# Who is your favorite Story Hour author?



## Knightfall (Aug 22, 2002)

The list I've decided on for this poll is kind of limited but lists those story hour authors with a thread that is more than six pages long with I believe 40 posts per page.

Anyway, the really long ones!!!

If you vote other then post who you pick is.

{re-edit}



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> *I'm not voting on this one neither, but I would like to point out that Bandeeto wrote most of the thread we co-write and deserves the credit. I just started the thread to goad him into getting started.*




Oops.  I totally forgot that Bandeeto does most of Early Years Defender's Story Hour.

That means that Sialia is actually -  Sialia/Bandeeto


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## ForceUser (Aug 22, 2002)

Nah, I'm not voting for this. A story hour is a labor of love and ranking them could lead to hard feelings. Besides, I think they're all great!


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## Knightfall (Aug 22, 2002)

ForceUser said:
			
		

> *Nah, I'm not voting for this. A story hour is a labor of love and ranking them could lead to hard feelings. Besides, I think they're all great!  *




Hey, I know what you mean about them being a labor of love for the authors but these guys have been doing this a while.  I'm sure they all know that it wouldn't be about taking sides or who's better than who.  After all, the poll is who is your favorite, not who is the best.  Asking who one thinks is the best ISN'T a fair question.


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## dpdx (Aug 23, 2002)

*Multiple favorites*

Rather than list the ones that are all tied for first with me, I thought I'd contribute what makes a story hour my favorite:


*Clear, written stuff with a minimum of errors that I have to try to decipher.* It's gonna sound harsh, but if you don't care about spelling and coherent sentences, I don't care about your story hour.
An imaginative campaign world that both interacts with the characters and keeps going in spite of them.
A minimum of teen/d00d/skaterspeak. One of my favorite story hours went the entire time being a good story hour, but then lapsed into this for the last update. I stopped reading it.
Well-defined, fleshed out PCs and NPCs who say and do interesting, IC things. This is missing from my game, but it can be faked if you're a decent storyteller.
Humor.
There are at least 9 or 10 Story Hours off the top of my head that meet all these criteria, and I'm not going to single one out, no matter what.


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## KidCthulhu (Aug 23, 2002)

Good points, dpdx.  I've got to add an addendum to your first post.

Paragraphs.  If you're storyhour is one long block of text, you could be the next Hemingway, and I'm not reading it.  I cannot stress enough the value of short, readable paragraphs.


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## Dr Midnight (Aug 23, 2002)

Awww, you people are no fun.


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## el-remmen (Aug 23, 2002)

I voted for Sagiro.


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## Thorntangle (Aug 23, 2002)

Dr Midnight said:
			
		

> *Awww, you people are no fun. *




Alright, I'm not overly diplomatic so I'll vote in your poll of evil, Dr.Midnight. But know that it's like Sophie's Choice - it causes heart-rending pain to choose one.

If I had my access restricted so that I could only read one story hour, I'd pick Sepulchrave. He edges out all the other great story hours in every category.


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## Sialia (Aug 23, 2002)

I'm not voting on this one neither, but I would like to point out that Bandeeto wrote _most_ of the thread we co-write and deserves the credit. I just started the thread to goad him into getting started. 

And I kibbitz from time to time.

And add the occasional story sadly sprinkled with teenspeak because that's the way my current narrator talks. Apologies if I turned anyone off. Please do post that kind of thing on the thread if it's getting annoying--if nobody tells me that it's unpleasant to read, then how am I to know?

I've got plenty of other voices.

Bandeeto got a lot of feedback on his new interior monologue style and started giving two versions of each sotry--the interior and the exterior. So you know, we really will respond to feedback about what works and what doesn't.

We have a lot of fun writing these, but half the fun is knowing there's an audience out there willing to read the stuff.

What I look for in a storyhour is humor. There's no question. I love good characters and I love dramatic plot, but what keeps me coming back to a storyhour is good bellylaughs.

Wulf's voice always makes me laugh. Drunk Southern Girls scares me and makes me laugh at the same time, and has great cinematography, too.

Thigns that turn me off a storyhour are "same old same old."  
If I feel like I've heard the story a million times before, I don't keep reading. This isn't to say I wouldn't read several different accounts of the same module--if they were each told in a different style, or had characters so compelling that I wanted to see how each set of adventurers reacted to the same old same old situation, I'd read 'em. Understanding who the characters are and how they feel about what's happening to them, or what they do that's surprising and unusual to handle the situations, keeps me reading.


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## Dr Midnight (Aug 23, 2002)

Thorntangle said:
			
		

> *Alright, I'm not overly diplomatic so I'll vote in your poll of evil, Dr.Midnight.*




It's not MY poll, man! ...although I've come close to posting this same poll now and then, just to see where I rank. I would've put myself up there as a choice, of course...


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## Thorntangle (Aug 23, 2002)

Dr Midnight said:
			
		

> *It's not MY poll, man! ...although I've come close to posting this same poll now and then, just to see where I rank. I would've put myself up there as a choice, of course...  *



Er... oops. Sorry Doc.


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## dpdx (Aug 23, 2002)

Sialia said:
			
		

> And add the occasional story sadly sprinkled with teenspeak because that's the way my current narrator talks. Apologies if I turned anyone off. Please do post that kind of thing on the thread if it's getting annoying--if nobody tells me that it's unpleasant to read, then how am I to know?
> 
> I've got plenty of other voices.




It wasn't you I was referring to, Sialia, but your point is still valid.

Now let me tell you why I *won't* post criticisms in the thread:


Any Story Hour author I read has gone to a tremendous amount of effort and personal investment to hold that story up to the light of public praise and yes, criticism. For that, they deserve to present that story however the heck they want to. Thus, I will never criticize a thread specifically. The authors deserve my positive input, that is all.
I don't know how to use the PM feature of this board - that's MY fault. But even if I did, I can imagine how I'd feel to get a PM in the same vein after I'd busted my a** to post a Story Hour, and I won't put anyone through that.
In that same vein, it's not my right to ask that a Story Hour be changed because I have a problem with it. If I want a different (or differently written) Story Hour, then I can d*mn well post it myself.

Anyway, Dylrath is never objectionable to me. My example was more "meta" than that, if that explains anything.


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 23, 2002)

I'm my own favorite author of course.

Why not read my storyhour, The Elfblood Wanderers Storyhour (Don't worry, the story's a lot more interesting than the title...)?


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## Piratecat (Aug 23, 2002)

I'm as big an attention whore as anyone - well, anyone but Wulf - but I've got to admit, I'm not comfortable being included in this poll.  To be honest, I don't like this sort of poll at all!  While I love celebrating authors people think are cool, I'm not sure this is the best way to do so.

I do find what people like and don't like in any given story hour to be quite useful.

Knightfall, please let me know if you want me to close this.


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## ThePsionicist (Aug 23, 2002)

Good grief.  The replies I see in this thread are, and no offense intended, rather ridiculous.  This is no different then someone asking you if you like beef or chicken more.  You shouldn't really worry about offending the chicken makers of the world if you prefer beef, and vice versa.  

Why is it so difficult to simply say "I like this better"?  Are the story hour authors in this forum so sensitive and fragile they can't take it when someone prefers another story hour to their own?  I highly doubt that is the case.  All Knightfall is asking is what you, personally, prefer to read.  And I really don't see anything wrong with that.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.  I personally prefer Sepulchraves Story Hours to the others in this forum.  His writing skill is unparalelled in the way he relates his very well detailed campaign, characters, and NPCs.  His world is fascinating, especially the conflict between the forces of heaven and hell, and the various NPCs all have a life of their own I rarely see in any D&D campaign.  

The characters in the campaign are just as unique and wonderful to observe, all having a distinct personality and way of relating themselves that makes them as unique and memorable as any character of any kind I have read in numerous fantasy books.  The other story hours in this forum are good, and oft times excellent, but, for me, none have the sheer depth, flavor and wonder of Sepulchraves world and characters.


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## Wulf Ratbane (Aug 23, 2002)

ThePsionicist said:
			
		

> *Good grief. Are the story hour authors in this forum so sensitive and fragile they can't take it when someone prefers another story hour to their own? *




Not me. 

If you don't like mine, feel free to say so. 

And then yer can stick it!


Wulf


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## Knightfall (Aug 23, 2002)

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Not me.
> 
> ...




Nicely said Wulf.  But I'm sure they all like you.  

To P'Cat: If you feel as though the poll should be dumped then go ahead.  I'm not going to decide that for everyone.

IMO, some want to vote and some don't.  Some think such an poll is ok while other's think it is a popularity contest.  That was NEVER my intention.  I really didn't think it was a big deal until posts started showing up in here saying the poll was a bad idea.

So, if the members of this messgeboard don't think this poll should be here then let the moderators know.  Majority rules people!  I'll leave it in P'Cat's capable hands.


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## Piratecat (Aug 24, 2002)

Thanks, Knightfall. I'll close this one, and leave the other thread on the subject open.


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