Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Modern Masters 2017 - Presentation Nominations Thread

Tags: #Modern Masters  #MM17 
  • August 4, 2018

    Announcing Modern Masters 2017

    List of Builds released in 2017

    Hello everyone and welcome to Skyrim CB. Today I’m announcing Modern Masters 2017, the goal of which is to showcase some of the best builds from theyear of 2017. More than that, this is an opportunity for builders to interact with each other, to discuss what makes a build 'the best' in their eyes, and show off who the Modern Masters of building are. 

    How to qualify:

    The Modern Masters is a tournament that showcases recent builds that have been added to the Vault. This one specifically focuses on all the builds that were posted in 2017, and includes normal builds, event builds, and contest builds. Basically if it was posted in 2017 it qualifies for the tournament. Below are the requirements for entry.

    The Date:

    This is the Modern Masters 2017 Tournament so only builds that were posted between January 1st 2017 and December 31st 2017 will qualify. In order to enter the tournament the build also has to be nominated in the appropriate thread with a link to the build in question. 

    Nominations: 

    The event is divided into five parts (neither of which are running at the same time), each with the goal of finding the best three builds in the following categories: 

    Presentation - Gameplay - Roleplay - Mods - Lore

    Over the course of a week, from one Friday morning until the next, members will be able to nominate however many builds they want in that week's chosen category. I am however enforcing a rule demanding that if you nominate a self made build, you are required to nominate at least two other builds posted by someone else. Once the nominations in a week are completed, we will be running a multiple choice poll from Friday morning until Monday morning to choose the best three builds in that week's category. If a build wins in a week's poll, it will automatically be removed from all future category polls even though it is nominated again. As I said, I want to see as many people as possible earn recognition for their hard work. So be careful what you nominate. If however, someone nominates a build for a category but the builder/author feels like it would be a way better fit in another category, then the builder/author can make a request to have their build removed from the current nominations.

    After determining the top three winners for each category, we will be running a multiple choice Best Of 2017 poll in which all the builds posted in 2017 will be included. And by all, I mean all of them regardless if a build previously won in a poll or wasn't even nominated. In this poll we will be selecting only one winner.

    Tournament Schedule

    We will be starting off with... Presentation! Below you will find the schedule for both the nominations timetable as well as the poll. Since the event has been slightly modified due to the huge number of builds from 2017 (thank you Lis for coming up with The Compendium), the time remaining until the deadline for nominating the most stunningly presented character builds will be greater than for the other categories.

    Presentation Nominations: 04-Aug-2018 - 24-Aug-2018

    Presentation Poll: 24-Aug-2018 - 31-Aug-2018

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nominations

    The Ashlander Outcast
    The Reckless Waif
    The Warden of Azura
    The Banshee of the Reach
    Baranat's Descendant
    The Pale Ranger
    Big Head
    Cinq amis' Savos
    The Dullahan
    The Valenwood Vampire
    Big Trouble In Little Morro
    The Bow-Knight of Auri-El
    Heroic Spirit - Caster
    The King of the Undead

     

    Poll

    The poll is found on the main page here...

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FAQ’s

    Q: What if there is a tie?

    A: In the event of a tie, both builds will win! If two builds clash over the third place with the same number of votes, then they'll both be considered winners. Yes, we may have four winners in a poll if it comes to it.

    Q: Why is the format different this year?

    A: Because I decided that I wanted to change things up and focus on something different. MM2016 was very much a test run and there are a few rulings this year designed to counter some flaws in last year's running. Mostly it's the number of builds that can be featured, where this year we want people to put a hell of a lot of thought into their nominations. As for the lack of categories...honestly it's just a personal choice. I believe we should be focusing on the best builds of the year rather than the best builds for each category. It isn't something that's locked in permanently, just for this year at the very least.

    Q: Why has the event been changed more than halfway through its run?

    A: Most people were not even aware of the huge number of builds posted in 2017. Once I learned this, it became clear that as many builders should win this event as possible.

    Q: Will there be badges rewarded to the winners, just like last year?

    A: Yes! 

    Q: Will there be a Modern Masters 2018?

    A: YES!! And 2019 and 2020 and so on :D So get building, improve your builds and work your hardest to make some really awesome builds.

  • August 4, 2018

    Deebs, great to see this contest up and running again. Where builders can sit back, relax and admire all that we accomplished in a year. 2017 was a strong year for building and I looik forward to see the highlights from that year. 

    But can I mention that the loading for CB is extremely slow right now. I can barely access the page and I'm wondering if others aren't having trouble as well. 2017 builds are already several pages down in the group page. This is going to make searching for builds from that year extremely difficult. Older builds from 2017 are especially going to suffer. I just don't good builds ignored, you know? 

    You know, if you are going this route with Modern Masters by not using the play tags, I offer the suggestion of perhaps a year tag in our builds, in the numerical form, like 2017. It may make the search much, much easier. 

  • August 4, 2018

    Alright, I'm making a compendium of 2017 builds. Not done yet because the site is slow for me, but I should be totally done by today or tomorrow. 

    A Compendium of Builds: 2017

  • August 4, 2018

    Damn I've only just started narrowing down my own nominations (which I will hold on to for a bit, gotta write about 28 paragraphs on why they're some of my favourite) and it's tough. I've got at least 6 builds already that I think are legitimate contenders and I haven't even gone through all of them. It's a really nice mix from that year, kinda forgot half of these were things that existed, but it's really awesome to see so many awesome builds :D

  • August 4, 2018

    I dunno about you, but I'm really going to take my time with this, so expect some feed flooding in the next week or so while I look at them and comment, like any of them that I missed. Not nominating my own stuff because that's just kinda cheap to me, so I'll be looking at everything else in that compendium and really thinking about what's the best of the best in 2017. I'll be looking at Gameplay, RP, Lore, presentation, creativitity, writing, lots of stuff goes into a really strong build. 

  • August 4, 2018

    The Long-Chapper said:

    I dunno about you, but I'm really going to take my time with this, so expect some feed flooding in the next week or so while I look at them and comment, like any of them that I missed. Not nominating my own stuff because that's just kinda cheap to me, so I'll be looking at everything else in that compendium and really thinking about what's the best of the best in 2017. I'll be looking at Gameplay, RP, Lore, presentation, creativitity, writing, lots of stuff goes into a really strong build. 

    I dunno, I have a few that are shoe-ins to be honest. Like I've got a lot of love for a lot of builds, but there are some that are just all-time greats for me rather than yearly greats. Got two that I'm probably going to post today to get the ball rolling but my third is going to be where I browse through and narrow everything down. It's a weird strategy, but in the end I know that the ones I don't vote for are going to be nominated anyway because they're just so awesome. 

  • August 4, 2018

    So my first nomination (though not entirely my favourite build, just one of them) is going to be The Mage Knight by Soly

    Why am I nominating this build? Well simply put I think it's a masterpiece, like an actual build that could make a legitimate argument for my top 25 builds of all time. I don't say that lightly because I've read a hell of a lot of awesome builds, and this one is perhaps one of the neatest and most polished pieces of work that I've had the pleasure of reading. 

    If we broke this build down into any number of categories I would really struggle to find a flaw with the build. The presentation is obviously incredibly nice and done in a very clean and simplistic manner. It's not clunky or overly colourful or anything else that can be nice, but feel like a bit too much, it's just neat and well designed. The use of the banners, combined with the work done (and selection) of the pictures, throw in the excellent text formatting and the build is just pleasent to read and look at. The gameplay is incredibly detailed but never dry (something that is really tough to pull off) and Soly explains the build in a way that's just easy to follow.

    I think you get the point :P I'd say similar stuff about just about every section, I'll admit that it doesn't top every section (there are builds with better Lore, builds with better Presentation and so on) but there are very few builds that managed to do everything to the level of Soly's build. 

  • August 7, 2018

    Okay, I think it's time I take a dive at this. I will put out two nominations today and a third once the list was complete, but Deebs was starting to get worried, so I'll share at least two of mine now. 

    So let me first qualify by saying that 2017 was great year for builds. This competition is a nice stroll down memory lane for me, bringing back some very nice memories, and lol, some not so nice memories. I hosted CB for about half that year along with Vargr and we had several very strong events, which gave me great satisfaction, but yeah, hosting CB also has challenges. Lots of stress. Against Type, Two in Two, and Follow me Follow You and peeps, the builds from those events were excellent. Quality soared. I think haivng such challenging themes made people step out of their comfort zones and get their brains thinking about different ways to use the game to create excellent builds. We also saw a dramatic increase in modded builds, which, I think, will ultimately further extend Skyrim's build life by offering other options. That isn't to say that Vanilla still doesn't work, one of my nominations is indeed a Vanilla build, so goes to show if your brain is working, you can still offer something creative in Vanilla and I myself tend to build in Vanilla with only minor mod enhancements. So hats off to all the builders in 2017, you guys did a great job, but I can only pick three, dammit, which sucks. Now they are not presented in any particular order or preference. 

    1. My first pick echoes Deebs. Soly's The Mage Knight. We all know me to not be the best at button mashing. I can't do combos or special  moves and I get frustrated by poorly implimented glitches and exploits in the game. I can appreciate them when they're well-done, but when they have no bearing on the character or rp, I am not too keen on them. I also hate crafting with a passion. I only feature it in two of my builds and I made that venture into crafting sooooo lightweight, hollistic, and natural, that I didnt' feel it, because I hate crafting. Crafting is boring, unless you are building your secret Dwemer laboratory or your museum to the Companions. :D

    Soly's Mage Knight has simple, yet effective gameplay. And that's not a detriment. It's something that I can launch now and have a very good time with. I don't need to fiddle with mod lists, I can just go. In fact, it plays similar to styles I already enjoy. I always enjoy builds that can get right to the essence of the build right out of Helgen. It's a spellsword, yes, but I enjoyed his breezy presention. You can tell that this was a build he thoroughly enjoyed playing and, for me, this is the key in a strong build. It's not about coming up with the freshest gimimick or exploit, or wowing people, or show-casing a mod, it's about sharing what you like. The build also allows some flexibility with how you approach the character, which I can appreciate.  

    2. My second nomination is Shin Jin's Mara's Might. That Two in Two event was, for me, something special, my brain child. Two skills, two weeks. Was quite a tall order for people who were normally used to events that could often span months. It was brutal, but it produced some of the finiest builds of 2017, IMO. And I knew my second nod would be a build from this tiny but mighty group. Shin's build narrowly beat out a small group of builds, including Vargr's The Reckless Waif, an unsung build that you should check out anyway, a fun build that explore non-combat skills. 

    But, I love restoration magic too much. My canon character, Aelberon of Dusk is a Restoration mage. So seeing what Ordinator can do for a restoration mage was very cool. There is another build that uses restoration with archery. Plunder's the Bow Knight of Auri-El. And it was hard to pick between the three and another one, a big red-haired warrior with a large axe and big tits-saber cats! Phil's Banshee of the Reach. What I liked about Shin's, however, was that it only focused on Ordinator. I tend to get overwhelmed if there are too many mods in a build. I love mods, but I'm one of those if I have too many choices, I don't make any choices. :D So having just one mod to focus on helped and you could really see how Restoration becomes a valid schoold of magic in this build. 

    Well, there you have it, two nominations from me. I got one left and will be combing the builds to come up with my final choice. Lol, I've already mentioned three builds outside my nods, so my brain's still thinking them, but there are also others to consider too. See, this is what happens when you guys all do such  wonderful job, you make it hard to pick! I wish I could nominate 10 builds, but I can't. Only three. Much sadness. So, if you're not nominated by me, please don't take it to heart. This was a hard decision to make and in the nomination process, I also use some arbitrary factors to determine my final choice. 

    Please look through my compendium of 2017 builds and show your support for Skyrim CB by nominating builds for the Best of the Best in 2017. 

    The Long-Chapper

  • August 7, 2018

    Okay, I think it's time I take a dive at this. I will put out two nominations today and a third once the list was complete, but Deebs was starting to get worried, so I'll share at least two of mine now. 

    I prefer concerned, it makes me seem less needy to get comments :P 

    But thanks for the nominations Liss, and for throwing around some other names, I think that's a pretty good idea even if they aren't (100%) making your top three, and thus your list of nominations, but it's nice to show love to some other builds. I would've if I hadn't decided on The Mage Knight about a week ago :P

  • Member
    August 7, 2018
    I'll jump in tonight or tomorrow with a few nominations. It'll give me a good reason to check out the builds of the last year that I've missed. I really liked the Banshee of the Reach, so that'll definantly be one of my votes. So two left I geuss.