This is, indeed, an extremely difficult choice to make and I'm going to go back over the next week or two and re-read each of the AARs before I make my decision.
I have a couple comments, though...
I must confess that I've never been a big fan of selecting - even trying to select - the "best" piece of artistic work. Even a cursory look at the above list (all of which I have read at one time or another) reveals a huge diversity in styles and topics. You’ve got a couple AARs that cover only short periods of time while others are full GCs. Some are “serious” in nature…others are hysterical. How the heck can I say that one is better than another (assuming that the writing quality, etc. is roughly the same)?
Though this is perhaps hinted at by Lord Durham’s comment above, I would like to suggest that there may be a slight (unintentional) bias in this list. No offence intended to Peter, or slight to his AAR, but his “WCFD” has only just been completed and still very fresh in everyone’s mind and it will therefore enjoy a huge advantage over much/most of it’s competition. Considering the number of newer members who have been coming here in the last couple months, I wonder how many have actually seen, let alone read some of the other threads?
I read a comment in a previous OscAAR poll thread where someone said “I voted for xxxxx because I’ve read it and I liked it and I haven’t had the time to go and read the others”. I found myself wondering sarcastically ‘how you can vote if you haven’t actually got an opinion?’ since to vote – to indicate a preference – you need to be able to compare two or more things. I would therefore very strongly suggest that people (particularly more recent members) take the time to go back and read the earlier works before voting. If you don’t have the time or inclination, then don’t vote.
Lastly, I would like to propose that future OscAARs take on a secondary role: one of introducing newer members to some of the great AARs that they may have missed, and to bring back the memories to the folks who’ve been here longer. To that end, perhaps it would be best to restrict nominations to threads that are at least a month (if not two!) old – i.e. were finished - by the time that the poll is conducted.
Just my 2 ducat’s worth.
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Open note to Sharur:
Please understand that this is not intended to criticise the nominees you assembled or anything. It's hard work that comes at a time when I know you've been very busy, and it isn't something that has really been discussed here before. I'm just throwing out my opinion to see if anyone else feels the way I do. I very much appreciate the effort you've made to put this together.
