Modding Mod of the Year 2013

The question is, if you're posting a worklog or not, and if you don't build anything fancy then you won't get anyone to follow your worklog and comment on it.
This directly results in not getting into MOTM or MOTY, as noone cares about your low-budget-for-fun-modding.

So yeah, it's quiet elitist to some degree and if we look at the last few years, then it's allways the same people getting featured, as they have the possibilities to draw attention to theiir worklogs by building something fancy.

However, I don't care about this anymore, but I'd like to see more specialized contest, where people are given some limits on size, or defined hardware to base their mod on etc.

 

It's not exactly about the competition being elitist, but the "Project Logs" in general, as peeple without the possibilities to build something fancy don't get any attention to start with, which results in not getting featured in MOTM or MOTY.

People don't apply for MOTM or MOTY, but they get suggested, you know.

That's why I'm all for real contest, where people need to apply, as this is where they actually can get attention, even if they don't build the winning piece.

 

MOTM and MOTY can stay as they're imho, but you should cut the prices, as they aren't real contests to begin with, but rather a rehash of what's been shown during the last month/year.

Reserve the real prices for the announced contests, which are most usual sponsored by a manufacturer anyways. So make the contests about certain pieces of hardware (mainboards, GPUs, PSUs, cases, etc) which will attract attention for the sponsors chosen hardware too.
This would be a win-win situation for all, as the sponsor get's his hardware featured in a bigger scale, and the competitiors can enter the contests themselves instead of getting suggested.

Look at the NUC-contest as a good example.

 

You, as in bit-tech

Most of the mods shown in MOTM/MOTY are sponsored to begin with, so I see no reason to throw additional free hardware at them.

 

I have often been called 'too serious' so I can handle that although that is not the reason for my stance. My stance is the overwhelming focus on the very elite of modding and very little else with regards to the rest of the field. I haven't been inspired by anything I have seen in the articles and comps for a very long time as they are 99% of the time way out of my budget to try to mimic or the project is so specialised that it doesn't suit my needs or creative style and I find it hard to learn anything from it. I learn from relating to things and understanding them but these things just make me want to pack up and go home, which is probably something quite a few forum members would wish me to actually do.
These high end mods also have a habit of being new without actually doing anything 'new'. There seems to be very little radical thinking going on and it's a case of 'lets modify a case to hold as much off the self hardware as possible and then we'll make all look nice'.

 

There are some interesting opinions, which I think could lead to a unique builds ... often mods are created by a need to make something that suits your own needs as what others are doing don't float your boat.
Me personally I'd follow a log that wasn't money focused, some of the opinions here could be the making of an excellent log ... there's no guessing what peoples tastes are but the build should be for you not for competition, they're just a bonus
My build had a lot of views but only a small minority actually posted and an even smaller minority actually liked it ... Didn't stop me from posting the log though.

 

I'd like to humbly submit that you have not been paying attention. Slipperyskip and Waynio's recent builds have involved modest hardware, and hand-tooled modding on a modest budget. In fact my three MOTY nominees involve mid-range hardware at best and almost completely home-produced parts. If quizz_kid's Revelation does not do anything for you, frankly you're a bit dead inside.

I wonder if you are letting a sense of bitterness cloud the issue. We mod for ourselves. There is no competition. If you can do something more original and creative, show us.

 

Thank you for surprising nomination and congratz to all nominated.

 

It's amazing how often when a comment is not of the view of the majority or that of a select few regular contributors, the author of the comment is open to insults, ridicule and belittling. That aside, the Revelation project while being a creative and well made piece of work, no, it doesn't do anything for me. I can however still respect the work that goes in to it, as I can al the projects that get featured throughout the year. I guess my points have not been understood and fair enough. The only thing I'll leave with saying is that with so many expressing their concern and disappointment at the MOTM, MOTY and modding features as a whole, something has to be fundamentally wrong as it is not just the opinion of one who is apparently 'dead inside'.

 

It's never a good idea to get personal on these forums but sometimes there is no other way. Except of course to stfu, but I don't like to do that.

The above are all personal problems. It's you who can't get inspired or relate to whatever goes on with modding around here. Not bit-techs fault, not harry hardwares fault, not richie riches fault either. If you have a low budget then there are plenty of things you can do to spruce up your system with limited means. You need to use your imagination and perhaps get down and get dirty, you know, actually make something. It's true that this place has changed and many projects feature ridiculous amounts of off the shelf hardware and fittings that most people cant afford. Hell I cant! Two (or more) graphics cards? Cant even consider it, hell I cant even afford to get the latest card. But I can spend a hundred bucks for some luminum and screws. I can re-use scrap and offcuts from previous projects. Send out for CNC parts to be made? Hell, I cant afford that. Do I carp and wine about it? Do I get on the forums and tell everyone this place stinks because you guys have stuff and I don't have stuff and I cant be assed going out and sweating a little to make something. F**k no! I have a jigsaw and some files, don't mind working hard I can make my own parts.

The big difference between most of the successful modders around here and all the cry baby complainers is that the former turn off there PC's, step away and start thinking a bit. Then they do something remarkable. They start to make something. Praise be odin, they get off their asses, get off the computer and make something Glory be I have to say that one more time 'They make something'.
Yes! And then they keep going. Problems come up, they seem insurmountable. Do they give up in despair? F**K no, they think it through, they try stuff, it doesn't work. S**t they try something else, that doesn't work. 'Oh man I'm really gettin down now, I think I'll go and do some chores now'. So later on they get a vague idea and go and make something, eureka! It works.

Sure, I get a bit despondent when I click on a new project and the first thing I see is a wall of company logo's. Then a new case photographed from every conceivable angle. Then all the various new hardware, again from every angle and then all the fittings from every angle again.
But I never think 'I wish I had all that stuff'. And I sure as hell don't think it's all beyond me because I cant possibly make anything worthy without all that GLORIOUS HARDWARE.

It's all about what you can do, not what you can afford, get given or steal.

For the most part the forums are made by the people who live there. Different peeps come and go all the time and things change. Unfortunately bit-techs foray into the corporate world has had a negative effect on the kinds of peeps that live here now. Hows that you ask? Well, when I started looking for all things modding on the web I just happened to bump into this site and eventually joined up. I think that's how many earlier modders found bit and other sites like it. Modding was what bit stood for. Knowledgeable, friendly, and happy staff smoothed the way. We all had one thing in common, we were drawn here by modding and only modding. Things began to change when the sole purpose of this web site became to generate profit, as much and as quickly as possible. To do this they needed to drive traffic to the site. Modding just didn't cut the mustard as far as profit was concerned so bit concentrated on all sorts of other areas......................yadayada......we started getting lots of peeps not really interested in modding. And so it is.

There are lots of problems and inconsistencies with how the forums are moderated and how the competitions are run but I've vented my spleen elsewhere about these.

To the people complaining about not getting enough attention for their "modest' (their word) mods. Honestly, stop and think about this a little more objectively. Are people interested in seeing Tiger Woods play or the guy down the road who can't break 100? It so happens that on bit-tech there are modders/builders who are doing outstanding work, it's quite natural for them to get the attention. If you think there is something wrong or unnatural about this, again I suggest you get off the PC and step outside for a while.

Anyway I have to go cook dinner now.

 

I agree to what all you just said. Honestly, I didn't expect or even aim to be on the list. You said what I exactly did. At first, I didn't have anything to start with so I started sourcing and checking our garage for what ever tools I can possibly use to modify my case. Believe me or not, I got into PC because of these modder not because I want to move from Latop to Desktop PC. After checking MDPC, I fell in love with Atilla's, Paul Tan's and other modders work. They inspired me to get out of my room and start creating something. I didnt complain of not having these fancy machine or hardware. I love art, even though I am not gifted to be good at it. Being on the hobby for just over a year and being nominated for MOTY is a huge achievement for me. I gained sponsors because I worked for it. My first project was the reason I get these free stuffs and having a full knowledge about what really modding is, these hardware does not matter at all. I could compete with my case without any hardware inside it and that's how we should look at these work of art. Everyone in the list spent their time creating all of these to entertain and inspire us. They are not doing this just to brag about how many sponsors they got or how expensive their machines are. I started with nothing just like what some of you are complaining right now. You'll grow in the community by creating and sharing. not by ranting and complaining that you have nothing to start with. One more thing is that you don't please people with your words for you to get attention, but you please them with your creation. People loves to be inspired, they love unique work, they like friendly modders and who shares their work.

Have a good dinner, Attila.

 

Attila gets it. As somebody who only completed their first ever mod this year, I can't say I ever faced the negatives that were mentioned. Sure it wasn't exactly a cheap build, but I'm a hardware junkie, should I not have posted my project log for fear that some haven't set aside the same budget? I'm a student, I saved up, cut corners on my living expenses etc. so I could make it happen.

Heck, to make Vesper, which was nominated above and won the NUC competition (only just mind), this was my workshop:



Yep that's a bedroom, I didn't even have a workbench, I used a drumming stool with a piece of chipboard clamped to it. I envy the likes of Waynio and Attila simply for having space for a scrollsaw, but I didn't let that get in the way of things. One day when I have my own home I know I'll make it happen, so there's no need to be out off by things.

I don't know, I just find it inspiring when I see a great piece of work irrelevant of how much it cost or how it was produced. Good design is a rarity, most people don't know what they want, those who do and can put it onto paper and then actually make it have my upmost respect.

 

Well said Atilla and adamski07.

@Maki role: lovely wooden floor. I nominated Vesper, BTW.

Well, you started by saying that my disagreement with your point of view was proof of arrogance...

I am happy to explore this issue, but attempts at getting some objective frame of reference seem to be falling on deaf ears. How many of the MOTY entries relied on top of the range hardware and expensive CNC parts? How many of the entries do you feel are within reach of the average modder's budget and resources? Let's have some numbers so we know what we are talking about.

As Atilla says: just get off your ass and mod something. Just enjoy the creative process. Make this the scene you want it to be.

 

Personally I don't think there's a solution to the machinery used/sponsoring problem coming back every year even more in contests.
If you separate sponsored/non sponsored ... where's the border? And there will always be people with more cash available then others. Separate handtools from machined ... where's the border?

Modding is evolving heavily at the moment.

Being able to use CNC, lasercutters, powdercoating, nickelplating etc is getting easier and cheaper by the year. Lots of people in the modding scene even have machines like this themselves.
Sponsorships .. the scene is growing, more views, more marketing etc etc. It's unstoppable.
And for anyone here who's sponsored, they know how hard it is to say no to something like that, cause it means you'll be able to mod more/faster.

I even stopped some builds to be added in a few contests cause of the sponsoring/machinery that was used. Only thing you get is a lot of whining about it. And ... that's the last thing you want after hundreds of hours of work.

Still have to say .. I totally love watching these builds and logs from the nominations this year. No matter if there was sponsoring or expensive machinery used.

(I think I actually already chose my 2014 MOTY winner, just because of his handwork )

 

I have been through the list about 15 times, so hard to choose, the standards are so high yet again