Twilight Sky said:Some of you are arguing that people like Hikari10, or Forever are winning categories repeatedly, but what some of you really neglect to notice is that it really took work on their parts as well to become positively looked at around the community. I'm not really going to pull any punches here. Yes, there was a time where Hikari10 was looked at as the noob of PC. And yes, there was a time when Nica was looked at in that very same light. A lot of very "popular" members(so to speak) weren't always that way, but they put so much effort into changing around their behavior, fixing around their flaws, that they deserve to be recognized for that. Nica and Hikari made themselves known. I mean for pete's sake, I bet there hasn't been a damn thread that Nica hasn't posted in yet, her postcount is like the highest in PC, and I know that postcount itself shouldn't really accomodate for much, but you can't really ignore that she really puts herself out there. Not just modding-wise, but helping out our users the best way that she can. The same goes for Hikari. I think she joined like a year and a half ago and no one really knew who she was. It took a gargantuan amount of effort on both of their parts to get where they're at now.
I have a bit of advice for those of you, underdogs or not, who want to "win" or be noticed in MOTY: You work for it. The same way you work for modship or just about anything else, anywhere else. It's not always easy to win a position in MOTY, and it may not be easy in any meaning of the word. But that's, again, where the work on your part comes in. If you're not willing to put in the work that's required in order to be recognized by some of the community, and establish the friendships and relationships and "connections"(so to speak), then don't really expect to win anything. I don't really want to be harsh, but throughout my observation of MOTY so far, that's what I've come to notice.
I second what Derk above me said, popular users like me and Nica were once massive noobs and then underwent that sudden personality change, becoming more helpful and putting loads of effort into the forum. Nica may have the highest postcount of anyone here and being a mod and all is one of the reasons why she's very well-known here. Come August she'll be celebrating her 3 year anniversary as a mod. I'm active here almost every day and I am quite diverse in where I post but most of my time is spent in the various Pokemon-based sections, the trivia boards, Pokemon Clubs and New Users/Welcome but I have been involving myself in various other sections as of late. The only ones I never usually post in are the creative boards and Other Clubs, and some Pokemon-based boards.
I was shocked to have gotten mentions in 2011's MOTY especially given how noobish I was back then, but thanks to motivation from staff members I eventually diversified my activity and I have even found myself helping new users, then when my supportership upgrade kicked in, it made me want to contribute more and you know, in this year's results I was a runner-up in a lot of categories (most were those which Nica won) and the votes for Favorite Female was a close one, where I beat TwilightBlade by just two votes so you can tell it was a close one. And then I got mentioned in the Pokemon Gaming Central, Black & White and Black 2 & White 2 categories, all for being helpful and answering questions.
According to Derk, getting a mention in MOTY takes almost as much work as becoming a staff member cos you need to work hard in order to have your talent recognized. Each member has at least a talent for a specific part of the forum, and if their specialized forum is in need of a mod they get modded in their appropriate section. The two runner-ups for Member of the Year (MidnightShine and GolurkIsDaBomb) only joined last year so it came as a shock for them to actually get that close to winning it.
And like Derk said, it's all down to luck, personality, activity etc. Remember that working hard to get a mention in MOTY is almost like working hard enough to become a staff member. I did enjoy the format last year, especially the different sections holding their own variant of MOTY.