The GNamer Forum Annual Awards 2017

Balladeer (three votes)

"An ever present on the forum, it wouldn't be the same without him and always has some great views and discussions."

"A treat to read this man's posts and there's always plenty to read with our forum's most prolific poster. He's always keen for a chat about most games on the forum and he's kept this place ticking over with his gushing about the best bits from his favourite games."

"The man is like The Terminator: nothing will phase him, nothing will slow him down and nothing will get in his way... from posting an endless stream of puns, opinions and discussion-starters. He is the hero that Gotham needs, deserves and, to some extent, created."

ZeroJones (five votes)

"Top admin work as per usual. But Zero's got a lovely writing style. Clear, concise, and always interesting. It's nice to see his name pop up in 'what you're playing' or 'last game you finished' threads because his words always serve as handy recommendations/cautionary tales, while being a pleasure to read. I still find rating things out of 20 strange though."

"Honestly, this place would be a sorry state without Zero. He's a hero for the amount of work he does behind the scenes for GNamer and it's been great to read his thoughts on Nintendo's new console extraordinaire when he picked one up later in the year. A scholar, a gentleman, and the lifeblood of GNamer."

"For remaining the grown-up gentleman."

"for hosting the best 2017 forum awards this site has ever seen"

"It's been a good year for the big man."

Drunkalilly (six votes)

"For ping-ponging between silly and amazingly well-thought out. Japan's gain."

"Go for Drunka"

"Always interesting to read his posts, very funny guy and contributes really well to the forum and Gintendo website, hopefully will still be present once he moves east."

"The words to describe Drunkalilly and his contributions to GNamer adequately are hard to find. He flips effortlessly between hilarious, brilliant and thoughtful with a skill and debonair panache that I find as awe-inspiring as arousing."

"The event which parachutes Mr. Lilly into these votes happened at the very start of the year, long enough ago to have been forgotten. It was the morning of the Switch presentation, which happened just early enough for me not to be able to watch it live and go into work sane. Having just watched it, yer man Drunka logged onto Skype and chatted through my rewatch with me. I remain overwhelmed when I think about that. It wouldn't have been anywhere near as fun, watching it in the dark on my own. I must admit to not always 'getting' his much-lauded humour, but I've always 'got' his love for Nintendo and for this community. This just cemented that for me."

Two votes apiece for...

1) Crumpy Andy

"I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE THIS AWARD TO MY FRIENDS ANDY AND [REDACTED]. THEY ARE MY FRIENDS AND I LIKE TALKING TO THEM AND PLAYING COMPUTER GAMES WITH THEM."

2) JayMoyles

"A fine admin, a fine poster, and a fine podcast host. There's nothing better than coming on line to find that Jay's TonyPanged the place. You can always tell the periods when he's off the forum: they're the ones when general posting quality takes a dive. May they be infrequent in 2018!"

"Go for Jay"

One vote for...

1) The_Jaster

"I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE THIS AWARD TO MY FRIENDS [REDACTED] AND JAS. THEY ARE MY FRIENDS AND I LIKE TALKING TO THEM AND PLAYING COMPUTER GAMES WITH THEM."

2) Jimbob

"It's been a good year for the big man."

3) masofdas

"for his ever reliable monthly games list"

4) The Cappuccino Kid

"Doesn't post in a high volume, but always with something worth saying. Be it highlighting sales, cracking a joke, critiquing a game, or telling us how he's somehow purchased quality games for less than a tuppence, it's been a good year for the kid man."

5) A heron

"I don't want my pots and pans messed with tbh."

6) Another heron

"I don't want my pots and pans messed with tbh."

I can't tell you how delighted I am with this result. It's always a real pleasure to be in the company of yer man winner, be that in real life or on this here forum. Just brilliant.

The Prince of Second Place has evolved into the King of First Place. Post, Funniest, Forumite.

1) Vote Threads: "I know that they're not always the most popular things but I like 'em. Gets the old discussion going."

2) Xenoblade Chronicles 2: "If it weren't for its jarring optimisation issues and mediocre at best voice acting, and the fact that combat just feels less hands on than past games this would be top 3 material. It's not though, but its still a cracking game worthy of a thorough play through."

3) All forumites: "Basically, all of the regulars are top doods, and I immediately feel guilty. If you're reading this and have more than 100 posts to your name, I wish I'd voted for you."

4) JayMoyles: "I couldn't find a place for him in my votes, which is a huge shame. He puts a lot of work on the technical side in, most particularly with the podcast, which I hope I can safely say we've all enjoyed this year. Top man."

5) MK8D: "Which I couldn't put in my top 3 due to the amount of time I played its earlier iteration."

6) Japan: "Nothing to do with the forum at all but I had an amazing time there in the company of the woman I love. It gets a very honourable mention."

7) ZeroJones: "Didn't get a vote from me for FotY this year, because and only because he won the last two. But there's not a nicer fellow on GNamer. His responses are always sweet and considerate. For all that we as a forum value #bantz, I don't think we always value making other people feel good sufficiently."

Cool Dude) Athrun & Shanks: "Our Australian chums. While I can't put myself in their shoes, it must feel a bit alienating to be part of a community almost exclusively based elsewhere. They can't realistically take part in Secret Santa or the meet-ups. Maybe that's why they don't often vote either? Whatever the reason, their contributions to the forum are indeed appreciated, and I hope they don't forget that."

9) Admintendo: "Often overshadowed in these votes by other great events, I love reading and responding to Admintendi, and I keep hoping that others do the same. Usually in vain..."

10) The Nintendo Switch: "Has had an utterly brilliant 2017. Best Zelda, best Mario, best Mario Kart, best Xenoblade perhaps, and a bundle more besides. I don't know how, or if, they'll sustain that quality, but after the commercial disaster that was the Wii U, this was just the start that Nintendo needed."

11) The 3DS: "Worth nothing that while the Switch stole the limelight, and the Wii U died on its arse, the 3DS had a quietly good year. Games like Metroid, Ever Oasis, and Mario & Luigi kept Nintendo's final(?) pure handheld bobbing along nicely."

1) Anything EA made: "I can quite happily say I didn't play anything this year that I'd class as bad but I can put an obligatory vote in for anything EA has made if that works."

2) The Wii U: "Died as it lived: ignominiously, with Rufus Hound urinating on its grave."

3) Lack of new users: "It's alright to like the little group of people we have here. It's also alright to wish we had some new blood occasionally. There's room for them along with the old guard."

4) Drunka to Japan: "Great for him, and I wouldn't rob him of this opportunity for the world, but I worry that the forum will be the poorer for it."

5) Drinkbox Studios: "How dare they bring Guacamelee 2 out on something that's not Switch? Ingrates!"

6) C(r)apcom: "How dare they bring Okami HD out on something that's not Switch? Ingrates!"

7) Donald Trump: "Fuck 'im."

Cool Dude) Brexit: "Fuck it."

There are a couple of reasons. Back when the Last Game You Finished thread was in its infancy, people were using decimal rankings, which didn't go down well with everyone. I tried to stick to rankings out of ten but I felt that didn't give me enough nuance (pretentious tool that I can sometimes be ), and that's when I decided to switch to rankings out of twenty. The reason for twenty specifically is that in France, essays you do in school are marked out of twenty (at least, that's what I believe happens).