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Awesome!! The most voters ever for this endeavor. Still time left to pile it on. ;)
 
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Having broken the voting record, I should not try and gild the lily, as it were...yet I'll allow just under 24 hours more to get in any final votes. It is a great crop of AARs to rewAARd for this past year and I am excited to reveal them to you all. So check those votes...cipher the nine...change anything you wish in what has already been given (just let me know if you do) and tomorrow we will see the first of this year's 2022 Ya-Yas! Time to get them out! :D
 
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- Comedy AAR of the Year:

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This one is fairly straight forward. It's an award for comedy. This can be done in many ways. I will leave it to you to decide what is funny and what is not and if it is well done.

- Gameplay AAR of the Year:

1. Songs of the Saiiban by Chilango2
2. Stellaris Wars a nemesis ironman saga 2 by Arithmetitian
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5.
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Another fairly straight forward category. This is to award the straight gameplay AAR. There can be some crossover here, so feel free to consider it however you wish.

- Historybook AAR of the Year:

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This one could get complicated, but really this is the next step from gameplay. Instead of "I did this" it is now, "They did this". Classic history book reads as if a good history book. A survey or more in depth book, it is not one that reads as historical fiction. Though again...tastes and all.

- Narrative AAR of the Year:

1. The Last Heroes by Macavity116
2. Shattered Glass a narrative Stellaris AAR by Von Acturus
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5.
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This is for the fully narrative work that reads as if a novel or short story of historical fiction. Some works have different sections and if it uses such, it is available for here.

- Megacampaign AAR of the Year:

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This category is for the megacampaign as the title suggests. There are some that have lasted years and some that are done within a year. What is eligible here is the portion that was written within the time constraints listed in the above post. If there are multiple works for the same megacampaign written within the eligible period, please note this in your vote.

- Multiplayer/Interactive AAR of the Year:

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This is a combined category because there are not as many of these written like the others, but they are still very much a part of our culture here. Multiplayer is just that, an AAR written by two or more people from a game played by two or more people. Interactive is one that calls the reader in to assist making decisions either in the game or the work itself.

- Graphics/AARtist of the Year:
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This is for the writAAR that puts in special effort in presentation for their graphics. Could be pictures, videos, screenshot usage and manipulation or anything other that adds visually to the written word offered. Ideally this would be for one writAAR and one work, but some of us do have more than one. I've been liberal in the tabulation here so I'll leave it to you how you vote.

- Character of the Year:

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6.

This is for a specific and singular character within an AAR. Please do not vote for "the characters in" but rather a specific character in an AAR. Many times there are multiples, but please do try and single it down.

- Newcomer of the Year:

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This is what it says it is, but some clarification. It does not necessarily mean someone that just joined the forum, but rather is a newcomer around these parts of AARland. If you joined 20 years ago but just wrote your first AAR within the last year, that is eligible. It is about joining into what we do here.

- Writer of the Year:

1. Macavity116
2. Chilango2
3. Von Acturus
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5.
6.

Here is the place to vote for a person and not an AAR. Those that have one and those that have five...all are eligible. You are voting for the writAAR you think did the most impressive or favorite writing throughout this past year.

- AAR of the Year

1. The Last Heroes
2. Songs of the Saiiban
3. Shattered Glass
4. Stellaris Wars 2
5.
6.
 
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Excellent work all! Voting is now officially over and I'll be back later today with our first awAARd.
 
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23 total voters have given us our results (and thank you all!) so we begin with our first reveal...Comedy of the Year!

Look for Gameplay coming up tomorrow.

And thanks so much to all of the voters for their time, memory and recall and certainly effort! :)
 
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I lied. Did not get to Megacampaign until today but it is now revealed.

EDIT - Added MP/Interactive as well.

Look for Graphics tomorrow and this time, I mean it. ;)
 
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Today I have added the reveals for both Graphics and Character. Head on over to find out and look for Newcomer tomorrow. Just about done, folks. Three more to go. :)
 
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Today I have added the reveals for both Graphics and Character. Head on over to find out and look for Newcomer tomorrow. Just about done, folks. Three more to go. :)
Two at once! My good sir: You know you're allowed to take a few seconds to breathe, right? I hope you're not overworking yourself over there. XD
 
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Two at once! My good sir: You know you're allowed to take a few seconds to breathe, right? I hope you're not overworking yourself over there. XD
Ha! It's easier to build a post with just names without having to hunt up links or proper AAR names that were not given (even as I asked for them. ;) .) Plus, I am looking ahead and there are some mammoth lists. It's a scheduling thing.
 
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The Newcomer of the Year has been announced and I'm working on the WritAAR of the Year just now and will be revealed a bit later today (EDITED with link) That lines us up well for the reveal of AAR of the Year tomorrow which works very well for my schedule. As much as I enjoy running these, I have not done much writing during the week and I'm halfway through a very important chapter. Must get back to it. ;)
 
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The AAR of the Year has been announced.

We've done it again, folks! :)

So many great AARs that have been listed and rewarded. I honestly cannot thank the voters enough. We broke the record this year for participation numbers and the list of AARs and WritAARs remains spectacular. I want to thank all of you for putting in the time, patience and memory to rewAARd these awesome works!

Specifically I would like to thank @filcat , @slothinator , @Macavity116 , @Revan86 , @Thaiga , @Von Acturus , @IsaacCAT , @jak7139 , @DensleyBlair , @TheButterflyComposer , @El Pip , @Side , @Bullfilter , @Wraith11B , @Nikolai , @roverS3 , @Eurasia , @Midnite Duke , @Historywhiz , @Arithmetician , @Superstorm and @RedMotorCycle for putting in what is arguably a very time intensive but ultimately a rewarding amount of effort. A project like this does not work without your diligence. Thank you SO MUCH for helping to rewAARd the great works of this past year!

Of course congratulations are once more in order for all of our winners and the first post of this thread has been updated to reflect our results (and I will update the fAARq when I have chance to show it for perpetuity.) Just an all around good show, AARland.

There are still a few things for house keeping to cover. One, I want to mention another time my accounting method. What one lists as #1 gains a 1.6 number. What is listed as 6th gets a 1.1 number. And everything in between is slotted in that place between them. I do this mainly to avoid ties, but it has proven to work over these past six years. That means that EVERY VOTE COUNTS! And as I have stated numerous times, the lack of a vote counts as well. No vote means no count. I was really happy to see most of the categories voted upon this year, but not everyone filled out a full ballot. I fully understand as it takes a great amount of time to put one together, but it will matter in the end. Be mindful of that.

Secondly, what to do about MP/Interactive? It is just not voted upon like the other categories. I understand there are very few these days, so should it remain a category or should we just let it fall under the other categories? I will, of course, follow your desires on this as I always want this to be YOUR AwAARds. So please offer your advice.

Otherwise, I believe this has been a great awAARd season and I could not be happier with the results (even if all three @Bullfilter personas won't let go of certain categories. ;) ) It was a true mixture of old hats and new blood that keep us strong and thriving as a community. And the numbers! My God, the numbers! So much great work and so many excellent AARs and writAARs! Thank you again to the voters and thank you to the many writAARs that have given us endless amounts of joy this past year. Without you, we do not have an AARland.

And start now thinking about the works of 2023. We start this all over again in less than 12 months. So get ready! ;)
 
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Fantastic to have been able to celebrate another excellent year in AARland. Thanks for coordinating things once again, @coz1! Stirling effort, as ever.

Well done to all winners, nominees and – most importantly – voters. Top work all round, and here’s to more in 2023!
 
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I'm glad I was able to find the time to vote. It's always great to see what other people are writing and reading. I've even added a couple to my reading list if I can ever find the time.

All of the nominees and winners should feel proud of their accomplishments this past year! You've done great work!
 
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I'm very positively impressed by this year's turnout. Both the nominations and AwAARds cover the forum very well. CK3, EUIV, Vic2, Hoi4, and Stellaris all winning their fair share. I'm also sad to see no HOI3 AAR's on the top step of any category, but that's just me clinging to a game and sub-forum that is very much being superseded by it's successor (at least in popularity). Of course, some things do stay the same, with @Bullfilter taking the ultimate crown for the fourth time, having moved with the times and gotten his HOI4 AAR at the top of the gameplay category, whilst still securing second and third place with his HOI3, and CK2 work. I would like to congratulate all the winners for having produced stellar work and conquered the hearts of so many readAARs. I hope this years edition is not a fluke and that we can continue to see an increase in the number of voters and nominees. This event continues to be a great gathering point where we get to see the wealth of content that is being produced on this forum and compare them in a a friendly popularity competition.

The ACA's do a similar job, but due to the categorisation of works by game, they don't really mix the different sub-forums as much, and due to their quarterly nature they do tend to have lower turnout. Of course, I would like to encourage everyone who voted here to also go and vote in the ACA's anytime the opportunity presents itself. The more the merrier.

This time around, it is a bit bitter sweet as it is usually an opportunity for me to expand my horizons and start reading new and exciting works in areas of the forum I don't tend to frequent. However, this time around, my real life has gotten so busy that I'm not even finding the time to keep up with the works I'm already following. I hope those who do find the time will take this opportunity to go outside their comfort zone and check out works from other sub-forums, writAARs, and styles than they are already reading.

Once again, and despite a slowdown in my writing activities, I'm happy to see myself and my one and only work nominated in multiple categories, even getting a respectable seventh place in the gameplay category (despite @Bullfilter 's absolute domination). As I deployed significant effort in improving my graphics over the past two years, I'm glad to also see my name up there in fifth position despite hefty competition.

Long live the YAYA's, and let's all vote again next year to celebrate this magical place of alternate history and wonder.

RoverS3
 
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This seems the best place to express my appreciation for @coz1 and his tireless efforts at organising, promoting and tabulating these awards. I doubt we would have half the turnout were it not for his efforts and such things do make the place feel more alive, something I certainly appreciate and I hope others do to.

On the MP/Interactive awards I can see that MP would fit into gameplay and Interactive into Narrative so from that perspective you could collapse the category and there would still be ways for those works to be recognised. The counter argument is that does it do any harm to have a thinly voted on category? I think it does, it makes the voting list that little bit longer and more intimidating and is a bit more work to tabulate and manage. I think I've just about talked myself into saying it should be dropped as a category, but I'd be open to changing my mind.
 
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I think I have to echo @El Pip's statements. Perhaps with an MP match, all of the contributors are nominated; while perhaps an interactive one goes to just the director?

I would point out that the Academy Awards do permit several individuals to receive an award in one category, and thus, since these are similar in scope/effort, we should definitely consider this system.

I also would reiterate that I feel like to narrow things, people should be allowed to nominate works as the year progresses, and that this generates a list of said nominations that people can vote from, with a certain cut off of minimum nominations. I feel like this would generate more interest (and less anxiety from having to troll the boards to find suitable candidates) from those readers less inclined to peruse the general AAR boards, or wander outside of their chosen realms. Perhaps a SurveyMonkey or Google survey link could reduce overhead for the awards producer in order to permit more rapid vote counting and tabulation.
 
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On the MP/Interactive awards I can see that MP would fit into gameplay and Interactive into Narrative so from that perspective you could collapse the category and there would still be ways for those works to be recognised. The counter argument is that does it do any harm to have a thinly voted on category? I think it does, it makes the voting list that little bit longer and more intimidating and is a bit more work to tabulate and manage. I think I've just about talked myself into saying it should be dropped as a category, but I'd be open to changing my mind.

I think I have to echo @El Pip's statements. Perhaps with an MP match, all of the contributors are nominated; while perhaps an interactive one goes to just the director?

I would point out that the Academy Awards do permit several individuals to receive an award in one category, and thus, since these are similar in scope/effort, we should definitely consider this system.

I also would reiterate that I feel like to narrow things, people should be allowed to nominate works as the year progresses, and that this generates a list of said nominations that people can vote from, with a certain cut off of minimum nominations. I feel like this would generate more interest (and less anxiety from having to troll the boards to find suitable candidates) from those readers less inclined to peruse the general AAR boards, or wander outside of their chosen realms. Perhaps a SurveyMonkey or Google survey link could reduce overhead for the awards producer in order to permit more rapid vote counting and tabulation.

It seems that to move away from the category of MP/Interactive is agreed upon lacking any other argument against doing so. I agree with @El Pip above that those that work on that type of AAR can easily be slotted into the other genre categories. As much as I would like to highlight them as a special thing, they just do not seem to be as much of an item in this day and age and I agree, it does add to "the list" which can be imposing to a voter.

As to @Wraith11B 's suggestion, I will look into that. I do not have any trouble vote counting or tabulating and I think we can agree that it did not take long since I have it down to a science after these last six years (again...proprietary and hoping to be trademarked. :p ) The idea of voting throughout the year is very interesting to me though I do fear that we might see far more than desired. Not the works themselves, but a one off vote just because someone was excited in the moment isn't what we are after here (I don't think) so I still like the idea of looking back. It is a hardship, I know. But if they were so memorable and deserving of nomination, the title will show. Again, I hope.

It's a process, folks. As I said in the voting, it is your awAARds and I will do my best to make it as fair and available as possible. Your voice matters in all things.

And thank you for the thank yous. I do this out of a labor of love and will continue as long as I am able. I'm really proud of AARland this year both in the works and the participation of this project. I should think 2023 will be no less. :)

[P.S. - the fAARq has been updated so your wins will be forever remembered. Congrats again to all!]
 
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