Hack of the Year 2017 - Nomination Round

Introduction

Welcome to the Hack of the Year competition for 2017! Each year we celebrate some of the greatest hacks on Pok?Community by voting for them in several different categories and eventually bestowing the Hack of the Year title on the best of the best. The hard work, effort, devotion and even love that hackers have put into their works throughout the year show their results here.

This year's competition will continue on from last years with having a secret ballot. The link to PM the account can be found at the bottom of this post. This nomination process will remain open for the duration of November and the first two weeks of December; therefore, any PMs sent later than 23:59 UTC on the 15th December will not count towards the ballot. Following this round, there shall be an elimination round where the top five nominated hacks will be voted on by the community to knock out the bottom two. From there, the top three hacks will be judged and the hack with the highest score will be crowned Hack of the Year for 2017.

Rules

1. You may not vote for your own hack
2. You may not vote for any of the designated ineligible hacks (see below)
3. You may only vote once per category
4. You may only vote once
5. You must have joined Pok?Community prior to November, 2017, in order to cast a valid vote
6. Hacks are only eligible if they have been worked on at some point during 2017
7. Hacks are only eligible if they have more than three Gyms of progress, or an equivalent amount of playtime, and has a playable release
8. Sideshow Showcase hacks are not eligible for nomination outside of the Sideshow Showcase Hack of the Year category
9. Do not vote for a hack because you like the author; make your decisions as objective as possible

Ineligible hacks

• Pok?mon Clover: The staff at The Pok?community consider Clover ineligible, due to the language and themes present in this hack not being acceptable on the forum at large
• Pok?mon Gaia: Winner of HotY 2015
• Pok?mon Glazed: Winner of HotY 2014
• Pok?mon Liquid Crystal: Winner of HotY 2013
• Pokemon Light Platinum: Winner of HotY 2012
• Pok?mon Ruby Destiny - Life of Guardians: Winner of HotY 2011
• Pok?mon Sienna: Winner of HotY 2010
• Pok?mon Azure Horizons: Winner of HotY 2009
• Pok?mon rijonAdventures: Winner of HotY 2008
• Pok?mon Prism: Winner of HotY 2007
• Pok?mon Liquid Ocean: Winner of HotY 2006
• Pok?mon Naranja: Winner of HotY 2005
• Pok?mon Ice: Winner of HotY 2004

How to Vote

Hack of the Year 2017, like the years before it, will employ a secret ballot system. In order to place your vote, you will have to fill out the form below and PM it to the Hack of the Year account. If you wish to change your vote please PM a second voting form to the account. If your vote is determined to be invalid then you will be contacted by a moderator and asked to fill out a second voting form. When the voting window closes, no more nominations will be accepted and all valid votes will be counted. Any PMs from 23:59 UTC on the 15th December will not count towards the ballot. Be sure to review the Rules section above for voting.

If you have any questions, please PM the ROM Hacking moderators rather than the voting account and a reply should come as soon as possible.

Once again, PM your votes here.


The explanations of each category are as follows:

Best Mapping - The hack with the best maps
Best Scripting - The hack whose scripts impressed you the most
Most Graphical Appeal - The hack with the best overall visual presentation
Best Storyline - The hack with the best plot/story line
Best Gameplay - The hack with the best features and that was the most fun to play
Most Engaging Hack - The hack that kept you the most interested throughout
Sideshow Showcase HotY: - The best hack you have played from the Sideshow Showcase
Hack of the Year - The best hack you have played

A hack gets one point for every category in which you vote for it. To demonstrate this, here is an example of a vote:

Example Vote said:

Best Mapping: Gaia
Best Scripting: Prism
Most Graphical Appeal: Naranja
Best Storyline: Prism
Best Gameplay: Sienna
Most Engaging Hack: Glazed
Sideshow Showcase HotY: Ice
Hack of the Year: Prism

Click to expand...

The five hacks which have the most votes overall, regardless of the categories in which the votes are allocated, will progress to the second round where there will be a straight out voting process with the top three progressing to judge voting from there. In addition, the hack which has the most votes in a single category for this initial round will be awarded with a corresponding title (e.g. Best Mapping). The Sideshow Showcase Hack of the Year award will be determined in this nomination round and will not be subject to a judging second round. Hacks that have won Hack of the Month in 2017 are also awarded three additional votes.

You have until the 15th December to submit your votes. So now all of that is sorted, let the voting begin!

Reminder: PM your votes to this account.

I have pushed the date back for HotY nominations. You now have until December 15th at 23:59 UTC to get your votes in!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a nomination! We received a number of submissions and are now carrying on with the next round!

This next round will be the Elimination Round, which you can access here.

Catch you all there!