Real World Dynasty Of The Month May 2007

[tommytomlin]

[QUOTE=wrestlinggod;236726] That being said, if you plan on your's running 2-3 months you are okay with jamming constant action and turns and swerves and quick controversial storylines; whereas someone who plans on carrying on a diary for 6 months or more may pace themselves a little more and honestly make it a little more realistic in terms of how actual storylines would play out in real life. Hint. Forshadow. Slow build to a climax. Move on to the next storyline. And so forth. [/quote] That's true, but people aren't reading my diary because OMGZ GOLDBERG SPEARZ AUSTIN!!, they're reading it (I hope) because of how it's constructed, the detail, the characters and the effort put into the hype. I'm not breaking with realism when I write my shows. The way they are constructed borrows heavily from the WWF in 1998. Take a RAW from that period. Vince McMahon has a ceremony to announce the new WWF Champion, Austin interferes with a freakin' zamboni. A segment later, The Undertaker and Kane break McMahon's leg. And that's in the middle of the show. The only thing I would have changed in my diary, if I were making it into a 6-month+ creation, would have been holding off on the Sting debut. Everything that has followed would remain the same. I don't see why that is any less valid a booking style than a 6-month slow burn.

[wrestlinggod]

[QUOTE=tommytomlin;236732]That's true, but people aren't reading my diary because OMGZ GOLDBERG SPEARZ AUSTIN!!, they're reading it (I hope) because of how it's constructed, the detail, the characters and the effort put into the hype. I'm not breaking with realism when I write my shows. The way they are constructed borrows heavily from the WWF in 1998. Take a RAW from that period. Vince McMahon has a ceremony to announce the new WWF Champion, Austin interferes with a freakin' zamboni. A segment later, The Undertaker and Kane break McMahon's leg. And that's in the middle of the show. The only thing I would have changed in my diary, if I were making it into a 6-month+ creation, would have been holding off on the Sting debut. Everything that has followed would remain the same. I don't see why that is any less valid a booking style than a 6-month slow burn.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately this has degenerated into exactly what I was afraid of. I am sorry that you seem to have taken offense at my opinion, as that was not my intent. On rereading the part of my last post that you quoted, I can see where by my own words it looks that I was talking directly at you. I did not intend to make it out to sound like I was talking to you. But it didn't come out that way. The original post had nothing to do with you. I have no problem with your diary, your booking style, or you. As I said I like your diary. I only wish Vince had handled the whole thing better. My original opinion still holds true. I still feel like there should be a time period of the diary running before it qualifies to be nominated. The truth is that out of the 12 nominated, I can honestly say that there are 6that I have never read a single post in. That doesn't mean that those diaries are any less quality then the 6 that I have, it just means that I haven't read anything out of them. Not that my opinion matters anymore than anyone elses. But the same holds true also.

[wrestlinggod]

[QUOTE=SHaynes23;236727]What you just explained there is what I was trying to do. I didn't set out to win anything. I had a WWE dynasty before that lasted somewhere around 4 or 5 months, and I wanted to go back to that style. I was pacing myself well, not rushing into anything....them BAM, whole GDS folder gets whiped clean. I'm really sorry to throw a wrench into this, but I do not feel like it would be right for me to win it with a dynasty that is gone anyways.[/QUOTE] I feel your pain. I had read somewhere that that was your plan. Good luck on your next project.

[Sensai of Mattitude]

[QUOTE=Oldschool;236666]I'm honored despite not having any votes....I'm kind of just getting going, so hopefully the recognition can turn into a new reader or two..[/QUOTE] Haha, ditto. My vote would have gone to Destiny Awaits, but since I guess that's done with now I voted for tommytomlin's WWF - War. EDIT: WTF, I got totally confused when I was voting, and I was looking at the name of my diary and accidently clicked on the circle next to it without thinking. I dunno. Really sorry, disregard that vote, I wanted to vote for Tommy's dynasty, lol.

[keefmoon]

I hate to get involved, but here's my two penneth; [LIST] [*]There was an End Of Year Awards, where we had Best C-Verse diary, Best Real World, Best Character etc. [*]To say that the end of year awards should be about potential longevity is, in my opinion, a bad idea. It should be like the month award- the best of that year. [*]Whilst only having long term diaries would be a nice idea, it's limited. Once you take two people out as previous winners, there aren't that many long term diaries. Especially as someone like me got so fed up with the constant influx of new diaries that it was an influence in me stopping. I know for a fact that someone else is fed up with the new diaries. So we will start seeing old diaries going extinct (as is the idea that you do one diary and make it last, in my opinion) and we are seeing a lot people who are coming in, wham bam for a month, then it ends. [*]I've noticed a few people have voted for themselves, which I have an issue with. I know, each to their own and all that but I think this would be better if people voted for which one they genuinely think is best. If the people in question have done that then that's fair enough, but even I was so desperate to win last year but still didn't vote for myself. [*]I thought that winning DOTM would give you automatic qualification for the End Of Year Awards, rather than being a requirement. [/LIST] I don't want to offend anyone or anything, but I just feel that there are too many new diaries at the moment, and it seems a shame that diaries that won't be around in a months time might beat legendary diaries that haven't lost their touch. But ultimately this is about crowning the best diaries of the month, and that shouldn't have anything to do with longevity (although I'd like to see more long term diaires). However, good luck to everyone that has entered.

[chris caulfield]

i've voted for nevermore's ecw diary.

[G-Prime]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;236818] [LIST] [*]I thought that winning DOTM would give you automatic qualification for the End Of Year Awards, rather than being a requirement. [/LIST] [/QUOTE] Yeah... I like the sound of that more than what I'd previously intended. Opens up the field a little.

[Sensai of Mattitude]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;236818][LIST] [*]I've noticed a few people have voted for themselves, which I have an issue with. I know, each to their own and all that but I think this would be better if people voted for which one they genuinely think is best. If the people in question have done that then that's fair enough, but even I was so desperate to win last year but still didn't vote for myself.[/LIST][/QUOTE] My vote honestly wasn't intentional, and I feel bad towards other diary writers that it might appear that way. I feel like a dumbass.

[keefmoon]

[QUOTE=Sensai of Mattitude;236823]My vote honestly wasn't intentional, and I feel bad towards other diary writers that it might appear that way. I feel like a dumbass.[/QUOTE] That's fine, it wasn't aimed at you. As you mentioned it was a mistake and asked to have the vote changed was a nice thing to do, as it would have been easy to keep your mouth shut and take the vote. So yeah, it wasn't aimed at you and I hope your real vote is taken into consideration.

[sebsplex]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;236818] [*]Especially as someone like me got so fed up with the constant influx of new diaries that it was an influence in me stopping. I know for a fact that someone else is fed up with the new diaries. So we will start seeing old diaries going extinct (as is the idea that you do one diary and make it last, in my opinion) and we are seeing a lot people who are coming in, wham bam for a month, then it ends.[/QUOTE] This is basically the only argument I can see towards sub-forums. Not so much for C-Verse and Real World diaries, since ultimately readership of both types would likely go down with many people frequenting one forum over the other, but for longer term and newer diaries. Personally I think diaries should be split into newer and older dairies... maybe having a cut off point at... 1-2 months or something. Even then that's not ideal, since people post differing show lengths and some people putting out big write-ups for all 3 of the WWE's brands would be stuck in the the forum longer than someone who just fires out a few lines for one show per week, but it would prevent the older diaries that are into stages that require more planning, a slower build, etc being bumped down by people starting diaries... some of which don't even make it to a second event. As much as I don't want to discourage people from starting new diaries... heck my HGC diary is only nearing the completion of it's third show... I think something needs to be done. During the week I was seeking out one of my older favourite diaries and despite the writer only making a post two days earlier, it was located near the bottom of the fifth page. As for the problem of newer diaries getting recognition over older works, well that's unavoidable really. Unless you make specific criteria that rules them out, people will always include or vote current reading. That's what made the end of year awards a bit of a joke to be honest, since there were plenty of very good diairies that ceased ahead of the awards that got omitted, simply because they slipped from the immediate memory whereas diaries that started hot nearer the time of the awards made it in.

[G-Prime]

[QUOTE=sebsplex;236829]During the week I was seeking out one of my older favourite diaries and despite the writer only making a post two days earlier, it was located near the bottom of the fifth page.[/QUOTE] I hate it when that happens. It's amazing how fast they get pushed down... Which can't be great for readership. Except for the really popular dynasties that get posts from fans telling the author how great the show was, which bumps them back.

[BIGJOSH]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;236818] [*]I've noticed a few people have voted for themselves, which I have an issue with. I know, each to their own and all that but I think this would be better if people voted for which one they genuinely think is best. If the people in question have done that then that's fair enough, but even I was so desperate to win last year but still didn't vote for myself.[/QUOTE] I guess you're talking about me! I genuinely prefer my diary to the other ones...maybe it's because I'm a bit of a TNA mark...I mean no disrespect to the other writers by voting for myself. I'm not trying to stir the pot...just explain myself. :D I'm honored to be nominated and honored that people are reading my diary...apparently more are reading than posting seeing as I have nearly 2,000 views in less than 3 weeks and only a couple of people who consistently post.

[keefmoon]

[QUOTE=BIGJOSH;236879]I genuinely prefer my diary to the other ones...maybe it's because I'm a bit of a TNA mark...I mean no disrespect to the other writers by voting for myself.[/QUOTE] That's fair enough then. If you genuinely think yours is the best diary this month then you are well within your rights to vote for yourself.

[sebsplex]

[QUOTE=BIGJOSH;236879]...apparently more are reading than posting seeing as I have nearly 2,000 views in less than 3 weeks and only a couple of people who consistently post.[/QUOTE] That's the case with most diaries on the forum. Personally I leave feedback when I've got something (hopefully) worthwhile to add, which isn't always, especially with some of the current WWE and TNA diaries, since most really need to get a few shows under the belt (if they're being ran realistically) before the writer can really shape what's going on. Also I think it helps if writers try to work on the basis of... if someone gives feedback to you, you should try and return the favour. Obviously we don't really want people just posting "cool diary" in the hope that you'll then give them extensive feedback or props on theirs, but if someone has taken the time to read a writers work and post something constructive about it, I don't think it's asking too much to check out their work and try to comment on it. Of course though, everyone has their reasons behind when and what they post and people shouldn't feel obligated to post just because they read something. Ugh, this is just rambling now, but hopefully I've made some sort of point without generalising too much... I'm probably equally as guilty. It just seems that while we're pushing things like the ITC thread and voting threads, we could as a whole work to create a more responsive forum for writers and readers alike. Afterall, I doubt there's many (if any) writers out there who wouldn't want anyone commenting on their work. This isn't aimed at you BIGJOSH, because I've seen you post in several other diaries, but there seems to be a noticable gap between the amount of people that want feedback and the amount willing to give it at times.

[BIGJOSH]

[QUOTE=sebsplex;236905]This isn't aimed at you BIGJOSH, because I've seen you post in several other diaries, but there seems to be a noticable gap between the amount of people that want feedback and the amount willing to give it at times.[/QUOTE]Gotcha bro... I would love some constructive critiscism in my diary...TNA - A New Era is the first one that I've ever written so I'm still trying to figure everything out...what people like...what people don't like etc.

[berrysi]

Boy this has turned into something way overly serious imo, a diary of the month should be as simple as that. People nominate and then vote for the diary that during that month they believe to have been the best (no self votes though, thats just damn right cheeky), wheather that be new or old. There's bound to be loads of new diaries, the forums got more active, more people equals more diaries, granted in a perfect world some people wouldn't start a new diary every week, which does happen some times here (maybe a 1 diary start a month rule would stop that from happening, see easy fix me thinks, although would need someone to keep a check and enforce, maybe not as easy as first suggestion, but still you get idea, maybe, I hope, :confused: ). End of year awards should be completely separate from these votes and be sorted out near the time with nominations and votes, not sure why someone thought it was a good idea to have these linked in any with that. Just keep these as something simple, fun and as a monthly honour, nothing more or less. As for feedback, yeah it would be cool to get more in-depth feedback on shows and what have you, but I think its a time issue with alot of peeps, thats why I tend not to have left much feedback in recent times and I don't like to leave just minor comments, so I've not been very active in many diaries. Doesn't mean I'm not reading though, so keep up the good diary work peeps. Anyway I'm waffling now, but please for the love of chocolate hobnobs take the seriousness out of this whole diary posting forum, should just be a fun place without the deep edge of competitiveness that is seemingly, from my point of view, going around. Tis just my random opinion mind, I don't like to much seriousnessness when it comes to doing diaries, should just be all about a bit of fun and if I end up on page 2 or 3 a day later of posting, its no major biggie, someone will find it eventually, as long as I'm enjoying writing it thats all that matters. Thanks for vote Shape, glad you like (man hug to you) and my vote is going to WWE: A New Attitude, I love the website, Kimba and shows have been very realistically decent this month. :) I'm tired now....:D

[tristram]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;236818]I hate to get involved, but here's my two penneth; [LIST] [*]There was an End Of Year Awards, where we had Best C-Verse diary, Best Real World, Best Character etc. [*]To say that the end of year awards should be about potential longevity is, in my opinion, a bad idea. It should be like the month award- the best of that year. [*]Whilst only having long term diaries would be a nice idea, it's limited. Once you take two people out as previous winners, there aren't that many long term diaries. Especially as someone like me got so fed up with the constant influx of new diaries that it was an influence in me stopping. I know for a fact that someone else is fed up with the new diaries. So we will start seeing old diaries going extinct (as is the idea that you do one diary and make it last, in my opinion) and we are seeing a lot people who are coming in, wham bam for a month, then it ends. [*]I've noticed a few people have voted for themselves, which I have an issue with. I know, each to their own and all that but I think this would be better if people voted for which one they genuinely think is best. If the people in question have done that then that's fair enough, but even I was so desperate to win last year but still didn't vote for myself. [*]I thought that winning DOTM would give you automatic qualification for the End Of Year Awards, rather than being a requirement. [/LIST] I don't want to offend anyone or anything, but I just feel that there are too many new diaries at the moment, and it seems a shame that diaries that won't be around in a months time might beat legendary diaries that haven't lost their touch. But ultimately this is about crowning the best diaries of the month, and that shouldn't have anything to do with longevity (although I'd like to see more long term diaires). However, good luck to everyone that has entered.[/QUOTE] Keefy my good man, Good post mate. A couple of points from my own personal perspective, and firstly this is no slight on Total Extreme Wrestling at all. I agree, it's frustrating seeing new diaries pop up, get 12 replies, and then no more action... and then on page 3 someone has put up their 45th show with a nice swerve with 2 replies from their loyal fans. I always did Death of WCW? because I wanted to tell a story and it was for me, selfish as that may seem, but definitely, when the diary lost a bit of fire it was sad. I think it was more than just coincidence that I stopped Death of WCW? at one stage when TEW07 came out, because every man and his dog wanted to try their hand. Maybe the way around it might be to have a "Classic Dynasty" folder. Anything under 3 months goes into a "Rookie Dynasty" folder. Just a thought. I know we can't sticky real worlders, which is a great shame so you can't get additional attention from that respect for posting consistently good stories for a good period of time. The point though I mostly want to make is the reason I don't see a lot of diaries continue long term is because, unfortunately, IMO TEW lacks playability. Nothing to do with the game, it's the I guess genre. For instance, I only have '05 (I just cannot get into '07 for a few reasons), and I probably have about 30-40 saved games that maybe entail one or two shows. Only four, three of which made diaries (WCW '93, WCW '98, and Death of WCW? - I have my own personal Mid Atlantic one too sort of similar to outlaw's idea of going to war with the WWF to change history) go longer than the "wow check out this roster and the free agents I could acquire" period. In no way is this a criticism of TEW, I feel it's a criticism of the genre. Maybe if the random events were broader and happened more often (perhaps things like TV appearances and all that again, and perhaps the varied websites [the current top five high flyers are... sort of thing] may lend itself it to more interactivtiy), that's the word I'm looking for interactivity, it doesn't quite flow through no real fault of the game. So I don't blame those for thinking wow I have a great idea, lets get it up there and then go, hmmm, not really that cool after all, lets go surf for porn instead. I'm guessing the forum is probably skewed towards 45% diary writers, 55% readers. Perhaps if the forum was more 20-80% and there were more responses and more interactivity between posters and writers we would see more fluent and consistently long diaries. Particularly in the real world genre. Perhaps the DOTM nomination should have a nomination, and then a seconder, but with a reason. Like for instance BOB: "I nominate Montreal to the Attitude Era WWF, the Steve Austin - Owen Hart conflict is one of the best I've read." JACK: "Yeah that's great, I loved the way Owen went over on the last show." Just a thought. Personally, I never lived for DOTM awards, was shocked I got one, but I like you are a little frustrated at the lack of heat a long standing diary can get, which is understandable, when you check 24 hours later your diary is 3 pages down and 12 new diaries have started. I think anyone who goes longer than 2 months is doing a hell of a job, or more pertently, say 5-6 shows. It takes nuts to go longer than the proverbial opening story and first couple of shows. Good luck to everyone, long live GDS and TEW, and all the great memories of real world professional wrestling story telling.

[theoutlaw321]

[QUOTE=tristram;237068] A couple of points from my own personal perspective, and firstly this is no slight on Total Extreme Wrestling at all. I agree, it's frustrating seeing new diaries pop up, get 12 replies, and then no more action... and then on page 3 someone has put up their 45th show with a nice swerve with 2 replies from their loyal fans. I always did Death of WCW? because I wanted to tell a story and it was for me, selfish as that may seem, but definitely, when the diary lost a bit of fire it was sad. I think it was more than just coincidence that I stopped Death of WCW? at one stage when TEW07 came out, because every man and his dog wanted to try their hand. Maybe the way around it might be to have a "Classic Dynasty" folder. Anything under 3 months goes into a "Rookie Dynasty" folder. Just a thought. I know we can't sticky real worlders, which is a great shame so you can't get additional attention from that respect for posting consistently good stories for a good period of time. [/QUOTE] I agree. As I think alot of others do as hence the recent thread by DocStevens pertaining to sub forums. I enjoy diaries that deal with real world mods as well as the C-Verse. Their are others that just like C-Verse; others real world. It is up to personal preference. I don't have a problem with new diaries, starting one every week is another story. Personally, and I'm not trying to step on toes but if a writer starts a diary posts 10-12 times and then starts another and does the same thing--I'm probably not going to waste my time even reading anything else that they start. But that's me. I try to read a little from everyone. If it catches my attention then I read more. Alot has to do with time management, the more time I have the more new stuff I look at. For instance (I know this a thread dealing with real world DOTM voting) when Wallbanger started Generations I read the first couple of posts. Was intrigued by the concept. Got real busy with my own and real life and didn't read it again for awhile. But because it caught my attention initially I picked it back up and I am glad I did. I think it is very underated. Things have been pretty hectic around here for the last couple of weeks, as a result I just haven't had time to read much of the new stuff on here. If it sticks around then I will probably eventually get to it. If it dies like it seems 75% of them do then I haven't invested any time in them. I admit sometimes it frustrates me that a post is made and less than three hours later the diary is off the first page. Sometimes I have a hard time finding the ones that I follow religiously. On those occassions I use the subscriptions page. So I think something along the lines of a split forum for older diaries and then the new ones would be good idea. The problem with that is that it adds work for the moderators because at some point someone will have to move the threads from one forum to the other. Good God I tend to ramble on. lol [QUOTE=tristram;237068] For instance, I only have '05 (I just cannot get into '07 for a few reasons), and I probably have about 30-40 saved games that maybe entail one or two shows. Only four, three of which made diaries (WCW '93, WCW '98, and Death of WCW? - I have my own personal Mid Atlantic one too sort of similar to outlaw's idea of going to war with the WWF to change history) go longer than the "wow check out this roster and the free agents I could acquire" period. [/QUOTE] As I love DOTWCW? I would have loved to see your take on the premise I did. [QUOTE=tristram;237068] I'm guessing the forum is probably skewed towards 45% diary writers, 55% readers. Perhaps if the forum was more 20-80% and there were more responses and more interactivity between posters and writers we would see more fluent and consistently long diaries. Particularly in the real world genre. Perhaps the DOTM nomination should have a nomination, and then a seconder, but with a reason. Like for instance BOB: "I nominate Montreal to the Attitude Era WWF, the Steve Austin - Owen Hart conflict is one of the best I've read." JACK: "Yeah that's great, I loved the way Owen went over on the last show." Just a thought. Personally, I never lived for DOTM awards, was shocked I got one, but I like you are a little frustrated at the lack of heat a long standing diary can get, which is understandable, when you check 24 hours later your diary is 3 pages down and 12 new diaries have started. I think anyone who goes longer than 2 months is doing a hell of a job, or more pertently, say 5-6 shows. It takes nuts to go longer than the proverbial opening story and first couple of shows. [/QUOTE] I think you may have something there. I think once you get more than 5-6 diaries being voted on then the voting gets watered down. I don't know why you were shocked. DOTWCW? was the best diary going (imho) and everyone knew that it was the one to beat come the DOTM competition. If I'm not mistaken, it was the reason that there is a two month period that a winner had to sit out so that there would be at least 4 different winners throughout the year! [QUOTE=tristram;237068] Good luck to everyone, long live GDS and TEW, and all the great memories of real world professional wrestling story telling.[/QUOTE] I echo those sentiments and I'm glad to hear form you!

[keefmoon]

[QUOTE=tristram;237068]Keefy my good man, Good post mate. A couple of points from my own personal perspective, and firstly this is no slight on Total Extreme Wrestling at all. I agree, it's frustrating seeing new diaries pop up, get 12 replies, and then no more action... and then on page 3 someone has put up their 45th show with a nice swerve with 2 replies from their loyal fans. I always did Death of WCW? because I wanted to tell a story and it was for me, selfish as that may seem, but definitely, when the diary lost a bit of fire it was sad. I think it was more than just coincidence that I stopped Death of WCW? at one stage when TEW07 came out, because every man and his dog wanted to try their hand. Maybe the way around it might be to have a "Classic Dynasty" folder. Anything under 3 months goes into a "Rookie Dynasty" folder. Just a thought. I know we can't sticky real worlders, which is a great shame so you can't get additional attention from that respect for posting consistently good stories for a good period of time. The point though I mostly want to make is the reason I don't see a lot of diaries continue long term is because, unfortunately, IMO TEW lacks playability. Nothing to do with the game, it's the I guess genre. For instance, I only have '05 (I just cannot get into '07 for a few reasons), and I probably have about 30-40 saved games that maybe entail one or two shows. Only four, three of which made diaries (WCW '93, WCW '98, and Death of WCW? - I have my own personal Mid Atlantic one too sort of similar to outlaw's idea of going to war with the WWF to change history) go longer than the "wow check out this roster and the free agents I could acquire" period. In no way is this a criticism of TEW, I feel it's a criticism of the genre. Maybe if the random events were broader and happened more often (perhaps things like TV appearances and all that again, and perhaps the varied websites [the current top five high flyers are... sort of thing] may lend itself it to more interactivtiy), that's the word I'm looking for interactivity, it doesn't quite flow through no real fault of the game. So I don't blame those for thinking wow I have a great idea, lets get it up there and then go, hmmm, not really that cool after all, lets go surf for porn instead. I'm guessing the forum is probably skewed towards 45% diary writers, 55% readers. Perhaps if the forum was more 20-80% and there were more responses and more interactivity between posters and writers we would see more fluent and consistently long diaries. Particularly in the real world genre. Perhaps the DOTM nomination should have a nomination, and then a seconder, but with a reason. Like for instance BOB: "I nominate Montreal to the Attitude Era WWF, the Steve Austin - Owen Hart conflict is one of the best I've read." JACK: "Yeah that's great, I loved the way Owen went over on the last show." Just a thought. Personally, I never lived for DOTM awards, was shocked I got one, but I like you are a little frustrated at the lack of heat a long standing diary can get, which is understandable, when you check 24 hours later your diary is 3 pages down and 12 new diaries have started. I think anyone who goes longer than 2 months is doing a hell of a job, or more pertently, say 5-6 shows. It takes nuts to go longer than the proverbial opening story and first couple of shows. Good luck to everyone, long live GDS and TEW, and all the great memories of real world professional wrestling story telling.[/QUOTE] Good to have you posting again buddy. I found myelf sitting here nodding along with everything you've said. I completely agree with TEW, I have about 6 mods, and about 2 saved games in each. Fact is on 07, I have probably done a combined five or six shows. Spread over 12 games. Same with 05. I had a TCW game that went on for just over a year, the FMTA game that is about 7 months in, a real world WWE one that went on for about 8 months, and a WCW 2001 one that lasted until the Great American Bash. Aside from that, I don't think I have done more than a month on it. On several, I've not done more than 1 show. I had loads of plans for a WCW 1995 diary, but never even got around to the first show. I signed who I wanted, released who I didn't, then stopped. As you know, I completely agree with the sentiment about the constant new diaries popping up. One show I did which I didn't preview as much as I had done before but went for a lot, shocking twists and everything (this was the show where the Alliance formed) and it was about as proud of that show as I had been since 'Mania. And I got virtuallyno feedback on it what so ever, and the next day I found it languishing on another page as if it didn't exist. However, there were about 3 WWE and 2 TNA diaries that started up in that time, and I think only 1 of them is still running. And it was less than a month ago that I posted the show. In theory it should easy enough to not care, however, when you offer yourself creativly to virtually be assessed by strangers, and when you put a lot of effort in (I know theoutlaw has plans for 8 months ahead, and I have 6 matches ready for Wrestlemania on my one and I've only just finished KOTR) so it is nice to get recognition and respect. I, like theoutlaw, have no issue with people starting diaries. Like him, my issue is with the same people starting new diaries over and over again. (that isn't aimed at you SHaynes, your situation was unavoidable). And while these new diaries are getting huge amounts of support, people that have long term diaires that have every intention of making it last and offering something to the reader, find themselves without feedback and support as they dwindle away on the third page in amongst all the diaries that were started and finished within a week. However, this is just my opinion. I now leave the floor open for anyone to, in the words of wrestling god, "flame away"

[Air Styles]

No flames here, just saying that I agree with the forum split. The three month cut off, or maybe a two-page cut off. Something like that. I know I'm not one to enter into this argument, but I seem to have hit something recently, and look forward to clearing my name of any badness. Not a word, but true.

[theoutlaw321]

I don't think there is a need to flame on anyone eihter way. No matter which way you lean. As I said, I don't have a problem with guys starting new diaries. Of the candidates for diary of the month this month alot of them are pretty new. Nevermore's, Wildfire's, and GPrime's have been around for awhile as verified by their view counts. Hell Nevermore's is only eclipsed by Scapino's legendary SWF one. Sebsy's has been around for awhile(I will apologize for not venturing into that one as of yet, nothing against it, but most of the time I stear clear of real world real time diaries-personal preference. But I plan on giving it a look soon-time permitting.) SHaynes23 has written a few diaries that have ran awhile(he just doesn't have any luck.) DocSteven's is new but he has been talking about it for awhile. He along with tommytomlin have done mod's they are on here all the time. By reading their posts you can tell there was alot of planning and forsight before they started. That's not to say there wasn't by the other writers. I do not want to imply that at all. BigJosh, Sensai of Mattitude, Oldschool, berrysi, Consrvtive, Kimberly, and unforgiven(if I left anybody off I apologize) you have given your times and laid your creative talents out there to be judged by all of us(not word for word by paraphrased by my good man keef.) And for that we thank you for that. I hope each and every diary nominated lasts for 6 months or more. I think the issue is just that there needs to be precautions taken to prevent a 2-3 week flash in the pan wonder from popping up and grabbing all the attention by what ever means and walking away with a DOTM only to disappear and never to be heard from again. That could be real diaheartening to alot of people. I know it's only a voted on award on a public forum that it and $5 will get me a Big Mac extra value meal at McDonald's. But like has been mentioned the author lays his creative talents out publicly to be judged by the masses. I don't know if I or anyone else takes it too seriously or not, but I know how much time and planning has went into Battlelines. I'm sure that when mine started, no correct that I know for a fact when Battlelines started there were naysayers and doubters as to if I could pull it off. I'm sure the legends tristram, Nevermore, Scapino, shipshirt, etc, etc thought here we go someone else thinks they can do this. Some, not mentioning any names that questioned my booking some even publicly came out and said 'I just hope you have the old school wrestling knowledge to pull something like this off.' I don't know whether or not I have proven myself to everyone or not but I hope at least I've proven that at least Battlelines was started to tell a story and that story is far from over. I know I ramble on and on, but what I'm trying to say is that no one is trying to keep anyone from writing a diary. No far from it. In fact I encourage it. But I think that sometimes after starting one, people find out just how hard it is to keep going. I know that the writers on here are also the readers and that they have no trouble languishing praise on works that they feel truly deserve it. But I know when GPrime started this there were only 6 diaries nominated. Battlelines was one, and I felt truly honored to be included in the likes of tristram's, Nevermore's, keefmoon's, Shaynes's, and GPrime's great diaries. I was the new kid on the block, but I my diary had been running for 3 months and it was over 5000 (I can't remember) views. So I feel it was established. I was delighted to be nominated and to recieve votes. My opinion is that nominations shouldn't exceed more than 6 and that there should be(as tristram suggested) a more defined nomination process instead of just nominating everyone. That's not to exclude anyone, just so that the -5-6 diaries truly capable of winning are in the running. But that's just my opinion for what it's worth. The floor is open. NEXT!

[Wildfire1324]

I think that 12 diaries is a bit much to be nominated. Perhaps for next month each person could nominate 5-6 diaries and the top 5-6 vote getters could be the ones that get voted on. I don't have a problem with new diaries getting nominations but I think some common sense should be used when voting for them. If only one or two shows have been posted over the time since the last nomination period, I think its unfair to compare that to the writers who consistently put over copious amounts of shows, especially ones who write quality long running shows. I don't want to come across liking I'm a mark for my own diary but since the last voting period ended, I have put out nine shows including one of my biggest shows of the year in addition to numerous other features that I think add the overall NWA experience (not to be confused with the Elijah Burke Experience :D ). Before the voting ends, I will probably be well into double digit shows and might even make it to my next big event (cheap plug for NWA SHOWDOWN 7: TEXAS HOLD 'EM :o ). I'm not sure what the solution is but perhaps we could have two different awards like a Heavyweight Diary award for the more established ones based on some agreed upon number of posts and/or number of views and an Intercontinental Diary for the new authors who have yet to reach those numbers. This way the more established established diaries can get the recognition they deserve and not have voted siphoned off by what I would call hotshot diaries that come in and have a good premise and a loaded show or two and then vanish. Also it gives the chance for a newer diary to get itself some recognition that is well-deserved and perhaps may keep the authors motivated to become the next long running author. I don't intend to vote this month since I have been nominated. I personally feel that it wouldn't be right to vote since I have a dog in the fight so to speak. (No disrespect to Michael Vick, lol) but I have no problem with authors who do vote. Its a personal thing with no right or wrong answer. One last thing is that I want to thank all the people who have voted for my diary. I really appreciate it and want to especially thank Oldschool and G-Prime for their long term continued support even during my temporary hiatus. If I'm the Nature Boy of this diary, they are certainly the Arn and the Tully of it. Good luck to everyone who has been nominated. I truly think the monthly awards are a great idea that can make this board even more of a community than it already is, we just need to fine tune to process. :)

[keefmoon]

[QUOTE=Wildfire1324;237273]I truly think the monthly awards are a great idea that can make this board even more of a community than it already is, we just need to fine tune to process[/QUOTE] I agree with that whole heartedly.

[G-Prime]

[QUOTE=Wildfire1324;237273] If I'm the Nature Boy of this diary, they are certainly the Arn and the Tully of it.[/QUOTE] Ooooh, can I be Arn? He still has a job :D

[theoutlaw321]

I was really torn between Wildfire's, Nevermore's and tommytomlin's. But after Baptism of Fire I can't vote any other way. Man get out the burn creme!