The Winners of Winter (Ciddies 2016)

[Queen Award, First of Her Name]

Here it is. The moment of truth. In a moment we will all get to know which one of these nominees has been selected as the best member of EoFF, Winter 2016. It's been a long wait and everyone is no doubt shivering in anticipation. But first, it's time for a speech.

No one member can truly do justice to all of these nominees. And so, much like last Ciddies, we once again asked all the nominees to tell us what they think of the other members and why they think they have what it takes to be chosen Best Member.

I'd say Bubba definitely is the best member. He's strong, firm, reasonably tall when standing erect...

Oh wait, we're talking about best member. In that department, Bubba definitely sizes up.

Honestly, what is there to say? He's charming and witty and writes some fantastic Let's Plays. He's down to Earth and laid-back, but never laconic. He cares - deeply - about his friends and family, and will fight tooth and nail for them. He's a great musician and plays not only because he's good at it, but because he knows that people gain something through his music. He's a great dad, and I know James will grow up to be an amazing person under Bubba and MissH's care and devotion. It is genuinely an honour to know the man.

If anyone is worthy of a forum's online gold bald-headed statue, it's him.

So, that Formalhaut huh?

He's up for Best Member? Nice.

Why should he win it? I'm not sure. Does he deserve it any more than any of the other nominees? Maybe. I think each nominee up there is there for a reason. You have Pumpkin in there because I guess she's always nice. You have Psychotic in there because he's always kind of a loveable ass. Bubba is in there because he's the irreverent one.

Formalhaut is there because above many members, he's really the heart of this forum. So you can take you niceness, your loveable ass-ness, and your irreverence and shove it up your vajoina because let me tell you here; Formalhaut is the guy that always explains the joke.

So you know what, give Best Member to Formalhaut, because he cares enough to let you know you should be laughing man, he will Formsplain the TROUT out of anything and make you feel safe at this forum.

Also, he's totally okay with you going and waking him up so you can have cake and then later coming back to his room ugly krying like a Kardashian....








AND.

AND.


He wears full pyjamas and slippers.

Dude is a miniature Stephen Fry. Give him the damn award.

There's not much I can say about Fynn, at least not anything I feel people around this forum wouldn't already know. He's a smart and friendly guy who sees the best in people despite themselves, and while he may have his strong opinions he won't budge on, he's at least willing to see the other side of the argument and try his best to find a peaceful middle ground for everyone.

He's shy and sometimes worries too much about what the rest of us may think, but I feel it's safe to say that we enjoy your company and thoughts Fynn, so never shy away from being yourself. We need your optimistic spirit and sense of civility to keep EoFF the type of place that people want to come back to. Whether its music, video games, or you simply trying to explain Polish cuisine (it's just bratwurst and beets right?) to us, we at EoFF will always be grateful to have such a fun and charming member who makes this place a little bit better just by being here.

Faithfull looney_bob is always ready on the forum to help others.
a friendly fellow that deserves the title of 'Best member

Our dearest Night Fury. A relative newcomer in the amount of time she has spent here but no-one has had a bigger EoFF impact in such a short period of time. Except maybe Bubba but that guy is a legend.

She is fiercely intelligent, incredibly supportive and just the right amount of crazy. A perfect combination for our little corner of the Internet. Also, along with Happy Phil Pheesh Noodle Boy, she makes up one of the most attractive geek couples on the planet.

She is also a fan of FVIII which means she has great taste in computer games and all you haters can suck my fat one. Her recent Sims Lets Play was the greatest thing possibly ever and if it hasn't won Best Lets Play at this Ciddies then you're all crazy fools.

She's also done so much work for EoFF and continues to do so to this day. She gives up her time to write articles, give us social media presence, obtain exclusive interviews and also gives great advice to other members when they have troubles. It's safe to say that our little birds nest would be that much more drab and dreary without her beautiful feathers brightening the place up.

We love you, Night Fury

I think it was a few years ago, perhaps when I'd woken up one day and found myself on EoFF staff unexpectedly, that Psychotic made a comment about how we had never really interacted despite being around each other for quite a number of years. It was true, we really hadn't. But since then, through working on EoFF Staff together, hanging out in person a few times and also playing a heck of a lot of Left 4 Dead that all changed. I have really gotten to see who Psy is as a person, I have come to understand what makes him tick.

And I wish we would go back to how it was before.



Nah, I'm totally kidding ( ). I'm glad that I've gotten to know Psy more over the past few years, he really is a top bloke. Both front facing and behind the scenes, he works hard for EoFF. He cares a lot about the site and is always trying to find ways to improve the place. He's consistently active, being his usual jokester self, sprinkled with moments of sincerity. It's been almost 12 years since I joined, and he continues to hit out with ridiculous posts that I still don't know whether to laugh or cry at. He is endlessly approachable, and he will try his hardest to help any members out where he can. Or change their name and set to something horrible, whatever, it's all the same thing. Honestly, got nothing bad to say about the guy, and I wish him the best of luck in these Ciddies.

Oh, actually, he pronounces Tifa completely wrong. What a wee cheeky chump.

Pumpkin is an extremely hard working person on staff. She has her ups and downs in life just like we all do, and her talking about them allows for a lot of relatable experiences which helps to build an understanding and empathy with her early on. She clearly is an incredibly caring person, for her son as well as her friends. The girl clearly just wants to do good for everyone, and we all know that's not something that's possible yet it doesn't stop her from trying, and I appreciate that a lot. She's also more than capable on staff, offering her insight to various areas of the staff forum while still pushing ahead on places like Pinterest and Tumblr, and of course the frontsite articles she puts out. An all round quality lady that really helps EoFF shine strong!

If you look at Shaibana's posts since the last Ciddies, she's only posted in TV show threads and about a Pokemon tournament. As a fellow fan of Westworld and Game of Thrones, her presence in those threads is a delight. Her enthusiasm and joy for each of the shows is infectious, and after each episode you can place good money on Shaibana making a series of funny comments and posting some relevant memes.

This is a real contrast from all of the other nominees. The other nominees, myself included, we're the usual suspects. We post in the same sorts of threads, most of us staff, former staff or heavily involved in forum events. I don't mean to disparage the contributions others have made to EoFF but this is precisely why I love Shaibana's nomination. She has her own little corner of EoFF that she makes more fun and interesting and I am so grateful for her and members like her. It makes this forum a whole lot more enjoyable. So thanks Shaibana, look forward to experiencing season 7 with you

Shauna is one of the hardest working members of staff. Between banning bots and bumping threads to get our butts in gear, she's an invaluable member of staff and an integral part of the forum. I am not exaggerating or paying lip service when I say the forum would be a worse place without her around. I haven't gotten to know Shauna as well as some other members on a personal level, but she's always been straightforward and polite, and gives me some feedback on the video games sometimes.

So thank you Shauna for everything you do and for helping to improve the forum and make it a better place. Here's to you and good luck on best member!!

Beneath a thin layer of nonchalance is one of the kindest, most chill people I know. Wolf Kanno is one of the first friends I ever made on EoFF, and he remains one of the best to this day.

Sometimes you just meet a person and you just click. Whether you just generally agree on what makes a good video game, or you both write and like to exchange story ideas, or you just like talking, it's good to have that one person that you know you can always start a conversation with and you know they won't find you boring or anything. Wolf Kanno always listens and is always respectful, even if you disagree with him. Which happens! We'll probably never see eye to eye on whether Persona 4's true ending is good or not, whether The Answer to Persona 3 is trash or not (it totally is) or whether Breath of Fire III or IV is better.

But despite any disagreements, I just always feel completely at ease when talking to Wolf Kanno. It's rare that you meet someone with such an even temperament. And I think we are all lucky to have him because of this.

Good luck, then, my friend, on getting Best Member. Because you sure as hell deserve it.