Last episode. Here are the answers we received to the question “Dae Asks: Who Should the Top Three Be and Why Do You Deserve a Spot?”.
[tabswrap] [tabhead id=”1″] Introduction [/tabhead]
[tabhead id=”2″] Entry 1 [/tabhead]
[tabhead id=”3″] Entry 2 [/tabhead]
[tabhead id=”4″] Entry 3 [/tabhead]
[tabhead id=”5″] Entry 4 [/tabhead]
[tabhead id=”6″] Entry 5 [/tabhead]
[tabhead_last id=”7″] Entry 6 [/tabhead_last] [tab id=”1″]
The last ‘Jungle Games’ post 🙁 I feel kind of sad. As you can see for all the articles there’s a top sprite and that represents the Pokémon the tribute wrote about in Episode 2. The two lower sprites are the people the tribute would choose to work alongside. [/tab]
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Before I begin, I’d like to thank everyone who has voted for me and gotten me this far in The Jungle Games. I really appreciate all the support, constructive criticism and praise you’ve given me over the past few weeks, and I will continue to give my very best to pokéjungle, regardless of the final outcome!
When I first decided to volunteer myself to take part in The Jungle Games and become a pokéjungle writer, there was one huge reason behind it. That was that I loved Pokémon. And I wanted to be a bigger part of a Pokémon Community. I’ve been a member of numerous fansites over the years and even been a staff member of a few, but none have had the personality and community that pokéjungle has. And I’d like to play a larger part in helping those two things continue to grow. I believe that if I am selected to be in the top three, I will continue to provide excellent, well written articles for pokéjungle, whether they’re part of an existing series or an entirely new one I could bring to the site; I may have some small ideas in mind! Dedication to pokéjungle is something that I am willing to give, I will do all I can to help the site grow and introduce new readers, as well as providing existing visitors with everything they already love about the site and hopefully much, much more.
Creativity is something that features heavily in my personal life, and as such it has and always will influence what I do. This remains true in my writing. I always try to keep things interesting whilst maintaining a degree of professionalism. Hopefully this creativity is something I can bring over into pokéjungle, mixing it into the site, keeping it fresh, relevant, friendly and helping it continue to grow. I am also the owner of a great sense of humour and personality, if you ever need help I will always do my utmost to help you out and I will always try my best to keep everyone happy.
Everyone in the final round deserves a spot in the top three, but personally two other tributes have continued to provide great writing, personalities and a friendly attitude throughout – Robert and Casey. For me the articles they have written are exactly what pokéjungle is all about. They’re professional but have a friendly attitude about them and make you feel engaged, you know a person has written the article and it doesn’t feel like a computer has churned out information.
Robert’s strongest article out of the two, by far, is his “Focus On: Gimmick Pokémon” about Deerling/Sawsbuck. Out of all 9 writers he was one of the only three to split his up into three distinct categories and a brief introduction on Gimmick Pokémon. It fulfills the task set completely and would sit perfectly as a proper article on the site; with no noticeable grammatical errors and an excellent easy on the eye format. Perhaps a tad more personality could be thrown into Robert’s writing (much like his first article), but the writing style on pokéjungle is as diverse as the people who write the articles, so not a huge problem!
Casey also gets my vote for joining the top three as, to me, his style of writing holds a perfect mix of his personality and excellent writing skills, that both fit into the established pokéjungle style. While some articles went slightly over board on being friendly and humorous Casey’s had it just right. He clearly listened to what other site members had to say about his first articles and made obvious changes to his second, despite the fact I feel the first article was just fine as it was; minus a few errors. Casey is also an extremely active member on pokéjungle and frequently comments on articles and gets involved in conversation, perhaps he could start a feature with his own twist. (Robert may also be an active member on the site but I’m not sure of his username, so apologies in advance!)
So yes, hopefully you can agree that myself and both Robert and Casey are suitable candidates for the top three and I hope you continue to show your support to us until the end!
-Samual[/tab]
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I’ll start by introducing myself, I am a 25 year old (old!) male from the UK. I have been a Pokemon fan since the start of the main gaming franchise, still in possession of both Pokemon Red and Blue version for the Gameboy. I have watched the franchise grow over the years and am never disappointed by the new and innovative games, designs and storylines in which are introduced to us with each new generation. Pokemon evolution has always been the enticing element for me as far as the franchise goes, the way in which the characters grow into different forms and adopt different characteristics and abilities has always been something I have found personally inspiring.
Eevee is a Pokemon that means something to me personally and has done since a very young age – the fact that it has the ability to be evolved into several different forms, in all shapes colours and sizes really held true to life within me – and being a gay male, at a young and fragile age this gave me hope that any of us could change and be the person we wanted to be, and how we could all better ourselves just by accepting change and evolving into that state. The reason I choose to explain that is because, although I may not be able to translate Japanese, create web graphics or even meet up to the standards of some of the other Tributes work during the challenges in which were set to us – it shows my passion for Pokemon, and if I was given the opportunity to become a staff member here at Pokejungle – I would most definitely show dedication and loyalty to the role and assist in providing you guys with news and information so that you too can experience the same joys in which I did – and still do – and hope that I can create something that you guys will take away with you. The Pokejungle team already produce the highest quality of work which appeals to all individuals, and covers a wide range of news and information, and I feel I can contribute to this already established website.
‘The Jungle Games’ have been a unique experience for me. I have never entered into a writing competition and have found the challenges set by Pokejungle and the team to be very stretching and intellectually engaging, allowing us Tributes to really get our heads into each challenge, and giving us the opportunity to showcase our work to the best of our ability – allowing us free reign of creativity with each task. I have enjoyed the comments made by the readers and have taken all criticism on board, and hopefully this has shown within my work as the challenges have progressed. In challenge 1; my work was tribute 6, and in challenge 2; my work was Kecleon.
In both pieces of my work I have tried to stay true to the task in which was given to us, as well as apply the addition of my personality and sense of humour to each produced article as we already see on the site from each of the staff members.
Having studied English literature at college, I find my story telling ability and descriptive use of wording to be my strength, and if I am successful within this competition I have some ideas to propose to the team which would capitalise on my strengths and deliver to the readers a great reading experience.
A huge well done to all the Tributes standing – and fallen. Each one of you has produced some outstanding work, and I wish each of you the best of luck. Looking over each of the produced articles from the other Tributes, it is clear we have some very talented individuals’ amongst us and given the opportunity I would like to have been able to work with all of them, as each offers something new and individual to their work.
For me, however; two Tributes stood out to me the most, and if I were in a situation to be able to choose another 2 tributes to work with, it would be the writer of tribute 8 from challenge 1, who also wrote the Castform article, and also the writer of tribute 7 who also wrote the Deerling/Sawsbuck article. For me personally, these 2 writers gave a detailed and informative article for each challenge, producing work that I consider to be structurally ‘easy on the eye’ as well as providing the information requested, but each in their own style and format.
Both tributes gave showed innovation in challenge 1 – it’s very difficult to write about information just from a picture – when you already know what the content of that picture is! And I thought both did a great job of expressing theory through blanking out known information about each scan. The information given was very informative and detailed, and each writer made a real attempt as far as focus to detail went – forward looking, presented with a brand new never before seen scan, I can imagine these individuals would present a great article.
Just to clarify, although these two writers stood out for me – it doesn’t mean I didn’t like the other work presented. I thought everybody did an amazing job, and would like to congratulate all of you.
Whether I am successful or not in ‘The Jungle Games’, I would like to say a huge thank you for being given the opportunity to take part in such a talent filled competition. I wish every other Tribute the best of luck.
… and just remember these words guys… even you can EVOLVE as an individual if you just put your mind to it!
– Dan
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As the sun arises I crack my hands, and ready my weapon. Mind focused with tea in hand, “This is it” I thought. Many have fallen these past few weeks, but as the final battle approaches an end is in sight. Will it be the end I dream of? Only you can decide.
Why should you choose me?
What makes Pokéjungle so great is its community spirit; it differentiates itself from other Pokémon sites by the way it interacts with its readers. Most places just talk AT you, and treat you as followers; I find that Pokéjungle talks TO you, and anyone can be a leader. This sense of equality can only be achieved by the topics that are created here. Everyone who is left in the competition possesses the skills to initiate an adrenaline filled discussion. However I feel I stand apart with my unique humour and quirkiness which I always try to incorporate into my articles. As demonstrated by my Castform article and the CoroCoro leaks (article #8), I have a distinctive style which I hope is both refreshing, and interesting to read. I’m always looking to improve, learn, and challenge myself with every new piece I write. I take on board all criticisms, so eventually I can perfect my imperfections. My mind is always bursting with new ideas which I feel could benefit the community, and make this already fun place even more entertaining.
Ideas:
With the growing number of Pokémon fan sites, and the growth of Pokéjungle, it makes sense to think of new ways to connect with the audience. With 3 extra staff members to help soon with the work load, there is ample opportunity to expand upon the content that is already offered on this site. New daily/weekly columns can be integrated to feed the hungry minds of us fans whilst we wait, for the next bit of juicy news. Here are a few things I would love to implement if I was permitted:
[spoiler]Meloetta’s Montage:
This would be a regular Photoshop event (you are not limited to Photoshop) where you are given a theme from which you must create a clever and/or funny image. For example the theme could be “photography”, so someone could have an image of a Pokémon taking a picture of a human (to convey ironic humour). But another person might put a Pokémon in a pose to make it look as if it’s in a model photo shoot. The entries can be collected during the course of the week, and at the end we’ll show off the top 10 (or more if there are many good ones). I’m sure some of you are aware of a similar activity being used on a popular gaming blog; however this one would be solely Pokémon themed. I think this idea, though not original is still a great way to keep people entertained. Even if people don’t, or can’t take part it’ll still be fun for them to see what others can come up with. We could even have a drawing only activity called “Ditto’s Doodle”.
Virizion’s Vision:
The Pokémon games are so expansive these days that there are always plenty of new ideas fans want to see implemented into the series. For this activity we could collect people’s thoughts, and discuss them in greater detail. We could have idea of the day/week for example. This task would create a great buzz, and would be great for those who are not into Meloetta’s Montage, or Ditto’s Doodles.
[/spoiler]
These are just some of the ideas I have rattling around in my head. I feel that with these added activities and more, this could help make sure that Pokéjungle stays the number 1 place for Pokémon fans all over. Some could argue that there needs to be databases, and competitive sections etc to rival the other sites, but this isn’t what Pokéjungle is about. We are a community, a big family where all we want to do is to share stories, and have fun with one another. That’s not to say we can’t have those features, I just want to help maintain what makes this site great. I believe we can co-exist with the others because what we have here is special, and no one can take that away from us.
Who else should be in the top 3?
Finding out who wrote what didn’t really make my decisions any easier. All the articles are great, and while some are better than others in round 1, round 2 was a complete turnaround. However for me there is one stand out person who has a bit of everything, and would fit in well with Pokéjungle.
He/she created the bullet pointed (#11) and Chatot articles. Now I probably don’t have to go into too much detail with their first article as it stands out so much. The bullet point idea is very simple, but it is the most efficient way to deliver new information. Why didn’t I use it? Well I thought it may be too risky to have a lack of constructive paragraphs in the first round, so instead I put a recap at the end to make up for it. Obviously I was wrong in doing so as they won the majority of the votes. Nevertheless, what they wrote is great; he/she analysed and picked out the information well. They proved that simplicity is sometimes the best course of action. Also the hide/show tag they have implemented is a very thoughtful touch, especially as the information is all spoilers.
For round 2, I found the Chatot article to be my favourite. The opening description about what makes a “gimmick” Pokémon, is the most clarifying. There is plenty of coherent detail which describes what features are needed to be considered a gimmick, and what type of gimmick Pokémon are around. He/she even gave a few examples. Another part I found fascinating is the zoological side. When you read an in depth piece about a single Pokémon, you expect to find out everything to do with it, including its origins. In this part they really show off the effort they have made when researching the Pokémon. The battle paragraph is great too, going into a lot of depth with its signature move. Overall I felt that the article was well put together with all parts fully analysed, and structured well.
My second choice was tough but I finally decided upon the person who did article #7 in round 1, and the Deerling/Sawsbuck piece in round 2. Out of all the entries, I found he had the most consistency with his grammar, and punctuation. His first submission is very clear, well written, and interesting to read. It was missing a bit of flair; however he did attain a certain level of professionalism which I felt others could have used more of. For the Deerling/Sawsbuck “Focus On”, I once again found it to be highly professional, and one of the more in depth pieces. He went into a comprehensive amount of detail when it came to the aesthetics of the design, and its competitive value. Though I feel there is still a slight lack of personality about his writing style, he still manages to get his opinions across, and he is still in my opinion the strongest grammatical contender.
Well this is it… I would like to thank everyone who has supported me these past few weeks, I would also like to thank PJ, Ozy, Dae, Kriffix and NL for not only giving me this opportunity, but for also believing in my potential. I have loved every minute, and I hope this could be the start of a true love story *Dirty Dancing theme plays*… Hang on a minute, stop the music! I can’t end on that cringe inducing line. Cue the Pokémon theme!
[spoiler](dun dun DUN)
I wanna be a journalist (DUN dun dun)
Like lots of people are (DUN dun DUN dun)
The top 3 is my real test
But writing is my cause
I will practice all day and night (DUN dun dun)
To perfect my grammar skills (DUN dun DUN dun)
So each of you understand
The potential I possess
POKÉJUNGLE! Gotta write for you
I’d Cherrim the chance to show what I can do
POKÉJUNGLE! Take a chance(y) on me
I’ll prove my worth, you will see
POKÉJUNGLE! Gotta write for you
A site so green, joining you is the ultimate dream
Please choose me for your top 3
POKÉJUNGLE! Gotta write for you.[/spoiler]
-Sammydodger [/tab]
[tab id=”5″]
- Stephen
- Robert
- Mechanos
Stephen’s article on Delibird was not only brief, but it got the job done, and it was done well, with many pictures and explanations. He did not miss details, and expressed his opinions on Delibird. He also did it without any catastrophic language errors.
His article about HG/SS was brief, interesting, but used paragraph form– something that I am sure he only used as he was not aware he could use spoiler tags and lists in his article, and I doubt he would be unaware of this in a situation where he would have to post actual news. He was pretty thorough with his descriptions of Delibird and the HG/SS scans however, and did not slip up on many details, other than the lack of details on the PokeGear– something that is minor.
He was not only professional in both articles, but had a joking, laid back tone; as seen in the sentence “And man was I surprised to see a Cyndaquil behind the player!”, which was in his first article. I think he blends well with Pokejungle, works well with the community, but brings some of the professionalism that is needed in a serious blog.
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I’m not actually sure how I should approach this question. I didn’t really expect this process of selecting new staff members to be so inclusive, especially for readers such as myself who never really socialised on the site. Even outside of The Jungle Games, I definitely feel much more content with the role of the writer as opposed to being the reader. I understand that the critique given to me on both tasks was to include more personality in my writing. However, rather than finding this challenging, I just find it immensely awkward; my writing style is essentially informative. I have resolved to try and drop the formal register, but ultimately I feel it’s a key aspect in constructing fluency within my writing. I realise I’m beating around the bush, but what I’m trying to say is that no matter how much I want this position I am not comfortable with altering my writing style.
This was around the time when I started visiting the site. Watching it evolve from being a one-man project has been enjoyable. While I’m not exactly sure what position I’d serve on the site, I’d certainly be interested in possibly writing for prof, where I think my writing style could particularly shine.
As for the other tributes who deserve spots… It’s definitely clear from the polls that no single tribute really excelled in both of the tasks. But the tribute who impressed me the most in both tasks was Samual. It’s definitely clear that out of all tributes (including myself) Samual put the most effort into his Coro Coro piece. While he showed neglect for the use of comma’s and there were masses of pointless hyphens, Samual’s language choices and sentence constructions are undoubtedly sophisticated. I found Samual’s Spinda article to be much more accurate in terms of grammar, I felt it to be the perfect tone, length and it was definitely structured in a fluent manner. Clear planning went into this article beforehand, and while I found other articles tended to include unnecessary information I believe Samual has shown an understanding for what readers want to within these articles.
The other contestant who appealed to me was actually Shane, and I would have chosen him for the final slot. However, with him out of the competition, the next choice would have been Stephen. I think his articles have been overlooked in the polls; he writes with a distinct professionalism and I felt that (unlike other tributes) he didn’t forcibly inject personality into his writing, it was more natural. His Delibird article was fluent, and while I questioned some of his word choices I felt it certainly maintained a tone that naturally suited the site.
– Robert[/tab]
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I’m not sure if anonymity is still necessary at this point, but the people that I feel deserve becoming the three new Pokejungle staff members are myself, Tribute #1 and Tribute #11, respectively.
Myself
I’ve been reevaluating my life and looking for a change of pace, so when the Jungle Games were announced I knew I should take a whack at it. I didn’t expect to become a tribute, but when I was I knew this was my chance to show people my capabilities. I love the closeness in this community and to be able to provide for it would be great, not to mention becoming a member of Pokejungle’s staff would be an incredible experience that’s hard to come by! I take my constructive criticism well into consideration, and my major being Creative Writing allows me to innovatively adapt well to situations, analyze things and break them down. Not to mention working here would be a great way to improve my writing skills. I’m sure the sprite above is a giveaway as to who I am, I wrote the Delibird Focus On. Unfortunately, I’m also the one who wrote the 2nd article in Round 1 of the Games. Look at that thing. It isn’t the worst, but I misjudged the information people wanted to see and wasn’t aware of what they’d appreciate. I was sure I had missed my chance and tanked the Games with that article, but if I told myself if I were given the chance I would work so much harder on the second challenge. Thankfully, the staff saw my potential and I moved onto Round 2 where I worked hard and provided the Delibird article that many of you seemed to enjoy! The differences in quality between these two articles are vast, and it’s clear how much time and attention was committed to the second one. Based on the votes I believe I succeeded in creating an article many would enjoy reading. All in all, I feel I deserve a spot on the Pokejungle staff and I think you would all enjoy reading my work as well!
Tribute #1 (Casey)
This person’s article was the first everybody read in Round 1, and in my eyes it did very well against all of the pressure put on it. I loved the personality in it, particularly the “Mario and Peach’s lovechild!” bit. There were some spelling or grammar errors, but that’s nothing a little proofreading couldn’t fix. This article was a joy to read and great way to start my reading all of the other entries. To most of you the Smeargle article seemed to leave much to be desired, but I thought it was fine the way it was! It didn’t dwell on the competitive aspects of the Pokémon, which is nice because not everyone in the community is involved in the metagame. While I will admit that it could have at least used a moveset example, the article focused nicely on Smeargle’s aesthetics. Tribute #1 wrote very nice articles and I would love to see what else this tribute could come up with as a possible fellow staff member.
Tribute #11 (Mechanos)
Now I know I’m not the only one who loved Tribute # 11’s article in the first round. Like many others, I had interpreted the task to ask for a literal article on the new information, but this tribute’s quick thinking lead them to make the best-formatted news post. As soon as I read this article I knew the tribute responsible had made the right decision by far. This person is also responsible for the Chatot article, and I enjoyed the personality found in this one, what with the “Squawk!” right at the start. Not to mention the uniqueness this article portrayed by being the only one to use an anime screenshot of the Pokémon as opposed to its sprite. I enjoyed reading how much the article went into the Pokémon’s design, while still getting a feel for the author’s opinion on it. This person also covered a lot of the competitive ground afterwards and even included ideal moves to use. While this would have been better listed out rather than in a paragraph, this closed up the article nicely. I love this person’s versatility and their understanding of what each task was asking for in terms of professionalism and personality, and I know working with this tribute in the future would be a blast!
In addition, I wanted to make it clear how grateful I am that I have gone from being an accepted applicant all the way up to the final round. This has been an honor and a great experience in itself. I had a ton of fun competing alongside my fellow tributes; it was interesting to see all of the different approaches and writing styles that went into their articles.
Thank you all for reading!
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Unfortunately Kinganteros and Casey did not respond to the email 🙁 No poll this time, please read the entries and leave a COMMENT as this is the last “episode”.
<3 pokejungle
ps- I want to personally thank everyone who’s participated, from the very first applications onwards. I’ve loved reading your submissions and it’s been such a great chance for me to hear voices from across the fandom 🙂 Love you guys!