YES. good idea one sec…
there we go took me a couple mins
5 Likes
Thank you!!
3 Likes
Why is there so many of those interjection thingys — It might be like ai helped or smth but defo not ai generated
4 Likes
I did not use AI. I simply use em-dashes because I find they help my writing flow better.
3 Likes
Greetings. Most of you don’t know me, but my name is HollowKnighter.
I have decided to be a presidential candidate.
Yet, like @Air , I am new as well.
Like @Air , I want to make a difference.
But I don’t want fame.
I don’t want perfection.
In fact, when I first joined this topic, I had no idea what I was doing. I was almost certain I wouldn’t win.
But I continued.
Perfection is impossible.
But we can get close to it. We can still try.
Like I said before, you don’t have to vote for me. I’m sure I’m never going to be perfect. I’m sure I won’t gain your trust. But I can still try.
When I first joined, I spoke with the users on Team Toast. They hadn’t talked for 2 weeks. Then I showed up. Everyone started talking when I joined.
I don’t want the forums to be perfect.
But I don’t want users to just… disappear.
But I’ll be here.
I always am.
3 Likes
I don’t think Air’s speech has AI bruh
Anyway imma talk now. Be afraid lol.
I actually think this is a really weird hill to die on because you can dislike the speech as much as you want without needing to prove that it was written by AI. I don’t really see anything in it that makes me think that anyway. It’s a very earnest speech, maybe a little TOO earnest in places, but that’s not exactly evidence of anything.
And honestly, I think that’s probably the most interesting thing…
Because Ive been sitting here reading all of these speeches and thinking about why some of them hit differently than others, and it never seems to be as simple as “good speech vs bad speech” (obviously)
This stuff is so interesting, like there’s always a weird thing that happens with elections like this where the second somebody announces they’re running, everyone starts trying to work out what a PRESIDENT is supposed to look like.
And then people start writing speeches accordingly based on what THEY think a president should look like…
…which makes sense. Obviously.
But I think it can make you miss the person underneath the speech a little bit.
Because you can write an absolutely incredible speech about how you’re going to change the forums, inspire the next generation, unite the community, improve the quality of projects, help new users, whatever, you know… all that yappy political tomfoolery.
Ok ok but don’t get me wrong… all of those things can be completely genuine.
But then there’s the slightly more annoying question:
What are you actually like when nobody is asking you to be president?
That’s the thing I keep coming back to.
Because this is still The MakeCode Forums.
We’re not electing the president of a country. We’re voting for someone from a bunch of people who, at the end of the day, are still just users on a forum making games and talking absolute nonsense to each other.
And I actually think that’s important.
I’ve been here long enough that I’ve seen a LOT of people come and go, like all the other fossils out here (you know yourself). We’ve seen people arrive and immediately make themselves known, seen people disappear for months and come back like nothing happened, we’ve seen people become incredibly popular because they made one really good project, seen people become popular because they’re funny. We’ve seen people become known because they’re helpful. I’ve seen people who were everywhere for a while… and then weren’t.
And I’ve also seen the people who just… kept being here.
Those people are interesting.
Because like… eventually you stop thinking of them as “that user who did X” and they just become part of what the forums actually ARE.
You don’t necessarily notice it happening.
They’re just there.
Someone posts a game, they’re there. Someone needs help, they’re there. Someone starts a jam, guess what, they’re there.
(And again this is why I cannot even become a candidate because I’m just… not lol)
And eventually you realise that those people are actually a huge part of what makes a community feel like a community in the first place.
And I think that’s why I’m finding this election more interesting than I expected.
Because we’re all trying to decide who would make a good president by looking at what people are saying they’re going to do.
But I’m much more interested in what kind of person is going to still be around when the novelty of being president wears off.
Because that’s when you actually find out…
It’s easy to be motivated during an election.
It’s easy to promise that you’ll help people.
It’s easy to say you’ll make things better.
It’s even easy to have a really good speech.
The harder thing is just continuing to show up.
And this is where I think people are probably going to realise where I’m going with this, so I’ll just say it lol… yes, I’m campaigning for RizeUpDev.
I came into this thread specifically looking for someone to help campaign for, and I decided I wanted to work with him. I’m not gonna pretend I somehow discovered him independently while conducting an unbiased investigation into the candidates lmao.
But… I also don’t think me campaigning for someone means I have to suddenly pretend every word they have ever written is genius.
Does that make me righteous? I mean not really, any of you would say that if you were helping campaign for someone. But regardless…
Rize’s speech isn’t the most polished speech here.
It isn’t the longest.
It doesn’t have some massive list of accomplishments.
It doesn’t have some grand philosophical statement about the future of MakeCode.
And honestly, I think trying to make it into one would completely miss the point.
Because the part that stuck with me wasn’t really the “VOTE FOR ME!!” part.
It was the bit before it.
He basically says that he knows he’s not the biggest name here, that he knows there are people who are more established than him, and that regardless of what happens with the election, he’s going to keep making games, keep hosting things, and keep being a friend to people here.
That’s a very small thing to say.
But I think small things are sometimes more revealing than giant promises.
Because he’s not really describing what he’s going to become if he gets elected.
He’s describing what he’s already going to do if he doesn’t.
And I don’t know. I just think that’s worth noticing.
Especially because he’s actually in a slightly weird position right now. He was gone for a month. He’s newer than a lot of the people being discussed.
There are users whose names are basically auto win tickets at this point. So of course he’s getting drowned out a bit.
That’s… just what happens.
Attention is weird.
You don’t necessarily get it because you have the most interesting thing to say. It’s usually because somebody is already looking at you.
And once two people start arguing, everyone else becomes background noise.
That’s probably the part of this election I find most interesting.
We’re talking about who should represent the community, while the actual discussion of who should represent the community can itself turn into a popularity contest over whoever is currently generating the most replies. Even this very post may blow up more merely because it’s me, and not because of my actual words or actions towards this election.
And I’m not saying that’s happening because anyone is doing something wrong.
It’s just how the forums work.
People respond to what is immediately in front of them.
That’s why I don’t really care about the “Rize isn’t the frontrunner” argument.
I think that argument is almost completely useless.
Of course he isn’t the frontrunner.
Everybody already knows that.
Telling someone “vote for the underdog!” isn’t a particularly compelling reason to vote for them. If anything, it just reminds everyone that they’re also an underdog.
I’d rather ask a different question.
If you took away the election topic for a second, and forgot who was currently getting the most attention, who would you actually want to still be around?
Who would you expect to keep making things?
Who would you expect to talk to people?
Who would you expect to come back after disappearing for a while?
Who would you expect to still care about the forums when there isn’t a title attached to it?
And I think that’s a much harder question.
Because suddenly you aren’t voting for a better speech anymore.
You’re voting for an actual person.
And that’s really what made me want to campaign for RizeUpDev in the first place. Not because I think he’s some hidden supercandidate who has been waiting for his opportunity.
He’s not. I don’t think anyone thinks they are.
He’s a newer MakeCoder who sees something in this community that he wants to be part of.
That’s it.
And honestly, I like that.
There’s something I find quite refreshing about someone who doesn’t seem to think they need to convince everyone that they’re already the most important person in the room.
Maybe that’s not what you want from a president.
That’s completely fair.
Maybe you want the person with the most experience. Maybe you want someone with a massive history of community projects. Maybe you want someone incredibly motivated. Maybe you want someone who is going to spend the year pushing people to improve.
There are perfectly good arguments for all of those things.
I’m not going to tell you those candidates are bad.
I’m not even going to tell you Rize is objectively better than them.
I don’t think that’s how this should work.
But I am going to tell you that if you’ve been reading this thread and have somehow formed your entire opinion of RizeUpDev based on the fact that he’s quieter than everyone else, you probably haven’t actually considered him yet.
And that’s the part I care about.
I don’t need everyone to vote for him.
I don’t even particularly want people voting for him because I’m telling them to.
That would almost perfectly prove me right in all the wrong ways.
I want people to actually think about what they value in the person they’re voting for.
And if, after doing that, you still think somebody else is the better choice?
Fair enough.
drops the mic
19 Likes
Oh, Chimbro… Yes, you are, mate. Yes, you are.
16 Likes
Same bro i dont think im gonna win with @TheEarth tbh. but we need confidence! confidence is key!
Quote!: If we believe, we succeed.
If we have confidence, you have mastered dominance (good way)
As a wise person once said. : (Believe you can and you’re half way there) - Theodore Roosevelt
(With confidence, you have won before you have started) - Marcus Garvey.
-Hulahoop, Believe.
4 Likes
8 Likes
I find the first part of this so, so inspiring. I agree, we aren’t just voting for a leader, we’re trying to give a platform to someone who makes this forum (that could’ve just been another abandoned help desk) into a real community.
And @AlexK is right, I couldn’t have said it better 
I am personally not voting in this election due to the possibility of accidentally ‘endorsing’ someone into getting more votes, so don’t take this as an opinion on Rize!
5 Likes
Oh ok most of the times I see those it’s ai generated because I never met someone who actually uses it
2 Likes
Me at 1 am
2 Likes
I like his speech just fine but I thought it was ai because of the excessive use of –
2 Likes
I mean I’m gonna try to do those things but the extension is gonna take a while
2 Likes
this has to be the longest post lol not the most characters or words but longest
this post got me thinking what’s the point after all we could all be Makecode presidents its just a title we could do all do those things that we said we would but we won’t because we didn’t get elected. We really need to just quit it altogether. Also to everyone I wrongly accused I’m sorry.