I really appreciate your votes everyone I didn't know I was this liked by everyone on MKO. Thank you it means a lot :)

You guys could always just make the best of it.

At least we're not being overtaken by a bunch of ten year-old gamers who've never heard of Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, or Nintendo 64, and swear to God that Mortal Kombat (2011) was the first MK game ever made.

Believe you me, I've met them.

It's not the whole popularity thing I'm after. I've done my part here at mko that set my name in stone. I have no regrets.

However...

It's the conversations that I, and many others have engaged in. With previous members who used to be here. The chemistry ain't the same and I think i speak on behalf of MK vets when we can officially say that's whats lacking on these boards as of now.

I'll be honest, I see more discussions about Black Ops than I do about Mortal Kombat.

That's always been my loss here, I miss the MK debates.

Still, nothing can be ever be what it used to be. All we can do is enjoy what we have now.

Okay, let's get this thread back on track, shall we?

Member of the Year: Riyakou. Added so much niceness to this site.
Newcomer of the Year: LordSkarlet. A fine new addition.
Topic of the Year: All Injustice. A great new game that is coming underway.
Most Under rated: All Mortal Kombat. An MK forum where the MK chat has died? For shame.
Most Overrated: Drive-By thread. The thread with most activity, because people simply don't have that much else to chat about other than randomness.
Funniest Member of the Year: Zmoke. I always enjoy reading his posts. ^^
Oh, and thanks to the guys who's nominated me, I didn't expect that. :P

lol @coltess being a new member.

He's been here since he was twelve years old. He does deserve some kind of reward for most reformed user. He's pretty respectable these days, unlike his infamous younger counterpart.

inb4 podium.

Really? I didn't know and can't remember coltess from back then. Well, gonna change my nominations then.

lol @coltess being a new member.

He's been here since he was twelve years old. He does deserve some kind of reward for most reformed user. He's pretty respectable these days, unlike his infamous younger counterpart.

inb4 podium.

... Why do you post this twice?

Internet forums are a young man's game. It's the type of thing people get into during high school and college. At some point, usually when the big 3-0 starts to haunt our dreams, we realize that we've said all that we have to say on just about every topic under the sun.

Passing the torch doesn't have to be a bad thing so long as there's no bitterness toward newcomers. I've noticed that, overall, MKO has been extremely welcoming to new people who came on board with the most recent game. I think it's fitting to see a new generation find their way here. It's really the only way the site can thrive. For new blood to replace the old and breathe new life into the community.

Member of the Year: TheCypher.
Newcomer of the Year: xB$Inx.
Worst Member of the Year: Icebaby.
Topic of the Year: Kontest: Mortal Kombat Online Kreate -a- Kharacter Tournament Vll!.
Most Under rated: most of the topics in Future MK games forum thread.
Most Overrated: Dc Universe Injustice.
Funniest Member of the Year: (Erik).

You actually did a Worst Member?

I don't see why it is bad to give out an award with a negative idea around it but I applaud AcidSlayer for speaking their mind on who they thought was the worst. Whether I agree with it or not I would still give them credit for speaking their mind.

Using your presence in a thread like this to lament the passing of a golden age is tantamount to declaring you were the least useful, least interesting, least effective person that golden age had to offer. If you aren't capable of continuing and representing whatever it is you liked, you're probably better off not calling attention to it.

This thread is for the people who have had a positive influence in the eyes of whoever is going to the trouble to acknowledge it. Lets respect that and strive to be worthy of it.

Accidental, I suppose, although it is odd considering I don't remember coming back to this thread after I posted it before.

To Mick, that philosophical, articulate piece of internet wisdom does have merit, but ultimately it is invalid. The fact of the matter is that there are too few of us still active from said "golden age" to embody the spirit with influence. To the handful of us left, it is an empty shell of what we once knew and loved about this site. Plus, with the ever growing juggernaut of social networking, many of us have started to find this site a bit obsolete. This does not reflect my opinions of you as our webmaster. It reflects my opinion of the evolution of the community, the industry, and generally my maturity. Tony nailed it. Sometimes people just grow out of certain pants. The handful of us can try our best to keep that light sparked, but this isn't the same MKO we know. To us, it feels like THEIRS, the newer users now, and we do a feel obsolete. However, as webmaster, labeling any of your active members as "least useful" is a bit foolish. We're a community that is fueling your site, not tools for you to achieve some higher end. Remember that, my friend.

Now let me be totally straight forward as to why this site has begun to bore us as of late. Six years ago, MKO was a beautiful mess. A booming calamity of friends, foes, internet prodigies and hilarious fuck ups. Now, it's a playhouse of the same four people verbally jerking each other off, with the occasional spark up in the drive by. Any sense of reward has diminished, and change, no matter how hard it is stressed to be imminent, is increasingly more unforeseeable.

You can't hold on to the old times forever.

Eventually, the old shall be replaced by the new. Embrace it, as it is a part of life.


Now let's all get back on track before the thread goes to schmuck. lol

Yep, I was pretty much saying this. It has nothing to do with being a part of a "golden age" or whatever hand I or others had in it. It has to do with this place being a shadow of its former self. And in terms of representing what I liked, I still am, and that's saying what's on my mind. You of all people know that, Mick. Who do I think should be "Newcomer of the Year"? Don't know, I haven't seen a dragon point given outside of FanSub in about 8 months, and generally that would be a good factor to judge a user's quality.

I'm sure this post will be met by "if you don't like it, leave", (or being told to shut up next time I'm in IRC, which is admittedly funny) and to that I shake my head. It's hard to see something you really enjoy become flooded with things that detract from its value. I came back here after swallowing my pride and developing the mindset that some good can still come out of this place and that if possible, I'd like to cultivate it. 11 months later, this place is still in the dark ages. Having been on staff, I know very well why we're still where we are, but that's neither here nor there at this point. I'm not saying I could run this place better than anyone, but it's disheartening to watch the ship sink, especially when apart from Mick you can't even tell we have a staff or moderators 90% of the time.

My hope is that nobody takes this post personally, as I do hold a lot of you in very high regard, but I'm sure it's unavoidable. In an attempt to make some sort of "contribution", here are my half-assed awards, trying my best to not just hand everything to my closest friends from here:

Member of the Year: coltess
I'm serious. This kid has turned himself around and become a rather pleasant person to converse with. Nice job.

Newcomer of the Year: See above.

Returnee of the Year: tgrant
I really appreciate the help with the Pokemon B/I. You've done an admirable job covering me when I wasn't around, thank you.

Chockslammer of the Year: The_Purple_Bunny
You've pointed, posed, and strutted your way to the top.

Sig Maker of the Year: Cypher
No doubt about this one, he's put out some truly impressive work.

SHAMOUS Memorial Brogue Kick Award: Mick
I have no idea what this is for. Just take it.

Funniest Member of the Year: VenoMark/dibula (tie)
Those who frequent IRC would understand why I need to recognize VenoMark as well as dibula.

Thread of the Year: Drive-By
Because 6+6 still does not equal 6, it never has equaled 6, and it never will equal 6.

That's about all I have to say, folks. 2012 has been... um... real, I guess.

Just throwin my 2 cents in, but this is something that I don't quite understand either. When I was a submod for a while, I liked to give out dragon points when people were helpful to someone, or they made a topic that was thought provoking and/or generated an interesting discussion. Sometimes I even gave out a dragon point or two if someone simply made a good point in a thread.

Maybe I was too liberal with giving them out, but I always thought that the whole dragon points thing was a small incentive that most people liked. I know that I did.

But honestly? I can't remember the last time I saw someone award someone else with a dragon point. Not saying it doesn't happen. I know it happens in the fan submission as well, but would it be possible to work on this in 2013? I'm sure it's harder when MK's on the back burner for NRS right now, but I there are still people on this site that still enjoy talking about this series, even if that number shrinks when MK's "out of season" or whatever.

Anyways, constructive criticism = off. FYI, I really enjoy this site.

As for the "golden age," I'll admit that I miss some people and I do wonder what happened to a lot of them. I'll see a few old names pop up every now and then, but people on this site, to me at least, seem to come in waves.

I lurked for a while back when this was MK5.org and if memory serves, I think that I actually started posting not long before MK:DA's release. I vaguely recall seeing Hsu Hao's picture on this site first and being puzzled by his appearance. Random memory...

Anyways, I became more active when MK:D was announced and so on. Back then, I remember a lot of names, many of whom I don't see on here at all anymore. But with each new game, I'd see new faces and it almost seemed as though the old faces were perpetually being replaced by new faces.

Is it possible that the whole idea of the "golden age" might just be a general frustration with a site that repeatedly becomes unfamiliar to people that have been on here a long time? More new people, more familiar faces dropping out, than those people that become familiar drop out and yet more new faces come in?

I think that there are some great people on here right now. Some really nice, helpful, opinionated people that are fun to talk to. Perhaps this isn't as much of an age of fighting purists and technical savvy (though there are definitely a good number of people that know this stuff backwards and forwards on these boards), but it's still a great site with great fans and that's why I started coming here to begin with.

Now I just need to branch out a bit more. It only took me about five years before I started posting in General DIscussion. Who knows, maybe in 2013 I'll actually try and figure out that whole IRC network thing (see? That many years and I've still barely scratched the surface! Plus I suck with computers!)

Oh, side note: Why would someone vote Icebaby as worst of the year? Did I miss something? She posts a lot of good topics and seems like a really productive person on these boards. Oh well, to each, his own, I guess?

MKO is home to me and I've enjoyed the year with you guys.

Cool, worst member awarded to me. I'm truly in awe. But I really can't vote for people here, you all have the same mutual respect for me although those who have been voting for me thanks. You're all liked in my books.

I still pay attention.

You're too cool to get Worst Member, so you can't have it.

Ugh FINE!!!

*grabs a damnit doll, bangs it on a night table three times and shouts damnit per each hit*

I also don't get this whole "the golden age" crap. And I'm sorry to sound like a total f**k here (despite how it's going to sound, it's not actually directed at any one person) but if there are members who quit the damn website before that still have a bee in their bonnet about it well then why in god's name are they still here today? Walk away and don't turn back. It's the internet, where ultimately you'll be replaced and forgotten at some point. Find another forum or move on with your life. The choice is yours.

To be honest, the only thing I think would need a change is how outdated the websites's functions actually are. I'm not tech-savy, I suck at HTML coding and even on lesser websites like TMK it's much easier and user friendly to change the font colour or italics than it is here. A few simple little changes would be amazing and much appreciated. Second to that recommendation I think the home page should occasionaly highlight new trending submissions in the Fan Art section, draw some attention to the Matchmaking thread by doing combo video tutorials for the characters or even try spark debates about the story and characters as soon as the website loads up.

Garlador (I haven't seen him around in ages so I'm not even too sure if I got his name right there) was excellent at making threads that got people buzzing about the characters and there are plenty on the site who know the trivia of the characters inside out. What's stopping the mods making topics to draw in more posters, like comparing Kitana's story from before to now and asking fans questions about their opinions and inputs?

Plenty could be done to make the site better, but it's not a *bad* website to begin with. It has its flaws, but sure what website doesn't. This elitist attitude of "the people here suck now and I just can't relate to them because I'm from the better days" is quite frankly a crock of s**t and I don't think it's a fair statement to make about the newer members of this site who are trying to contribute during the website's more inactive periods.

And somebody just had to shut him down. The whole golden Age thing is a bit dumb, but I have to agree, back then, this place was actually worth going to. Garladors threads, SOTW, a mix of interesting people, staff rotation (shadow priests, portal guards), DPs actually meant a damn. Nothing of that is here anymore. Sure we got a few good people, but that's not good enough. This place is but a shadow of its former self.

Typing all this made me remember that I had to update my user of the year stuff.