The DoomYoshi Awards

[DoomYoshi]

Award for New Player:

Congratulations to cooldeals, as the Winner of 2012 DoomYoshi Award for Best New Player of 2012.

New Players are important to the site in many ways. As time goes on, many of the more veteran players don't have as much time as they used to, and if only players from 2006 played, this site, and its community would be small. Joining a new site, many never venture into the forums. I don't have exact stats, but it seems that a small amount of total players, and especially of new players, actually venture to the forum in any meaningful way.

This award just isn't about community achievement, as we also recognize extremely skilled players, who have become skilled in a short amount of time since joining the site. 2007, 2006, 201, 2008 and 2007 are the years joined of the top 5 players on the scoreboard. To be able to crack the top 500 within a year of joining is a remarkable undertaking, and one that most players will never be able to complete.

As such, this award can be thought of as one of the pinnacles of achievement of this site. It is awarded to a player who embodies both playing skill and community involvement, reserved for a select few who show both in a short period of time. Due to this time limitation, it is certainly possible that those who are nominated for, or receive this award may not end up being players with longevity on this site, but the hope is that this recognition will help foster a sense of welcome in them.

Cooldeals, Joined May 30, 2012, with a score of 3130 by Oct 20, 2012 certainly embodies skill in play. As he motivated the members of his clan to come out in droves and elect him not only for this award, but for another, he embodies community involvement. As the only one of the 4 nominees to still be around, he invigorates my hope for longevity. And as he wore the nominee badge with pride, it is with further pride that I welcome him to pick any Winner badge he wants.

The runner-up was Waterman5000, who has been guested for unknown reasons. The third place finisher was my personal choice, not necessarily because he was the greatest player or the most active member of the site. For one simple, profound observation that to this day shakes the core of my beliefs in my own powers of perception. For noticing that the Classic Map we play on is "wrong" and that this was an error in transcription not noticed after 2 million games on the map, we should forever enshrine the_bishop, although he seems to have left the site. Ultimatelatios54 showed promising signs of being an engaged member of strategy discussions, but alas, has also left the site.

As a final note on the DoomYoshi Awards, please remember that they are non-official. They are an embodiment of the community thanking you for your contributions to the community.

[DoomYoshi]

Congratulations to AndyDufresne, as the Winner of 2012 DoomYoshi Award for Citizen of the Year for 2012.

This award is simultaneously the most prestigious and the most controversial award ever given out on this site. As it goes out to an arbitrary assortment of nominees, and is elected based on a small fraction of players on the site, it will forever be mired in controversy. Because the nominees are of the highest caliber, and are picked based on their impact on the community, it is also the most prestigious.

This year was particularly controversial, as all the candidates came from a specific event - that of the Revolution. While I am still deciding if that event, or the less publicized one of Classic being found inaccurate, was more important to Conquer Club; I did decide that publicity would mean more people had some grounding on how to decide which player was most deserving. Of particular complaint was that none of the nominees was a current site volunteer, which will be remedied in future years.

AndyDufresne might be considered to be at unfair advantage. As the Ex-Community Manager, he is one of the most conspicuous faces on the site. However, those of us who voted for him would certainly argue that he has succeeded admirably in this role, and the recognition attests to just that fact. As further proof, Andy has not abandoned the community, even though he is no longer paid, he is still a voice of reason and humor in many of the active discussions.

lackattack, as our webmaster for many years, certainly needs no introduction nor any praise. While he didn't win this award, he won the more tangible award of having his creation blossom into the site it is now. El_Jefe has some tough shoes to fill. With the announcement of the Revolution, expectations ran high, and still run high. If El_Jefe is to succeed, a stiff upper lip will be required, and a torrential output will not lose any favors. As the successor of this year's winner, rdsrds2120 has perhaps even larger goals to aspire towards. We wish him luck, and offer a reminder that any community, ours notwithstanding, is a tough place to be "the man" in. King Achilles, being the only player to serve on both administrations, is perhaps not a popular character. However, those who respect a peaceful community are certainly appreciative of what he does. Funkyterrance can be considered the most important nominees, as he was instrumental in

As a final note on the DoomYoshi Awards, please remember that they are non-official. They are an embodiment of the community thanking you for your contributions to the community.

[DoomYoshi]

Just keeping people updated... I decided I didn't want to ruin my vacation working on this, and now is a busy week at school, but I should get at least 2 more done this week.

[DoomYoshi]

Congratulations to cooldeals, as the Winner of 2012 DoomYoshi Award for Suggestions, for his Suggestion: Free to Play Speed Games on Classic Map.

In some ways, suggestions can be considered the bedrock of this website. While only a select few have the time, creativity and dedication to run a tournament, anyone can make a suggestion. As there are dozens of suggestions posted every month, and hundreds of rejected/archived suggestion, it truly takes a gem to stand out among this crowd. This also has the potential to be a very controversial award, as repeated suggestions obfuscate the true "winner" of the award.

This is cooldeals' second Award, and with that, he becomes not only the first player to be nominated for 2 DoomYoshi Awards, but the first player to also win two. His suggestion, suggested in 2012, was implemented in 2013, and so is eligible for another award. Will he be the first player to win 3? No, as there is a new rule against winning twice for the same thing.

The official announcement of the implementation assigned the suggestion to koronna. He originally made the suggestion back in 2007, and it had a bit of discussion. The main contention point was that a limitation would cause people to make more multis to get around the limitation. Ironically, a multi came along in 2011 and suggested it again. However, it met with the same problems. Then cooldeals suggested it, and the idea took off, with 5 pages of comments, implementation and this award.

So far it seems to be a big hit in terms of popularity. I have only heard a few complaints. I have checked Speed Games a few times though, and I haven't seen any freemiums, although there are certainly rumors that they are making their way out there.

TaCktiX was nominated for medal stats, which is something we used to use MapRank for. I am quite surprised that it took so long to implement, as it seems like a simple fix. OliverFA's nomination is probably controversial, as he certainly wasn't the first one to suggest Adjacent Attacks, or even the first one to run an Adjacent Attacks tournament. However, he was considered a leader in our Experimental Gamers' group, as I saw no reason to not nominate him. Trench is certainly one of the most popular settings now, and we are glad that everyone can see how much fun the concept is. Gilligan, who just passed a personal milestone of 150 medals, was nominated for Regular Battle Royales. We used to have to wait until January to play Battle Royales, and it was only a matter of time before this was set up. While I dislike the map, I do appreciate the change of pace from regular play, and thank Gilligan for this.

As a final note on the DoomYoshi Awards, please remember that they are non-official. They are an embodiment of the community thanking you for your contributions to the community.

[DoomYoshi]

Congratulations to safariguy5 and /, co-winners of the 2012 DoomYoshi Award for Mafioso of the Year (Category 1).

Mafia is one of the greatest games ever devised, and the forum version requires an extra effort from the moderators, and from the players, to ensure it runs smoothly. The Category One award is to recognize a combination of these attributes that make the games run smoothly. It is meant to ask two questions: which moderators do the best job? as well as: which players do you most prefer to have in your game? Next year these categories will be split, as this may have been confusing.

The first question is one of moderation. Here on CC, we rarely play mafia "standard". Before the game starts, the mod needs to decide on a theme that will bring people in. They have to strike a slight balance between doing the theme justice and leaving enough surprises for the players to explore. Then there is the question of balance. After winning or losing, the players can't feel as if it was too easy or difficult for their faction to achieve victory. While it is easy to balance games with simple roles, since we play with non-standard, complex and dynamic roles, a large part of moderation is simply in game-play.

Design certainly isn't the only aspect of moderating though. The game needs to run smoothly. Mistakes will be made, the mod needs to be quick on his feet and adjust the game to match the conditions. There is a great amount of effort involved too, especially as it relates to simple upkeep.

The second question is one that maybe doesn't have a clear answer. Do you want a player who posts a lot? Or one that is reserved with posts, but makes sure that he always has something to say. Do you want someone who will show the new players the ropes softly, or teach them full-throttle, so they are prepared quicker? Do you want someone who contributes to Discussions?

Both safariguy5 and / are excellent choices for this award.
My first game I ever played was modded by saf. The first game i ever modded was balance-checked by him. The game which I remember most fondly was a saf game. In the past year, Matrix Mafia was one of the most exciting games I ever played. Safariguy also contributes by his regular "Scum Insider" newsletter article, which points newer members of CC to our Subforum.

/ seems to be on a mission to prove that his games are more exciting than safariguy's. HP Lovecraft was a classic game, and a remarkable new approach to setup. Rather than making it so victory conditions are primarily mutually exclusive, with a few exceptions; in this game all conditions could be met, with a few exceptions. Whether that approach starts a new trend, or serves as an individual game that stands alone as a landmark will be the main question of 2013.

Pancakemix has filled a great niche in irreverent setups. Also, as our first mafia mod nobody can deny that he is contributing to the subforum. Edocsil's Golden Pantheon series, borrowed from Nark, has served as an introduction to mafia for many new players, and is an eye-opener in powerful forces and Non-Vanilla games.

I have one hope for these mafia awards. I hope that they instill interest in 2013, rather than just causing reminiscing about 2012. As we lose players to college, boredom or other RL factors, we need to replace players with newer members to keep the community vital. I notice that both winners are already wearing their badges. Let that badge serve as a reminder that you should serve as a beacon to new players.

As a final note on the DoomYoshi Awards, please remember that they are non-official. They are an embodiment of the community thanking you for your contributions to the community.

[DoomYoshi]

Last One:

Congratulations to Rodion, as the Winner of 2012 DoomYoshi Award for Mafioso of the Year: Category II.

While this award is the last award handed out, that has no bearing on how much I value it. Mafia is one of the hardest games to play as it involves, in no particular order: diplomacy, strategy, command of language, perseverance and dedication, detailed note-taking, psychology and lots of educated guessing. The player who wins this award must excel in most, if not all of these areas.

Since he joined our Mafia community, Rodion has been recognized as a strong player. He certainly has all the attributes necessary, and a town with Rodion alive near end-game has a distinct advantage. In fact, this fact has caused him to be quiet in the early game so he has a greater chance to be alive at the end. Rodion's particular strength is to realize that the only true enemy in a Mafia game is not the enemy, but the unknown. His mission is to figure out what we don't know, and with utmost clarity. Rodion is like having BOB in a fog game. He is such a strong player that one of my proudest mafia moments was managing to get him mislynched. Rodion also has a very strategic "mafia" game and is known for faking huge "cases" on his fellow mafia members.

soundman may not be the highest profile player, but he has an indomitable approach and calm reasoning. When the mafia uses trickery and deception, filling the thread with noise, soundman can be counted on to be the clear voice. spiesr likewise has a steady approach. However, this smooth approach to scumhunting can also make him a difficult read, and a great mafia player. strike wolf is one of the high profile "old-school" players, who teaches new players in the old ways, but is not slow to adapt to a newer style of play. Jak111, by his nomination, proves that different strategies can and do contribute to making a better and stronger town. If everyone used the same strategy, mafia could play to that strategy, so diversity is in the town's interest.

As a final note on the DoomYoshi Awards, please remember that they are non-official. They are an embodiment of the community thanking you for your contributions to the community.

One more congratulations to all the winners this year.