unforum

[Anonymousity]

@ qaqa: Actually, I do not try to force anybody to read blogs, and to be honest - I ever only really stick to a single one, and skim it only once every month.

The reason I included this rule, as I said, was to ensure that the votes would go to each category in roughly the same amount. And not just blogs - imagine voters just voting for one category, like, say, the best actor. Or for three. Or four. Making it a lot of work to actually count all the votes down.
sje proposed that we should nominate picks and only allow people to vote who'd check these out - I'd be interested to hear what you think about that - it certainly would fix some issues, but could lead to others.

And I have to say, given that this is UF and there are three new blogs a day, I am rather surprised there is an outcry against blogs going on. I get that not many people read all, or any, but I'm surprised how few seem to like them.

But if this is indeed the problem to you it seems to be, then I can gladly change that, but this could also result in some posters voting only for one or three category's.
So yeah, I'll put this on a hiatus and see where it is in about a week, and what the opinions on here are.

[qaqa]

The issue is not that blogs are on it, it's that the rules are draconian and ill-thought-out, and frankly seem skewed towards creating more traffic for either blogs or lesser-known vlogs, however unintentional that is. And you know what, I have no problem with drumming up traffic for lesser-known vlogs or blogs, as long as that's what the post is about from the beginning. This wasn't; you claimed to be making an awards thread, then amended it to "well, we want to give other stories a chance." An effort to get other stories exposure is okay on its own terms, as long as it's presented that way from the start. But there's also a likelihood - however unfair - that you're not going to be able to drum up a large pool of votes for just blogs or the later-gen vlogs, though many of those are excellent. This thing doesn't make any sense, which is why it should be rested.

I like TrailheadTroll's links, and read many of the blogs cited. Just because those threads aren't full to bursting doesn't mean no one here cares about them. Sometimes forums simply evolve differently.

[Anonymousity]

Well, as I said, that wasn't really my intention as much as just making this interesting for the participants and getting a broad as much result as can be. I wouldn't like to turn this into "2011 - MH Season 2 wins all. 2012 - MH season 3 wins all. 2014 - ..." etc or "for blogs: 2 people voted. For best individual character.... 2 voted... for best series, 2013 people voted for..." etc. .

And yeah, it is definitely halted/paused until I get a better picture of what you guys think. As I said, most of the rules I posted do have a whole lot of reasons which I wrote about earlier, and they all have their pro's and con's, just as doing this with no further rules has its pro's and con's. Thus, I think it is best to halt it and discuss those things or find a better set of rules suited for the majority.

[The Kempest]

Holy shit qaqa. Don't take this the wrong way, but I wish we didn't like each other so we could go toe-to-toe in the kick-ass-est of flame wars.

Anyway, Anon, I'm glad this has been halted for the time being. The first round of voting should totally be "how to hold a legit awards ceremony."

[RatheadSyndicate]

[Uniquename]

I'm sorry homosexuals ruined your voting thread Anonymousity. It started out great until "VLOGS ARE SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER THEN BLOGS AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE BLOGS THEN YOU DON'T LIKE READING SO YOU MUST BE STUUUUPIIIIDDDD."

<3

[MetalGearSamus]

[qaqa]

I blame the Welsh, as I always have.

[The Kempest]

Wow, this got fucked up in a hurry.

[Ryudragon]

[ChildOfAtom]

Oh, gosh! This was fun, wasn't it?

But now it's devolved into name calling.

And that means it's time for everyone to step back, calm down, and don't back in here until you chat rationally, and without calling people names (even in a socially acceptable, but still obliquely insulting way... yes, you. Stop it.)

[Carnahan]

You all mad. I nominate and elect 2080 for all of the above; I win.

[Phenom]

I'm just going to nominate TJA Projects for best vlog and leave.

[DaLadybugMan]

So now that I've almost single-handedly shot this topic to fuck, let's see if I can handle things a bit more maturely:

First of all: I know I'm being immature. I frankly don't care all that much, as I never really got into unfiction's community, so I don't know any of you personally. I'm frustrated with an issue or two, and as a result, I'm trolling. If you want to hate me, that's well within your rights.

I want to make it perfectly clear to qaqa (and everyone else, for that matter) that I am not, in fact trying to plug any of my own stuff. I don't know if you intended to imply that I write all the blogs or that I'm speaking on behalf of everyone who writes blogs or something, but the second person makes it seem like you're speaking directly to me about "self-inserts" when I'm doing nothing of the sort. If I've misread that, I'm sorry. Go ahead and rant about how big of a dick I am. I deserve it.

If not, though, I'd just like to remind everyone that I don't speak for or on behalf of any creators, and I'm definitely not plugging any of my works at all. Please don't get mad at any of them on my behalf.

Let me explain myself as briefly as I can: I see so many people working hard on blogs, pouring a ton of effort into them, and then on top of that, having to deal with people who try to gamejack them, just because the comments allow direct, visible actions with viewers. The vlogs can basically do their own thing and plan things out for months without having to worry about events getting messed up. Blogs don't have that luxury. Basically, it takes a lot of skill to write a good blog, because you have to write a lot of it on the fly. And I come to this topic and all I see is the implication that they're terrible. Let me give you some examples: "I don't plan to do so [read blogs] because of this thread." "I'm not going to read a blog just to vote for this. " "I don't need to be lectured about reading more blogs, and I certainly don't need an awards ceremony set up just to try and force me to read them."

You can see why I'd be a bit upset. I mean, to me at least, those are pretty blatant statements against blogs, and with all the people protesting that they shouldn't have to vote for blogs, the implication is that they haven't even tried reading a blog since those few earliest ones. Surely they've read at least one they've enjoyed, right? If not, it seems like no one even cares.

So yeah, don't listen to me. I'm an asshole who's pretty bitter, and I know it. Don't judge all bloggers by my actions or assume that any of them share my mindset. Listen to people who can actually promote blogs maturely, like TrailheadTroll.

And now for three apologies: mods, I'm sorry for fucking this topic to hell and starting this flamewar. Bloggers, I'm sorry for potentially tarnishing your reputations. And Anonymousity, I'm sorry for completely ruining your thread. I really thought what you were doing was a good idea and wasn't just, as some people said, a way to promote blogs or lesser-known vlogs.

Dunno if I'll be coming back to unforum or not. Don't know if I deserve to. But whatever. I guess I'll lurk some. Sorry for this whole shitstorm again. And please just try to remember that I wasn't the only one acting immature (though I probably acted the most immature). It'd be nice if the rest of you acting out of line bucked up and admitted it .

[qaqa]

I am not against blogs and I never have been. I'm against what I perceived to be a transparent attempt to do not an awards thread, but rather a fairly limiting exercise which seemed engineered to spotlight whatever the OP (Anonymousity) was personally interested in. If that wasn't his intention then I am mistaken, but that's how it came off to me and other people and what we got in the original posts was something deeply baffling that doesn't work as an awards thread.

I'm also against poorly-written blogs and vlogs, and I can be just as merciless on either. Ask anyone who knows me on Angora. I've read blogs (and watched vlogs) that started a while ago and I've also read more recent ones, and I find a mix of good and dreadful. Whatever turnaround time you choose to impose on yourself, whatever typical Internet bullshit you have to put up with, the bottom line on any work is, is the product serviceable or not? People can put time and effort into something - vlog or blog - but an audience can still find it poor, and have the right to that opinion. Sheer force of effort does not automatically make a vlog or blog worthwhile. I've written on the fly both for myself and for my work on a regular basis and that's how it goes no matter the medium.

No one here has it in for the blogs. And no, I don't think you write them all. People are either going to get into some of them or they aren't, but coming in with an attitude, a load of insults (going back a while ago, too) and a lot of frustration that frankly has nothing to do with any of us specifically isn't going to help you or your cause and it certainly was never going to make me care about what's hurting your feelings. I don't think I was out of line. I'm just tired of being lectured because this forum is not as blog-focused as it could be. That's just the variety of the Internet.

ETA: And this is why I didn't want to be mod.