Otome-san
Sayonara.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2013
- Messages
- 1,988
- Reaction score
- 547
- Points
- 876

Think of this as BA's POTM museum. Here, we'll honor winners of the POTM and post other tidbits of POTM history. Stay tuned as our Hall of Fame grows. (Unfortunately, most of the information about POTM before the server crash has been lost, so information may be incomplete. Sorry.)

1. When and how was POTM conceived and implemented?
Belias was looking for ways to engage members and encourage them to participate. I suggested Post of the Month, but the original idea was much different from what you see now. The original idea was for forum staff to look for posts around the forum during our regular mod duties. Belias expanded on that. Members would feel more engaged if they themselves nominated posts and then voted on them. We worked together on the rules, and the finalized version was rolled out not long after (I think June or July 2012). As we started to rebuild after the crash, some of the rules changed so that members who had won in previous months could still be nominated.
2. So tell me about the signature badges.
Originally, there were no plans to reward anyone other than the first-place winner every month. I made some badges on a lark for the second- and third-place winners of the very first POTM, and the reaction was positive. So I offered to make signature badges for the top three places every month, since it seems more "official" if a mod makes the badges. Since signature badges are a reward from forum staff, we decided that those who earned any badge could wear up to two of them outside a spoiler tag, in addition to a signature graphic, for one year. Some members use their badges as their signatures, in which case we let those members wear those badges indefinitely.
I try to choose three characters with some sort of connection, such as being in the same squad or being Espada or Fullbringers. Groups are purposely spaced out for variety's sake. So you may see a Gotei 13 squad featured one month, but it will be several months before another one is featured.
Generally, I make badges several months in advance. That way, I have an idea which characters still need to be featured and can either look for renders or request colorings. Also, working on badges early gives me plenty of time to tweak them or, in some cases, overhaul them. That's also why I don't let members request particular characters or stock images for their badges.
To maintain some element of surprise, only I know who is going to be featured in any given month. On rare occasions, I'll ask one of our members to make the badges for one month. I still choose the characters because I know which ones I'm working on for future months. Other than that, the individual has free rein so far as renders, colors, fonts, and such.
Of the badges I've made, the Royal Guard badges, featured in January 2015, seem to have gotten the best response.
3. Why is voting anonymous? Will this ever change?
Voting is anonymous so that no one feels pressured to vote for a particular post. We want members to vote for the posts that they truly believe are the most deserving, without being concerned that they might offend someone. Voting will always be anonymous, meaning that only red names are able to see who voted.

Here's our list of "firsts" and "mosts." Want to know who has been nominated the most times? Or do you want to know which month had the most nominations? Here's your stop.
As of today, we have had six members win POTM more than once:
1. Polgarena won her first POTM in December 2013. She won again two months later, in February 2014. So far, that is the record for shortest time between wins. As of January 2015, she is the first person to win POTM three times.
2. Our second repeat winner was NeoPlatonist. He won his first POTM in September 2013 and his second one in May 2014. Neo holds the distinction of being the first person to win POTM for a post in the captions and edits thread.
3. Our third repeat winner was Andygoesrawr, who won his first POTM in November 2013. He won his second POTM in July 2014. Andy holds the distinction of having twice as many votes as the second-place winner.
4. Our fourth repeat winner was Herakles, whose first win was in July 2013. He then won the August 2014 POTM. Herakles holds the distinction of being the first winner chosen by administrative prerogative, when Belias voted to break a tie for first place.
5. Our fifth repeat winner is Franco, whose first win was in October 2013. He then eked out a victory in the March 2015 POTM, where he had been in second place for much of the voting. Both of Franco's wins were by one vote.
6. Our sixth repeat winner is The Outlier, whose first win was in December 2014, for a post in the Aizen fan club. His second win occurred in the May 2015 POTM voting. He is the first member to win 2 POTM's for posts written in the same fan club.
Firsts and Mosts
- In which month(s) were the most posts nominated? For the July 2013 POTM, 29 posts were nominated.
- In which month(s) were the fewest posts nominated? Only eight posts were nominated in September 2013 and August 2014. Seven posts were nominated in November 2014. The record for fewest posts, however, is the five posts nominated in December 2014.
- In which month(s) did the most members vote? Forty-two people voted in the August 2013 POTM. In a close second is the 37 votes in the July 2014 POTM.
- Which POTM winner received the most votes?
For the August 2013 POTM, Jethro Lukarikate's friends joined together and helped him win with 21 votes. He holds the distinction of being the first person to win POTM for a post not related to anime or manga.
Next is Andygoesrawr, who received 17 votes in the July 2014 POTM.
In a very close third place is Herakles, who received 16 votes in the July 2013 POTM.
The Outlier received 16 votes in the May 2015 voting for his birthday poem for Aizen. - Which members have won multiple badges in the same month?
B. Haddrell has accomplished this twice, once in the February 2014 POTM (second and third places) and once in the April 2014 POTM (first and third places). She holds the distinction of being the first person to earn two badges in the same month without tying for either one.
NeoPlatonist has accomplished this once, in the May 2014 POTM (first and third places) - Who has won the most runner-up badges (second or third place)
Among mods: Kurogasa has earned second place twice and tied for third place once. I (Otome-san) have earned second place once and third place three times.
Among non-mod members: B. Haddrell has earned seven runner-up badges, including tying for third place twice. NeoPlatonist, however, holds the record. He has earned eight runner-up badges, including tying for third place twice and second place once.

These are the badges that have been made for the top three finishers. When there was more than one badge to choose from, I've posted only the badges that each winner actually chose.
2013 Badges
July 2013
August 2013
September 2013
October 2013
November 2013
Note: Two Kaien badges are featured because there was a three-way tie for third place this month. NeoPlatonist and B. Haddrell chose the orange badge; I chose the blue one.
December 2013
Badges in 2014
January 2014
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February 2014
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March 2014
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April 2014
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May 2014
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June 2014
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July 2014
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August 2014
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September 2014
October 2014
November 2014
(Badges by Patapon)
December 2014
Badges in 2015
January 2015
February 2015
March 2015
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April 2015
May 2015
Badges by Patapon
July 2013



August 2013



September 2013



October 2013



November 2013




Note: Two Kaien badges are featured because there was a three-way tie for third place this month. NeoPlatonist and B. Haddrell chose the orange badge; I chose the blue one.
December 2013



Badges in 2014
January 2014



February 2014



March 2014



April 2014



May 2014



June 2014



July 2014



August 2014



September 2014



October 2014



November 2014
(Badges by Patapon)



December 2014



Badges in 2015
January 2015



February 2015



March 2015



April 2015



May 2015
Badges by Patapon



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