In what way, may I ask? Not what have people done to deserve respect, but in what way are they not getting it? Maybe I'm just tired and I don't get it, but I fear this statement is going to turn into a "I dislike cliques even though technically by leaving others out to dry I made my own" kind of thing. Take Hensonville, for example. It used to be funny and lively. And then people left. Sure, a lot of it is most likely due to lack of time -- but I get irritated when people demand a "revival" when some of those people seem to have left it to die in the first place. I tried to support the things I loved. And I still felt the ground crumble underneath me. And before anyone flames me to a crisp for any "insults" ... try being a newbie finding a thread that wistfully talks of the "good ol' days" when older members who apparently left were still posting. The very idea of a thread like that screams "teh n00bs suck", at least to me, anyway. While I can fathom that it was not the intention to form an "old guard" clique, it's still insulting, and I'm not really all that "new". But, hey, what do I know? I wasn't around in the "good ol' days", so I guess I just can't appreciate random muffining and just how awesome things "used to be". Again, I'm sorry if maybe I'm just taking this the wrong way due to posts lacking tone of voice and such subtleties, but this sentence just sort of rubbed me the wrong way and I can't help but verbalize it.However the older members such as Ryan do not have the respect that they deserve, and have earned.
You know, between my last post and now, i was thinking that i probably would make note of suggestions for awards and then add them next year instead of adding any new awards to the ballot this year, but you bring up such a good point that it's hard for me not to ignore it. I agree there should be a seperate award to honor best fiction and art vs. best writer and artist. Sure, it may turn out that the writer of the best story and artist of best art may be the same but you may also get some difference there too. You have those people that consistently turn out excellent work throughout the year and that should be acknowledged.Out of curiosity, I noticed that there are "best fan artist" and "best fanfic" categories, but no "best fan art" or "best fan writer" categories. Is there a specific reason for that?