Highlander999
ICC President
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Location
- London
Right. I think this is needed for those members who don't know the story forum too well (and will be nice read for the older guys 
). Basically this thread can be stickied and inside it are all the story's I think members should read, either out of interest, or to gain idea's for their own story. Story's mentioned might have/have not won SOTM. There is no order/rank it is just random. I have probably missed a few stories so apologies for that.
India's Journey To World Cup by Surendar (Cricket 2005): This story is one of the longest story's in Planetcricket's history, and is still going to date. It won the 2007 Annual PC Award for the Best cricket Story thread. The key feature in Surendar's story is that he mixes his superb graphics with top quality writing skills to convey the story in a very realistic way. Any story maker should read this.
England's Journey to World Cup by gamerkid22 (Cricket 2005): IMO, this story has been very unlucky not to win an annual PC Award. Gamerkid22's England story is up there with Surendar's story and their is very little to choose between the two. Sarvesh's graphics are probably the best on Planetcricket, with superb use of graphics, with things like hawk-eye and hot-spot which really add a nice depth of realism to the story. His writing skills are also pretty good and the results he has achieved in game with Cricket 2005 have only added to the realism factor.
Australian Int Season - RETIREMENT by MWaugh (Cricket 2005): My favourite all time story on Planetcricket. This won the Best Cricket Story thread in the 2006 PC Annual Awards, and it is easy to see why. MWaugh's story did not use such flashy graphics as Surendar's or gamerkid's, however, he did still use graphics to good effect. What made MWaugh's story so good was the fact that his writing skills were superb and that he did short updates which had a lot of action in them. Plus he updated the story reguarly and a lot of matches were played during this story which attracted even more people. This story is a good example of how you don't always need top quality graphics to draw people towards a story.
Dream To Wear The Baggy Green – A C2007 Career Story by Short_Leg (Cricket 2005 and 2007): Probably the second best ever career diary on PC (we all know who is first
) I will admit that I used Short_Leg's story for inspiration in my story. Short_Leg once again does not use that fancy graphics in his story. However, his off the field incidents mean that the readers interest is always kept and there are even comic moments. Short_Leg also kept the story pretty realistic early on and did not become a one hit wonder after one game or something silly like that. I personally liked his good combination of graphics with a bit of writing and I think other members agreed looking at some of the posts in his thread. Very unlucky not to win a SOTM award.
Ashes 06/07 by tjh1989: This story by tjh1989 was another big hit in it's time. tjh did not use that much writing and tended to tell the match through pictures and graphics. Normally this idea does not work too well, however, tjh really did get this working well and it shows with just a quick flick through. Another aspect of his success was his realistic updates and very tight matches.
Leicestershire County Season by tjh1989 (Cricket 2005): Another story by tjh1989. Although this story only lasted 10 pages, I would have to say it is one of my favourite all time story's on Planetcricket. tjh's graphical skills here were amazing, and special mention must go to his scorecards which looked so realistic it was scary. He also used to write with an immense skill and I must say I was an avid fan. This really is worth a look.
Kent - A Cricket07 Story - Season Finished by Kev: This story is a show of how perceverence is worth it. Playing on Cricket 2007 without a patch is an extremely brave thing to do, with the stupid AI. Yet Kev stuck at the story through-out and even managed to raise a few smiles at his sarcastic updates when the AI was at it's worse. Once again graphics were not a big feature in this story, yet it was Kev's superior writing skills which continued to draw the punters to his thread even if not all the matches were that realistic. This story is worth a read for anyone considering writing a county story.
Coming Of Age - A Bangladesh Story by Griffo (ICC 2006): The ICC games do not have particularly good in-game graphics and this is normally a hinderance to any story writer. However, if anything Griffo used this to his advantage. He did very little work with graphics, but it was once again his writing skills which won him his SOTM award. He managed to get a good mix between screen-shots and writing in between to really set alive his story with the minnows of International Cricket. Any person who is doing a story on ICC should check this top class effort out.
NewZealand Road to Glory by shantanu_rooney (Cricket 2007): One of the best Cricket 2007 story's. Shantanu really set the story forum on fire at the beginning of 08 with this story. It was up there with Surendar's and gamerkid's with presentation. New Zealand are a country which have very few stories written about them, so straight away shantanu was onto a winner with this one as it was unusual so captured the reader's attention. In this story, shantanu used a great mix of graphics and writing to make each and every update fascinating. I know that this story did actually revolutionise the story forum in the way that story updates took place and it meant everyone else had to improve. I know that I considered it top competition.
Scotland's Road to Glory by Jarl (Cricket 2007): It is very rare for a minnow team story to do well. Jarl proved this theory wrong. This story did have a very slow start regarding user feedback and never really got the full credit it derserved. I know that if it wasn't for Jarl helping me with photoshop I would never be where I am now. Jarl really used his graphics to fantastic effect and is probably one of the best graphic makers to ever grace the steps of this forum. He also kept the updates very interesting with a constantly shifting pattern and you never knew what would happen next. Jarl's writing skills very not the best around but they were still good enough that you easily understood updates.
Pakistan aim to become the Ultimate by Karachi Xpress (Cricket 2007): This story was a top class effort by Karachi Xpress. It is here due to the fact that Ramzz used his amazing writing skills to great affect. Very early on, there were very few pictures with the story being focused on his writing and a couple of screen-shots. Ramzz also used real photo's of websites to great effect to give a new sense of realism to the story.
Australian Domestic Season by The Mongrel (ICC 2002): This is the best ever story not to use an in-game screen-shot. This story was incredibly unlucky not too get as much attention as it deserved early on. This was mainly due to the fact that it's length of updates and lack of screen-shots did not appeal to all. However, if you actually took the time to read it you found a top class story. The Mongrel's story contained some of the best writing I have ever seen, you'll be had pressed to find any errors. I also found his cricinfo style of presentation very realistic, once again showing that you can make a top quality story using ICC.
The Revival Of Pakistani Cricket by Pakistani Army (Cricket 2005): A current story which is still running at the moment. A good friend of mine, Arslaan's story (if he can actually keep it going) will be a good contender for next year's Story of the Year Award. Arslaan uses Suren/Sarvesh like graphics but in his own unique style so that it is something new which really does grab the users attention. His writing skills are also pretty damn good with his use of quite short updates meaning that it really grabs your attnetion. This story does remind a bit of MWaugh's story with more use of graphics. Top class.
A Season in Battrick - The TT Lions Story by ZoraxDoom: One of the very few stories ever done using the online simulator Battrick (www.battrick.org) Very few of these story's succeed due to the fact that that you can't use in-game screen-shots as there are none. Yet Zorax was able to keep an audience with his novel ideas, i.e player interviews. I think the only way to sum this story up is a quote from evertonfan:
Australia's road to the ASHES 2009 by formula1man (BLIC2007): Yep, you saw it correct. A story with BLIC 07 and it is included in here. I must say I was sceptical when I first saw this as well. However, formula1man really did prove all his critics wrong. It did look like everything was loaded against him. A crap game, limited use of graphics and the fact he thought he would be arrested if he used images of google (not true btw 
) Yet this story (with some advice by me ) really did beomce a massive success story. With the use of simple programmes like paint, formula1man managed to really grab the attention with superb extras like his wagon-wheels. He also had a pretty good writting technique as well, and by the time this ended, this was one of the best story's at the current time.
England's Internationals by PhilD123 (Cricket 2007): Apart from Phil's really bad ability to reguarly update this story, this was actually a very good story. Very simple presentation meant that it did not over load the reader. I know that I really did enjoy his good use of text and screen-shots and this story is a great example of how you don't need to put in hour's of work to get a good looking story.
A Story of A Young Spinner by Simbazz (Cricket 2007); Go on then. He might be a bit weird but there is no denying this was a very good story. Another top quality career diary, Simbazz followed the career of a newly capped England player. Simbazz really went out 110% with the graphics on this story and you do probably need sunglasses when reading this. Although there might have been aspects of this which were not quite realistic it got over-looked by his superb presentation. This story should always be read before doing a career diary.
Sachin Tendulkar - The Story Of A Master by freddiw: To my knowledge (which is very vast) this is the only career diary which has followed a real life superstar. In an already crammed story forum, to find such a golden nugget is brilliant and freddi really ran with this. The way that freddi got into Sachin's mind was uncanny and the way he conveyed this to the reader really did show what a top class effort this was. I know that I always checked this story and got plenty of ideas for myself on how to improve my story. Really is worth a read just to experience a day with Sachin
South African Clashes by ivandm15 (Cricket 2007): ivandm15 is not the most famous member to have graced Planetcricket, yet I know that I will remember his fantastic South Africa story. Once again like Shantanu's NZ story, SA are not a popular choice. Yet ivan really did show the potential of such a story with fantastic graphical updates and pretty skillful writing. A pretty realistic story-line also helped to make the story just that little bit more special.
Pakistan International Season by Pakistani Army (Cricket 2007): Probably one of Arslaan's best efforts, mainly by the fact that he actually managed to keep this one going for a long time This really was a quality story and I know meany were sad when this ended. The presentation as a whole was breath taking and this could have gone so far. It was not to be though, but is definetly worth a read as it has so many great ideas presented in it.
Leicestershire Story SIGN UP by plympilgrim (ICC 06): I know these sort of stories where teams are taken over by members of Planetcricket are quite popular at the moment. So although this only lasted 7 pages this is definetly worth a read. It had very detailed updates with not too much graphical usage and hopefully will give idea's to those members hwo fancy doing this sort of story.
Club Life - The Diary of a County Cricketer by evertonfan (Cricket 2007): Another career story, this time by evertonfan. This story just highlights what skill good writing takes. Evo did not go OTT with the graphics in this story and instead focused a lot on the text. This was a major success and is a fantastic read, with Evo getting the screenies and writing to work perfectly together.
New Zealand Summer Of Cricket by kookaburra69 (Cricket 2005): I must say I do have a real soft spot for this story. Unfortunately due to real life commitments Rossy was not able to update this story as reguarly as he liked, but it did not stop the quality of it standing out. This, imo, is one of the best stories in Planetcricket's history, not to win a SOTM. I put that down to it not having regular updates. Rossy really did have the graphics/writing presentation of to a winner with this story. I think this is one story where you just have to read it to see what I mean
Three Lions on the Shirt? by Highlander999 (Cricket 2005): I suppose I might as well include this in here I think it has been quite a popular story and I know that it has received plenty of comments. What I aimed for with this career diary was realism, and I think I achieved this. I didn't want the character to be an instant success and instead work his way up through the English County Season. I tried to focus heavily on the writing and use graphics as more of an added extra. I do want to take the oppurtunity to once again thank all the people who voted for me in the numerous SOTM's and also who made it possible to win the 2008 PC Award for the Best Cricket Story thread 
So that brings the list to an end. Pretty long, eh? I think I should list some key points for potential story writers now:
- The writing is key. Pictures won't make up for a lack of text. If you want a popular story you are going to have to have updates which contain a good paragrah of writing.
- Spelling and grammar. Not everyone is English and you can get away with a few spelling/grammar mistakes. However, text talk and really bad spelling and grammar will stand out and decrease the overall quality of the story.
- Graphics. To achieve the best use of graphics, Photoshop/Photo Express and Animation Shop 3 are key
- Don't be a sheep. Try unique ideas, they will stand out and attract more people.
- ENJOY IT!!!! That is why you are writing it right? End of the day, don't measure a story's success on how many posts but how each update looks. Don't get dis-heartened if not many people are commenting, just stick at it and you will begin to attract more people.
). Basically this thread can be stickied and inside it are all the story's I think members should read, either out of interest, or to gain idea's for their own story. Story's mentioned might have/have not won SOTM. There is no order/rank it is just random. I have probably missed a few stories so apologies for that.India's Journey To World Cup by Surendar (Cricket 2005): This story is one of the longest story's in Planetcricket's history, and is still going to date. It won the 2007 Annual PC Award for the Best cricket Story thread. The key feature in Surendar's story is that he mixes his superb graphics with top quality writing skills to convey the story in a very realistic way. Any story maker should read this.
England's Journey to World Cup by gamerkid22 (Cricket 2005): IMO, this story has been very unlucky not to win an annual PC Award. Gamerkid22's England story is up there with Surendar's story and their is very little to choose between the two. Sarvesh's graphics are probably the best on Planetcricket, with superb use of graphics, with things like hawk-eye and hot-spot which really add a nice depth of realism to the story. His writing skills are also pretty good and the results he has achieved in game with Cricket 2005 have only added to the realism factor.
Australian Int Season - RETIREMENT by MWaugh (Cricket 2005): My favourite all time story on Planetcricket. This won the Best Cricket Story thread in the 2006 PC Annual Awards, and it is easy to see why. MWaugh's story did not use such flashy graphics as Surendar's or gamerkid's, however, he did still use graphics to good effect. What made MWaugh's story so good was the fact that his writing skills were superb and that he did short updates which had a lot of action in them. Plus he updated the story reguarly and a lot of matches were played during this story which attracted even more people. This story is a good example of how you don't always need top quality graphics to draw people towards a story.
Dream To Wear The Baggy Green – A C2007 Career Story by Short_Leg (Cricket 2005 and 2007): Probably the second best ever career diary on PC (we all know who is first
) I will admit that I used Short_Leg's story for inspiration in my story. Short_Leg once again does not use that fancy graphics in his story. However, his off the field incidents mean that the readers interest is always kept and there are even comic moments. Short_Leg also kept the story pretty realistic early on and did not become a one hit wonder after one game or something silly like that. I personally liked his good combination of graphics with a bit of writing and I think other members agreed looking at some of the posts in his thread. Very unlucky not to win a SOTM award.Ashes 06/07 by tjh1989: This story by tjh1989 was another big hit in it's time. tjh did not use that much writing and tended to tell the match through pictures and graphics. Normally this idea does not work too well, however, tjh really did get this working well and it shows with just a quick flick through. Another aspect of his success was his realistic updates and very tight matches.
Leicestershire County Season by tjh1989 (Cricket 2005): Another story by tjh1989. Although this story only lasted 10 pages, I would have to say it is one of my favourite all time story's on Planetcricket. tjh's graphical skills here were amazing, and special mention must go to his scorecards which looked so realistic it was scary. He also used to write with an immense skill and I must say I was an avid fan. This really is worth a look.
Kent - A Cricket07 Story - Season Finished by Kev: This story is a show of how perceverence is worth it. Playing on Cricket 2007 without a patch is an extremely brave thing to do, with the stupid AI. Yet Kev stuck at the story through-out and even managed to raise a few smiles at his sarcastic updates when the AI was at it's worse. Once again graphics were not a big feature in this story, yet it was Kev's superior writing skills which continued to draw the punters to his thread even if not all the matches were that realistic. This story is worth a read for anyone considering writing a county story.
Coming Of Age - A Bangladesh Story by Griffo (ICC 2006): The ICC games do not have particularly good in-game graphics and this is normally a hinderance to any story writer. However, if anything Griffo used this to his advantage. He did very little work with graphics, but it was once again his writing skills which won him his SOTM award. He managed to get a good mix between screen-shots and writing in between to really set alive his story with the minnows of International Cricket. Any person who is doing a story on ICC should check this top class effort out.
NewZealand Road to Glory by shantanu_rooney (Cricket 2007): One of the best Cricket 2007 story's. Shantanu really set the story forum on fire at the beginning of 08 with this story. It was up there with Surendar's and gamerkid's with presentation. New Zealand are a country which have very few stories written about them, so straight away shantanu was onto a winner with this one as it was unusual so captured the reader's attention. In this story, shantanu used a great mix of graphics and writing to make each and every update fascinating. I know that this story did actually revolutionise the story forum in the way that story updates took place and it meant everyone else had to improve. I know that I considered it top competition.
Scotland's Road to Glory by Jarl (Cricket 2007): It is very rare for a minnow team story to do well. Jarl proved this theory wrong. This story did have a very slow start regarding user feedback and never really got the full credit it derserved. I know that if it wasn't for Jarl helping me with photoshop I would never be where I am now. Jarl really used his graphics to fantastic effect and is probably one of the best graphic makers to ever grace the steps of this forum. He also kept the updates very interesting with a constantly shifting pattern and you never knew what would happen next. Jarl's writing skills very not the best around but they were still good enough that you easily understood updates.
Pakistan aim to become the Ultimate by Karachi Xpress (Cricket 2007): This story was a top class effort by Karachi Xpress. It is here due to the fact that Ramzz used his amazing writing skills to great affect. Very early on, there were very few pictures with the story being focused on his writing and a couple of screen-shots. Ramzz also used real photo's of websites to great effect to give a new sense of realism to the story.
Australian Domestic Season by The Mongrel (ICC 2002): This is the best ever story not to use an in-game screen-shot. This story was incredibly unlucky not too get as much attention as it deserved early on. This was mainly due to the fact that it's length of updates and lack of screen-shots did not appeal to all. However, if you actually took the time to read it you found a top class story. The Mongrel's story contained some of the best writing I have ever seen, you'll be had pressed to find any errors. I also found his cricinfo style of presentation very realistic, once again showing that you can make a top quality story using ICC.
The Revival Of Pakistani Cricket by Pakistani Army (Cricket 2005): A current story which is still running at the moment. A good friend of mine, Arslaan's story (if he can actually keep it going
) will be a good contender for next year's Story of the Year Award. Arslaan uses Suren/Sarvesh like graphics but in his own unique style so that it is something new which really does grab the users attention. His writing skills are also pretty damn good with his use of quite short updates meaning that it really grabs your attnetion. This story does remind a bit of MWaugh's story with more use of graphics. Top class.A Season in Battrick - The TT Lions Story by ZoraxDoom: One of the very few stories ever done using the online simulator Battrick (www.battrick.org) Very few of these story's succeed due to the fact that that you can't use in-game screen-shots as there are none. Yet Zorax was able to keep an audience with his novel ideas, i.e player interviews. I think the only way to sum this story up is a quote from evertonfan:
Amen to that MattI have no idea how Battrick works but this is a good read. Plus, anything with even the slightest hint of Zorax must be good.
Australia's road to the ASHES 2009 by formula1man (BLIC2007): Yep, you saw it correct. A story with BLIC 07 and it is included in here. I must say I was sceptical when I first saw this as well. However, formula1man really did prove all his critics wrong. It did look like everything was loaded against him. A crap game, limited use of graphics and the fact he thought he would be arrested if he used images of google
(not true btw ) Yet this story (with some advice by me ) really did beomce a massive success story. With the use of simple programmes like paint, formula1man managed to really grab the attention with superb extras like his wagon-wheels. He also had a pretty good writting technique as well, and by the time this ended, this was one of the best story's at the current time.England's Internationals by PhilD123 (Cricket 2007): Apart from Phil's really bad ability to reguarly update this story, this was actually a very good story. Very simple presentation meant that it did not over load the reader. I know that I really did enjoy his good use of text and screen-shots and this story is a great example of how you don't need to put in hour's of work to get a good looking story.
A Story of A Young Spinner by Simbazz (Cricket 2007); Go on then. He might be a bit weird
but there is no denying this was a very good story. Another top quality career diary, Simbazz followed the career of a newly capped England player. Simbazz really went out 110% with the graphics on this story and you do probably need sunglasses when reading this. Although there might have been aspects of this which were not quite realistic it got over-looked by his superb presentation. This story should always be read before doing a career diary.Sachin Tendulkar - The Story Of A Master by freddiw: To my knowledge (which is very vast
) this is the only career diary which has followed a real life superstar. In an already crammed story forum, to find such a golden nugget is brilliant and freddi really ran with this. The way that freddi got into Sachin's mind was uncanny and the way he conveyed this to the reader really did show what a top class effort this was. I know that I always checked this story and got plenty of ideas for myself on how to improve my story. Really is worth a read just to experience a day with Sachin South African Clashes by ivandm15 (Cricket 2007): ivandm15 is not the most famous member to have graced Planetcricket, yet I know that I will remember his fantastic South Africa story. Once again like Shantanu's NZ story, SA are not a popular choice. Yet ivan really did show the potential of such a story with fantastic graphical updates and pretty skillful writing. A pretty realistic story-line also helped to make the story just that little bit more special.
Pakistan International Season by Pakistani Army (Cricket 2007): Probably one of Arslaan's best efforts, mainly by the fact that he actually managed to keep this one going for a long time
This really was a quality story and I know meany were sad when this ended. The presentation as a whole was breath taking and this could have gone so far. It was not to be though, but is definetly worth a read as it has so many great ideas presented in it.Leicestershire Story SIGN UP by plympilgrim (ICC 06): I know these sort of stories where teams are taken over by members of Planetcricket are quite popular at the moment. So although this only lasted 7 pages this is definetly worth a read. It had very detailed updates with not too much graphical usage and hopefully will give idea's to those members hwo fancy doing this sort of story.
Club Life - The Diary of a County Cricketer by evertonfan (Cricket 2007): Another career story, this time by evertonfan. This story just highlights what skill good writing takes. Evo did not go OTT with the graphics in this story and instead focused a lot on the text. This was a major success and is a fantastic read, with Evo getting the screenies and writing to work perfectly together.
New Zealand Summer Of Cricket by kookaburra69 (Cricket 2005): I must say I do have a real soft spot for this story. Unfortunately due to real life commitments Rossy was not able to update this story as reguarly as he liked, but it did not stop the quality of it standing out. This, imo, is one of the best stories in Planetcricket's history, not to win a SOTM. I put that down to it not having regular updates. Rossy really did have the graphics/writing presentation of to a winner with this story. I think this is one story where you just have to read it to see what I mean
Three Lions on the Shirt? by Highlander999 (Cricket 2005): I suppose I might as well include this in here
I think it has been quite a popular story and I know that it has received plenty of comments. What I aimed for with this career diary was realism, and I think I achieved this. I didn't want the character to be an instant success and instead work his way up through the English County Season. I tried to focus heavily on the writing and use graphics as more of an added extra. I do want to take the oppurtunity to once again thank all the people who voted for me in the numerous SOTM's and also who made it possible to win the 2008 PC Award for the Best Cricket Story thread So that brings the list to an end. Pretty long, eh?
I think I should list some key points for potential story writers now:- The writing is key. Pictures won't make up for a lack of text. If you want a popular story you are going to have to have updates which contain a good paragrah of writing.
- Spelling and grammar. Not everyone is English and you can get away with a few spelling/grammar mistakes. However, text talk and really bad spelling and grammar will stand out and decrease the overall quality of the story.
- Graphics. To achieve the best use of graphics, Photoshop/Photo Express and Animation Shop 3 are key
- Don't be a sheep. Try unique ideas, they will stand out and attract more people.
- ENJOY IT!!!! That is why you are writing it right?
End of the day, don't measure a story's success on how many posts but how each update looks. Don't get dis-heartened if not many people are commenting, just stick at it and you will begin to attract more people.
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