Interview with a Champion Voter: Azouth

And here's the last of the six Champion Voter interviews: Azouth!


1. When you think about it, 5,000 votes means that you put in a minimum of 83 hours and 20 minutes, which is roughly equal to a part time job. What drove you to put in that kind of time?

I really like to read the items, and finding rules or spells I was not aware of. Also, I don't just vote, reading the messageboards is part of the fun. Because of the holidays, a lot of the games I normally go to are canceled, so I have more free time at my computer. I have the thought that if I don't make it to the top 32, at least I can get to champion and see all the entries.

2. What makes an item Superstar for you? What were some of your deal breakers that made you vote against an item rather that for its competitor?  

I think what makes an item Superstar for me is a few things:

• First, when I read it, I think "this is cool" or "why is this not an item already".
• Next, there is the mental picture of the item being used—does it make me want to use the item.
• I also like it when the rules, spells or abilities are used in new ways.

The deal breakers are the following:

• There is no formatting, just a block of text. 
• I can't tell what the item is.
• Then there are the clearly OP, game-breaking strong items.

There were only a few items this year, which, when I read it, made me think "I will never vote for this, never, no matter what it is against". Luckily those items were never vs each other.

3. What did you think of this year's twist? If you voted last year, do you think the quality of the items was better or worse than prior years? 

I really liked the twist this year. Last year I had an idea for my item that would have been better as armor. So, when I read that it could be armor I was happy about it. As for the quality of the items this year vs last, I would say there is a vast improvement overall this year. Even the number of items without formatting was smaller.

4. This year's cull was controversial, what did you think of it? How much did it affect your voting? 

As for the cull, like last year there were some items that were cut that I thought should not have, but fewer items that were not culled but should have. This year I saw all the post-cull items, last year I didn't. So, once I got to champion this year, I voted a lot less than last year.

5. If you could change one thing for next year's competition, what would it be? 

I don't know if it could work but I would like to see maybe 2 culls. Say, one halfway through voting, then one when there is a week left. That way people could see if they are improving from the last year.