2020 'Deck of the Year' Awards - UC x P52

[courier_stu]

I’m really not on here often, so I figure I’ll take liberty with being able to post. I think it’s a bit wrong you all attacking the event for such selfish reasons, when NONE of you were there to run, coordinate or assist previous DOTY events. It’s been Pip who has slaved, put in the hours and sacrificed the sleep to make the event what it is. ALL nominations for the 2020 DOTY’s come from INSIDE THIS UC “COMMUNITY”, whilst the majority of giveaway prizes come from outside or from those entities that believe in cross promoting between platforms. And now you’re gonna spit the dummy because it wasn’t UC that did it..? News Flash!! It’s the very person you’re attacking that brought it to life year after year. STFU and pay some respect.

[Decknowledgy]

I'm not sure whether my comments were seen as one of the "critical voices" in this thread, but I've spoken personally over the phone with Pip, Alex, and some members from this forum after the thread went south. All I will say is that if the comments come across as criticism toward the event as being "not enough" or "underwhelming," they were not. However, I'll accept the fact that people may read it that way as written text cannot convey the full meaning of my intentions---something that we all agreed upon over the phone.

As there is a mutual understanding among the organizers and myself, and that there are some serious issues about this forum that underlies the whole discussion that have not been brought to light publicly, I will not respond to any of the criticism. But I will admit that my timing for the feedback is not the best when the event is just concluding, which gives more stress to the already burnt out organizers. For that, I've apologized.

No one is attacking anyone here, so there's no need to spread fire making claims and speculations about nonexistent personal disputes.
Peace.

[nur1988]

I've noticed the word "hijack" has been used a few times throughout the thread - a word that has a negative tone connotation attached to it. It will always perceived as being negative especially with the context that it has been written in. How do you think that will make the organisers feel?

Appreciate you sorting out over the phone with them and I hope the feeling is mutual for all parties involved there, however, the negativity throughout has caused a lot of upset.
Upset that could've easily been avoided had it not been for certain stonewalled egos getting in the way.
And if anyone thinks I'm referring to them, in particular, then I most likely am.

[MSimonart]

My wife and I were brainstorming some possibilities: maybe in each category there could be a first, second, and third place, and also a UC pick that is decided only by UC voters. As far as the possibility of a NOC deck being nominated, what about the possibility of UC members being to the Doty’s what the academy is to the academy awards? Only UC does the nominations, but then everyone can vote? Just spitballing here.

I've put together a little schema of how this event could be organized, with each panel/group, the people needed and their responsibilities. I'm not really happy to post it here because of what I said in my previous comment, maybe someone could make a new sticky thread somewhere for the 'Feedback on DOTY' or 'Organization of the DOTY' and have all comments relating to feedback of this thread be placed over to the new one. Again, I don't want to undermine this years awards with this post and I think it's really important that someone would create this new thread out of respect for the organizers of this years event and so that they can wrap up this event in more serenity.

1. The Stakeholders
   1. People
      • 2-3 people
   2. Responsibilites
      • Main representatives of the event
      • Putting together the structure of the organization :
        • List all tasks that have to be done
        • Create groups and assign each task to the groups
        • Find the right people to fill in each group
      • Coordinating the work and communication between the groups by organizing overarching meetings
      • Verify and validate the work of each group
      • Finding solutions or give advice to/on any problems a group could be facing and couldn't resolve on their own
2. The Academy / Jurors
   1. People
      • 4-6 people
      • Renowned members of the community which as a whole represent the whole (Modern) Playing Card Community
        • Designers
        • Manufacturers
        • Resellers
        • Collectors (Could be a UC-member, elected by the UC-folks through a poll, could also be voluntary based of course)
        • Cardists
        • Guest (someone who has had a special impact this year on the community, a rookie designer or any other person deemed fit for this years guest)
   2. Responsibilities
      • Defining the award-categories
        • Defining the rules for each category
        • Keeping a list of all illegible decks for each category
      • Finding this year guest for the Academy panel
      • Nominating the decks eligible for each award, polls could be organized to have a point of view of people outside of the panel on which decks to nominate, but they are ultimately responsible for the nomination
      • Choosing the 'The Academy's choice' award for each category
3. Marketing & Communication
   1. People
      • 5-9 people
      • Good marketing and sales persons for the sponsors
      • People with knowledge of social media and online platforms and how to communicate on them
      • Graphic designers
   2. Responsibilities
      • Reaching out to and finding the voter's giveaway sponsors
      • Reaching out to and finding the award winners prize sponsors
      • Communicating on the progress of the event, on the award winners, on how to communicate the award prizes and voter's giveaway
      • Interacting with the community and putting out polls, pass on the concerns/feedback/information from this to The Stakeholders or other groups
      • Outside communication strategy should have following in mind
        • Make the communication attractive to sponsors
        • Make the communication attractive to the community
        • How could we reach out to a larger part of the community? How could we assemble the community as a whole through this yearly event.
        • How could the communication influence the way and the reason people will vote (A small personal note on this is that putting the accent much more on the award winners prizes then the voter's giveaway will already influence the reason and the way people will vote and put the accent back on the award winners and not on the voter's giveaway)
4. Technical
   1. People
      • 3-4 people
      • Knowledge of programming/infrastructure/software
   2. Responsibilities
      • Organizing the voting mechanism/platform
      • Analyzing any discrepancies in the votes received and deny suspicious votes through 2-factor authentication, IP-address check, statistical analysis
      • Defining which voters are eligible for the voter's giveaway, could be by inserting a sort of 'kudos' rule like on reddit, where only voters who have already had some sort of input in the community are eligible (not saying it's an easy mechanism to put in place certainly where the goal is to attract new people as well, but it's worth thinking it over). Could be implemented for the counting of the award winners too.
      • Getting together the data collected by this event, which could be incredibly useful to designers/manufacturers/sponsors and informative to the community

[PipChick]

Since so many seem to have such short memories, here is where I BEGGED for UC help in organizing this event back in November... but only now do people have their 2 cents to throw in while undermining and shitting on everything in these last final days under the extreme stress and pressure of wrapping this year's event up, and in doing so, also stealing the spotlight from the Award winners... thanks for all your great feedback and help UC

[MSimonart]

I'm not sure whether my comments were seen as one of the "critical voices" in this thread, but I've spoken personally over the phone with Pip, Alex, and some members from this forum after the thread went south. All I will say is that if the comments come across as criticism toward the event as being "not enough" or "underwhelming," they were not. However, I'll accept the fact that people may read it that way as written text cannot convey the full meaning of my intentions---something that we all agreed upon over the phone.

As there is a mutual understanding among the organizers and myself, and that there are some serious issues about this forum that underlies the whole discussion that have not been brought to light publicly, I will not respond to any of the criticism. But I will admit that my timing for the feedback is not the best when the event is just concluding, which gives more stress to the already burnt out organizers. For that, I've apologized.

No one is attacking anyone here, so there's no need to spread fire making claims and speculations about nonexistent personal disputes.
Peace.

I've noticed the word "hijack" has been used a few times throughout the thread - a word that has a negative tone connotation attached to it. It will always perceived as being negative especially with the context that it has been written in. How do you think that will make the organizers feel?

I'm not in the same opinion as you that the concerns that were raised were anywhere meant or even seemed like negative (except for like one comment which I won't name). But it's true, like Decknowledgy specified the timing and the place were off, and that doesn't mean the people who voiced opinions/feedback/concerns meant this, but it was extremely important to read Alex and Pip's post and be reminded of the fact that a special care and respect should be given before posting, to what the state of mind the organizers are in at this moment. I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to discuss in all serenity about this topic with everyone involved.

[MSimonart]

Since so many seem to have such short memories, here is where I BEGGED for UC help in organizing this event back in November... but only now do people have their 2 cents to throw in while undermining and shitting on everything in these last final days under the extreme stress and pressure of wrapping this year's event up, and in doing so, also stealing the spotlight from the Award winners... thanks for all your great feedback and help UC

I do though second this of course, if UC-members wanted to be more involved, they could have. And again I think it's important you hear that what you did was incredible work, and has opened so many possibilities for this event. You absolutely did a fantastic job and I understand the frustration you feel, but really try and think of all the good you did, of the incredible amount of people that were involved in the voting of this years DOTY, of all the hard work you put in to make this happen and to make this happen in a fantastic way. I can't stress enough how much doors you've opened through your hard work and also how great it is to see some changes and variety in the event and in the winners.

Again, I'd really like to see a separate thread made with all the comments on the DOTY awards, so that this event can have a peaceful, and serene ending. I'm actually still very curious and looking forward to the remaining winners and I'd really like to see this event being finished up in a positive way.

[Harvonsgard]

News Flash!! It’s the very person you’re attacking that brought it to life year after year. STFU and pay some respect.

News Flash!! Nobody is attacking someone!
Since when is an organized event equivalent to a human being?
Since when is voicing an opinion and giving critic/feedback (of said event) equivalent to attacking (the person(s) organizing it)?
Sometimes it feels like UC is full of high schoolers hitting puberty. Some folks really overreact.
Get in line and be grateful no matter what or you're personally attacking someone? What kinda broken logic is that?

Magik (as so often) hit the nail on the head (if that translates). People are just voicing their opinion. Because - NEWS FLASH - they are thankful, grateful and CARE about the event.

The so called toxicity (greatest metal song ever? - sorry for digressing) some speak of is made up like unicorns.

As for not being there to help/run the event; it's easy to blame people for not helping but in the two years I'm here, there was never a real dialogue about the DOTY. This year Pip indeed reached out for help but - solely from my side - if I participate and help organizing something, then I wanna have a say in how things are run. I'm not an order follower/minion (minions are cute though ).

Gist of it? Would be cool if we could have a grown-up dialogue once the nerves are calmed a bit.

[MSimonart]

News Flash!! It’s the very person you’re attacking that brought it to life year after year. STFU and pay some respect.

News Flash!! Nobody is attacking someone!
Since when is an organized event equivalent to a human being?
Since when is voicing an opinion and giving critic/feedback (of said event) equivalent to attacking (the person(s) organizing it)?
Sometimes it feels like UC is full of high schoolers hitting puberty. Some folks really overreact.
Get in line and be grateful no matter what or you're personally attacking someone? What kinda broken logic is that?

Magik (as so often) hit the nail on the head (if that translates). People are just voicing there opinion. Because - NEWS FLASH - they are thankful, grateful and CARE about the event.

The so called toxicity (greatest metal song ever? - sorry for digressing) some speak of is made up like unicorns.

As for not being there to help/run the event; it's easy to blame people for not helping but in the two years I'm here, there was never a real dialogue about the DOTY. This year Pip indeed reached out for help but - solely from my side - if I participate and help organizing something, then I wanna have a say in how things are run. I'm not an order follower/minion (minions are cute though ).

Gist of it? Would be cool if we could have a grown-up dialogue once the nerves are calmed a bit.

I do fully agree that there is absolutely no negativity to people voicing concerns or critic and that in no way this is meant personally. More so, it means people indeed care about the event and want to improve it as much as possible. But again, I think it's absolutely legitimate for the organizers to be disappointed in the place and time these concerns were voiced. And you may think that indeed it's up to the organizers to be able to detach themselves personally from these comments, but I can honestly completely understand and actually second the fact they can't and won't right now. So the only ones who can really be pissed are the organizers, as for people not involved in the organization they should be able to see that concerns and critic are not meant personally.

(I've made my point too many times already I think, I'll just see myself out)

[laitostarr777]

My wife and I were brainstorming some possibilities: maybe in each category there could be a first, second, and third place, and also a UC pick that is decided only by UC voters. As far as the possibility of a NOC deck being nominated, what about the possibility of UC members being to the Doty’s what the academy is to the academy awards? Only UC does the nominations, but then everyone can vote? Just spitballing here.

I really like these ideas! Sounds like a great way to keep the DOTY's a "UC event" while also being able to grow the event as a whole.

This might be just a good solution to tackle the problem of UC involvement

Sorry I am not good in tackling these situations and providing two cents. I just don’t want to sound like a-hole and said something bad and eventually making more enemies than friends

[nur1988]

I'm not in the same opinion as you that the concerns that were raised were anywhere meant or even seemed like negative (except for like one comment which I won't name). But it's true, like Decknowledgy specified the timing and the place were off, and that doesn't mean the people who voiced opinions/feedback/concerns meant this, but it was extremely important to read Alex and Pip's post and be reminded of the fact that a special care and respect should be given before posting, to what the state of mind the organizers are in at this moment. I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to discuss in all serenity about this topic with everyone involved.

Agreed, prior to posting, special care and respect should've been considered. It's the old adage, "think before you speak"
The fact Pip posted what she did, should give an idea as to how its had an affect on her.

Just to refer to one point decknowledgy made about "toxicity being non existent", you couldn't be more wrong. Maybe you just haven't been on the other end of it to realise. It's a thing and it happens.

[Strag]

Just want to emphasize again, this is NOT a rant against all the hard work that Alex, PipChick and others put into this event, its just feedback and observations to be taken into consideration for the future. Having done these sorts of endeavours myself in another life, I am more than aware how thankless a job it really is.

Not sure how much clearer that I could have been that it wasn't against the hard work being done. As others have said, the timing is indeed bad and for that I sincerely apologize.

That said, I think that others in this thread have a better idea than I of the best way to move forward.

As a measure of apology to @Pipchick I would offer the following; please let me know of a charity that you support and I would like to make a donation of $100 in your name as a gesture of appreciation of all you do.

[Decknowledgy]

To give some context to the event:

1. The DOTY award this year is literally a 2-person team running the whole thing, including all the website coding, artwork designs, and Instagram posting. There was little to no support from the UC management side, so it can be concluded that the DOTY awards is seen as a wider community-based event led by Pipchick (by good will) and tech-supported by Portfolio52.

2. The giveaway for voters is an odd scheme. But the prizes from the sponsorship for the winners was always an encouragement to aid designers in their path to producing more amazing decks in the future.

3. DOTY has always been the brain child or adopted child for Pipchick; but Pipchick does not equal the spokesperson for UnitedCardists (those who knows will know), as much as it might seem. She carried the load when no one was willing.

4. It's safe to say that without particular entitlement from UC, this DOTY award was spectacular and a complete success in its own right, drawing over 900+ voters from across platforms to vote and to bring more awareness to decks and designers.

5. Since the event is not over yet, and as I've said so many times, the timing for my comments were not ideal (bad to be exact), it's similarly not a good time to provide even more "opinions" or "advice" for the event or future events. But, again, I take full responsibility for dragging the organization into this emotional drain. The best thing now is to enjoy the fruition of this event and give no more pressure to the organization team. Feedback isn't necessary in any format at this point, and no need to talk about the format of future events since if there's no community support, the awards are very hard to manage with a team of under 5 members.

All the above is based on the insights I've got over the conversations, many of which if I had known earlier, I would never have brought up those questions from the beginning. I believe members here have the right to know and to get a better picture of the hardship and lack of support that the team has gone through, and the best right now is to allow them to peacefully conclude the event. For members, I hope this clarification serves as the last straw in hope to end the finger-pointing at each other.

[steampunk52]

I just want to say that you all have seriously broken what little spirit I had in ever even thinking to take on this event for yet *another* year... I cannot express enough how hurt I am after so much personal sacrifice that no one could possibly ever even imagine nor any sane person would put themselves through and I did, yet again, to serve the greater card community... I'm heartbroken and I'm sorry that despite all of our very absolute best efforts and wholehearted intentions, it still wasn't enough and probably never will be...

@PipChick and @ Alex.
Im fairly new to card collecting and very new to UC. Thus, the DOTY awards were new to me. So, I suppose that makes me a bit of an outsider. From my perspective, as a newbie, I thought what the two of you pulled together was absolutely amazing. Particularly, after reading about the scope of what you pulled off with few resources. I was only able to watch Deckin' Around for a little while, but I thought it was fun and engaging. The world is going through a dark time right now, and I want to thank you both for your efforts to bring a little light. It is VERY much appreciated and very much needed. Sometimes, it's not always easy to see or know the positive impact that one makes - but, its there.

Again, thank you.

[oh.what.the.deck]

Wowee.

Since we’re all about voicing our opinions freely here, I’m put it bluntly - never have I seen such blatant disrespect for people’s hard work in my life. @PipChick and @Iamthechin put in countless hours of effort to sustain this year’s DOTY event and here we are splitting hairs. That there’s definitely room for improvement is a sure fact and it WILL be duly noted, but a lot of points raised are out of bounds.

1. For those of you crying about P52 stealing the spotlight from UC, as a collector who joined just about the time of last year’s DOTY i didn’t see this as a UC event. I saw this clearly as Pip’s event hosted on BEHALF of UC. For UC members to feel they’re entitled for priority or privileges within the scope of the event is laughable.

2. @nur1988 and myself donated our time and energy to garnering sponsorships for the giveaway as friends of Pip, and to share the burden of encouraging voter participation from the wider COMMUNITY. The vibe I’m getting here is that people are “voting just for the prizes” or “it’s a popularity contest”. I see these statements as looking down on non-UC members as people who are less discerning about cards. Who made you guys all that? The love and appreciation of cards needs not only be limited to what’s discussed within the dusty walls of this forum. You need to get your heads out of your asses.

3. Epic disrespect for the @deckinaround boys. There were instances where Steve and Tyler had to cut in to try to keep it to a previously agreed ok 2 hour time limit. But let’s not forget they also generously donated their time and energy to facilitate an event that nobody here stepped up to help manage.

I’m personally in favor of Pip getting as far away of this disillusioned treehouse club as possible. Reading the previous comments I’m disappointed in many names of “community members” *SPIT* and creators I recognize. You can keep your big boy’s club here but I won’t be sticking around anywhere that has disrespected good friends of mine.

Good day.

Over and out.

[masagin303]

You can keep your big boy’s club here but I won’t be sticking around anywhere that has disrespected good friends of mine.

Good day.

Over and out.

[Harvonsgard]

You can keep your big boy’s club here but I won’t be sticking around anywhere that has disrespected good friends of mine.

Good day.

Over and out.

I'm certainly not interested in any rift or schism but if that is your attitude then I'm and wave you goodbye right next to masagin.

3. Epic disrespect for the @deckinaround boys. There were instances where Steve and Tyler had to cut in to try to keep it to a previously agreed ok 2 hour time limit. But let’s not forget they also generously donated their time and energy ...

... totally altruistic of them, huh? It's not like the podcast and the exposure helps Steve with his @woundedcorner business, helps to get donations and youtube ad money...
Not that I have a problem with that, but please don't sell me a deck retailer as the card community version of Mother Teresa.

[Bradius]

I think the awards ended on a huge high note with Crypt winning DOTY. I guess my concern was for naught (that pun was for you PipChick). Congrats Lotrek. Thanks PipChick and Alex and all the others that helped with this year's huge undertaking.

[CollectADeck]

Last time when they had Lorenzo on as a guest, several times Steve would interrupt Lorenzo in the middle of the speech because someone had made a donation in the chat, disregarding the fact that Lorenzo was in the middle of his flow and thought.

I'd just like to chime in here, as this is a lose-lose situation. We want to acknowledge people when they support the show and not be rude by ignoring their contributions, and as such we forewarn guests that this will happen. Lorenzo was 100% on board with it. So while I am sorry you feel that it was rude, we actually struggle with this feeling rude as well, and make sure our guests are fully aware. We don't want to ignore the people who come out and give the show and the guests their support.

@PipChick and @ Alex.
Im fairly new to card collecting and very new to UC. Thus, the DOTY awards were new to me. So, I suppose that makes me a bit of an outsider. From my perspective, as a newbie, I thought what the two of you pulled together was absolutely amazing. Particularly, after reading about the scope of what you pulled off with few resources. I was only able to watch Deckin' Around for a little while, but I thought it was fun and engaging. The world is going through a dark time right now, and I want to thank you both for your efforts to bring a little light. It is VERY much appreciated and very much needed. Sometimes, it's not always easy to see or know the positive impact that one makes - but, its there.

Again, thank you.

Glad you had fun! And welcome to the community!

3. Epic disrespect for the @deckinaround boys. There were instances where Steve and Tyler had to cut in to try to keep it to a previously agreed ok 2 hour time limit. But let’s not forget they also generously donated their time and energy to facilitate an event that nobody here stepped up to help manage.

Thank you Brian for all you did here for the event this year, and for your kind words. Love you man.

... totally altruistic of them, huh? It's not like the podcast and the exposure helps Steve with his @woundedcorner business, helps to get donations and youtube ad money...
Not that I have a problem with that, but please don't sell me a deck retailer as the card community version of Mother Teresa.

Love for you always @Harvonsgard, we always have good chats, but when Alex and Pip asked us to host the show, we were happy to be a part of it because two of our friends asked us to help them out. Thinking the "exposure" and ad revenue played any meaningful impact in that decision is ill-informed, especially because I would have MUCH rather been sleeping than running a livestream after a 12 hour work day among a slew of other things making this week busy. Yes, we make ad revenue from the video, a whole $.42 USD for the livestream, and maybe ~$30 (post-tax) in donations (which we didn't ask for, but are always super appreciative of the people who decides to support the show!). That being said, we had no idea anyone would donate, and did in fact donate our time to the show. Not saying anyone is Mother Theresa, but donations of time or money also don't need to be motivation free. If they were, charities in the US would collapse when people could no longer claim their donations as charitable deductions on their taxes . We absolutely loved what Alex and Pip were doing with the DOTYs this year, bringing it to the community at large, making it an impactful event for the winners, and having a fun time with it.

Lastly, for everyone who started out their comments with "I don't know Tyler and Steve but... [insert negative remark about behavior here]", maybe the issue isn't what was said, but that you haven't taken the time to get to know us. Had you taken the time, you would have known that all comments were in good fun, Steve and I respect each and every person who comes out to our show, no matter the event, and treat every person who comes out like family. I would love to meet the person who has never given their family a good ribbing, or poked a little fun. But with that said, we genuinely tried to congratulate each and every participant who won (whose name we could pronounce) and actively tried to get the audience to provide names that we didn't know, so we could congratulate them as well. Seems easy sometimes to focus on the one or two things you didn't enjoy while overlooking all the things that you might have enjoyed had you been looking to have a fun time in the first place...

P.S. Still love you all and wish you well! Remember, at the end of the day a community is just one big family. There will be times when we agree, times when we disagree, and times when we fight, but there will always be those underlying bonds (like a love of playing cards and the artists who create them) that ultimately tie us us together. Hope you all have a happy weekend and are staying safe in these crazy times!

[MSimonart]

I think all the winners are out, so congrats to all of them, to all those who placed on the podiums and those who were nominated. Such an incredible year, knowing all this years issues, the playing card community managed to maintain a very high standard. Congrats to all.

And once again thanks to all the organizers and those who helped get this together for such a success on the event. You guys went way and beyond to make this exceptional, I love all the new additions that were added and the fact it was such a widespread event this year. It was nice to see such a large community get in!
It's a shame to see how hard it was to get this working, but you truly succeeded in creating a fantastic event

[Mike Ratledge]

Guys, as everyone is aware I am working on new directions for the Rat Ranch and this website is an unwilling part of that change.

Pipchick constantly gives more than we give back with her unwavering support for UnitedCardists and the playing cards community overall.

We owe her a HUGE series of thanks for all she has done and "Thank you"(s) are not enough. She has earned our respect but the UC community seems to be way too quick at judgmental / blame game stuff. That is nothing new, but - seriously - I know that she has a very thick coat of resiliency but people! Can't we all just get along here?

If you have any questions or ideas, please don't hesitate to contact me, Tom or Allan but understand that I am ultimately to blame for any shortcomings.

Y'all should be putting her on a pedastal and parading her around for everything that she has done to better this website and the community. Many of you understand just how thankless the world is for almost every single thing that gets done.

Please take a moment to thank Pipchick for her contributions and for making this a better place. It does not take much or long for someone who truly cares about you and our family here to decide that you are a bunch of ingrateful people - not all of you, of course.

If you want to bitch about something, bitch at me.

[Lotrek]

If I take into account how long it takes me (with all the stuff I have to get done) to ship a single package of playing cards, I can only remotely imagine how much devotion and hard work Pipchick has put in this achievement. Any criticism or thoughts or ideas should come long after a GIGANTIC THANK YOU to her.
Whether you (we) prefer the UC Doty awards to become a bigger thing or just stay within the village, it’s irrelevant to what Pip did. We can discuss it, agree, disagree or kill each other only after we recognise and thank her for her work.

[sms69x]

A HUGE, ENORMOUS thanks to PipChick for allowing for this event even happened this year. Hope to get you back on board next year. It can only be easier next year.. After we all rant about how poorly you managed this year's event, as that's how many of us like to express our appreciation for someone else's work.

[joeblow]

Very ambitious and different DOTY awards this year. Thank you PipChick for bringing this home.

[portcullis]

I haven't said thanks to PipChick and Alex yet either... Thank you both.

That my services weren't required in the end doesn't really bother me. I volunteered tho, unlike (it seems) others here quick to make their opinions known.

[shermjack]

For next year's DOTY, I suggest that some of the donated prizes be given to those that help organize the event as opposed to those that vote. It shouldn't be a thankless job and maybe this will get more people to participate in helping with the event. I, for one, will only be donating something(s) for someone that helps organize the event.

[laitostarr777]

Since the DOTY event is over, I guess I should throw in some of my remarks and feedbacks about the event:

First of all, a VERY HUGE congratulations and thank you for Pip and Alex for the completion of running of this year's event. I can really tell how BIG this year's event was, and you two managed to pull it off. I am so amazed on your dedication to this.
Second, congratulations to all of the Winners for each categories and in many different categories. You all deserve pat on the backs and feel grateful that you win. For those who didn't managed to win, don't lose hope - there is always next year. But, hey, being in the nomination is already good enough! Everybody wins!

The positive side of this year's event:
The system - it's convenient, since yu can access a site where you can casts your vote rather than sending DMs to the host. I could easily imagine how Pip count the votes manually by looking at the thousands of PM messages - must be painful to the eyes. This year, P52 decides to drop in and provide a medium for an easy tool to vote, so all the counts are done automatically. It takes just a few minutes just to cast the votes

The negative side of this year's event:
I think some of the wins are... maybe a bit weird. Don't take me wrong - don't think that I am a bit upset that my deck choices didn't win or anything. Such a few decks win a LOT of categories, and some decks that won doesn't seem to fit in and such. It appears like their victory is based on loyal fans, not based on crude judgement. So, loyal fans of specific brands would vote for the brand despite others which deserved it. Maybe it is because the nominees are based on popularity.
I think this year DOTY is way too open to the public. You can take a look from the Deckin' Around giveaway: there are a LOT of Russians - do they have UC accounts? And to many other people, are they are in the vote to cast their voice accordingly, or simply they're being there just to make sure their favourite designer wins? Take one example of the winner for "Best Non-Poker Deck" - I am shocked that Keymaster is beaten by Cabinetarium. I am suggesting that the deck wins because it is from Art of Play, a brand much more popular to general public than S17. For the Rookie Deck, I was hoping for 'Rulers of Korea' to win, as it is the deck that completely uses traditional watercolor works from tuckbox to the cards - a deck that really shouts out hard work and determination. Third example is F Dabsmyla, which won both "Best Cardistry" and "Best Use of Color". For the deck to win "Best Use of Color" does make sense, because of the pop colors used in it, and it's the signature of the couple artists from Australia. But "Best in Cardistry"? I think this is because of the "cult" is there to make it win (maybe you might take this comment as a hatred toward the brand). Lastly, the winner of the "Best Overall" deck - Crypt: Alas, it might have won because of the votes from those who have it and have seen it, and those who don't have it that have voted for it are considered those that have voted blindly - or simply because they have faith in Lotrek. Even Widdak feels like it is a bid odd to the point he lashed out about it publicly. Well, I voted for the Crypt as well, thanks to the..... people who disrespect the oath of keeping it a secret.
AGAIN, these comments are not meant to be attacks toward the winners. It is just my opinion and the competition has ended, so no redo.

My endnote for this year's DOTY is:
Next year, let's have people that will judged which decks deserved to be the nominees, so it won't based on popularity, but based on intense judgement. DON'T let only two people to handle everything this big? I am sure Pip had suffered a lot throughout the years, and she REALLY need a lot of help. Also (this might be egotistical comment), since it is a very opened event, probably those who don't have UC and vote might just be aftering the giveaways and not caring the results - I think there should be a control on the voters. Maybe by have them sign up to P52 in order to vote or such. Again, using the site is a good idea - automatic voice counts make works easy.

That's all I can say about this year's event
If you have reached up to this sentence, thank you for reading my words.

[bdawg923]

I thought since the voting was done on P52, it necessarily means you can't vote without a P52 account?

[PiazzaDelivery]

Lastly, the winner of the "Best Overall" deck - Crypt: Alas, it might have won because of the votes from those who have it and have seen it, and those who don't have it that have voted for it are considered those that have voted blindly - or simply because they have faith in Lotrek. Even Widdak feels like it is a bid odd to the point he lashed out about it publicly.

What did he say, or where can I find it?

[laitostarr777]

Lastly, the winner of the "Best Overall" deck - Crypt: Alas, it might have won because of the votes from those who have it and have seen it, and those who don't have it that have voted for it are considered those that have voted blindly - or simply because they have faith in Lotrek. Even Widdak feels like it is a bid odd to the point he lashed out about it publicly.

What did he say, or where can I find it?

It’s on IG, comment section of the Best Overall announcement