Battledome-ify Your Neopian Times Items by shadowcristal & doughnut215This article begins nicely. Your disclaimer is great, but I feel it could have been exaggerated a bit more to make it slightly more entertaining.
I definitely think some of these uses were funnier than others, but that's probably just my personal opinion. I particularly liked this quote from the Neopian Times Issue 3:
I noticed very few, if any at all, errors in grammar and spelling, which is absolutely great! (To be honest, I know that I've missed some in my pieces, for the NT or not, and I know I have a GREAT eye for editing, so I know how much work it takes to reach your level of perfection!) I do think, though, that in your description of the Neopian Times Bean Bag, the a.k.a. (also known as), would have been better an i.g. (that is), but that's just me being nitpicky, I guess. I must also say that I believe the quill is being held by the Neopian Times White Weewoo Plushie under its right wing, whereas you said the left, but this could also be a mere matter of opinion.
Overall, I enjoyed this article, and though I may never bring my cherished NT items to the Battledome, I guess I know now how to defend myself if an opponent does! Good job; I liked it. Very easy to read, and enjoyable to read, too.
The Cheesy Villains Awards by blubblub317 & dan4884To begin, the style of this article was not quite what I had been expecting, but it worked nicely enough. Again, I must say that I've found few, if any, errors in grammar and spelling. It might simply be the collab thing, but either way, it's a great thing for writers to be error-free, even if they have collaborative help getting there.
I particularly loved the Pant Devil's little rant about the Brain Tree and Dr. Sloth. ^_^ I also adore Taelia's cameo. ;D
I know you said that you wish this to be an annual thing, and though I see the potential for such, I feel it would be hard to recreate the same feeling as this year's awards without adding new categories and maybe seeking out some new villains. If you go for this again, though, I wish you the best of luck.
By the way... I really did enjoy this, although I wasn't too keen on the whole idea to begin with, so I'm probably not very enthusiastic about it. Nonetheless, though, the writing was still very good.
Attack of the Slorgs: This is NOT a Game Guide by squire_genevieveVery nice beginning--just like in actual newspapers. I did notice, though, in the first paragraph, that the parenthesized sentence was missing punctuation. This might have been a simple typo, but I know parenthetical punctuation is sometimes confusing, so I'm quickly going to say if the parenthesized sentence is a complete thought and stands alone, it's punctuated inside the parentheses. Other than that bit, I found nothing wrong with your grammar. I do advise, however, that you tend a bit more to your sentences. Some seemed like they ran on a bit too much. And your use of dashes, I feel, was a bit too much (I shared the same problem though ^_^).
To the article itself, I really enjoyed this. You conveyed emotion nicely and all of your points were written concisely. I also loved the ending, though I won't quote it here and risk ruining the surprise for others. I think you said this was your first article, so congrats on that! I hope to see more of your work in the NT.
Making Its Mark by o_apollo_o
Does the current editor really have a liking for the Snoogy? To say, I put a Snoogy in my first short story simply because that was the character I wanted in the story... heh. Well... *sighs*
To comment on the article itself, though. It is beyond words. Though I noticed a few small errors, none of it drew away from any of this article's grandeur. It is truly superb. I hardly knew any of the things that you mentioned, until now that is. This was an awesome article, one perfectly suited to appear in such a monumental issue.
Three cheers for you, and three more for the Neopian Times!
Why the Haunted Woods Beat the Darigan Citadel by lassie_nikkiSports aren't my fancy, but this article was very well-written and was very neat and clean. I enjoyed reading it, yes, but as I said, sports aren't my fancy, so I wasn't blown away by it. But, nevertheless, it was a good article, and for that, I applaud you.
A Gnawing Curiosity by literalluauThis was an awesome article! Another one perfectly suited to this monumental issue. I loved your facts, and I'm sure they're a good example even if they're not perfect statistics.
Your story-like presentation of this was awesome and really great.
As to the person to Leona's left, "as we are" is correct. "As we" is not. If she wished not to say "are," she should have said, "as us." *lol* Okay, I couldn't resist doing that. ;D
And is it me, or have there been many references to insane writers in this issue? I once heard someone say that they're sane living in an insane world. Writers are often the sanest (I think?) kind of people, so maybe we're the sane ones, because I know this world can be quite insane at times. Once again, great article, Luau!
The Art of Fishing by mygoodguildOutside of the Zelda universe, I honestly have no interest in fishing. However, this article was well-written and had no errors that I could see. It wasn't what I'd normally read, but it was good nonetheless.
Influential Ideas by tdyansThis was an awesome article, tdyans! It was well-written, incredibly easy-to-read (but that's a good thing!), and I saw absolutely no errors, which is awesome for the NT! I was a bit disappointed that you only stated three ideas, as I could have read another three easily. Even though, this was a great article and I loved it. Once more, it was perfect for this monumental, 250th issue. And, oh, how much better the NT shines since it was update!
Long live the Neopian Times!
Great pictures, though!
)
Any more reviews of my article 'Why the HW Beat the DC' would be very appreciated =D