Spring Awards
The Spring Awards is an event in which members of the community are recognized for their contributions to Virtual Paradise.
History
The origins of the Spring Awards date back to 2016, when tension between the AW and VP communities were at high points. The idea to host an awards show in a smaller community was originally suggested as a joke, as AW's regulars wanted to bring back the CY Awards, which could not happen due to inactivity. The Courier, over on VP, decided to create a knockout-style event that could compensate for VP's smaller base. The Spring Awards would also be hosted by one of VP's major cities as a home.
2016 Spring Awards
The City of Victoria first Spring Awards were hosted in the format of a single-elimination tournament. First and second round votes were decided through Strawpoll, while the finals were decided via voting through Google Forms. Originally, there was going to be a fourth category for Best Town, but there were not enough nominations to warrant the inclusion.
In the field of Best User, newcomer RyanLion would steamroll the competition to the finals to beat Sarah, the underdog of that particular competition, due in part towards his contributions of building and activism within the community. Best Build would see drama as RichieG's long-lasting Church in New Cypress Hollow somehow avoided a presumed upset by a stunning recreation of Amsterdam by bnb. Meanwhile, OptimumPx's greatest work at the time, a recreation of LA's Town Hall, would find an easy path to the finals where it defeated yet another underdog in the competition that likely had no real business being in the running. Most Innovative Project would also become a de-facto award for "Best World" as the two worlds of VPTV and Vagus fought on the battleground of the finals, where VPTV would be annihilated by the up-start space RPG world.
Best Town was discontinued as a category in the interests of combating potential bias on the part of Victoria hosting the inaugural event as well as only three participants (Victoria, NCH, and NH) being nominated. It will be resumed in 2017 as a category.
2016 Spring Awards bidding results
| City | Votes |
|---|---|
| Victoria | Unanimous (no other city bid) |
2016 Spring Awards results
| Category | Winner | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| Best Community User | RyanLion | Sarah |
| Best Build | OptimumPx's Town Hall | RichieG's Church |
| Most Innovative Project | Vagus | VPTV |
2017 Spring Awards
Due to the success of the 2016 Spring Awards, the next SAs will happen later in Spring of 2017. The event will be hosted by the city of Summerville after defeating New Huntington in a hosting bid by 7 voters against 6. Six categories were announced at 12/23/2016 on the Facebook group, with two returning categories and four new categories.
2017 Spring Awards bidding results - 12/15/16 to 12/16/16
| City | Votes |
|---|---|
| Summerville | 7 |
| New Huntington | 6 |
| NCH | 0 |
| Phoenix City | 0 |
| Gabrielleville | 0 |
2017 Spring Award results
| Category | Winner | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| Best Community Leader | N1 | N2 |
| Best Build | N1 | N2 |
| Most Innovative Project | N1 | N2 |
| Best Town | N1 | N2 |
| At Least You Tried | N1 | N2 |
| Feature Award | N1 | N2 |