5punk Awards 2011

[Dog Pants]

Is it really that time of year again? The time has come to tally up the polls and distribute our awards . Please see below. Apologies for the lack of trophy images this year, I forgot to ask anyone (Grimmie) to make some.

2011 wasn't a bad year for games I think, overall. While there were only a couple of multiplayer highlights, which has again contributed to stagnant numbers in the membership stakes, However, the single player landscape has been great and I think there hasn't been a time this year when there hasn't been a good game to be playing (for me at least). More importantly than the games though, the site itself came through strife earlier in the year when hackers brought the site down and forced Stoat to upgrade to the new PHPBB, ably assisted by FJ and Spoodie. We're still not back to the functionality of the old site, but it's pretty and there are great things coming (in Valve time, naturally). Most of all though, we remain the irreverent, puerile, and welcoming group we always were, and while our numbers may be slightly diminished it seems to serve only to create some genuinely good relations. The bashes held this year have been legendary, and the brave souls who risked their homes to provide them deserve our admiration and physical affection.

2012 has a lot of potential for gaming of all kinds, and I think we've spoken about them enough already in another thread so I won't drone on about them here too. I like to think that the gathering pace of indie games may be a sign of things to come this year though, especially with Steam's wholehearted promotion of them. And speaking of Steam, Valve's monster platform would seem to have become our tool of choice for our gaming, knocking Xfire of its perch for the first time since 5punk's inception. I may email Gabe to congratulate him.

All in all though, 5punkers are what make this place great. Personally I find it's the home of funny, good natured, like-minded people the likes of which I can't find anywhere else in any quantity, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. My good friends, viva la 5punk!

Multiplayer Game of the Year

Battlefield 3
Despite some misgivings over it being a little dumbed down for the console market, BF3 retains the greatness that marks the series out as a 5punk staple. Epic battles and the scope for good old fashioned 5punky gaming of both the serious and silly kind make this very late contender the multiplayer game of 2011.

Single Player Game of the Year

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim has beaten some great games to this prize, and this year has brought a cornucopia of classics. That it has won is testament to the mix of open world exploration and questing with well scripted events and story arcs. For many of us it may become a game we return to again and again to explore through the eyes of another character.

Game of the Year

Battlefield 3
A close run thing, won by only one vote, but 5punk's background of community gaming means our multiplayer winner edges past the post first. Let us not forget the many other 5punky games we have enjoyed though; last year's winner, Minecraft, remains oft returned to for both single player digging and ludicrous multiplayer projects, and some similarly good times were also had with Terraria. AAA powerhouses such as Portal 2 and Deus Ex struggled for a foothold in this year's polls, which speaks for itself for the quality of games we have played this year.

Master of Rings

Mr Johnson & Dog Pants
Cat herding has never been harder here, and my own part of this award is testament to that. Thanks guys! No herding was required for the Belgium Bash though, and the lovely Mr Johnson thoroughly deserves this award for getting a group of the least organised cretins the United Kingdom has to offer to another country in the same place at the same time, and then returning them without major incident, injury, or arrest. I hope I be one of those cretins for the next one.

Vampire of the Year

Killavodka
Some strong contenders for those to be found playing games at crazy hours, but KV stole the day with his penchant to be seemingly always on TS. Admittedly he masturbates for much of it, and presumably sleeps at times too, but he's always up for a chat if you catch him awake.

OMG Haxxor

Deject
The lack of decent MP gaming for much of the year hasn't stopped our colonial champ from running away with this one. Deject's weapon of choice is currently our game of the year, Battlefield 3, and his obvious passion for it has led to him being a right bastard on the field. If you see him playing a game, join on him so you end up on the same side.

Talented Bastard

Grimmie, Baliame & Dog Pants
A first for the awards this year, a three way tie! Baliame claims his part for the behind the scenes code-monkeying, suprisingly as it isn't live yet, but I have seen his work first hand and can vouch for its quality. Unfortunately he hasn't logged in since October. Bali, come and claim your reward! Next up is Grimmie, who not only remains the creator of uniquely characterful artwork, but has also added beautifully detailed beardy campaign worlds to his portfolio. Bastard. May they both come together (as they already have to an extent) in the following year for more highly entertaining D&D shennanigans. Similarly, my own inclusion in this award is due to my beardage in the form of SLA Industries. The live game I ran at the beard-bash was great fun for me and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.

Funny cupcake

Roman Totale
A brave effort by the other nominees, but with almost 50% of the votes Roman's puns remain the most consistently funny things on 5punk, despite making many of us want to hang ourselves at the time. Those who only experience him on the forums also miss out on some creative wit and repartee over TS which shows how naturally it flows. To top it all the wonderful performances accredited to Glibberig this year pretty much tied this award up.

Liver of the Year

FatherJack
Living up to his namesake's reputation, our elusive top man attended the Jock bash and showed everyone how it was done. A truly inspirational bout of liver abuse I'm told, and considering his company (i.e. the other nominees) that's quite an achievement. FJ - we fuggin lovesh you, you're our besht mate.

Meat Shield

Pnut
Champion of the 5punky way, Pnut has gone forth among the public as the 5punky ambassador for being a bullet magnet and spending the most time respawning. This year has been unusual for this award in that some nominees were also in the Haxxor category too. Pnut exemplifies this paradox with his schizophrenic play style, going from whipping boy to pr0, and of course back again.

5punker of the Year

Dog Pants
The sheer amount of nominations this year goes to show just how close we are as a community, and of course no one person can lay claim to that success. But I got the award, so fuck you guys! Seriously though, any effort I put into keeping this place together is purely because I enjoy the company and I don't want anyone to leave. Now put the lotion in the basket.

[friznit]

fwap fwap fwap....oh hai... Oi! Get out of my room you dirty buggers. Oh I see, this is your room? Nevermind, carry on...fwap fwap fwap.

[Mr. Johnson]

Gentlemen, I salute all of you.

I'm really really hoping for another bash this year, and if none are announced I'll just do my own again.

[Grimmie]

Cor, thanks for the award? I'll have it Mondays, Thursdays, and every third Saturday, guys.
I hope to be helping Joose in illustrating his POWERS source book when he gets to writing it all down, and expending on Orhedge and the local area as soon as we get the latest adventure finished. (Which I hope to do before we're in to February. Fingers crossed.)

I am hoping to make a return of the Brum Bash, in some form or other.

Watch this space.

Grats to everyone else, dearly deserved awards.
Bumhugs to everyone else, LOSERS. Hahaha..

[deject]

Yay! I do believe this is the first time I've won one of these award thingies. Thanks gents!

[Joose]

Well deserved rewards all round! Jolly good show chaps!

On the Bash subject, I definately intend on having another beard bash, as the last one was awesome fun.