@:

Yeah I suppose that was the case...:P It just felt weird, knowing I was the only one online (or at least commenting) at that time XD

We did it! :DDDDD

I mean, yeah, there was help, but thanks to that, we did it!! :DD

@SunfallE:

Dang ._. Hopefully the wait won't seem too long before you can get it.

@CelestialSushi:

Lucky. My stuff arrived but the small town post office is closed so I can't pick it up. lol

On a side note, the mail has arrived and I got the Toriko DVD I ordered from RightStuf... with an advertisement for the Toriko DVD set...

Huh. I received an advertisement for something I bought in the same package it came in :/ Oh well XD

@CelestialSushi:

He did. :3 And yes, homemade cookies are awesome. lol

@SunfallE:

Ah, I see :D I hope he enjoyed those cookies. Nothing like homemade treats as a Christmas gift ^_^

@CelestialSushi:

lol I sent Adam cookies last year for Christmas. That's why I know where he lives. So it's a good thing. XD

@SunfallE:

Not sure if that's cause for thankfulness or alarm ._.

Oh well. Let's keep going, peoples!

@CelestialSushi:

Oh we won't. I know where Adam lives. ._.

I just hope we don't lose something important because we fell short of an unattainable goal :/

@zombieusagi:

Check the newest community news. It think it we still have a chance.

@zombieusagi:

I've welcomed all new members. Writing Happy new is a good idea :)

@Viollet:

I guess we don't, but I don't really care anymore. If you wish to reach it, try welcoming new members or write happy new year in everyone's portfolio.

@zombieusagi:

What? can we make it?? I am trying to comment on every art here.

@zombieusagi:

What? can we make it?? I am trying to comment on every art here.

@Viollet:

I think around 2-3 hours.

@zombieusagi:

How many hours left?

Unlike my previous comment, I don't care that we reach 5529 comments. I'm rather glad that people are talking with each other, and how close people are. TheO became my second home, because I met people who I can talk about anime without being insulted, compliment me, and who I can laugh with and have bonds with.
Happy new year, my friends. Let love and luck be beside you.

We can do this!!!

@Keba Si Rota:

Congratulations! Now we finally have a hundred comments. It's been a while since I've seen this happen.

@Keba Si Rota:

I doubt that would happen. Eventually, members would get bored because one week is a bit long and 10,000 comments is too many. We might also end up having nothing more to say at that point.

And this shall be Comment #99 for this news nugget. Who would like to do the honors for Comment #100? If we can't reach that target, at least we can accomplish this small goal.

So we only have less than two hours left. And yet, we're still in the 1000+. I guess it's just not meant to be this time around.

On another note, it appears that the reason Adam got spammed in his guestbook last year was because he raised the goal to 5000. That explains a lot of things.

And I do hope some of the new members would participate here. It seems odd to me that I've ended up being one of the most active commenters in this section, which was not the case last year.

@The Mask:

Thanks. I looked but for some reason didn't see it. At least I know my memory was correct.

Also, you've mentioned how some people aren't around. There is certainly a good amount of truth in that. I worked both Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's only by luck that I have today and tomorrow off. Otherwise, I probably would have missed most of this due to work.

@The Mask:

Yes, last time around, I do recall quite a lot of angry comments. Or really just fluffy ones. If the point of a comment slam is to just dump a lot of comments on the site, then that's one thing. But if the point really is to initiate discussion and spark some enthusiasm... well that's a different thing altogether.

I do think last year's enthusiasm was also helped along by psychological factors - 1000 comments seems like a more reasonable goal, and it'a nice number. When people saw that it was close to being accomplished, they'd be encouraged to make more comments and hit the quota. Then then the comment quota is raised - people have already bought-in to the concept and the challenge, so they rolled up their sleeves and contributed more. Starting with a much higher goal of the 5000+, well the psychological factor may be one thing contributing to the slower pace. The other reasons mentioned by others in this thread are certainly other factors.

@:

Yeaa!! Let's do it!! XD

For those who are probably upset that we may not make it this time around, let me share to you a story similar to what's happening now. This is gonna be a bit political in nature, but this event reminds me a lot about what's happening at present.

Back in December 2007, US presidential candidate Ron Paul organized an online "moneybomb" to raise money for its campaign. The result was that for one day, they were able to raise $6 million, which was at that point the highest amount raised by a candidate in a single day.

Four years after, Ron Paul ran again and soon did the moneybomb again in commemoration of the previous one in 2007. This time, however, they only raised $4 million. Some factors did contribute to this, in particular the fact that there had been several moneybombs held prior to this event. Thus, less money was poured for that day.

So what does this event tell us? Trying to top something that had been done in the past is tough to do, especially since we can't control every factor involved in it. So let's just be happy with what we have and enjoy this day while we can.

@The Mask:

Thanks. Not to mention, the podcast did have a language disclaimer on it, so I was hesitant to listen.

@CelestialSushi:

Nah, don't worry. After all, those two things seem to be part of theOtaku past at this point.

@Keba Si Rota:

By extended, do you mean the fact that the target was increased last year? I doubt that it would happen this time around. After all, we only have less than 3 hours left, and we're still in the 1000+ mark. Heck, this comment section hasn't even reached 100 comments yet, whereas last year's news nugget on the comment slam reached over 500 comments.

@The Mask:

I never even listened to the podcast so I don't even know what the Watercooler is :/ Please don't hurt me.

@CelestialSushi:

You actually made a valid point. If I wasn't so lucky enough to have a Christmas vacation in my current job, I don't think I would have been here as well. And I can't help but think about that Occupy theOtaku thing that took place days after the comment slam. And then, the podcast also retired this year, so that could have been a factor as well. After all, The Watercooler was partly made because of the podcast. Without a podcast, The Watercooler seemed to have slowed down already.

I had another thought (not sure if anyone else has already brought it up yet): a lot can change in a year. If you had people last year who really spearheaded the effort and commented like crazy, but have gone to college or gotten a full-time job or family this year, they'd either be on here for less time or just not at all during the comment slam.

@CelestialSushi:

Hmm...now that I think about it, those angry protests may have been the primary reason why it reached the 5000 mark.

@SunfallE:

I do believe that was the case; we beat the mark and he raised it, much to the angry protests that came about. We still managed to beat the other mark.

This year? I don't think it's likely, and I have a feeling the holiday is contributing to that.

EDIT: Whoops, The Mask beat me to it ^_^U

@SunfallE:

Here's the news nugget for that. And you're right, the original target back then was just 1000. But since it was accomplished quickly, he then raised it to 5000. Maybe that could have been a factor as to why the turnout in today's comment slam was different from the original.

I was looking for the previous post on this and I can't seem to find it. I was thinking that last time the bar wasn't so high and that people exceeded it so Adam raised it. But I can't verify that. Anyone else remember if that was the case or not?

I'm doing comments trades. One comment for each comment given. *Snerk*

@tsubasachro:

Good thing someone remembered. I had forgotten about it until I saw this on the front page. lol

Oh zang. I'm late, but I'm primed and ready!!

Le'ts get those 5529 comments. >:)

Err, I'm so late. All right, let's do this! :D

@:

Star Trek. I'd have to either Google what "pull[ing] a James Kirk" is (or ask my dad, he loves Star Trek), but I'd imagine it's doing something to pull off the nearly impossible. But yeah, just a guess at the moment.

Less than five hours left guys! We're still below 1,300 comments. Makes me wonder how Adam would "pull a James Kirk" in this case.

@:

Oh cool! :D Do you know if it logs your own visits? I know I was ticked off with Blogger for a while because it was tracking my own page views in the total view counter (until I found the option to turn off my own tracking). It wasn't a map, but it was still keeping track of something.

Gargh, I really want to work on some of my pictures, like the New Year's drawing I'm doing with my OCs, and the comic I'm working on, but I feel like I need to stay here and comment some more! >_<

@:

That would be neat. I think it could also remind us that we're a global community here, just in case it slipped our minds :) Not that it did, but it's starting to remind me of EPCOT with the Spaceship Earth ride; they have a big globe at the end that shows the pictures and global locations of people who just got off the ride (also, for those who haven't been on it, you can now choose from a selection of about six or so languages to hear the ride audio in, including Japanese... which I've done but only understood a little bit of XD) But our map would have to be anonymous, so just demographic numbers.

@The Mask:

Ah, yes! Happy New Year! :D

I'm going to have to make a world post soon, but I'll try to do that once it's the new year in the US.

By the way, it's 2013 here in the Philippines. Happy new year everyone!

You wanted a sing-along? You got it!

@:

Whoops, didn't see your comment until after I posted... but yeah, I get the feeling that's the case for some of us. We don't all live in the Eastern Standard Time zone (I mean, I do, but that's maybe a little irrelevant here). Not to mention, it's currently less than an hour until midnight in Japan.

Just out of curiosity: do we have any Japanese members on this board? It would be kind of interesting to set up a voluntary (meaning that the member would ask to be included) numbers map that just shows the number of theOtaku members in a given country. No usernames, just the number of members. That could be kind of cool, demographically-speaking.

I don't know. Maybe we just need discussion starters in here and I'm grasping at whatever comes to mind?

Yeah, I just feel that, in our over-exuberance last year, we set the bar really high.

Not to mention (and I don't remember if this was a factor last year or not, but given the anniversary date...), there's also the time of year. Yes, some people are on vacation, but where? Can they access the computer? Do they even feel like spending their day creating artful comments all over theOtaku when their grandma is in the next room yelling, "Come get some torte, dear! Your grandpa is gonna eat it all!"

My point is, not everybody might log in during the New Year period. Unless it's to wish everyone a happy new year, in which case, they might see the comment slam event and be like O_O

This is scary, man... Every time I post a comment I see it directly in the tally - and I can see there's no-one else commenting D: What is this?

~S.G~

Ohohoh... IT'S ON!

~S.G~

@inufluffy12:

We have less than 9 hours left as I type this comment. If it's possible, we should generate around 450 comments per hour, which is quite a long shot at this rate. So yeah, we still have a long way to go.

We're at 1002! Let's get 4527 more!!!!

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C'mon people we can do it. Just gotta try! >:D

C'mon guys! WE CAN DO THIS.

@The Mask:

How about Call Me Maybe? Since that might be a bit easier? And it was pretty big XD

Come on guys, I honestly have no idea how much time we have left cause different timezones and all... but go go otaku rangers!

Something tells me we're not going to reach that goal... >W< We MUST REACH IT PEOPLE!!!! *gets every otaku to join*

@:

Like the news nugget said, 4:30pm ET of Dec. 31, 2012. You just have to calculate what time that is in your place.

@The Mask:

Hahaha, yea, and it's full of Korean lyrics. xD
There's only: "HEYYYYYYYYY SEXY LADYYY OP-OP-OP-OP-OPPA GANGNAM STYLE".

You know, one way in which the comments were increased during the comment slam was a sing-along. Back then, Sangome suggested that we sing along with the Friday song, since it was arguably "THE BEST SONG OF 2011".

Now I would've suggested that we do the same thing. The problem, though, is that the most phenomenal song of 2012 was Gangnam Style.

Hmm...it does feel slower this time around. I mean, I expected seeing a thousand comments already by now. But hey, Adam can always extend the deadline to the last hour of 2012.

Dunno....I feel like the spirit of being lazy and taking breaks is greater this year. >.>

@CelestialSushi:

I agree with you on that one.... maybe a interesting story.... funny meme.... a meme.... or art requests...

If this mission should fail, I expect Bossman to start ordering Haruhi-like commands: "Penalty! PENALTY!"

Hmm... Which one(s) of the challenges last year was the minimum raised because we finished too early?

Here's another suggestion: generate some buzz on your word with an interesting post of some sort, like sketch requests. Things that people need to comment on.

Frankly, though, I think last year, in our exuberance, we might've set the bar a bit high...

Heh heh. You guys need to step it up. I suggest we do something called Tagging. We form orginizations based on animes/mangas and see which group can comment on the most guestbooks first. (Ex. Akatsuki, Sailor Scouts, State Alchemists, etc.) They have to be good comments though. Whose in?

@The Mask:

Ooh, nice list! :D This should work nicely, especially for newer otakuites and people who tend to occasionally forget things that are well within their power to do (<--is totally implying herself).

@:

Haha that would be a lot of comments to read 0___o

We're off to a rather slow start this year. I think last year everyone was very enthusiastic (probably because it was new and we're all curious about a new feature) and a good of the active members became more inactive. We must bring back the liveliness! It's been a little too quiet.

On a side note. Just the normal Yahoo article comments are terrible, the answers are actually a bit better.

Replies count as comments right?
apparently I still think that the "close comment" is the "submit"... fail

@The Mask:
I hadn't joined yet last year, so I wouldn't know, but my friends dragged me over from DeviantART and now I've found myself even more addicted to theO than I was with dA ^^'' I just love joining in things here, and everyone's so nice! I really hope we reach the goal! GO EVERYBODY!!!!

Don't spam junk comments. This isn't YouTube or Yahoo! Answers.

Yeah. If you've spent time in that site, then you know what this means.

So the madness begins once again. Personally I think the comment slam should last until next year. :p

Suggestions on places where you should comment:

1. Guestbooks of people you've subscribed to. (Maybe you subscribed to someone, but never left a comment yet on his/her guestbook.)

2. Guestbooks of your subscribers. (Time to show a little gratitude.)

3. Guestbooks of new members. (Let's give the otakuites a warm welcome.)

4. The Watercooler (Time to liven up that world again, even for just one day.)

5. This comment section. (Last year, it brought more than 500 comments. Can you produce a thousand comments in this news nugget alone?)

6. Caption battle. (Now's the time to play a game AND generate the comments.)

7. Fan words (The section may be retired, but you can still access it here.)

8. Quizzes. (Well, the visual art ain't the only thing we can comment in here, right?)

9. Old World posts. (The site has been quiet in the past months. Time to comment on those old posts you find interesting.)

10. Fan art, wallpapers, fan comics, ecards (If the first 9 suggestions don't work, you can always go here instead.)

@LoveLifeForever:

Same thing for us Filipinos. It did start a bit later than last year. But as you said, let's just try to reach that goal.

I don't know about you, but this was supposed to be on the 30th, it's now the 31st for Aussies. Oh, well, good luck everyone! Let's beat that record!

Ten characters of how y'all doin'.

Does it have to be critiques or can it be comments in general?

I'll try and add to the count, but I don't know if all of my comments will count, because I am in no way a critic... I just like to comment on pictures I like.. lol

I HOPE EVERY ONE HAS A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

So far...the tally is really really far off from last year. XD; I haven't received a new comment yet! Oh well. Time to comment anyway lol!

@:

I don't even want to know how many comments he must have got last time...

Time to reach for the Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, Fairy Tail, FMA, Toradora, Angelic Layer, etc. art!
Woohoo!!! Hope people post lots of interesting stuff I can comment on ^^
Time's up! Let's do this!!
LEEROY JENKINS!!!! XD

@:

It will never keep people away xD

The bullet point everyone noticed.... I was gonna target the guestbook!

Lol wow. I remember how excited I was about it last year. Time to show the rookies how to do this.

Approaching the first hour mark and we haven't even hit the hourly average... must find more artwork to comment on!

Definitely looking forward to seeing the result of this one!

Well, might as well start here. Let's go everyone! We can do it! >:D

"stay away from the bossman's guestbook"
consider it done and may this be a grand slam(bad pun ftw)

That time of the year again, huh?
"Stay away from the Bossman's guestbook."
Hahahahaha.
After the way it was taken over last year, I guess I can't blame you for that one. XD

Well then, let's make this as entertaining as possible!
DARN IT. So much for raiding your guestbook...

What could you possibly add to comments? THEY'RE PERFECT AS THEY ARE. -strokes box-
I may or may not need sleep leave me alone

Here we go again! XD

"Stay away from the Bossman's guestbook." ahaha... A little change from last year ^^

I hope people comment constructively...