I counted exactly 2024 "WAWA" echoing through the library

Hello friend, try to find some space. The library is teeming with activity as we approach a very peculiar time of the year in some place. Archivists from all over this vast reality and a few others gather around to share their best works and finds in a friendly contest. I am myself in possession of some bits that I have found to be enlightening and worthy of other's recognition. In this entry, peculiar even among the others, I will list both my contribution, and some of the best I came across.

Hearts and Minds

Rise of Nation

Wondrous Nature

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Strength and Honor

Pillars of Progress

Myths and Legends

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Best Article

Best World

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What is the best out there (according to me)

Judging method

At first I approached this whole thing candidly, then some people over on the Discord made the astute remark that going through hundreds of entries without a plan would not go very far. And while the thought of being over such trivial considerations is comforting, I definitely am not. So here's my method. It is a bit drastic, because I am not looking for a good or intriguing worldbuilding article, I am looking for the best on this whole platform. Of course, there is no universal method and this is just my take on it, you might disagree with how I do things and that's totally fine, I am not writing this to incite anyone to use it, but rather to show my chain of thoughts. I should also mention that I made these criteria before reading any article so all might pass them for all I know.

No walls of text: Information is the most important thing in worldbuilding, however presentation counts too, and for quite a lot. If I see an article with only paragraphs, no image and no formatting to ease the flow of reading, it's out. This is the first thing I look for while skimming through the article, as it is very easy to see.

Catchy introduction, creative or efficient section titles: If the article is well laid out, then I look at the first paragraph and the section titles, to get an idea of what it is about. If I can't tell, or it feels unimaginative, I skip it. There is nothing wrong with typical articles about classic subjects, but I think that the best have to bring something new, or presented in a way that immediately catches my attention.

Links to other articles: By now, I'm reading the full article. The subsequent criteria are there to help me decide, because I am pretty sure that by this point I will only have amazing articles, and I suspect most of the submissions will reach this one. So, what do I mean by that? Well, a world is a deeply interconnected web of article, and none of them should stand alone without linking to others. The best articles of WorldAnvil should not only be great on their own, but also integrated within their world.

Clever use of constraints: WorldAnvil, for technical, security and time reasons, have many limitations, the greatest and most understandable one being the inability for most of us to use in our articles. Nonetheless, some extraordinary folks (looking at you Stormbril) have managed to circumvent many of these limitations with genial use of CSS and BBcode. As it is something that is very important to me, I will award bonus points to articles which feature imaginative use of these constraints. This is especially true of freemen, who don't have access to the nearly limitless realm of CSS and containers.

The rest will be purely subjective, what I think make an article better than another on a case by case basis. And with that, I hope to have thinned the number of articles enough to make a shortlist before casting my vote. I aim for no more than 5 articles in each category, which will all be featured below for you to see. They will be presented in no particular order and I won't tell you which one got my vote. Consider the article listed below as my absolute favourite of all the submissions to WAWA!

Addendum : notes

Using Amélie's sheet, I attribute a note to all articles, ranging from 1 to 5.

1: articles that don't pass the first criterion and fail to catch my attention.

2: articles that fail either the first or second criterion but still have something that make them good.

3: articles that passed the first round of elimination but were less good than expected.

4: really great articles that I enjoyed reading, even worthy of winning a competition, but still lacking something to be considered best of the best

5: these I can vote for, the absolute best in their category.

Hearts & Mind

First round

I only did a brief overview of each articles for starters, mainly based on the first two criteria. I think I was a bit harsher on the end, as I already had seen truly amazing articles. Still, I discovered some gems and even best article potentials. From this first filter, I cut off 37 articles out of the 82 submissions, I considered 6 of them to pass by default considering what I know of the author and 13 failed to impress me by their appearance but still passed.

Some articles I left out seemed really good, and I was sometimes saddened to not give them a chance, but given how fierce the competition is, even some great articles didn't make the cut. Still, if I liked your article, even if it did not make it into my shortlist, know that there was something that I found really unique and great about it. Now, I will read all 45 entries that are still in course, with as much objectivity as I can.

Second Round

God was it hard to eliminate so many articles! Some were distinctively above the rest, and I isolated 16 articles with a note of 5/5. Reducing the shortlist to 5 and ultimately deciding a winner will be tough. I also discovered some authors of great quality, and I want to give them all a bit of spotlight. As I did all the reading back to back, I felt I was harsher on the last entries I read, some that could have gotten a better note if they were earlier in the list, but that's a concession I'm willing to make. It's also not a hard no, as my very last read had the highest score possible.

Shortlist

I lied, there is 6 articles in the shortlist and not 5. Sue me.

Complete and beautiful, with an impressive amount of commissionned art (I believe most of it is?). A lot of effort was put in this article and it shows, I don't agree with some design choices (although I'm often wrong when it comes to design), but this is definitely one of my favourite articles. I enjoyed reading about the Dral'azie and their egyptian-themed sub-culture, an all-around solid article.

Amélie's article is a textbook of what makes a perfect worldbuilding article: slick design, short informative paragraphs, lots of graphics, a very good flow and completeness. The connection to the ancestors fascinated me, and the quotes serve the explanation by adding some real-life situations. Simply brilliant.

As I said in my comment there, this article is often brought up when talking about the best articles and I finally understood why. Even the intro will have you drooling, and nnie's amazing drawings do wonders at making these dumplings come to life! And can we talk about the genius of gel-suspended sesame topping?

I was excited to read this one because of how Cato seemed happy with it. And I agree! Shattered is an amazing concept but the simple and efficient design is the cherry on top. This article is a vibrant work of art, one you don't want to go against in a competition. Props to the little boxes at the end, I really like this kind of design.

The only article in the shortlist from an author I never read anything prior, and boy did I miss something! I was enthraled in the reading and despite the screen being visually busy, it never seemed too much or too cluttered. The story bits hooked me and I can't wait for the next worldember to see how it unravels! A truly wonderful work.

From the first round I knew this one would make it to the shortlist. Sure, TJ is a master of the craft, but this article goes beyond that! A beautiful layout with lots of room to breathe, superb pixel art and a story that invite us directly to walk in the fair. The finishing touch with the collectible stamp is an amazing idea that I'll surely [strikethrough]steal[/strikethrough] get inspired by at some point in the future.

Honorable mentions

All these articles scored the highest on my subjective and questionable scale. I could have given my vote to any one of these, and you should check them out if you haven't already!

Unroll me!

Rise of Nations

First Round

Do I already have the hang of it? It's definitely no simple task, but I sorted through the articles faster the second time. Once again, I had to disqualify articles that seemed very interesting, I'm keeping them for later. From the 74 submissions, I kept 38 of them going on, and boy where they hard to sort.

Second Round

I was ready to put all 38 articles in the mentions, given how good they all were. Through a lot of reconsiderations, I finally decided on a top 16 and a shortlist of 5 articles. Once again, every article mentioned below could have gotten my vote and twice that much were as worthy.

This article might feel short, but it is filled with a lot of information and emotion. The story of the triton princess is so neatly told through the gems that exist in-universe in the Eternal Reef. This article inspire both grief and hope despite the ultimate demise of the kingdom. One of the best use of Storm's tab that I have ever seen, displaying the wide range of possibilities that we are given when styling an article.

I want to vary the people in the shortlist, I really do, but how can I pass when there's such incredible species article? From the details of their eyes, horns and tails to how their society function and their view of others, we learn so much about the ejderhakans. The article itself is beautiful, packed with tantalizing art which set the ambiance just right. I'm still not used to the font used, but other than that it is peak worldbuilding.

Just like the previous one, there is everything you need in this article. A breathing layout, a great and well-written concept and art that exalts the text. This one of the articles that just feel complete.

Hanhula is not one to disappoint, and this article proves it once again! The writing here immediately hooks the reader and never let them go until the end. The power dynamics between the houses and their naming traditions are very interesting takes, and the description of each house with their emblem is just right.

Haven really seems like an utopia for its denizen who all seem content and live fulfilling lives. But is it really the case? It's a question that always haunt you when reading the Haveni article. Would you like a life of leisure and art free of judgement and crimes if it meant submitting to an all-powerful AI and never go against their wishes? A truly powerful question asked here in an article so well laid out. If you didn't already, usurperkings is an author to follow!

Honorable mentions

Unroll me!

Wondrous Nature

By this point I'm getting faster with the initial sort. Including the 91 articles of this category, I at least skimmed 247 articles (this much?). I start to know at a glance if an article will have a chance or not, according to my criteria. I was able to quickly reduce to 42 articles the count of the second round, but I need to discern more easily the articles that are interesting-but-not-enough from the best candidates. Sort between 4/5 and 5/5, if you will.

Turns out you guys tend to write insane stuff, it's not making things easy. Somehow I managed to get down to 15 top articles, 5 of which made it into my shortlist.

Shortlist

One of the first article I read in this category, and the bar is already very high! A very good use of AI imagery to create a set of coherent and vibrant illustrations of this alien planet, including the integration of 3D images that we don't see often! Their abundance and diversity really sell the ecosystem and the dives in the different parts of the Kajh-Tai make it feel alive, almost real.

Another ecosystem, another one breaking the charts! The Shamsi desert is so full of critters, people and life in general, each having their own articles! As someone who struggles with quantity, I can't help but be amazed at the number of ways a reader can deepen its knowledge of the desert in just this single article.

At this point I somehow stopped being able to comment articles. Like a writer's block, only for comments. I will complete them once I find the energy back.

Honorable mentions

Unroll me!

Strength and Honor

I didn't expect this category to be so inventive! As stated before, what I am looking for the most is creativity in the approach and presentation of the articles. Most of the previous articles mentioned, while extraordinary, did not scratch that innovative uniqueness. But this one had some unique takes that I loved to see, and hope to witness more in the last categories, especially best article! As a side effect, the other articles suffered from this subjective comparison, and I ended the first round with 33 articles, 10 of which reached the maximum note.

Shortlist

The issue with technically flawless articles, is that the isn't much to say about them. Everything just works. The information is clearly conveyed, the layout is easy on the eyes, it flows well, never feels overwhelming and the first person approach allows for some light-hearted comments that rythms the reading even more. If you struggle with the presentation of your articles, Amélie's work is one of the best inspiration you can take from, as she never gets it wrong.

Storm woke up one day and chose to make an in-world newspaper... And it really feels like it! Getting a piece of lore as it is in the world is awesome, and the fact that he redesigned the whole page, including the comments, to fit the visual of just a single article is incredible. Love the black and white photos and drawings that adds even more to the atmosphere.

How it all began, when angels from the Sun descended on Mercury and wreak havoc on the planet. How cool is that? Well no it was horrible and hellishly hot, but the depiction of the events and the subsequent hardships of establishing a proper response to the catastrophe are very well done. This is also one of these articles with so many links it really feels like a complete, interconnected world.

Now, what should we expect from a candidate for the best of WA? Part of that, in my opinion, is to be able to draw the reader in without other knowledge of the world, not even the high concept. I knew nothing of Ayonerra, except for Lavran's article. Yet I couldn't stop reading the story of Malk, terrible and full of tragedies (most of which he brought upon himself). By the end of the article, I had not only a grasp on what the world was like, but also on a handful of characters, a bit of history, and most of all I was eager to continue reading on.

I've got a challenge for you: read TheDumbOwl's articles and try not to laugh. They are so silly and spirited, with some quotes having more self-awareness than the entirety of this world's population. I don't know of other comedy worldbuilding works, but even if there is this is probably at the top. Just... just look at that map. There is a whole... is it a lake ? A sea ? with no other mention than "SNAKE GOES HERE".

Honorable mentions

Unroll me!

Pillars of Progress

Shortlist

This one is special for me, as I am currently designing my own FTL technology in a hard SF world. Thus, I was even more interested in the design of SpyglassRealms and even more how they presented their article. And this is an awesome mix of both technical details for hard SF nerds and accessible explanations on the basics. This balance is a difficult one to find, but to me this is hard worldbuilding done right.

I just can't stop laughing. The interaction between the headers and the paragraphs are a neat idea, I lost it at "big underlined text person". Also, this is answering the prompt "a seat of power". Because it is litterally a seat leaking with power. I love it.

Honorable Mentions

Unroll me!

Myths & Legends

I'm becoming more and more selective, probably because I was tied between two articles from the start for this category. So everyone is in the shortlist!

Shortlist

Best article

Oh boy here we are. The last article category, and far from the least. I was prepared to be extra harsh on the judging, voting for the Best Worldbuilding Article and all, but all the submissions were just stellar! So this time no honorable mention, everyone get shortlisted because I could have given my vote to each and every single one of these articles. Had they been in a different category, I can safely say they would easily stand above the crowd! Here are my 19 top picks:

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And that wraps it up for the first round of the Best of WorldAnvil voting! I will not detail my votes for the non-article categories, as they are more of a gut feeling and a reflection of the articles. Except for Best World, as I can't bring myself to break the tie between these four that are all equally awesome, and a mix of all the best on this platform and community:

Parting words

So, in the span of ten days I've skimmed 512 articles, and went deeper (although I kept it shallow sometimes) into 230 of them. Wow, that's quite a lot. I often complained in the past about not taking the time to read what other people post here, I think I made amends. At least partly. I didn't include comment for every shortlisted articles because right now I just want to get this over with, but I'll come back later to say something nice to the article I preferred.

In the process, I made some amazing discoveries, namely Jontaro's Oniran, Myth X's Arc Saga, Usurperkings' Lieben Cycle and TheDumbOwl's Vertinall, which a damn shame because I would have needed to read something like that way earlier. Unveiling such gems around a corner of internet is the reason why I regret none of the hours put in this judging.

Before I let go of the conceptual grasp I have on you readers, I want to thank every all of you who voted or considered my articles in your votes. Reading all these fantastic entries and thinking that some people (at least 2, they know who they are and I'm incredibly flattered) considered my work the best out of all may be one of the best feeling as a creator. So thank you.

Now, I have been getting so much inspiration and I'm aching to write, good luck to all candidates and stay amazing out there!