)

Day 5: A Character You’re Most Like (Or Wish to be)
MRSKELETON (MC, Persona 3)

Day 6: Most Annoying Character
GrooveMan.exe (Trish Daily, inFamous)

Day 7: Favourite Game Friendship/Romance
Masquerain (Ness & Porky, MOTHER)

Day 8: A Soundtrack You Love
The_Doom-ed_One (Still Alive (Yes, just that one song), Portal)
Tonberry2k (Donkey Kong Country 2)

Day 9: A Game Event That Made You Emotional
TomGuycott (Megaman Zero)
ReverieRaven (Suikoden)

Day 10: A Game With Mechanics You Love
Retro X (VVVVVV)

Day 11: Your Favourite Gaming Platform
Magma Dragoon (Neo Geo)

Day 12: A Game Everyone Should Play
Gnostic WetFart (Ico)

Day 13: A Game You've Played Lots of Times
GrooveMan.exe (Mario Party)

Day 14: Game With the Best Story
Rokkan (Astro Boy: Omega Factor)
Magma Dragoon (Legacy of Kain)

Day 15: Important Lessons a Game Has Taught Me
Patient Zero (The Sims)

Day 16: A Game With Style
MRSKELETON (Vagrant Story)

Day 17: Favourite Antagonist
The_Doom-ed_One (Eggman, Sonic Series)
Magma Dragoon (Geese Howard, King of Fighters)

Day 18: Favourite Protagonist
Gnostic WetFart/Dr. Slouch (Agent York, Deadly Premonition)

Day 19: Your Favourite Setting
GrooveMan.exe (MegaMan Battle Network)

Day 20: Favourite Genre
PatientZero (Horror)

Day 21: A Genre You Dislike, But a Game You Enjoy
GaryCXJk (Team Fortress 2)

Day 22: A Sequel That Dissapointed You
Rokkan (Sonic 4)

Day 23: A Game with Great Graphics or Art Direction
MRSKELETON (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia)

Day 24: Favourite Classic Game
GrooveMan (Dragon Warrior Monsters)

Day 25: A Game You Can't Stand (But Others Like)
Alec Pike (Super Mario Pinball)

Day 26: Most Memorable Voice Acting
GaryCXJk (Beyond Good and Evil)

Day 27: Coolest Game Experience
ReverieRaven (Romance of the Three Kingdoms X)

Day 28: Favourite Game Developer
GrooveMan (Grasshopper Manafacture)

Day 29: A Game You Thought You Wouldn't Like, But Ended Up Loving
MRSKELETON (Metal Gear Solid)

Day 30: Your Favourite Game of All Time
ReverieRaven (Baldur's Gate 2)

Day 31: Grab Bag
supersmashbrawl (Super Monkey Ball 2)
tobigoodboy621 (LoZ:Wind Waker)
Gnostic WetFart (God of War 2)

[RétroX]

Do we have to vote for all categories? I have a feeling that we'll get loads more votes if you only have to do one, but can do multiple.

ModEdit: You don't have to vote for all categories, but the point is that there's more than one thing entrants can be a 'winner' of, and that there can be multiple winners. Because that's how Awards work.
~ GM.exe

[Magma MK-II]

Explain the categories.

[GrooveMan.exe]

I... figured they were pretty self-explanatory?

Choosing the article you thought was the best written, funniest, or had the best presentation is a no-brainer. "Close, but no cigar" is an entry you thought was good, but didn't make the grade. Booby Prize would be a 'last place' entry.

[ReverieRaven]

Here are my choices for the categories... This was actually quite a challenge, 'cause I had loads of articles nominated for a couple categories (especially 'Best Written')... ANYWAYS.

BEST WRITTEN

Day 7: Favorite Game Friendship "Ness & Porky" by Masquerain

There is a great deal of depth to this article, and man, was it loaded with emotion. I've never played the game but the way you recounted everything, it's almost like I *did* experience it myself.

FUNNIEST ENTRY

Day 8: A Soundtrack You Love "Donkey Kong Country 2" by Tonberry2k

"Most of these are the SNES's famous RPG collection, but Nintendo and Rare treated gamers everywhere to a little aural sex with Donkey Kong Country 2."
That line right there made me crack up, hahaha.

MOST INFORMATIVE ENTRY

Day 3: An Underrated Game "Legend of Mana" by TomGuycott

I voted this one as most informative for a couple reasons. It was clear that TomGuycott knew exactly what he was talking about, and he gave us a reasonable enough explanation as to why he felt it was underrated. That said, his article had a nice flow to it and there were several descriptions of various aspects of the game peppered throughout, but I feel like the amount of information was "just right" and that he didn't go overboard or skimp at all, either!

On a side note, I own a copy of the game but it's incredibly damaged and it freezes in the same spot EVERY SINGLE TIME, which frustrated me to no end. Because of this, I didn't get to experience everything in the game, and you talked about things that I didn't even know about!

ENTRY WITH THE MOST CHARACTER / BEST PRESENTATION

Day 14: Important Lessons a Game has taught me "The Sims 3" by Patient Zero

I think the medium chosen for this entry was PERFECT. I don't think it would have had the same effect on people if it were written as an article.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

Day 25: A Game You Can't Stand, But Others Enjoy "God of War II" by Gnostic Wetfart

I don't know if I'm supposed to choose a category for this one or not, but this is the entry I almost chose for Best Written. The article flows amazingly, the segue from one point to another are seamless. Gnostic goes into a lot of detail about why he didn't like the game, and then he goes and compared it to another game in the same genre. Not only that, but I really love his writing style. *fangirls* I'm still a bit conflicted as to whether I made the right choice here (maybe it should've been nominated for something else).

BOOBY PRIZE ENTRY

Day 3: An Underrated Game "Super Monkey Ball 2" by supersmashbrawl

I'm sorry if I come across as a little harsh, that is not my intention.

It was a little hard to follow the article at times. I feel like it started off on the wrong foot. Rather than start with the gamefaqs stats, I think it would've been better to start with gameplay and features, a little background about the game, etc.

Honestly I'm a little confused as to the "FPS fanboy" thing, too. Especially when it's mentioned that people prefer CoD or Halo: this simply isn't true.

There are also a couple spots that I didn't really understand what was being said (ex: "It was redeemed as a weird game as the title suggests the word “Monkey”.)

I think the article was redeemed a little bit when it moved from the FPS fanboy/Gamefaqs stats and started talking about the story/challenge mode.

However, I read the article in it's entirety and I'm not quite sure that I walked away with the "full picture" of the game. I think it could've used just a bit more explanation, and more focus, but this could just be me.

~~

Anyways, that's my two cents!
I can't wait to see what other people vote for ... if they vote? XD
CMON PEOPLE. I GOT THE BALL ROLLING LETS GOOO.
~ Matty

Edit: Rephrased criticism because I think I came off as a meanie.

[Chutzpar]

I am going to rock the vote.
Right now.
I'll keep my explanations brief!
I've also tried to avoid voting for the same person twice.

- Best-written Entry
Day 12: A Game Everyone Should Play
Gnostic WetFart (Ico)
For being almost as pretentious as me! B)
But also because it has depth; you talk about games in a much broader sense than just being "for gamers" and make a pretty good argument for seeing them as more than just mindless past-times, which is honestly something I think games need.

- Funniest Entry
Day 15: Important Lessons a Game Has Taught Me
Patient Zero (The Sims)
PZ totally stole my idea of attempting to present the Sims as a Serious Game and for that I will never forgive him (although then I abandoned that idea, so he's welcome to my leavings).
I was torn between voting for this here and voting for it as most informative, but I think your delivery makes this shine. You are too good at remaining deadpan, sir.

- Most Informative Entry
Day 19: Your Favourite Setting
GrooveMan.exe (MegaMan Battle Network)
I appreciate how you didn't just explain the setting (of which I knew nothing!), but explained the ramifications of some of the ideas it uses- it sounds like a setting I'd like too, honestly! It has kind of a personal touch without being e/n, which is nice.

- "Close, but no Cigar" Entry
Day 30: Your Favourite Game of All Time
ReverieRaven (Baldur's Gate 2)
I am mostly voting for this because Baldur's Gate 2 is awesome.
If I hadn't flaked out like a huge baby I was gonna write about Dragon Age as it compared to BG2, and you actually covered a lot of stuff that I was going to touch on. I really appreciate that you didn't devote the entire article to talking about character interaction, which is what it seems a lot reviews of BG2 do. Don't get me wrong, the character interaction is excellent, but I find people tend to forget... just about everything else the game has to offer ;v

- Booby Prize Entry
Day 8: A Soundtrack You Love
The_Doom-ed_One (Still Alive (Yes, just that one song), Portal)
You didn't really... do any writing. This article pretty much just amounts to you quoting the lyrics and explaining what they say. We can read the lyrics, we don't exactly need your input.
It's also strikes me as pretty silly to ignore the (very good, if sparse) sound design in Portal just to focus on one sort of goofy song played over the credits.

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Sorry if some of my explanations are a bit doofy, it's 1 in the morning you can't expect decent critique goddamn ;v

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(I want to also go on the record to say that TomGuycott's secret of mana article and MrSkeleton's Persona article were REALLY GOOD and it was tough choosing between them and some of the ones I actually voted for :c )