So I had this crazy idea, which I got from another site I’m on—as a partial solution to a downfall of the Mutant of the Month system that currently exists on MRO. MotM is a glorified popularity contest—yes, we vote for who we believe deserves the recognition, but because of the limited range of what we can be recognized for, there is the occasional taste of bad feelings if so-and-so doesn’t win, and so on.

I have a proposition—it won’t necessarily “cure” the MotM conundrum, but I think it could help. I propose that we expand upon the possible award offered. Rather than trying to replace Mutant of the Month, why don’t we add onto it? Why don’t we spread the love to a broader array of individuals, for more than just a singular, solitary success.

I have given this some thought, and have come up with a few awards based on observations I’ve made of other sites. You can add onto these, vote them off, and the likes—though only with a fair amount of consensus. I have come up with.

• Mutant of the Month (5 attribute points): I don’t want to eradicate this because it by far the most common form of recognition—recognizing that one, awesome character who makes you just fangirl (or fanboy) uncontrollably. Be it because of shear awesomeness, spookiness, or quirkiness—be it because of the writer’s own skill when writing for this character. I don’t want to get rid of or in any way alter the MotM role, merely add onto it.
  
  
• Most Exemplary Member (2 attribute points): Exactly what it sounds like. The member you believe is just all-around awesome, be it because of their writing, their helpfulness to others, or their tendency to go above and beyond to make others feel welcome.
  
  
• Favorite Thread (3 att. pts. per each person involved): The one thread that made you gasp in shock, shriek in fear, or laugh out loud. The one, awesome read that you obsessively stalked the forums on a daily basis to read.
  
  
• Newbie of the Month (2 att. Pts.): To give our newbies a tip of that hat, and let them know that we appreciate them. These are the newbies who show a lot of enthusiasm about the boards, and have given us a fantastic first impression. Perhaps someone no older than four months on the site?
  
  
• Best Chemistry (4 att. Points per each involved individual) Which friends, enemies, couple, duo, trio or group has the absolute best chemistry, in your opinion? Could be IC or OOC, and can entail anywhere from two to ten (or more?) people.
  

I maintain the same stipulations that MotM has. You don’t nominate yourself. That has different repercussions with awards like “Favorite Thread” and “Best Chemistry”… overall, just don’t nominate yourself. I think the standing rule is that you can win MotM once every three months, and I think that should stand for the other possible awards—maybe not three months, for the areas with lower point values (Most Exemplary Member, Newbie of the Month or Favorite Thread), but most certain for the higher point awards that directly involve a character—MotM and Best Chemistry.

On top of the currently existing rules, I would add on that a member can only win one category per month. I would advise that, for each person nominating, they not repeatedly nominate the same person over-and-over, but don’t think there should have to be a rule against that—but, if someone wins two categories, they should be recognized for the category with the highest point-value. In the category with the lower point value, the “win” would go to the first runner-up. If the first runner-up already won in another category, it would go to the second runner-up and so on.

As per the recognition of the awarded and keeping track of who has won what, I’d hate to make extra work for the mods—making polls is easy, reformatting a site is not. So, I propose that we maintain the format (unless the mods are so inclined to change it) with the current display of MotM banners. But, in the shrine, have sections that recognize each award. For example, we would have a directory in the first post, and then dedications below. I would volunteer to do this. Also, I volunteer to keep a chart of who has won what to make it easier to reference whilst people consider their nominations (presuming that this is a popular idea and falls through).

I propose this because I think it’d be a good way to spread the good feelings. Yes, it would still be a popularity contest, but more people will have the opportunity to be in the spotlight, and it will take some of the overly-competitive edge off of the pursuit of recognition.

I would love to hear other peoples’ ideas. Please be diplomatic, because I was scared witless of proposing this. I will put a poll up above (just in-case you can't say "no" delicately) but I encourage people to voice their opinions. And, of course, the Mod Team has the final say.

Thanks for the read, sorry it was kind of lengthy.

;D Gina

EDIT: Okay, looks like you have to be a mod to make a poll, soo if it's well-received enough, maybe there could be a poll later-on, but for now we'll just talk it out. ^_^

I like the idea a lot but I did not like the awards... I would like to see smaller awards like friendlest, epic fight(er), funny or odd moment. If we use something like the first award you mentioned it would be MoTM again. We need smaller awards, not a big one that enclose so many vague things as MotM or the first one you mentioned.

EDIT: I would like to see a mini plot of the month award.


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This seems weighted too, the third and last awards will always be Cafley... >.> *puts own horn behind back*

Edit: I'm gonna leave this up as permanent evidence that I do not always finish reading before forming opinions or trying to be funny.

Interesting idea which I rather like. I'm not sure that I necessarily like all the suggested award categories specifically, but the idea as a whole I think has a lot of potential. Personally, of the potential awards mentioned, favourite thread is the one I like the most and hope someone does something with.

I like this idea, mainly because if gives us a lot more reasons to nominate certain things/people other than they are our favorite members. I like the ideas of multiple awards and I have seen this work really well on other sites, the majority of Proboards sites I have lurked on use this system, rather than one member exclusively because it makes things a little better rounded.

I know the way things arehas worked on this site for years now, but to be honest, I like the idea of a change that benifits all the members and encourages other to read posts or socialize.

Heck, we can even add a mystery catagory every month to keep things intresting.

... I don't see any reason in this, personally. The way I see it, nominating someone for MOTM is a compliment in it's own right. We are acknowledging that we think they added something to the site, whether that is personality, humor, plot ideas, very well written posts, or whatever. Actually winning said poll means that people agree that they deserve some recognition. I think broadening or adding more categories for MOTM would take some of the magic away from it. I also think this is kind of a case of a few bad apples spoiling the whole bunch, and don't really think that it should be like that.. There will probably always be a few hurt feelings if someone doesn't win or whatnot, that happens in any type of contest, but that shouldn't taint the whole thing.

The ideas themselves that were posted are amazing, and I could see them being part of an awesome side poll or something... but it doesn't really strike me as something that needs to be added onto what we already have. I don't know why we would need to get attribute points for the proposed additions... I would think that the recognition from your peers for being an outstanding member would be enough.

Also, sorry for sounding like a total downer. I really do like the idea, I just can't see why it would be needed. :\

Honestly, I would almost be tempted to say just have a MoTM and add to that a thread of the month, or something like that. There are some amazing threads out there and I feel as if it would be nice to give some of them a bit of a spotlight as well. It might encourage people to read more threads that are out there, whether or not actual points are given for winning something like a thread of the month. For that matter, even if we didn't have a thread of the month as an award, perhaps a thread recommending other particularly awesome threads for people to read?

It doesn't seem to be about bad Apples spoiling the bunch at all, it's more along the lines of the member of the Month System really does need an update.It has worked for the same way for a while and while this system works it would be nice for it to be updated and give people more of a reason to nominate.

I have been on a lot of different sites, exploring, seeing the sort of stuff they do and most sites I have seen don't just have a singular member of the month thing anymore they have multiple categories like this. It encourages activity and encourages more people to look up peoples post to read them.

We could always give a different reward for the new categories besides the attribute points, like custom made signatures or skins for the site, that was always a cool reward that I saw. And the custom made skins could be taken down after the month is over and put in a sort of archive for posterity. Or even drawn pictures for those who are more artistically inclined, that was always another awesome reward.

But it's not taking away any impasses from Member of the month it's just expanding on it. Sure it's considered great to be a member of the month and it's nice to feel appreciated but with this we can spread this feeling more and give it to even more people. This is more about making more people feel like they are special and thats a feeling we really should spread.

I would like to make a suggestion that the best chemistry can also include best fights or best partners in a post, not just strictly romantic so we can have like the best bromance or "family like" realtionship". Since Chemistry can come in so many colors.

In all honesty, I think adding more categories just muddles the whole process up. I like the idea of awarding people for various and specific subjects, but as a monthly thing, I could see that becoming a little too much. I haven't been on any other sites, so I have no idea how other people handle it else where, but I personally like the simplicity of one award, one winner.

I wouldn't mind seeing a year end awards type thing though. Something where you could use all of those other categories and do a 'best thread,' or 'best mini plot' type thing from a larger pool. Makes it a little more prestigious.

Personally, I think that's a pretty fantastic suggestion Shane.

So, just to keep things civil and to collect my thoughts, I shall summarize what has been said, make my own conjectures, and offer revised/potential compromises for discussion. For those of you just joining, perhaps these brief summaries can direct you to people who share your ideals, and help you to formulate your opinion--

Fausto likes the idea, not necessarily the categories offered. Cafas says that Cafley will dominate two categories (*flails at silly Cafas*). Sky thinks it’s an interesting idea, but also states that not necessarily the aforementioned categories—perhaps add a thread recognition to encourage more people to read (but whether or not we include points it open to discussion). Emerald’s all-for the idea. Megan believes that adding more categories will take away from the magic of MotM, but the idea is alright. Shane thinks that adding more awards confuses things, but having awards at the end of the year might be a good idea.

Taking these opinions and observations into consideration, this is the vibe that I am getting--

MotM should be left alone, but the idea of having some alternate forms of recongition, whether these are awarded or unawarded with attribute points, could be a viable idea.

Here is the compromise/solution that I propose.

I will more than willingly nix the “Most Exemplary Member” and “Newbie of the Month” slots. “Mutant of the Month”, it seems that people unanimously agree, should be kept.

As per keeping MotM and a possible alternate nomination separate, what if we move the other awards onto a separate schedule. As in, Mutant of the Month would still be a exactly the same, but once every three months, we have a "thread" spotlight and/or a "best character chemistry" spotlight? That way, MotM still maintains the honor and prestige, but other people still get a shot at recognition.

I am also enamored with the idea of a "mystery" award. So, revised topics to voice our opinions on--

1. Seasonal awards in-tandem to MotM?

2. Should these seasonal awards have attribute points associated to them. If yes, then how much? (I vote, < MotM in attribute points, just to keep MotM at the same level of honor.) If not, do you have alternate ideas for awards, e.g. signatures, skins in dedication to, or artworks featuring your characters, et al.

3. Having a "mystery" category added onto the seasonal awards?

I would like to hear your comments/questions/concerns on these revisions. The floor is reopened for discussion. ^_^

I don't really feel like i should have a say in this due to my newbie status, but I wanted to give my opinion. I've seen some sites that have multiple awards, done monthly. I even know a person who ran a site with multiple awards. She has told me that it wasn't very hard to keep up with. They only had a few awards given, and there wasn't really a prize to it. The awards were just to recognize people for being something special.

I honestly like the idea of different awards. I still personally see MotM as a popularity contest, and that kind of bothers me. I've never been one to like popularity and I like the idea of others being recognized for certain things. I understand that MRO has been a certain way for a long time, but I agree that some things can be expanded upon.

I personally don't know what sort of categories would be used, but I was kind of thinking that that category could change each time. One time it may be for 'Best Chemistry'. The next it might be 'Best Thread'. That way it's more of a side thing and not so much invading on MotM.

This is just my opinion and I honestly don't see it being used, but I thought I'd give an idea.

I am with Gina here, MoTM is fantastic but we need smaller awards. In my opinion the new players or those who do not rp daily or even the players as myself that do not have a lot of rp partners... would never make it to the MoTM or would lose if someone nominated them, because they are fighting with older and hardcore players that are more know.
This idea is not about every player winning, but a way to give them the chance to win.

In resume smallers rewards are a need. Maybe not monthly, but it is something that would be welcomed.

We need a modly opinion here



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I like this idea. I can see how having many additions could be complicated and would need to be worked out, but I don't think any of what was suggested would intrude on MotM. I... can't really expand on that thought because I don't really see why it might do so, so I can't really debate that. As to it not being necessary, well, I don't think it is, but that doesn't mean it might not be fun and nice to do. Having MotM at all isn't technically necessary, either, so why should anything else not being necessary mean we can't consider it?

One thing I am wondering, though: If someone wins one category, can they be nominated for a different category the next month? (Or whatever length of time it is.)

Personally, I like the monthly award, because three months or a year just seems like there are too many threads/events/everything, and not enough chances to recognize the best ones. Plus, honestly, I'd just forget the awards existed entirely, with that much time between them.

I also like the idea of smaller awards; like Celeste suggested, but I don't think the mods want to be dealing with twenty awards a month, so what about breaking it up? MotM would occur every month, and I'd like if favorite thread did too just because that seems the most different and I'd like to see more awesome threads. ...In the sense of I can't/am too lazy to find them, not they don't exist. But then every three months (so say, January, April, July, and October) would be the awards for Exemplary Member and funniest moment, the... second set of three months? February, May, August and November would be Newbie of the Month and best mini plot awards, and March, June, September and December would have the Best Chemistry and most epic fight awards. Which award was which month can be shuffled around and changed and whatever, I just used whichever I saw first to give an example. The basic idea is something every month, but the something changes so we don't get flooded with six awards per month.

I like the idea of having the smaller awards being over a longer period of time, rather than every month like MotM, because I get the idea of preserving the wonder of it. However I do not think that if the smaller awards are going to be over a longer period of time they should have less value. The Olympics are a sporting event that takes place every four years and they get more coverage and recognition than annual sporting events.