The real game begins in just about 24 hours!
But first, we have our final look back at the past!
1SC Retrospective
Season 8, Episode 2 - Holiday Fun
Hosted by: @tcool123
Started on: December 15th, 2022
Won by: @TheSorcerersApprentice
Season 8 also wasn't really an official season, but for the sake of keeping this organized (And to continue my personal tradition of kicking off every third season), what I'm calling season 8 ended with a Holiday Special!
This episode saw
@tcool123 host once again for another very special Episode! This was a short and sweet Episode giving everyone a bit of imagineering magic for the busy holiday season. With only 5 rounds this was the shortest Episode (aside from ones that ended early unintentionally), but that made it a perfect fit for that time of year. All the extra flourishes seen in the Summer Fun Episode were found here with a ton of custom graphics and Ornaments as a new version of the medals/surfboards.
The holiday theme extended to every round with players posting their ideas for overlays, TV Specials, seasonal shows, etc. It was very much a fun focused Episode with the competitive aspect of the competition taking a back seat to the simple joy of that special time of year and getting to hang out with each other on the forum. Having a grand old time throwing out ideas and encouraging each other. This might seem more or less the same as Summer Fun but smaller scale and with less players, but really this distinguished itself by some very subtle shifts in the tone. Summer Fun felt like an EVENT, a big blockbuster experience. Holiday Fun felt like a treat, a fun time with friends.
@tcool123 lead another really great episode putting in a ton of effort, encouraging players to get involved, and rewarding them for their hard work. Another great Episode!
Sadly, it wound up being the last episode for over a year now. 2023 marked a transitionary period in the forum as a whole. It started with
@TheOriginalTiki leading the 20th and final season of So, You Want to be an Imagineer (at least in its current form) marking the end of an era as that game was perhaps the oldest still ongoing Armchair Imagineering competition on the internet. Unofficial leaders of the 1SC and the forum as a whole like
@spacemt354 @tcool123 and
@D Hulk becoming increasingly busy with their careers and other "real life" stuff. Veteran Players (like myself) who started in high school and college are now in our mid to late 20s or older with careers needing to step away more frequently (I may have won the big Spring Competition this year, SYWTBAI, but I was offline most of the summer since that's the busy season at my current job (hint: my boss is a rat)). The big boom of 2020-2022 was dying down and activity on the forum was beginning to drop again as the big shoes left behind were waiting to be filled. But judging by the activity on this thread, looking around the forum, and seeing the incredible work done by
@Dark PerGron @JokersWild and
@mickeyfan5534 on the Manor of Mystery's Competition I have absolutely no doubts in my mind that we are headed to a new BOOM that has already started with a new generation of leaders and iconic players coming into their own! I'm excited to try and do my part to nurture that by reviving the One Sentence Competition!
I truly believe that supporting forums like this one is going to be increasingly important especially as many of the major social media sites are becoming increasingly erratic, unreliable, and outright hostile (especially to queer people and other minority groups). Smaller online communities like this one are more important than ever. Not to mention that with the rise of AI art/writing programs, a forum like this that serves as a celebration of real art made by real people AND as a great place to learn and develop creative talents is a beautiful thing!
Anyways, getting off of my soap box,
@tcool123 did an amazing job once again! This Episode is a perfect example of how FUN the One Sentence Comp is when the focus stays on having a good time and encouraging others to grow and develop their talents! Something I'll keep in mind as we head into the future.
Check out the Holiday Fun here!
As a Discussion Question for today, let's look at my favorite prompt from Holiday Fun!
"Overlay the Halls: Design a new holiday overlay for any attraction at any theme park."