Hello, this is Matt Riddle, but many people know me as Prime. Recently, it has come to mind that I have been nominated for the "Most Outspoken" category of the "Best of" award contest on Pojo. I am very honored by this, as I do feel I have spoken my mind whenever there has been a chance. I feel I must speak my mind once more, before the year is out. December 31, the winners were posted. I glanced down the chart, saw blaziken won a lot of stuff like best deck (e-on) and best deck (rs-on). I then saw the "Most Outspoken" category. The winner was Lia Van Bemmelen, also known as Rainbowgym. Congratulations to him. He really has spoken his mind on the issues that do matter in his country. If he doesn't do it, I don't see any future for his already dying community. I then looked down and noticed that I was in a tie for second play with Martin Moreno. Martin Moreno? Who is that? I google'd him, to find a few articles that he had posted about his Walrein/Milotic deck, and his thoughts of the game. I was surprised to not find much from Martin, and thus lead me to question myself, "Why was Martin even nominated?". He clearly did not post as much as Lia and I had on Pokegym. I even checked his post count, and found a nice 9 posts under his Martin account. Where has Martin spoken so much? Definitely not on Pokegym, with his post count of 9. Definitely not on Pojo with his two articles in the featured article section. Where was these conversations and spoken threads that impulsed people to nominate him for the "Most Outspoken" award. And thus I lead myself to think that maybe Martin did not get nominated because he was outspoken. I glanced over the other nominees and winners for other awards and saw that Martin had been nominated in other categories. He was voted 3rd least washed up player and he was nominated for "Sexiest" player. Now, I can't comment on either category, as I don't consider any player washed up or "sexy", other than the females of course, but I find it weird how someone was nominated in three categories, unlike most who were just nominated in one. I remember back when I was in high school. When "most likely" would roll around, I remember how it was not about who was, "most likely", but was about who was most popular. Is this the same as high school? I feel it might be. The categories of “most sexiest” and “least washed up” are very much influenced by popularity. If the people that were nominated were not popular, people would not have seen them as the "most sexiest" or "least washed up" and I am perfectly fine with that. But I am not perfectly fine with an award based on "Most Outspoken" to be almost given to someone that isn't as outspoken as the other nominees, and yet was nominated and almost won because they were popular. Now, of course this is only speculation. But if anything I've said about the category being influenced by popularity is correct, then there is something definitely messed up. Now, I respect Martin Moreno. I have not met him in real life, but I hear he's a great player. But I don't think it's right for him to be nominated because of popularity. Many people might see me as a poor loser, and maybe they are correct, but when there is something wrong, it needs to be fixed, and it shouldn't matter who presents the problem, poor loser, or total stranger. I know the contest is already over, tallies are in, and no recount will be taken. But I would like to see some reason for Martin Moreno to be nominated for "Most Outspoken". He has posted two articles on the featured articles section of Pojo, and has posted 9 times on Pokegym, which in my honest opinion does not qualify him for the "Most Outspoken" award. In conclusion, I feel the "best of" award contest on Pojo has been corrupted by the power of popularity. In which some people that were nominated for some categories have been nominated for the wrong reasons. I would like to see my article posted on Pojo and also a response from the people that ran the award contest. But I highly doubt either will happen. This has been the last time I will speak out for this year, and I hope people are able to hear me.

 

Signing off,

Matt Riddle a.k.a Prime

 

January 1st, Follow-Up: