The 'Shroom:Issue 155/Pipe Plaza

Director’s Notes
Written by:

Let it be known that the only thing Valentine's Day is good for is the day after, where all the chocolate becomes half off and I thrive.

Aside from that, I've had a busy month. I don't recommend preparing and uploading six videos in the span of five days while you still have school to worry about. It's messy. In good news though, I got obsessed with the many avatar creators on Picrew. They're all very nice. And apparently my group in a foods class won a cook-off with our potato soup recipe and now we get to make it for the whole school. Which, it's really good soup, so that'll be fun.

I don't have much else to say here so enjoy this month's Pipe Plaza!

Section of the Month

NIWA News
Written by:

Hello, everyone! Welcome to NIWA News, a section where I, Alex95, talk about the going ons with the wikis in our NIWA group within the last month!

Promotions

 * YoshiFlutterJump has been promoted to the rank of administrator on WiKirby!
 * StrawberryChan has been promoted to the rank of patroller on WiKirby!

Demotions

 * SnorlaxMonster has resigned from the administrator rank on Zelda Wiki.

Maintenance

 * The F-Zero Wiki's account creation issue has been resolved. Some things may still need fixing, but the wiki can now be freely edited once more.
 * Icaruspedia is locked due to a server transfer.

Featured Articles

 * My Friend and the Sunset & Taranza are nominated as featured articles on WiKirby.

Other
Pikmin Fanon is closing on September 1, 2020.

Poll Committee Discussion
Written by:

Hello, welcome to another edition of the Poll Committee Discussion. Here's last month's polls, my thoughts on them, as well as a bit of news regarding the committee. It should be noted that you can see the archives of past polls here and that you can submit your own poll ideas here, though note that any polls that are submitted may be altered in some way before they are released if they are accepted.

Poll Committee News
There were two applicants for the previously vacant position in the committee. was the one chosen for the position. Congratulations!

Do you agree with the practice of censorship done by video games companies on the content of their games? ( and, December 29, 2019)
====Do you feel that Paper Mario: Sticker Star deserves the abysmal reputation that it has, due to its departure from the formula of the previous games? ( and, January 12, 2019)====

Analysis

 * Do you agree with the practice of censorship done by video games companies on the content of their games? The votes were a bit divided on this one. Unsurprisingly so, as censorship is controversial. Still, the most popular option was, while understanding of the reasons behind censorship, was one that disliked it in video games, with the second most popular vote being completely against censorship while preferring the uncensored version. This amount of ire towards the practice is more relevant as of late, with the changes to Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and its Nintendo Switch port being disliked, a fan patch being made to undo the censor, and Nintendo giving an apology about not properly communicating about the version that the Switch port is based on. This shows how much some people dislike video game censorship. Though it should be stated again that not everyone who dislikes it assumes it's always unnecessary, as shown with the most popular option in this poll. To continue, the third most popular option is for people who sometimes agree with the practice but sometimes think it lowers the quality of the game. This attitude towards the practice may be because censorship, while usually with good intentions, can vary and thus sometimes harm the game if done incorrectly, or if some voters feel that censorship is a necessary evil. In second to last there are the voters who don't mind censorship. The least popular option, though, is the one where the voter is absolutely for censorship. Potential reasons for voting for this could be because it could make you feel more comfortable (which was what was on the completely for option), or that you feel that games published by certain companies, like Nintendo, shouldn't have inappropriate content. Regardless of the reason, there is a good handful of voters that sometimes to fully agree with the practice, even if the people who dislike it, even if they sometimes find it necessary, are in the majority.


 * Do you feel that Paper Mario: Sticker Star deserves the abysmal reputation that it has, due to its departure from the formula of the previous games? I don't feel like anyone is surprised that over thirty percent of our voters feel like the game completely deserves its reputation, due to how different it is from previous games in the series. It has been made very clear that many do not like the style of Paper Mario used in this game and Paper Mario: Color Splash. This reputation has even affect its sequel’s reception, looking at the currently ten thousand dislikes on Paper Mario: Color Splash's E3 trailer. However, the second most popular option is the one where the voter doesn't have an opinion on the matter. This could be because they hadn't played the game or enough of it for them to feel like they can judge it, though as always they could just personally have no opinion on the matter for no specific reason, which is perfectly fine. The third place option is for voters who like the game and think it needs to be appreciated more, even if it still has flaws. This being a decently popular option isn't surprising, given not only by how subjective one's enjoyment of a game is, but also the fact that a lot of people do voice that they like the game in discussions about it. This is reflected in the fact that some reviews of the game were positive, with the game receiving a metascore of 75 on Metacritic, with its userscore only being a mixed 5.7. The forth most popular option was for voters who disliked the game but still don't think it deserves to be hated as much as it is. I don't have much to say about this option. The fifth most popular option is for voters who think it is a good game, but think that its criticism for its changes to the series' formula is deserved. Given how many people dislike it for its changes to the series it would make sense that some of these people still like the game itself if previous entries are not regarded. In sixth place there's the option for people who think its reputation is completely undeserved. I already stated how some people like the game, so it makes sense that some of these people who liked it simply don't think it should have its reputation at all. The seventh place option is for voters who think that the game isn't good, but dislike it for reasons not linked to its changes to the series, and think that the game's criticism for its changes to the Paper Mario series isn't deserved. This option placing so low really does show how many people dislike the game for the changes it made to the series. Anyways, there are many reasons to like or dislike any game, including this one, which is where this option comes into play. Finally, there's the option for those who find that the game deserves its criticism, and that the other games in the series also deserve this criticism, or criticism which is similar. The is likely the least popular option simply because most of the other games in the series are generally liked to being critically acclaimed. Of course, opinions are subjective, and thus some people will dislike popular things, which is perfectly fine.


 * What is your opinion on new characters in the Mario franchise? This poll was, while only having one less vote than the poll on Paper Mario: Sticker Star, is much less divisive than the other two polls from last month, with there only being two options which have more than ten percent of votes. With over one thousand votes the most popular option was for voters who like new characters in the franchise, but also think that there is a large amount of past characters which could be used. It makes sense that this option is the most popular. The Mario franchise, due to how large and popular it is, has a lot of characters, including ones which have not made appearances in new games, meaning that there's a large chance of liking at least some of them. The franchise also introduces new characters somewhat frequently, again creating a large chance of liking some of them. The mix of old and new characters which voters may like likely is why this option is so popular. The other popular option is a bit similar, with it simply being for voters who fully enjoy new characters and find that they improve the franchise. I don't have much to say about this option, as the sheer amount of votes is likely because of the decent amount of new characters which give a large chance of liking some of them, as mentioned above when talking about the first place option. The third place option, as mentioned earlier, is significantly less popular than the previously mentioned options. This option is for voters who enjoy new characters, but want older characters to be the main focus. This simply could be because of personally not finding new characters worthy as the main focus of games, voters who really like the older characters, or ones who just find that the franchise should always respect its roots. The next place option is for those who rather having older characters return than new ones being introduced. I already stated how there's a lot of older characters in the franchise, although other potential reasons for voting for this option could be simply disliking new characters in general, or thinking that the franchise is going overboard on characters and should focus on establishing previous ones before adding new ones. The next option in terms of popularity is the no opinion option. Finally, there's the option for those who think that there's no need for older characters to return or for new ones to be added to the franchise. The franchise, as stated before, does have a ton of characters, including currently used ones, so a reason for voting for this one could just be personally really liking the current ones and thus not finding new ones or returning ones necessary.

Ending Notes
Those were our polls from last month, with me giving my opinion on their results. Of course, what I say might be why one option is or isn’t popular is merely speculation. Voters could have voted for any option for any reason, so what I think is why an option was voted for doesn't mean that every or any voters voted because of that. There are many potential voting reasons that I didn’t list. It is a matter of opinion what you vote for, and why. I hope you read the Poll Committee Discussion next month, and continue to vote on the polls as they come out. Goodbye!