CrusadAAR's Chalice: Best Completed AAR, Late 2004

[coz1]

And now the time has come to look at the works from late 2004. Once again thanks are to be given to CatKnight for volunteering his time to put this list of nominees together and to all of those members that assisted in the nomination process.

Try to give work a solid read so you may cast the most informed vote. Voting will last until November 30.

The nominees are:

More Like Your Father: the Dukes of Normandy by Aquitaine

Eagles and Snake - The house of Este, dukes of Milano by Carmagnola

"Haus Wettin - Before The Storm" (1187) by DoS

Kartlis Tskhovreba - History of Georgia by Solmyr

Stupor Mundi - The House of Hohenstaufen by Solmyr

Comments are welcomed and enjoyed. ​

 

[CatKnight]

First vote, first post! Take that Fulcrumvale

 

[stnylan]

And I'm going to vote now, otherwise I am in danger of forgetting!

 

[unmerged(59737)]

First vote, first post! Take that Fulcrumvale

Do'h!

 

[unmerged(60276)]

I promise I'll try to read all of them and vote this time! Of course, as I am somewhat drunk, tommorow I might claim I don't remember promising this.

 

[Rensslaer]

I am torn.

I very much like Stupor Mundi. Alot of effort, a very entertaining story style, an interesting background in gameplay, etc. A very accomplished work, I feel, by many standards. And, having read it, I am greatly moved to vote for it.

But I find myself charmed and drawn in by Carmagnola's Eagles and Snake! What a tantalizing style of taletelling! He brings the characters alive as I rarely see. I sense a gift of talent and sophistication in this AAR that, frankly, outshines even Stupor Mundi.

But Eagles and Snake comes to a poignant pause, and... Stops.

Like watching a movie, and hanging on every nuance, and the reel breaking so that you may watch no further... Does anyone know what happened? Was this abrupt end caused by disinterest on the part of the writer, or because of some unforseen and uncontrolled disaster? I am curious, as I see this as a fault, unless it is unintentional. There is no explanation given, even though it appears Carmagnola is still around.

So... not to necessarily cast my vote to the winds of whim. Rather, I seek to better understand how this award has been applied in the past, as to what it says about these AARs. If I were to award on sheer richness of story quality alone, I feel I would select Carmagnola. But on the totality of the work, I am led toward Stupor Mundi.

I cannot necessarily fault an AAR for shortness, as most of these older AARs seem to be quite short (this from the perspective of a guy who wrote 120 pages!). But the completion issue bothers me.

Therefore, I am open to some leading by others as to which way to go on this.

Rensslaer

EDIT: All right... I read CatKnight's notes on this in the nomination thread, and I am inclined to agree that, whereas the READERS may have thought Carmagnola would continue the story beyond the 1200s, that may well not have been the writer's intent. As he says, it focuses on the Duchy. And to my mind, it does come to an appropriate and touching finale. Therefore, I am inclined to support it. I'll keep this thought hanging for a while before I cast my vote to see what others say.

 

[CatKnight]

Right, I was about to point you at that comment.

I'm not sure what Carmagnola's intent was. (If he just walked away, the AAR would not be eligible.) It does seem to stop very abruptly, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here and suggest that becoming king constituted a natural ending point.

 

[Rensslaer]

Well, I've voted for Eagles and Snake. Exceptional AAR!

Rensslaer

 

[CatKnight]

8 days in and 7 votes cast! Good start, but we can do better!

In case you're wondering, the vote is currently 2-2-1-1-1 ... still too close to even start to call. Your vote might be the difference, so hop to it!

 

[unmerged(60276)]

I've read two and a half of the five AARs. So no vote from me yet, but there'll be one!

 

[Murmurandus]

Belately voted...

 

[Rensslaer]

Glad to see I didn't have the last word!

...and that there's some activity.

Rensslaer

 

[VILenin]

I'll vote as soon as I get a chance to finish reading all of them.

 

[CatKnight]

Eight days left, and eleven votes in! C'mon folks, hop to it! The vote is 4-3-2-1-1, so this thing is by no means decided!

 

[unmerged(60276)]

I've just read through Solmyr's Hohenstaufen AAR, and call me silly, but I think June is part of the first half of the year (the AAR ended on June 11th).

Anyway, I've now read 4 of the 5 AARs, my vote will be in during the next week.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

My vote is in as well. Things are pretty interesting now

I hope there will be more votes in these last few days to clear up the situation.

 

[unmerged(10426)]

Haus Wettin, most assuredly.

 

[CatKnight]

Already explained the time issue Shuma. Twice.

And we have three days left! The vote is....close. Too close to call!

 

[Rensslaer]

Got quite a horserace going here!

A 3-way tie for 2nd, and a 1-point lead by #1.

Hopefully, more votes will resolve out a clear gradation.

Also, please consider voting in the EU 2 OscAAR competition (linked in my sig, as is this one).

Rensslaer

 

[unmerged(60276)]

So what happens in case of a tie?