Of the Month

[Finn Miles H7]

I have been throwing around the idea of including an "Of the Month" contest here on the site. It'd be a very small/quick contest in which we nominate and vote for characters, members, plots, threads, etc. The winners would then be featured on the side board each month.

I need your help in deciding first, if this is a good idea, and second, which categories we would use (because we can't use them all). Please take this time to vote for 1-2 of the categories you think would be most beneficial to recognize, and also feel free to add any reasoning, suggestions, comments in a reply!

The poll is open for a week, and then hopefully we can start this in August with our first nominees and winners of the categories we select!

[Ariane Chan]

I think a thread poll would be good. There are lots of threads and the most interesting one would be recognised. On the other hand, I'm not keen on plot, the only reason being that posting is generally scarce at the moment and most plots are either on hold or progressing slowly. I don't think there should be added pressure to further and focus on your plots, but general posting, which I why I want there to be a Thread of the Month. For similar reasons, at the moment I wouldn't agree with a Couple of the Month, although I do actually like this idea, along with the plot one.

I'm against the male/female and member ideas. I think there'll be a trend and I think it's unfair on members who want to spend time here but can't. *shrug* I think that's my own view, though; I've never liked these sorts of votes.

EDIT: The other problem with female/male is that there's an imbalance of female and male members... though you could mean character rather than member... in which case I would be more inclined towards this, though I'd still feel like it's the character who posted the most, perhaps.

[Finn Miles H7]

For male/female, it would be character, not members. That way, if there is a new character that month who stands out, or even an old character who makes a strong appearance, or just a character in general who was in a good thread that might not win thread of the month... they would be recognized.

I appreciate your input, Viv!

[Ivy Tunstall]

To a large extent, I agree with Viv.

I think that a Thread of the Month vote would be great. There is so much awesome writing on Four Houses and only a tiny proportion of it gets recognised in the Hoscars. Often only more recent threads are included in the Hoscars, after all. So I am fully in favour of a Thread of the Month poll.

The others categories are, I think, sufficiently covered by the Hoscars already.

[Finn Miles H7]

Keep voting and giving input!!!

[zoeyshay]

I like the thread one for the same reason as Viv. I read a lot of posts and threads that are brilliantly written, and they get no praise for it.

I was also thinking: Maybe a Poster of the month thing? I know it sounds like member and thread, but for member it counts for activity and contribution as well as posting. And fpr thread of the month, it has to be all the people in it. And sometimes, like when you're trying to post with a new member to help them, their posts aren't really good, so that throws out the thread. But there's a lot of great RPers who don't have the time to be on a lot and contribute, but when they post, it's a awesome post, just as there's memebers who post awesomely in a bad thread. So maybe that? And if it's covered in the Hoscars, tell me and I
I'll think up more.

[Finn Miles H7]

It seems as though "Thread of the Month" is the clear winner. For now, we'll start with that and see how it goes. Along with the thread of the month though, we'd be inevitably recognizing whoever posted in that thread, so perhaps that eliminates the need for a male/female of the month or member of the month. Thread of the month is a good start, so we'll see how that goes and then evaluate our efforts if needed. Be watching for the Thread of the Month nomination opportunity!