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From
June 1, 2014 to November 30, 2014, the OHR community was once again given the
opportunity to relive the days when random battles were accepted and game
design was about visiting towns and crawling through dungeons, and then get
rewarded for implementing the throwback design into their games. The contest,
called Heart of the OHR, had a simple rule: make, add to, or finish a
traditional OHRRPG. We’ve done it before. We’ve done it again. But did we want
to relive tradition for the third time? This
year we shuffled the pot again and decided to toss every category we offered
from 2012 into a single melee free-for-all where every game entered had to
contend with the next, fighting against veterans, newbies, Legends, rule-breakers,
and titles that some authors had never actually entered on their own. Heart of
the OHR was down and dirty this year, and with the new two-thirds rule in
effect (meaning any game that receives fewer than two-thirds the maximum number
of votes gets the empty spaces filled in with fives), the competition was
really anybody’s game. In all, eleven authors entered into the arena, three of
which had no idea they were competing (around here, we call them “unofficial
entries”), with one author throwing in two games for double the carnage,
bringing Heart of the OHR 2014’s total game count to 12, matching the game
count that had supplied the inaugural Heart of the OHR in 2010. In a year that
boasts the OHR’s weakest number of releases in its 16-year history (at 24 new
releases and a handful of updates for the whole year), that’s impressive. But,
as usual, the contest has not gone on without its controversies. With the
addition of two games that possibly violate the ground rules, endless deadline
extensions to ensure the voter outcome is fair, and general interest in this
year’s entries escaping quickly with the breeze, it’s easy to question if the
Heart of the OHR is merely beating with a murmur. Add to that this year’s
abysmally low contest score average of 4.43 (from both pure and 2/3 rule
inspired votes), almost a full point and a half below 2010’s average of 5.8 and
more than a point and a half below 2012’s average of 6.14, it’s easy to see
that Heart of the OHR has had a difficult year in 2014. But
nonetheless, Heart of the OHR 2014 beats on, and to celebrate its continuance
of life, we must crown a winner. It was a tough battle, and with game rankings
changing positions like lottery balls in a wind tunnel with every new vote to
come in (from 14 voters in total), it was difficult to gauge which of this
year’s titles would actually take the crown. But like all things in life, the
voting period had to come to an end (as many as three separate times), and with
it, a final vote. The ending may be controversial, for the true winner might’ve
been damaged by the two-thirds rule. But that’s why we have a two-thirds rule,
so voters will have a reason to vote for all and leave no game behind. In such
a difficult year for the Heart of the OHR, it only makes sense that someone
would ultimately get screwed. As I said, down and dirty. But why would we play
if there was no drama attached? Here
again is the story of that battle for the Heart of the OHR: Please
note that rankings are listed from worst to best, and based on average votes,
not rosters or quantities of total players. For this reason, abstained votes
did not count against games, but in many ways helped their averages. The
two-thirds rule requires that all games receive at least two-thirds the maximum
votes, as set by the top-voted game, in order to receive a ranking based on its
pure votes (those values given entirely by voters). Any game receiving fewer
than two-thirds the maximum vote receives a score of 5 for every missing vote
below the two-thirds range, thus keeping voters accountable and the ranges from
suffering from too many spikes caused by too few opinions. This year, the
top-voted game received 12 votes, so the two-thirds rule required all games
receive a minimum of 8 votes to be ranked according to its pure average. Games utilizing
the two-thirds rule (in 2014, two games were forced to succumb to this rule for
having fewer than 8 votes representing their final scores) were ranked
according to their 2/3 rule score.
And
there you have it, your lineup for the 2014 Heart of the OHR Contest. Even
though this year had a much weaker turnout than previous years (in terms of
quality, as evidenced by the scores), kudos still go out to our winner,
Pheonix, for coming in from behind during the last cycle of votes to win the
contest. Until the last-minute votes came in, his game, Winged Realm, was running in fifth place and Okédoké, our only Legends release this year, was holding the top
spot. As you can see, anybody’s vote can alter the landscape of winners, so
voting is important. Anyway, good job to those who tried. Also, good job to
superawesomeric for making T4R4D1DDL3,
the game with the highest pure vote average, which in previous years would’ve
won him/her(?) the contest, but not under this year’s rules. Thanks
also to James Paige, Spoonweaver, Fenrir-Lunaris, Mystic, RedMaverickZero,
Meatballsub, Willy Elektrix, Ichiro, and Meowskivich for helping with the
prizes. Heart
of the OHR 4 begins on March 1st, 2016, and runs until July 31st,
2016, so get your entries started now if you want to make it even better than
this year’s crop. —Pepsi
Ranger P.S.
For anyone who cares, here is the explanation for select achievements: Below
the Belt Champion -No
vote for James Doppler reached the
midpoint barrier (any score greater than 4). Poisoned
Heart -James Doppler is so full of offensive
material that including it in this contest kind of taints the Heart of the
OHR’s legacy. But because the contest doesn’t censor, it accepted the game
anyway. Begrudgingly. Simple
Jack Award -James Doppler violates the number one
rule for making its touchy main character likeable: it fails to reveal any
redeeming quality beyond Doppler’s surface ills, instead choosing to go (if I
may alter the original phrase quoted by Robert Downey, Jr.) “full [sludge-head].”
Watch the movie Tropic Thunder to get
the full scope of who Simple Jack is, what the original phrase means, and why
this award applies to this game. Waist
Level Champion -No
vote for Dragons! broke the midpoint
barrier (any score greater than 5). Welcome
to the Grid -Dragons! uses a very blocky (or
gridlike) map design to set up its adventure. The whole game feels mechanical
or even computerized (partial Tron
reference). Where
Are All the Dragons? -For
a game that has the word dragons in
the title, it’s surprisingly low on dragon encounters. Key
Is Pressed Award -Stand forgoes standard OHR controls and
instead relies on special keys like X and Z to interact with objects. Most
Ambitious -Stand attempts to build its RPG
structure on mechanics not quite native to the engine. A bit of a stretch for
the Heart of the OHR, but still enough of an RPG to qualify for the contest. The
4’s Almost Had It -The
majority of Stand’s votes were 4’s. Heroic
Newbie -RabMoghal,
the author of Invasion of the Mantle
Dwellers, comes out of nowhere and drops on the community a competent RPG
that focuses on a non-cliché storyline. It’s a refreshing thing for a new user
to bestow on our game list. Epic
Staircase Award -Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers has not
yet mastered the art of map design, and a conspicuously placed diagonal
staircase of mammoth proportions in the town’s castle pretty much sums up the
game’s initial problems with presentation. Epic
In-production -Zero: Secret Pasts Collide is credited
to have a 13-year development cycle between its last release and its current
one. More
than Meets the Eye -The Pumpkin Warriors has a few surprises
under its belt that aren’t readily apparent, but a little bit of exploration
might uncover. Straight
Six-shooter -The
first five votes (out of eight) for The
Pumpkin Warriors were 6’s. Saturday
Morning Special -The Pumpkin Warriors is the game that
best looks and feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. Wait,
That Guy Was Really a Hero? -A Troll Over spoiler alert! Don’t
Recruit Atomisk -Troll Over goes to a number of
unscrupulous places to define its quirkiness, but the disturbing weirdness
behind the death cultist Atomisk’s recruitment takes the cake. Altered
Add-on -Batman & Robin comes with two games,
the titular game, and the add-on, “Joker’s Breakout.” The add-on changes the
gameplay formula to provide a different kind of experience from the base game. Still
Better than Schumacher -In
spite of its flaws, the OHR version of Batman
& Robin is still more entertaining and sensible than the crapfest we
got out of the 1997 movie of the same name. The
Big Empty -Mr. Triangle’s Adventure has been
criticized for its sprawling maps with little to offer in its variation in
scenery or interactive objects. TL;DP -Or,
Too Long; Didn’t Play. Mr. Triangle’s
Adventure already boasts 25 hours of gameplay, and it’s still incomplete. Rewriter
of Legacies -Mr.
Triangle comes from a checkered past, and his latest game, Mr. Triangle’s Adventure, tries to correct (quite successfully) some
of that negative press. Clever
Boss Award -Mr. Triangle’s Adventure has the most
interesting boss battles of 2014. Defeating them requires as much brains as
they do Spacebars. Click
Here to Donate -Mr. Triangle’s Adventure is one of the
first OHR games to offer a special “Donate” button on its title screen,
offering its developers support. Have you
chosen to donate yet? Storied
Ending -The
final version of Okédoké! La Leyenda
Mexicana takes a page from the Legend
of Zelda school of endings and provides epilogues for many of its
characters at game’s end. Cultural
Survivor -Refers
partly to Okédoké’s heroes surviving
the negative reactions they receive from NPCs and villains during their
journey, but also refers to the game’s endurance inside a community that finds
it too controversial for enjoyment. Mega
Dungeon -Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana’s final
dungeon is a sprawling puzzle that takes about three hours to fully navigate. Best
Explosion -The
final moments of Okédoké! La Leyenda
Mexicana climax with a huge explosion. It’s epic. One
Day of Your Life -Referring
to the amount of time you’ll need to finish Okédoké!
La Leyenda Mexicana. Legend -Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana is the
second OHR Legends release in Heart of the OHR history. The first was Vikings of Midgard. To become a Legend,
a game has to be rereleased for the Heart of the OHR twice or more. Rebel
Heart -T4R4D1DDL3 wasn’t initially eligible for
the Heart of the OHR. A conversation with TMC convinced me that the game is
very much like the kind of stuff people were releasing for the engine back in
the late 90’s, and therefore is about as close to the “heart of the OHR” as one
can get. So, I caved and allowed it to enter. It still basically breaks the
rules. Panty
Raider (and Vittoria’s Secret) -T4R4D1DDL3’s main source of items and
armor comes from women’s fashion. Included in the roster of various tops,
pants, etc. is a wide variety of underwear types, many of which you can find in
treasure boxes. Not the kind of thing you’d normally expect to find all over an
OHR adventure world. Hugs
and Shoes -T4R4D1DDL3 is so full of nonviolent
content that it’s basically a feel-good game, until you realize it’s eating
your heart and trapping you in a nightmare. Winner
of the Prestigious WTF Award -T4R4D1DDL3 is one of the most abstract
head-scratchers we’ve had on the OHR in years. No one really knows what to make
of it. It’s even hard to decide if it’s brilliant, wacky, or downright awful.
It’s the apotheosis of WTF. Who’s
Who Award -Winged Realm’s heroes look similar to
each other (in that they’re all 8-bit harpies), and have names that are
complicated to track. It’s very difficult to tell any of them apart. Up
from Behind -Until
the final votes were cast the night before voting closed, Winged Realm was in fifth place. The last crop of votes shuffled
the Top Five enough to put Winged Realm
in the lead and Okédoké, the original
lead, in third. Battle
Fatigue -Winged Realm is wrought with unescapable
battles, is made difficult to keep healing potions, and doesn’t give you much
to look at between fights. My
Shizuma -Winged Realm resembles the kind of games
OHR user Shizuma is best known for making, including the classic epic Spellshard: Black Crown of Horgoth. Master
of Technicality -T4R4D1DDL3 should’ve technically won the
Heart of the OHR for having the highest average score based on pure votes. But
because the new two-thirds rule requires that all games have at least
two-thirds the voter representation of the top-voted game (this year, the honor
goes to Troll Over with 12 votes),
anything below the line must be supplemented with fives to balance out the
averages, which can potentially lower a game’s pure score if it’s higher than
five, and that’s exactly what happened to T4R4D1DDL3.
So, even though its pure score is greater than Winged Realm’s, the rules say that two-thirds takes precedence over
lesser voted games, and T4R4D1DDL3’s
two-thirds-affected score is lower than Winged
Realm’s purely voted score. So Winged
Realm wins. And
now for fun, here is a statistics list of the Heart of the OHR’s various
achievements so far: Highest
Participation Turnout: 17 (2012) (13 originals, 3 rereleased, 1 legend) Lowest
Participation Turnout: (tie, 12 (2010) (8 originals, 4 rereleased); 12 (2014)
(9 official, 3 unofficial)) Highest
Voter Turnout: 16 (2012) Lowest
Voter Turnout: 12 (2010) Highest
Average Contest Rating: 6.14 (2012) Lowest
Average Contest Rating: 4.43 (2014) Highest
Rated Game: Motrya (2010, 9.5) Lowest
Rated Game: James Doppler's Epic Sci-Fi
Fantasy… (2014, 2.25) Most
Voted On Game: DUNGEONMEN: Men of
Dungeons (2012, 15 votes) Least
Voted On Game: Vikings of Midgard
(2010, 5 votes) Most
Perfect 10’s Given to a Single Game: 8 (Motrya,
2010) Most
Imperfect 1’s Given to a Single Game: 5 (Hero,
2010) Most
Perfect 10’s Given in a Contest: 12 (2010) Fewest
Perfect 10’s Given in a Contest: 1 (2014) Most
Imperfect 1’s Given in a Contest: 13 (2010) Fewest
Imperfect 1’s Given in a Contest: 1 (2012) Widest
Voter Spread for a Game: 1 – 9 (tie, Tales
of the New World 2, 2010; Okédoké! La
Leyenda Mexicana, 2010) Narrowest
Voter Spread for a Game: 6 – 8 (Final
Dragon Legacy, 2012); 3 – 5 (Universal
Wars, 2012)* Highest
Low Score for a Game: 7 (DUNGEONMEN: Men
of Dungeons, 2012) Lowest
High Score for a Game: 4 (James Doppler’s
Epic Sci-Fi Fantasy…, 2014) Number
of Games to Receive Votes from Every Voter: 1 (Eternity Fragment Prelude, 2010) *Universal Wars actually received a low
vote of 2.5, but decimal votes were not accepted and were thus rounded to the
nearest whole number, in this case 3. |
