"Zelda Temple has come a long way in the past few months and are slowly but surely, starting to rise to levels seen by few other websites in the Zelda Community."
- Chance, Webmaster of LegendofZelda.com -
Most people may not know this, but I do the scouting for this award much earlier than February.
I’m not saying this to downplay the importance of nominations; I’m saying this because the Golden Ocarina is a very interesting award. Unlike the other categories, I actively look for candidates all year round. Sites get placed on a secret EDN watch list and I pop by now and then to see how things are going.
I do this because you can’t judge how aspiring a website is in just one month. Younger sites change frequently, especially in their first few months. The only way you can tell how aspiring a Zelda site is, is by watching it grow over a period of time.
So with that being said, the sentence: “Zelda Temple has been on my watch list for a while.” should be taken a good thing.
Zelda Temple was founded early 2007 by Yusei. Initially it was a very plain Zelda site, as most are when they first start out. However Yusei is also a very dedicated webmistress and over time ZT has grown to the site it is today.
Content wise, ZT has the usual plethora of Zelda information that younger sites focus on. ZT also features a growing fan orientated media section, containing: avatars, signatures, underbanners, you name it. The forum community has also grown over the past while, another good sign of an aspiring site. And even though this award is for the most aspiring website, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that ZT has one of the best forum skins I’ve seen in a while.
But when it comes down to it, what makes this site the Most Aspiring Website of 2009 is not just the amount of content, or the frequency of updates, but the desire behind it. It’s no secret to anyone that the community has been experiencing a downturn over the last while. With no new Zelda news, many sites are closing down and few are rising up to take their place.
This award was created to recognize the work of younger sites, but it was also designed to showcase those that intend on becoming established members of the Zelda community. That desire, to constantly improve and work on something you enjoy is what makes an aspiring website. Because in the end if you don’t have that drive to be an established member of the community, what will keep you going during the slow times when Zelda news is almost non existent? Even though Zelda Temple may not have as much content as similar websites, it certainly has that drive, and that is an important characteristic of an aspiring website.
Thus, it is my pleasure to award this year’s Golden Ocarina for Most Aspiring Site to Zelda Temple. Congratulations to Yusei and the staff of ZT and best of luck in the years to come.
