The 'Shroom:Issue 208/Staff Notes
Staff Notes
Written by: Shoey (talk) and Meta Knight (talk)
Hello, and welcome to a very exciting, very special issue 208! That's right, it's finally time! After a one-month delay, our summer special issue is here! Before I give you a rundown on the issue, a few community updates! Awards polls have closed and presentation season has started, so get excited for August 16th, the day of the upcoming Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony. Tune in to see our most talented creators show off some of their most creative and high-quality works in support of the Mario Wiki and its community (despite the Awards Committee begging people to realize they don't always have to set the bar with their presentations)! It's a very special time, and this year we have sign-ups from all over the community, so it should be a pretty cool show!
Also in exciting news, the Picture Pilgrimage, a unique multi-part, multi-round community art project hosted by one of the top Mario Wiki artists, Yap, just ended. If you'd like to see the final result this link will take you to a post with a link to the final image (click on "embark on the pilgrimage")! It's pretty good; this community has buckets of great artists.
Finally, for our last non-Shroom update, last month I told you how the Seattle Mariners (America's baseball team) were up ten games in the AL West and how I was excited to see how they cock it all up. Well, I'm happy to report that, in just one month's time, that lead is now down to one game! So congratulations to the Mariners, who decided they hate the idea of winning baseball games!
Now, finally, some 'Shroom-related news! This month, we have our summer special, one of the two extra-special issues we do a year. This one is themed after everyone's (except for me and Koops, the user) favorite Paper Mario game, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. That's right, we're celebrating the legendary GameCube game that was recently rereleased on the Switch. And, oh boy, you can tell people loved Thousand-Year Door! I'd say that this is one of the best specials we've done (and I'm not just saying that because I'm currently the director... or am I?).
Not only do we have multiple specials written by members of the community, but we're swimming in custom artwork for this issue! First off, Fawfulthegreat (talk) generously drew a special main page banner of the current 'Shroom staff watching Mario just bash a Goomba with a Hammer! BBQ Turtle (talk) hand-drew special team banners themed after different areas in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. My Sub-Director, Meta Knight (talk), created custom backgrounds of each partner (except Koops, uh, the character, this time). A different partner can be found in each team! Finally, Waluigi Time (talk) drew Paper Mario versions of all the staff members for their 'Shroom portraits. I'd like to take this time to thank all of them for donating their time to help make this special the best it can be, and for all the awesome art they've created, too!
Now, let's move on to specials, because we've got quite a few of them! In Fake News, we've got Studying Abroad, a section by newcomer DryBonesBandit (talk) all about his days of trekking through the snow-covered mountains of World 5 of New Super Marios Bros. In Palette Swap, HedgehogGaming returns! This time, he has a special hand-made Mario portrait; it's pretty cool so you should all check it out! Boo1268 and Ninelevendo (talk) give their thoughts about The Thousand-Year Door in aptly-named Critic Corner sections, My Thoughts on TTYD, and Super Ninelevendo Entertainment Reviews respectively. In Strategy Wing, Sparks (talk) takes a break from defeating Dr. Wily to tell you all about why you're sleeping on everyone's favorite badge thief/optional partner, Ms. Mowz, in Respect For Ms. Mowz.
Then, in the first of four standalone specials, recently-unemployed Cosmo tries to get back on his feet in the grimy slums of Rogueport in Cosmo In Rogueport. In the greatest section in the history of The 'Shroom, Catydoll409 (talk) examines the Dutch localization of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in De Millenniumpoort, or a Girl Talking about a Localization. Finally the re-release of TTYD has awoken Ninelevendo (talk) to fulfill his destiny of crafting another section, and the ultimate guide to TTYD's badges in a special titled PM:TTYD Casual Badge Tier List.
Tired of reading my notes yet? Well, too bad, because now I can talk about our main event, the staff special we've all been dying to unveil! That's right, it's Paper 'Shroom: Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, a choose-your-own-adventure story set in Rogueport and its surrounding areas! You play as a Toad writer working for The 'Shroom who has been selected to join the staff for some on-the-scene reporting. Your goal? To find the perfect story to really boost your 'Shroom career! Of course, you'll encounter all kinds of recognizable locations as you trek through a landscape familiar to any players of The Thousand-Year Door.
Written by me, Hooded Pitohui (talk), Waluigi Time (talk), and Fun With Despair (talk); with some writing contributions from Anton (talk), GBA (talk), and Rose (talk); and with art provided by Citrus-Shygal, GBA, TPG (talk), Yap (talk), and Flygon (talk), this was written over a three-month span of time and features multiple routes, some of which have multiple endings. One of our more ambitious projects, it has been a labor of love, a special project for a newspaper I love so much. I'd like to thank all the writers and artists for the many hours they spent working on this. I'd also like to give a special thanks to both LTQ (talk) and Meta Knight (talk) for creating the technology that made this possible, with an extra special thanks to Meta Knight for taking the lead on implementing a lot of the writing into the CYOA. Finally, I'd like to thank Blocky (talk) for being our play-tester. Everyone has worked really hard on this over the last few months so that we could deliver a truly great choose-your-own-adventure story, and I hope you all enjoy it along with everything else we have to offer in this issue!
Tridents Up!
—Shoey, Director
Shoey has really taken the lead and announced practically everything you need to know about this issue. I just want to say as well, so many people were involved in making this truly special. Thank you everyone for contributing to make this happen, and thanks to all of our readers. We wouldn't do all this if it weren't something we wanted to, and a huge part of that is the knowledge that you'll get to enjoy it! So what are you waiting for? Go experience everything The 'Shroom has to offer, especially our massive adventure, but also everything else! I mean it, I'll know and be incredibly disappointed if you don't.
—Meta Knight, Sub-Director; Statistics Manager
