1. New Members/Accounts with High Activity
(ordered by registration date, I mix she/he and her/his if I don't know better.)
19th January: SpcyBrnMrd - 137 Posts, 0.39/d, 31 Topics.
A look through his topic list shows a great interest in discussing in-game issues and he also seems to be a promoter of thinking about balanche changes.
19th January: Stifflersmumx - 163, 0.47/d, 4 Topics.
His Sport Videos thread surely gained some prominence on AoCZone. He participates in all kinds of topics (game-related, community-related, off-topic) and likes to place a meme here and there (1, 2).
22th January: HighFlyer - 214 Posts, 0.62, 6 Topics.
Her few topics are pretty interesting (1, 2). Like Stifflersmumx, he is a versatile poster.
27th January: Hi5er - 134 Posts, 0.40/d, 9 Topics.
Shortly after he joined, he openly introduced himself. His posts are in-game stuff mainly and she also wrote a Michi Guide. Unfortunately, his activity ended in April already when he last visited this forum.
13th May: Bobomb - 104 Posts, 0.45/d, 2 Topics.
Her activity has an emphasis on streaming, steam/voobly themes and public event discussions. His two topics both concern War is Coming and have a critical attitude towards the tournament administration. There is also a thread which speculates about her better known identity.
18th May: AoC_India - 260 Posts, 1.14/d, 98 Topics.
Naturally as a tournament/event administrator, there are many posts and topics by duty to be expected. It started in March with the Battle for Panipat Indian 1v1 Tournament. The Saiyanhood Legends United 2v2 Tournament and the Polaris 2k+ Bo9 Series followed. AoC_India and what is connected to her is surely one of the biggest gifts to our community in 2014. The main force behind the account is probably Ashby with Stian as the generous sponsor.
5th June: guitarizt - 180 Posts, 0.86/d, 15 Topics.
Also known as the streamer Tony or tehhunnter. He also produces YT videos for his channel. About the half of his topics are about in-game, also including "noob game" posts, as he calls it. guitaritz has become a main asset to this community only with reliably streaming tournament and SteelSeries games, but I also would like to mention his sophisticated contributions to all kinds of topics.
8th June: TheGovernor - 118 Posts, 0.57/d, 38 Topics.
The majority of her topics are game posts, accordingly he earned the "Game Poster Junior" forum badge within 2014. Otherwise she engages in celebrating tournaments through Favourite Game Votings (NC) and his co-authorship in the probably most excellent article on War is Coming so far.
25th September: 2k+dotovic - 144 Posts, 1.47/d, 5 Topics.
The only one in this list with a closed topic. He surely is a man and often likes to provoke or simply has a big mouth. Sometimes this is really enjoyable, sometimes it's a little bit plain. But he can also contribute good thought to a discussion. His registration falls together with publicly challenging Genette for a Bo3, which has its root in a twitch stream chat argument.
17th December: [SpitFire]Blotch - 111 Posts, 7.80/d, 32 Topics.
It took him only a couple of days to enter this list, which reflects his per day ratio (and more than two topics per day!). With posts like the 2014 competitons review, game timelapses and questions and facts others are maybe just too mannered to state, he already did a good job. After his own statement, he is a 12 years old with AoC enthusiastic family background. Despite the taste of spam in his appearance, many recognize the quality of what he is doing. Provided his account is genuine, I see two possible ways: either his interests will slip away from AoC during teenaging, or he is a huge potential to this community.
Notable mentions: (czech) Mr_Asphalt_, __sam, nimanoe, Man_ate_thee, (vatican) MitchConnor, The_Black_Mamba, wasted inc, N00B_AG__Lenn0, SoulSociety, VNS_ACCM, MeNoEnglish, azande, Clemensor, ELQuark, danhde, Revenge of the Noobs.
2. Interesting Non-AoC Topics
Probably March: during the crimea referendum, someone opened a topic called "so russia takes the crimea?". There was a pretty interesting discussion going on with statements of people who live(d) in this region. Sadly it was closed (and maybe deleted, since I can't find it), because the moderator said discussions on politics are not allowed on AoCZone...
12th June: Eirik_Olavsson opened the main thread about the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Germany won the poll with 86 votes out of 245. The internationality of AoCZone became obvious when everyday someone else had a reason to cheer or feel sad. At the same time, we had the AoC Nations Cup running.
28th November: 9mil questioned the use of the word rape in eSports streams. Many answers came up.
3. The Tragedy of Empires
It didn't start in 2014, but it surely was one of the most recurrent and emotionally debated themes throughout the year. It had a first climax with a petition thread which caused many new registration on AoCZone during a small time frame. Unfortunately, there is only a handful of members who wrote more than one post and registered in the days after 8th of May. The issue showed its power in the announcement of War is Coming. The great news were pretty much overshadowed in there. There is always so much emotion and speculation intermingled with facts when arguing about it or reconstructing the story, that simple confusion is the result. On the background of this, I'd like to cite this refreshing interaction between the enthusiastic viewer brahms and the AoCZone institution Quiller, who I highly respect:
4. Faces of AoCZone
The AoCZone evergreen Introduce yourself to others... by posting a picture of you! started on page 44 and ended on 100 in 2014. Of course, Edie made the first step:
On January, we also had StorM_Country and Geen, while of course not everybody was introducing herself for the first time:
February: Hermes, Gentle, alpa_chino, LiFe, Sieter (probably troll photo), TauruS, SCNElite_Paladin:
March: cheat14, CondoM, vitor
April: komtan & friends, Babka, nevergone,
May: ExoticKitty__, squeak, TaToH, Poxo, Er_Nachij, Moneimon:
June: MbL:
July: L1k3_A_Boss:
August: Barles, pumukel, magnata & Gary
September: Knightstalker, Chris167:
October, November: Edie time!
December: skipalong, Spaden
For all John_Mendl lovers, here is the 2014 collection:
Last but not least some pieces of art:
A side note on DreaIvIs (the founder of this thread): AoCZones most controversial moderator made a little comeback in March when he also prepared himself for his Finland Nations Cup appearance. He silenced one of 2014's ugliest AoCZone trolls danhdecheko in this time or censored vitor, dogao and FeAge because they wrote a few lines in Portuguese. In July, he started to speak of a 24 hours stream. Then he disappeared.
5. Ending Notes
Of course, what is presented here is just a tiny piece of 2014 AoCZone. I'd like to mention three members of this board to finish my lines:
1. Brainless: His style is unique and often a good counterpoint to the AoCZone mainstream. See this for example. Although he put me in his initial tomato poll, he does a great job in cultivating the non-competitive aspects of AoC: he cares about real world maps, wonders and Barbie (26 pages about playing against AI!).
2. Philippe le Bon: Philippe is AoCZone. Philippe is Love. Inventor and failed administrator of the best tournament in 2014: the NAoC! You did a great job, thank you man! He broke the 2k posts mark this year. And every hundred posts of irrelevance, there is a true gem! #rememberfreephilippe
3. CometNEt: This guy managed the prediction contests during some 2014 events and he also is a great caster. His last post was in August, the last visit in September. If this absence is final, it surely is one of the biggest losses for this community in 2014. May he live in peace and joy.
Speaking of losses: Rest in Peace, Nai's father and dear (hong kong) Eason.
With this, my words have ended. Now: what are your most memorable events, topics, posts etc. of 2014?
(ordered by registration date, I mix she/he and her/his if I don't know better.)
19th January: SpcyBrnMrd - 137 Posts, 0.39/d, 31 Topics.
A look through his topic list shows a great interest in discussing in-game issues and he also seems to be a promoter of thinking about balanche changes.
19th January: Stifflersmumx - 163, 0.47/d, 4 Topics.
His Sport Videos thread surely gained some prominence on AoCZone. He participates in all kinds of topics (game-related, community-related, off-topic) and likes to place a meme here and there (1, 2).
22th January: HighFlyer - 214 Posts, 0.62, 6 Topics.
Her few topics are pretty interesting (1, 2). Like Stifflersmumx, he is a versatile poster.
27th January: Hi5er - 134 Posts, 0.40/d, 9 Topics.
Shortly after he joined, he openly introduced himself. His posts are in-game stuff mainly and she also wrote a Michi Guide. Unfortunately, his activity ended in April already when he last visited this forum.
13th May: Bobomb - 104 Posts, 0.45/d, 2 Topics.
Her activity has an emphasis on streaming, steam/voobly themes and public event discussions. His two topics both concern War is Coming and have a critical attitude towards the tournament administration. There is also a thread which speculates about her better known identity.
18th May: AoC_India - 260 Posts, 1.14/d, 98 Topics.
Naturally as a tournament/event administrator, there are many posts and topics by duty to be expected. It started in March with the Battle for Panipat Indian 1v1 Tournament. The Saiyanhood Legends United 2v2 Tournament and the Polaris 2k+ Bo9 Series followed. AoC_India and what is connected to her is surely one of the biggest gifts to our community in 2014. The main force behind the account is probably Ashby with Stian as the generous sponsor.
5th June: guitarizt - 180 Posts, 0.86/d, 15 Topics.
Also known as the streamer Tony or tehhunnter. He also produces YT videos for his channel. About the half of his topics are about in-game, also including "noob game" posts, as he calls it. guitaritz has become a main asset to this community only with reliably streaming tournament and SteelSeries games, but I also would like to mention his sophisticated contributions to all kinds of topics.
8th June: TheGovernor - 118 Posts, 0.57/d, 38 Topics.
The majority of her topics are game posts, accordingly he earned the "Game Poster Junior" forum badge within 2014. Otherwise she engages in celebrating tournaments through Favourite Game Votings (NC) and his co-authorship in the probably most excellent article on War is Coming so far.
25th September: 2k+dotovic - 144 Posts, 1.47/d, 5 Topics.
The only one in this list with a closed topic. He surely is a man and often likes to provoke or simply has a big mouth. Sometimes this is really enjoyable, sometimes it's a little bit plain. But he can also contribute good thought to a discussion. His registration falls together with publicly challenging Genette for a Bo3, which has its root in a twitch stream chat argument.
17th December: [SpitFire]Blotch - 111 Posts, 7.80/d, 32 Topics.
It took him only a couple of days to enter this list, which reflects his per day ratio (and more than two topics per day!). With posts like the 2014 competitons review, game timelapses and questions and facts others are maybe just too mannered to state, he already did a good job. After his own statement, he is a 12 years old with AoC enthusiastic family background. Despite the taste of spam in his appearance, many recognize the quality of what he is doing. Provided his account is genuine, I see two possible ways: either his interests will slip away from AoC during teenaging, or he is a huge potential to this community.
Notable mentions: (czech) Mr_Asphalt_, __sam, nimanoe, Man_ate_thee, (vatican) MitchConnor, The_Black_Mamba, wasted inc, N00B_AG__Lenn0, SoulSociety, VNS_ACCM, MeNoEnglish, azande, Clemensor, ELQuark, danhde, Revenge of the Noobs.
2. Interesting Non-AoC Topics
Probably March: during the crimea referendum, someone opened a topic called "so russia takes the crimea?". There was a pretty interesting discussion going on with statements of people who live(d) in this region. Sadly it was closed (and maybe deleted, since I can't find it), because the moderator said discussions on politics are not allowed on AoCZone...
12th June: Eirik_Olavsson opened the main thread about the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Germany won the poll with 86 votes out of 245. The internationality of AoCZone became obvious when everyday someone else had a reason to cheer or feel sad. At the same time, we had the AoC Nations Cup running.
28th November: 9mil questioned the use of the word rape in eSports streams. Many answers came up.
3. The Tragedy of Empires
It didn't start in 2014, but it surely was one of the most recurrent and emotionally debated themes throughout the year. It had a first climax with a petition thread which caused many new registration on AoCZone during a small time frame. Unfortunately, there is only a handful of members who wrote more than one post and registered in the days after 8th of May. The issue showed its power in the announcement of War is Coming. The great news were pretty much overshadowed in there. There is always so much emotion and speculation intermingled with facts when arguing about it or reconstructing the story, that simple confusion is the result. On the background of this, I'd like to cite this refreshing interaction between the enthusiastic viewer brahms and the AoCZone institution Quiller, who I highly respect:
Nope, you are right. It is not very complicated 11.Sorry to quote myself but i think this is the one truly undeniable mistake zero does. Feel free to correct me if you think i'm wrongI don't know his real reasons to do what he does, but his excuse to not cast is lame. His excuse is he won't cast cause he isn't allowed to cast in his own channel. Does katsuni cast in his own channel? Does masmorra? Do the other voobly cassters? Do the expert players that sometimes cocast link to their own channels? NO. So why should he. What makes him so special? The excuse is lame cause it's very very obvious he shouldn't cast the games in his channel.
4. Faces of AoCZone
The AoCZone evergreen Introduce yourself to others... by posting a picture of you! started on page 44 and ended on 100 in 2014. Of course, Edie made the first step:
December: skipalong, Spaden
A side note on DreaIvIs (the founder of this thread): AoCZones most controversial moderator made a little comeback in March when he also prepared himself for his Finland Nations Cup appearance. He silenced one of 2014's ugliest AoCZone trolls danhdecheko in this time or censored vitor, dogao and FeAge because they wrote a few lines in Portuguese. In July, he started to speak of a 24 hours stream. Then he disappeared.
5. Ending Notes
Of course, what is presented here is just a tiny piece of 2014 AoCZone. I'd like to mention three members of this board to finish my lines:
1. Brainless: His style is unique and often a good counterpoint to the AoCZone mainstream. See this for example. Although he put me in his initial tomato poll, he does a great job in cultivating the non-competitive aspects of AoC: he cares about real world maps, wonders and Barbie (26 pages about playing against AI!).
2. Philippe le Bon: Philippe is AoCZone. Philippe is Love. Inventor and failed administrator of the best tournament in 2014: the NAoC! You did a great job, thank you man! He broke the 2k posts mark this year. And every hundred posts of irrelevance, there is a true gem! #rememberfreephilippe
3. CometNEt: This guy managed the prediction contests during some 2014 events and he also is a great caster. His last post was in August, the last visit in September. If this absence is final, it surely is one of the biggest losses for this community in 2014. May he live in peace and joy.
Speaking of losses: Rest in Peace, Nai's father and dear (hong kong) Eason.
With this, my words have ended. Now: what are your most memorable events, topics, posts etc. of 2014?
Last edited: