Other [Issue 53.5] The Best of Amateur Writing

[Night-Sisters 2,139]

 

 

Welcome, readers, to the first article in a series featuring the latest high-quality work and other news from within the Amateur Writing project. Each month, we'll round up a collection of the most impressive works, interesting events and exciting developments for you readers to enjoy.

We want to show that we care about our highly successful 'pet project', and keep in touch with the community even more by featuring your pieces and the things that happen in the writing section built for you. Without further ado, let's get started!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Top 5 Articles of the Month

We'll start by taking a look at some of the best articles of the Amateur Writing section. There were a lot of great articles to kick off the first month or so of this section's existence, and so keep in mind that there are some really good articles that narrowly missed out on being featured here. We can only really offer the personal opinion of us Amateur Writing Helpers, but these were our favourite picks after some intense reading and discussion. Enjoy!

Note: Each author can have no more than one article (the one we judge to be most outstanding) featured in each instalment of this Newspaper series, just to keep things competitive.  
 

1) The Crackle Series
by @tweezers.

 

*Crackle*

‘I got damage, cover me’

‘I got your back, GO GO GO ‘

Birds took flight as a rumble turned into a roar and a massive hunk of metal trailing smoke and flying a tattered red flag crashed through the undergrowth and disappeared over a hill.

 

Alice Johnson shoved her tanks’ power lever forwards and cursed. ‘Guys I’m losing power where are you?’

                                                                                        *

Ben Thompson cautiously looked around. ‘Alice, I’m close to you. Send me a ping will ya?’

‘All right, got it. I’ll be there in a sec’. He swung the Dictators nose towards the direction indicated by the illuminated screen displaying the location of the ping and crept forwards.

                                                                                        *

James Mason gulped. ’Um, guys, you seeing this?’

‘What is it?’ The answers were almost simultaneous. ‘I’ll tell you later. Ben, get Alice and get out now!’

‘James, what the hell is going on? James? James?’

                                                                                         *
 

Click me to read the rest of the first story in an exciting and emotional series! 

 

Night-Sisters: Easily the best piece/s to surface in Amateur Writing, it was an absolute pleasure and surprise to read something of this caliber on the forum. Fiction isn't easy, but this was edge-of-your-seat brilliant. Two thumbs up from here!

 

GoldRock: A highly engaging story series. The plot development is controlled and effective, and the writing itself is really good. Lots of great writing techniques used here to build up suspense and tension, and to heighten emotions at the most dramatic moments. You get to really connect with the characters here, and the last part (in my view) is the best of all - it really does build up to a spectacularly heart-wrenching finale. One of the better Tanki story series I've read, and that's factoring in the Newspaper ones, too. In my opinion, the level of skill here is enough to reach that of the Newspaper.

 

Phoenix-Warbird: This is everything a story series should be. It was very thoughtfully put together and has a nice balance of emotion and action. Additionally, the writing skill involved is pretty impressive. The descriptions are brief but detailed, the vocabulary is rich and the plot has a way of drawing readers in. The story itself is quite interesting too. It’s well worth the read ^_^.

 

2) The Ultimate Guide to Quitting Tanki
by @Yisroel.Rabin.

 

 

 

 

Are you bored of Tanki Online? Are you tired of all the lags? Have you been thinking of quitting Tanki Online for good?! Well then, you've come to the right place. Welcome to the ultimate guide to quitting Tanki Online!

 

Before quitting Tanki, you must go through all the steps to make sure you're one hundred percent ready to officially remove the game from your life forever. So, if you're certain you're ready, let me tell you something, you're not, trust me. How do I know? Well, put it this way: No human being is ever one hundred percent ready to quit Tanki. Why? Scientists don't know yet, although they're working hard to figure it out, there currently is no explanation.

 

So, you may be thinking, "So how do I quit Tanki if I'm not ready?" Well, there's a simple answer, quit without quitting. The way that works is not so simple; scientists have discovered that if you want to truly quit Tanki, you must first go through certain steps until you eventually fully quit. In other words, you're going to have to go through a long process before actually quitting.

 

That said, here are the 4 steps to quitting Tanki Online forever!

 

Click me to read the rest of an entertaining satirical piece!

 

Night-Sisters: Humor is excellent, loving the satirical, yet not heavy-handed poke at some of the...inconsistencies within the community. Nicely done Yis.

 

GoldRock: My first thought is about how professional this article is. It's really well-structured, and has the feel of an official piece of work. Aside from that, it's clear that a lot of thought went into this article, and the result is original, creative and quite funny. It's a brilliant satire of an aspect of forum community life, written with flair and illustrated using amusing examples. This one's sure to make you at least crack a smile, if not an unavoidable chuckle at its more entertaining bits. Yisroel's done a really good job with this one, and he's clearly a writer to watch. 

 

Phoenix-Warbird: This one was actually entertaining XD I liked how the whole guide was a satire but didn’t force humor into every single line, which was well done. A lot of work was put into it for sure and the end result is pretty much Reporter-level quality.

 

3) Product Kit Reviews - Part One [M2]

by .

A big shout-out to @FC_BayernMunchen and for helping me rate and review the kits!

 
The summer is going strong here in western India, and I am longing for the monsoon petrichor - and parallel to the real world, here in Tanki Online we await the sales of this summer, like the ongoing 9-day celebration. However, one salient feature of Tanki gives us a sale on different equipment sets every fortnight throughout the year - the "product kits". Lucrative yet quite affordable, this kit system has impressed me and others alike, and it seems to strike a good balance between the advantage to the buyer and the effects on the gameplay.
 
While quite a few voices in the community still complain about the "undue" advantage that kits obtain the buyer, I'd like to sincerely point out the ease of access of today's kits. The only requirements are a bit of planning from a few ranks ahead, and maintenance of a good crystal to experience ratio to make your budget fit the kit price. All this fetches you, a powerful combination at your rank and a bundle of supplies. Pretty much worth it?
 
So starting today, I will be giving a thorough appraisal and comparison of the different kits that the Tanki garage offers us to help you in choosing the right kit for yourself and stay a step ahead of the people at your rank.
 
In this article, we have four kits at our disposal - Stinger, Tornado, Pitbull and Mosquito. The first three unlock early, while Mosquito unlocks at Captain. Now let's start, shall we?

 

Click me to read the rest of a concise and visually stunning review!

 

Night-Sisters: What really jumps out at me here is the high-quality design work. It's not often you find someone with both writing and artistry skills, but Zenith brings the entire package to the table. Professional, useful, colorful... what more could you want in an article? 

 

Okaaay Gildedbrick, you're making my three sentences look bad... stahp with the textwalls bellow me *facepalm*

 

GoldRock: The first thing that hits you here is a really well-designed article picture. It's an attractive opening to an article that doesn't fail to impress. With a really effective and unique visual 'rating system' used for each kit, the combination of high-quality designs and creativity does elevate the article but the content itself is also quite strong. The analysis of each kit is informed and succinct, with the article having a professional feel. One area of improvement I might suggest would be that I would have loved to have seen even more detail on each of the kits; but apart from that, it's quite clear to see why Zenith has since become a Candidate Reporter!

 

Phoenix-Warbird: I am really impressed that there was so much detail in breaking down the pros and cons of each kit. The article looks super professional and it’s beautifully structured. It doesn’t leave any information out. I’d definitely recommend it for those of you who are considering M2 kits.
 

4) It's Time To Excel In: Serpuhov

by .

 

 

Tanki Online is one of the best MMO’s in the gaming world. It has a huge, a vast selection of maps, turrets, hulls and gaming experience to offer. Many of you haven’t even played on some maps because of their everlasting quantity, and don’t even have an idea of their mechanics as well as their dynamics.

 

That’s why I am starting this series for people from the very first rank to the mighty rank of Generalissimo in order to guide you to exceed your and your teams expectations in every battle.

 

Each one of these guides will be heavily detailed and will contain to-the-point guide stuff you will need.

 

 

The Map Itself:

 

Serpuhov

 

Click me to read the rest of a detailed and strategic guide!

 

Night-Sisters: Looong read, but comprehensive and thus worth it. DestroyerPDox obviously knows what he's talking about and has got the lockdown on all things Serpuhov. 

 

And hey, look at that. Gold decided to write yet another text wall.  :blink: 

 

GoldRock: A really comprehensive guide right here, and the best of this month, in our view. Effectively structured with some detailed observations and good use of diagrams, this is a pretty high quality article. I particularly like the analysis of the various positions and strategies on the map itself, which are well explored with some solid advice, and the section on gold boxes is also quite useful. My only pointer for this one would be that a really long length can work against an article sometimes - it's often good to stay concise to effectively communicate with the reader. However, there's no denying that this is an impressive guide overall.
 

Phoenix-Warbird: Everything you need to know about Serpuhov is in this article. It explains every piece of equipment and how well it would do in every game mode, and where to make the best moves. I really didn’t think there could be that much to be said about battling in Serpuhov but wow, this person really worked hard.
 

5) Under Review: Highways

by .

 

 

 

 

Highways! The name is the scourge to light hulls everywhere. Shafts and Vulcan's mercilessly and incessantly destroy your tanks that decide to leave cover. To show even a portion of your hall spells certain doom. To attempt to capture a flag is even more risky. To do anything but cower is moronic, the fear knowing that precious D/L of yours on the ratings page will be destroyed is enough. But yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel of sadness and fear. The days of M1 Shaft are gone, and strategy and well planned attacks rise from the ashes. Welcome, reader, to Highways.

 

---

 

Overview:

 

Click me to read the rest of a structured and useful... review? Nope, a guide in disguise!

 

Night-Sisters: Eheh, right, so... Bigtimerugby did quite a few edits on this piece, and it paid off for sure. It was great to see the piece evolve through the various stages of editing into the final product. BTR has clearly spent a lot of time in Highways and understands the deeper tactical nature of the map. 

 

GoldRock: Although this article was edited a fair amount in collaboration with Night, we decided to give it a deserved 5th spot in our top 5 ranking. It's an organised and effective approach, with great use of battle images to demonstrate the points being made in a visual way alongside detailed diagrams. What this one does do well is to keep things fairly concise and to the point while still being full of relevant content. However, as with many articles, a thorough edit for grammar and writing style could make this writer's work even better. Regardless, this is a solid and reasonably high quality article which provides informative and useful advice.

Phoenix-Warbird: Highways is my least favourite map and there isn’t much to say about it, but there’s something to get out of this article. It gives quite a few tactics that actually make sense, heh. That being said, this “review” is really more of a guide than anything, so I’d change the title - otherwise, not bad at all.

 

 

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): 

No Mercy for No Soldier by @Justsomeonelol.

A great piece of flash fiction, really sleek and stylishly written. A chilling yet smooth twist in the tale.

 

User Guide: Twins by @Flexoo.

A hilarious little spoof of how to play using Twins. Entertaining photographs included!

 

WOH: The Warrant Officer Hideouts (Parts 1 & 2) by @Blackdrakon30.

Original and creative, a series of fun descriptions about a fictional Tanki Online world.

 

[interview] AWG Interviews: Yisroel.Rabin by @Jwimmer.

With engaging conversation and effective rapport, this concise interview is worth a read. 

 

[Guide] Modeless Spectator (AW) by @Yisroel.Rabin.

An well-written article about a classic technique - really useful and very well explained.

 

Want to get your own work featured here? Read the Section Guidelines and find out how to write a suitable article here, and then feel free to post your article in the Amateur Writing section!

 

 

Amateur Writing Club News

We'll now move on to filling you in on all the latest events and developments inside the section's official Amateur Writing Club. E.g. Spam, spam, and more spam. Ha, not quite! This past month we conducted Project: Interviews as a way for participants and reporters alike to become better acquainted - and a chance for the members to learn how to properly format their interviews. 

 

The Interview Project - Blame the Night-Sisters

 

Below are the interviews produced. I (Night-Sisters) would like to thank everyone involved. You guys put a lot of work into editing, and it showed. Nicely done!

 

Interview: by Penguin40 ft. Night-Sisters.

Interview: by Jwimmer ft. Yisroel.Rabin.

Interview: by Dragonofstorms ft. Bigtimerush_bry.

Interview: by Blackdrackon30 ft. Snipe3000.

Interview: By Darren4Turbo ft. Trinitrotoluene 

 

How it Went

Uh... Nicely? Some quality interviews were produced and everyone had fun with the project, as far as I can tell. Sounds like a win in my books. xD Make sure you have a look at the interviews above, we certainly enjoyed reading them ourselves.

 

And as that's about all there is to say on the matter: *drops mic*

 

Want to get involved yourself next time? Simply read the Section Guidelines, write a suitable article, post it in the Amateur Writing section and we'll invite you to join the Club.

 

Even better: there are no obligations attached. All casual and amateur community writers are welcome! You can read more about the Amateur Writing Club here.

 

New Distinguished Members

 

Each month, the Amateur Writing Club Helpers will assess the progress of the Club's members, and promote any members who've demonstrated an excellent attitude and high-quality writing ability to Distinguished Members. 

This month, our very first members to be promoted to Distinguished Members are as follows:

 

@Blackdrakon30

@DragonOfStorms 
@Justsomeonelol
@Jwimmer 
@Yisroel.Rabin

@tweezers

 

We've reached the end of our summary of the Amateur Writing project's latest news, developments and featured works for this month. Remember, if you want to take part, follow the links placed throughout the relevant sections of this article.

 

Finally, congratulations to all those whose work got featured and/or who were promoted to Distinguished Members! We look forward to continuing to make the Amateur Writing project a success, and we hoped you enjoyed the first instalment of this focused Newspaper series.

Goldy, Nighty and Pho...ey, signing out!

Edited July 20, 2017 by Hexed

[GoldRock 6,165]

Note: The article picture at the top (by our pro Creative League designer and now resident staff member @eragon33) and the general formatting of the article provide a little taster as to what we're currently working on behind-the-scenes in terms of article aesthetics.

 

We have headers for both the start and end of every article in the works, too, and main article pictures will be smoothly embedded within the start header... but you'll have to wait and see what I mean, 'cause we're not giving away all the fun we've got coming up just yet :P

[Quarks 2,255]

^Amusingly, NS thought I spend a lot of time on Highways, despite the fact that there are so few Highways games, even though, until I did some of the pictures, I hadn't played on highways for a month or so  Thanks for giving me #5, NS really did do a lot of editing, so sorry I put her through that :rolleyes:.  But there were a lot of Fantastic articles this month. Hats off for that Crackly series, I don't think Corrosion can touch that quality. 

[snipe3000 678]

Ok, Cool

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

:wub: Thanks for da compliments and I shan't disagree with the rest of the top 5, and the honourable mentions. Great way to advertise the AWC even more :P You know what they don't say: "You can never get enough advertising."

Good (I don't know whether to call it an article or not) 'topic'.

[Darren4Turbo 4,913]

I have a feeling that AWC will be soon very famous in Tanki Online.

ok goldy, sisa and pho?

[Hex 11,520]

:wub:

 

I always think that a guide should be a real guide. It shouldn't contain direct humor, and shouldn't be, like, 2-3 paragraphs long. That's why I wrote that guide. 

 

P.S. New installation for a new map coming soon!

Edited June 3, 2016 by Hexed

[Jwimmer 2,835]

Note: Each author can have no more than one article (the one we judge to be most outstanding) featured in each installment of this Newspaper series, just to keep things competitive.  

 

1) The Crackle Series

 

Anyways, cool article. Hopefully the AWG will start to get a wider base of readers, along with more writers.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Jwimmer

[GoldRock 6,165]

 

 

 

Anyways, cool article. Hopefully the AWG will start to get a wider base of readers, along with more writers.

Hey, to be fair that one was a series of story parts which formed an overall story... allow it :P

[Eragon 13,876]

Finally a topic which welcomes my new position!  :lol: Looking forward on designing all the future Issues :D   :ph34r:  

[You.Have.to.die 519]

Finally a topic which welcomes my new position! :lol: Looking forward on designing all the future Issues :D :ph34r:

Glad you are happy :D

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

I'm not in here?

 

Challenge accepted - time to make more stories.

[GoldRock 6,165]

I'm not in here?

 

Challenge accepted - time to make more stories.

You were close - do take up that challenge  :ph34r:

[You.Have.to.die 519]

I'm not in here?

 

Challenge accepted - time to make more stories.

 You won't get ahead of me ;)

 

 

You were close - do take up that challenge  :ph34r:

Everyone does really good articles.

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

You were close - do take up that challenge  :ph34r:

Will do your highness.  :ph34r:

 

 

 You won't get ahead of me ;)

 

  Everyone does really good articles.

I'll take that as a personal challenge. See you at the top! :P

[GoldRock 6,165]

^good luck :P
 

Everyone does really good articles.

Yep, lots of great articles out there for sure! 

[Quarks 2,255]

Yeah, I am happy to make the list. There is a wealth of unknown writers discovered here.

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

 

Anyways, cool article. Hopefully the AWG will start to get a wider base of readers, along with more writers.

[DragonOfStorms 2,706]

Wow, I didn't think I'd become a distinguished member! Thanks!

[TTK_229 1,080]

battle of the memes

[Justsomeonelol 148]

hm GoldRock writes whole paragraphs while Night-Sisters only writes afew sentences, looks like GoldRock is the chatty-cat.. or something. Good article/topic to get people unlock their secret writing talents ^^

[Jwimmer 2,835]

Do I have to keep writing stuff to stay a distinguished member for next month? Because I've been gone for the past 2 weeks and will be gone except for weekends until August, and can't write much of anything.

[GoldRock 6,165]

Do I have to keep writing stuff to stay a distinguished member for next month? Because I've been gone for the past 2 weeks and will be gone except for weekends until August, and can't write much of anything.

Nope - it's not really about frequency of writing anyway, it's just when we've seen enough high-quality writing to assess (over any time period). Activity isn't a factor, there's no requirement there!