Other [Issue 65] Best of AWC: Round IX

[tweezers 1,034]

 
Salutations and greetings dear readers! Welcome once again to our monthly coverage of all things related to the AWC. As you might expect, we've got the best in articles, the news and more from the past month - so put your feet up, grab your favorite sugary treat, and read on!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 
 

Top 5 Articles of the Month 

 

We love reading everything that comes into the Amateur Writing Section, and every month we find a few articles that absolutely blow our minds. So here, in no particular order, are the top 5 articles of the month. 

 

 

1. Train Tracks

by @Night-Sisters

 

 

Train Tracks

 

The day it happened, Mam left the windows open again.

 

 

Chill November air gnawed at my fingers as I trudged home from school. The rhythmic tread of my own footsteps on frozen pavement was the only audible sound, as long weeks of frigid cold had driven even the hardiest inside. Dark clouds sprawled across the sky. “Like a patient etherized upon a table…” The phrase drifted into my mind unbidden, and I glanced up, surprised that T.S. Eliot’s words had already wormed their way into my subconscious. “Poetry feeds the soul,” my English teacher had said when she strong-armed the class into reading poets such as Eliot, Dickinson, and Frost. My classmates hated it with a passion; I, on the other hand thought it was lovely.

 

Click the title above to read on!

 

 

Tweezers: Talk about a dramatic return! Combines suspense, dialogue and lovely description to create an absolute masterpiece. 

 

Antartica: A suspense filled masterpiece in a rather unique return. #BlameTheNS.

 

BD30: It was quite entertaining to see our favorite NS return with a bang and some really edge of the seat action. With a combination of outstanding grammar, dialogue, and plot movement, she crafted a story more than worth the time to read.

 

 

2. A Good Thing About Tanki

by @PracticeParkourStunt

 

 

A Good Thing About Tanki Online

 

~All texts are my opinions | No hate comment plz~

 

 Tanki Online is a free-for-all fast multiplayer game consisting of Tanks though it is relatively unpopular compared to other games. I believe that the reason for its unpopularity is its large number of flaws: major buyers with premium equipment, drugs, uneven teams, poor match-making system, unsatisfying graphics, and so on. I can go on and on about its flaws, but certainly not its positive aspects; its positive aspects are limited. The most common positive aspect of it is that it can be played through a browser, online, without needing to download anything (cache not included). Others include the ability to run with minimum computer requirements. However, there is one good side of Tanki Online that most of us do not know of, or simply are unaware of it. Everyone is equal.

 

Click the title above to read on!

 

 

Tweezers: A different type of article, focusing on the social side of Tanki Online. Subtle humour and well put and valid points make for an interesting read.

 

Antartica: A review of the game that is both well written and compiled. Holds a lot of interesting points-of-views to look the game from.

 

BD30: I liked the reflective points of view relating to Tanki Online and the analysis of how people interact within this game. PPS did a great job with keeping this article engaging for all kinds of readers.

 

 

3. Hunted: Chapter 3

by @pieface101

 

 

Hunted: Chapter 3

 

Millis flipped the page.

 

The next page was full of yellow highlighter splotches, as if some child had found a yellow crayon, and was told to draw random symbols for a cookie.

 

That was what it looked like. Random symbols. Despite having mostly mastered twelve languages over the course of two centuries, Millis couldn't decipher the symbols, although it vaguely resembled Selenite numerals.

 

Millis had pretty much given up at this point, and resigned himself to continue reading, after staring at the symbols for awhile.

 

Oke heard a zapping sound, followed by some beeps. He felt like a hot spike had been removed from his head. He opened his eyes. He was sitting in some sort of chair, except his hands and feet were pinned, unable to move. He was now able to turn and lift his head, and his eyes were functioning normally.

 

Click the title above to read on!

 

 

Tweezers: It may be very long, but the sheer brilliance of the writing kept me reading all the way to the end. And then wanting more. Very, very well done.

 

Antartica: Long, but I'd have to agree with twee' here - very well written, definitely a well-deserved place in the top five of the month.

 

BD30: Oh gosh, this chapter took forever to proofread. Despite the lengthy and potentially mundane appearance, Pieface does an excellent job in linking together various aspects of the story to make fascinating dialogue and plot movement.

 

 

4. Lore: Kestral Volume 2

by

 

 

Kestral Lore:

Volume 2

 

 

 

“So, what makes you think that you should be able to join our lord, Nightwalker’s elite force?”

 

She answered immediately.”I have revenge among the leaders there, for never revealing my real name, and biological father, I will stop at no costs to destroy all traces of the Spire, once and for all”. The robot paused, realizing this woman was serious. She was passing with flying colors. She would be accepted to the elite force, no question about it.

 

The robot asked,”What’s your name, as you will be accepted to the elite force?”.

 

The woman paused for a moment, and spoke,”Please, call me Kestrel”.

 

 

3 months earlier

******

 

Click on the title above to read on!

 

 

Tweezers: A continuation of the series, that pulled me in despite my knowledge of the subject being literally zero. There's definite skill here, so keep at it! 

 

Antartica: Another story by a great writer - definitely exceeded expectations as I loved the Anima series too, which unfortunately couldn't be continued.

 

BD30: I very much enjoyed all of these Kestral lore episodes; in how they gave detailed (non-canonical?) background about a fascinating character. It was fun to read and my pleasure to proofread.  :ph34r: 

 

 

5. Push Through

by @Logician_UC

 

 

Push Through

 

 

 

Most don't feel it, that empty void. An apathy for everything. You act out that you care, that you're happy, but there is nothing there. It's as if you lost all connection to this world and now are just some a life force trapped inside a body.

You've forgotten how to feel anything, except... this. It isn't sadness exactly, at least not in the normal sense. But it certainly isn't anger, or joy, or bliss. It's... something else entirely. Nobody would believe you even if you told them. They'd think you're just being dramatic or you're tired or trying to get attention.

 

Click the title above to read on!

 

 

Tweezers: A piece that obviously came from deep within. Very well written, and very much needed.

 

Antartica: Describing this is hard... A must-read if you have time.

 

BD30: Since my colleagues gave some vague answers.... This was a piece that most definitely did not receive the attention it deserved. It is a heartfelt reflection of emptiness, and honestly one of the most accurate portrayals of depression that I've seen in quite a while. It's a good reminder that despite our pain we can keep living for those who cared about us, and we can stay strong. I highly recommend reading this piece, probably more than any other piece here.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Distinguished Members
 

When we see someone who has mad skills when it comes to banging out articles, we like to recognize them here. Congratulations to @Logician_UC!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Project of the Month : Results! 

 

After yet another Project in the AWC, we're very happy to present to you the entries in all their glory. Thank you for entering, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone in the AWC participating next time 'round.

 

1: Die, O Rabbit (Categorize, Category 3[spy, Villian, Car, Skateboard])

by @Penguin40

 

Reward: +10 points and 20,000 crystals

 

Entry: Click here to read in the Google Doc, due to the sheer length of it. 

 

2: Terror (Intangible)

by @Logician_UC

 

Reward: +8 points and 17,000 crystals

 

Entry:

 
Tap Tap Tap
 

The sounds of its claws tapping on the ground as it comes closer causes you to stop breathing. You're sitting behind a desk that you ran to once you glimpsed it through a veil of darkness. Running into the room and simply crouching down so that the desk sat between you and the door. Your mind screams at you to run for a window, to take off at full sprint while looking over your shoulder in naive hopes that it can't keep up. But your body is no longer in your control. It simply stops moving. Frozen out of sheer fear.
 
Fight or flight indeed. You feel like to face it would be like looking into the pits of Hell. Pulling any sense of safety from every plan and hope of beating it. You couldn't possibly even look at it without screaming or shredding your mind. And to run? To run would be far worse. Like you were merely prolonging your suffering. Like cutting into bone slowly instead of a swift slice across flesh. It may take longer, but in the end it was far worse.

Tears began to form in your eyes as the stress continues to overcome you. You start to shake, just your hands at first, then the rest of your body follows along. You can only hope that the desk you are hiding behind deceives the beast. However as its footsteps draw nearer your inability to do anything starts to overcome you, and with it comes cries of horror. It stopped. Did it hear you? Yes, it must have. You know it somehow. You can only hear the rushing of blood through your ears. Then you feel its breath wash over you from the side. You shut your eyes as tight as you possibly could hoping they'd stay that way until the end and never wanting to open them again. You hear it move in front of you, feel it's breath on your face and then a claw on your shoulder. You wait for that awful moment when it would begin to tear at you and finally you would all be done for.
 
 
Then it was over. That feeling of fright that was warping your sense of judgement. Then you realize as you open your eyes realizing nothing was happening and look at its face with new eyes expecting something horrid or grotesque. But it was neither. Merely a strange creature mistaken for something evil. The monster you thought you saw, was caused simply by the way the shadows were cast upon it and the sound of its growl that echoed just the right way. Terror is a strange thing is it not? When it comes to you, you might freeze up or break down. But once you really see what's going on it may not be nearly as bad as you thought. There are many terror's roaming around, haunting people. If only they could see it the way it truly is, if only they could calm down and look at it from another perspective. Most people who think they experience terror aren't actually plagued by something nearly as awful as it seems. Terror is neither good nor bad in the end, it is what lies behind that sensation that determines just how real it is. 

 

 

3. Boring is Bad 

by

 

Reward: 6 points and 14,000 crystals 

 

Entry:

So, here I am, having to need, to write some STUPID article, on not getting bored of Tanki. Well not really. But now you wanna read it right?

 

Whatever.

 

TankiOnline is a game of complete skill and strategy. You can think of all sorts of strategies in your room, not playing TankiOnline, but once you actually log onto the computer, all those thoughts and whatnot go down the trash. Why? Because of habit.

 

By the time you read this article, you’re probably already developed a couple of bad habits, that will remain with you until the rest of your career in Tanki. And some of these habits will turn you into a complete noob, making you wanna bash your keyboard in, and quit TankiOnline forever because you’re just simply bored of missing the gold box for like, the thousandth time.

 

Leading us back to the first two sentences on getting bored of Tanki.

 

Whatever.

 

Tip #1  Doing. Your. Research.

 

Yeah sure, you log onto TankiOnline and have fun shooting tanks, but most people have very little concept on what actually goes on in the game. Behind that screen of yours, from the thousands of little flashing pixels on your screen, to which programming language Tanki uses, having a deep understanding of the game is incredibly useful.

 

For example, TankiOnline wasn’t always how it was. Originally it was just a simple concept of oh, making little tanks disappear from the screen, which I guess, technically counts as getting a kill.

 

So many interesting facts on Tanki that most people don’t even know, much less care about.

 

But how does this actually help you? Well, here’s scenario 1. A complete noob is the #1 player on Tanki when it comes to ratings. And yes, I’m calling this player a noob (no offense if you’re actually a pro, in my terms). If this player say, gets his account hacked, he would be completely devastated because he has no background knowledge on bans.

 

But a “pro” player, or a person who did his research would know that, hacked accounts are never really hacked, but usually a misplacement in the Tanki database (completely making this up). Knowing this, and his knowledge of Tanki support, he immediately contacts Tanki support, reports a problem, proves that his account was hacked, and gets his account back within the day (thanks to Tanki's extremely fast reply rate).

 

Scenario 2 is that if someone says, I’m lagging, you can just rapidly type in,”HA, I read this article by I_Am_Unkown, and it says that when somebody else says that they’re lagging, I should just say, ‘lag is created by radio waves being distorted due to a variety of indirect as well as direct environmental factors”.

 

So yeah, that’ll make you all cooler.

 

There really is a lot to learn about how the computer world works.

 

….

 

Ok, moving on,

 

 Tip #2. Get yourself involved with TankiOnline stuff, that’s not actually playing the game.

 

For example, you could go the forum and find loads of games and meets lots of new friends with similar interests to you.

 

One great example of this is simply joining the AWC (Amateur Writing Club), or, simply posting an article. This is a great way to spread your knowledge of the game, and see what others think of your writing. In addition to this, you can have fa-na-ma-nal righters make your writing better.

 

Another great way to spend your time in the forum is joining a parkour clan. Let’s be real. After a while, it does get boring blowing up tanks, and so you resort to some parkour.

 

But then of course, there are those people who ahem, “mult”. These people just kill, mess up your parkour stunts, and of course, show off their massive amount of drugs. So, to prevent this, simply join a parkour club, get started, meet new friends, and start conquering new tricks. Good luck!!

 

Tip #3, Meet some friends

 

Like, real ones. Most people simply just accept everyone in their friends list by rapidly clicking the “Accept” button. Sure you can do this, but what percent of those people are ACTUALLY your friends. These people don’t even have to be real life face to face friends, but at least somebody who you can actually train with, have some fun catching golds together, and of course, mult together.

 

For starters, I have a really good friend who I always play XP battles with. Usually he ends up beating me like 7-1, but still, it’s always a good match nonetheless. Furthermore, both of actually know each other and both of us always have fun with each other.

 

So to summarize this tip, just find a friend who you can have fun with on a daily basis. Someone that you’re always planning to have fun with, and someone who you can always count on having fun with. So find a friend, catch some golds, beat a 2 v 2 team, and have fun molting.

 

Tip #4, Mult.

 

Yeah ok, sure, tweezers is usually the one lecturing on multing. YOU might think multing players are noobs, but who's to say that YOU can’t be a multer, molting person, or whatever the correct tense is.

 

No, not really. It’s not fun to mult at all whatsoever.

 

My REAL tip is to rethink TankiOnline.

 

Yeah, good thing there’s a long explanatory article on this part or else tweezer’s gonna be scratching his head for awhile (please don’t deny my article tweezers)

 

So for starters, most people start TankiOnline in very different ways. I myself, was part of the original beta testers, no not really.

 

I myself started, and got HIGHLY interested in this game after watching a friend play a EXP/BP battle. I was amazed at the fact that there was so much skill needed in the game. I quickly found this out after my friend let me try using his account and I got “rekt” 5-0, in a matter of 2-3 minutes.

 

But after, I started getting better and better and here I am today.

 

Because of the fact that TankiOnline has the option to buy (which I totally love), many people have abused this and have spent a lot of money and completely dominate the battle while showing off how many drugs they have.

 

We all hate these people.

 

So sure, this might be a strong reason why you want to completely quit the game, but that just leads me to the part where I talk on how to rethink TankiOnline.

 

Of course we all have our moments where we wanna smash our keyboards in rage that we aren’t rich and we can’t spend hundreds on a video game, but that just goes back to the part where I talked about how TankiOnline is a 99.99% skill game.

 

Always remember that just because you’re a buyer doesn’t mean you’re good. Remember to do your best to always train, train, train, and practice, practice, practice.

 

Eventually you’ll meet a complete dugger pro. But instead of just calling them a “noob”, ask them to teach you a few things here and there. Of course there will be those that refuse but many will surprisingly say “of course” or something along those lines.

 

So learn the best you can from these players and become better yourself. Rethink TankiOnline not as a game of money or drugs or whatever, but as a game of pure skills, a game that all can get better at.

 

 

 

So there you have it, hope these tips help you refrain yourself from smashing your monitor screen!! I_Am_Unkown, signing out.

 

Check out the AWC League for the current standings and more. Remember, your name could be up here as well so make sure you enter this months Project! 

 

The project is open to members of the Amateur Writing Club. If you are not currently a member, PM with your application. All the relevant details can be found here.

 

Note: The project topic of this month will be posted in a pinned topic in the Amateur Writing Section. 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Announcements

 

We're saddened to announce that our AWC Helper and exceptional reporter @Savage has left the team due to certain conflicts of interest within the forum. We wish him well in all that he does, and hope that he will continue to be a member of our Tanki community.

 

In other news, we're happy to welcome back , someone who needs no introduction to those familiar with the Amateur Writing Section and the TO Newspaper. I'm sure we're all looking forward to working with him again, and we wish him the best of luck!

 

Is someone you know an exceptional writer, but doesn't know where to show off their talent? Give them a nudge in the direction of the Amateur Writing Section and we'll take care of the rest!

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

And so, we come to the end of this months edition of the 'Best of AWC'. We'll be back in the next issue with more of the usual, so make sure you don't miss it. Until then, ta-ta! 

 

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Cg to all winners. :c my poem didn't win :c

[TTK_229 1,080]

Why did @Savage leave?

[Viking4s 10,791]

Why did @Savage leave?

Read the "Announcement chapter" at the bottom of the article.

[Logician_UC 37]

Whaaaat?! My gosh this is awesome! Got second in Project of the month and fifth in top articles! Thanks!

 

Just got me even more interested in continuing to do stuff here

 

 

And congratulations to all the other winners!

Edited June 9, 2017 by Logician_UC

[Seek_and_Destroy 38]

Noooooo0000

Savage don't leave come back your articles are so well written and interesting.

[fordmustang12345 3,910]

No offense to N-S but it seems a bit unfair with her being a ex reporter that she got first

[tweezers 1,034]

No offense to N-S but it seems a bit unfair with her being a ex reporter that she got first

Firstly, this is not in any specific order, as stated at the start of the list. Secondly, her article got on the list not because she's an ex-reporter, but because it was a genuinely good article worthy of a place on the list.