I'm tempted to review this, but I just don't even have the inclination to devote my energy to it. Let's just say that I agree with your point of view, but the review itself deserves the posts that everybody else will make so I don't have to.

I thought "Some Punctuation" (the "Art of Theft" ZPripoff) was alright.

Why must the internet always copy what's great? (See: ZP, The Abridged Series)

Ya' know, some links would have been helpful. Or maybe even some punctuation.

These dont sound like ripoff but more like tributes or one offs. And talking fast was'nt invented by Yahtzee, his visual style and fast story telling are more indicative of his style of comedy and reviews.

If you mean this as a joke then thats OK but some indication would be nice.

Shamanic Enzan: Seconded

Oh, and this review is horrid. I know it just a complaint, but I adore good writing.

Some punctuation is ok - its just a spoof - get over it

Its not meant to be good. Your just looking at it in the wrong way.

Is this a joke?

Shamanic Enzan:
See: ZP, The Abridged Series)

What say you? Is this fo- reals?

Rena! Fetch me my murdering hatchet!

I just had the most brilliant idea in the history of brilliant ideas.

Melty Blood:
Rena! Fetch me my murdering hatchet!

I'm sorry, I must have misplaced it somewhere. Could you use mine instead?

Rena-chan:

Melty Blood:
Rena! Fetch me my murdering hatchet!

I'm sorry, I must have misplaced it somewhere. Could you use mine instead?

Smurf account?

Okay, okay, I'm caving in. I'll spare a few words regarding ZP ripoffs. The main problem with ripoffs is that they are ripoffs, and people seem to think that just because they see someone with great comic delivery, they get the wrong idea as to what makes them funny. Yahtzee is a great comedic talent because he found the style that works for him, and because he has a great sense of humour. But the problem with talent like that is that he makes it seem like it's easy, and as such, people figure that so long as they rant and talk fast (or, in written articles, just randomly go on tangents), then they can be as funny as Yahtzee.

Especially when it comes to reading a review that tries to borrow ZP's style, I find that people stop calling themselves "Yahtzee-esque" and instead compare themselves to the game of Boggle, where one has to look at a random garble of letters and try to form coherent words out of them. But really, what it all boils down to is, if you're going to do ANYTHING, be it a ripoff or not, the key to being funny isn't trying to match Yahtzee's mannerisms, the key is to actually BE FUNNY. And Yahtzee is funny because he's intelligent and makes valid, yet over-the-top points to illustrate his opinions. You simply cannot match his humour by being a moron, because the entire point of Yahtzee is his "funny-because-it's-true" approach to games. Let's break it down to a simple formula; if you misspell more than 2 out of 10 words, then you should NOT be trying to write reviews AT ALL.

wilsonscrazybed:

Rena-chan:

Melty Blood:
Rena! Fetch me my murdering hatchet!

I'm sorry, I must have misplaced it somewhere. Could you use mine instead?

Smurf account?

Was there any doubt?

LeoLeonard3:
OKAY OBVIOUSLY NO ONE GETS THE JOKE ON THE BAD PUNCTUATION THING. There is none. Get it? ZERO punctuation, heheheheheehe...he..he....he?

I find the biggest problem in the ripoffs is: Most of the voices are NOT british, therefore not awesome. The guy who did a project on story in videogames had a cool voice so it was funny. But, the rest didnt so I dint like em as much

It could be funny with a non-British accent, but overall, once we have seen the original, no one can match it. Come close, yes. Change part of it to make it their own, yes. But not match or beat it.

Add your Yahtzee ripoffs to your Seanbaby ripoffs and there's 60% of your so-called internet humorism. Note how I didn't use "comedy."

Oh yeah. The Natalie Dee ripoffs and Homestar Runner ripoffs count for the other 40%.

Keep in mind, people, that some of us were just not built to be funny. That's not an insult, but at the same time, if we try to be something we're not, THEN we deserve to be insulted. Let's just give up the hack and go back to ranting about our average personal lives and posting oversized jpegs of ourselves being fingerquotes wacky. Because isn't that what the e-Nterweb is all about?

end_boss:
Okay, okay, I'm caving in. I'll spare a few words regarding ZP ripoffs. The main problem with ripoffs is that they are ripoffs, and people seem to think that just because they see someone with great comic delivery, they get the wrong idea as to what makes them funny. Yahtzee is a great comedic talent because he found the style that works for him, and because he has a great sense of humour. But the problem with talent like that is that he makes it seem like it's easy, and as such, people figure that so long as they rant and talk fast (or, in written articles, just randomly go on tangents), then they can be as funny as Yahtzee.

Especially when it comes to reading a review that tries to borrow ZP's style, I find that people stop calling themselves "Yahtzee-esque" and instead compare themselves to the game of Boggle, where one has to look at a random garble of letters and try to form coherent words out of them. But really, what it all boils down to is, if you're going to do ANYTHING, be it a ripoff or not, the key to being funny isn't trying to match Yahtzee's mannerisms, the key is to actually BE FUNNY. And Yahtzee is funny because he's intelligent and makes valid, yet over-the-top points to illustrate his opinions. You simply cannot match his humour by being a moron, because the entire point of Yahtzee is his "funny-because-it's-true" approach to games. Let's break it down to a simple formula; if you misspell more than 2 out of 10 words, then you should NOT be trying to write reviews AT ALL.

Now, I'm certainly against stupid people writing (or talking, or procreating, or breathing at all), but in all fairness I, and a lot of other people too, I imagine, have been ranting, branching off on inane tangents, roundly criticizing popular franchises, and making points through excessive and overblown imagery for quite a few years now. While I'm sure that Mr. Croshaw has been speaking his mind pretty much the way he speaks it here for quite some time (though if you read the content at FullyRamblomatic you can definitely see where he's improved, because quite frankly he's got some awful material up there, presumably from his younger days), I believe it would be a mistake to assume that anybody who follows that general format is in any way attempting to steal a format.

And I'll apologize now for any spelling errors that might show up in my writing. In my case, they are less a product of intention and more one of my crappy wireless keyboard trying to give out on me.

cool_moe_dee_345:

Now, I'm certainly against stupid people writing (or talking, or procreating, or breathing at all), but in all fairness I, and a lot of other people too, I imagine, have been ranting, branching off on inane tangents, roundly criticizing popular franchises, and making points through excessive and overblown imagery for quite a few years now. While I'm sure that Mr. Croshaw has been speaking his mind pretty much the way he speaks it here for quite some time (though if you read the content at FullyRamblomatic you can definitely see where he's improved, because quite frankly he's got some awful material up there, presumably from his younger days), I believe it would be a mistake to assume that anybody who follows that general format is in any way attempting to steal a format.

And I'll apologize now for any spelling errors that might show up in my writing. In my case, they are less a product of intention and more one of my crappy wireless keyboard trying to give out on me.

Oh, I agree. In fact, I'm reluctant to say (for fear of coming across as a ZP ripoff myself) that the REASON I like ZP's style is because it's a close fit to my own, except that it actually SUCCEEDS in being funny. I used to be all about the rants and tangents and I've been cranking out the over-the-top analogies for years. Yahtzee certainly didn't invent it, and in fact he even admits that his style is heavily influenced.

But surely you've seen it here, that people will actually advertise in their subject line that their review is inspired by ZP in particular. And I'm sure that you (as well as I) can tell when somebody's rants and tangents are genuine, and when they're trying too hard. And you can tell this because successful humour comes from finding the humour that fits your natural style, and not just seeing something funny and thinking "I can do that, too!" Yahtzee is just a funny guy, and ZP is the style that complements his sense of humour the best. Thinking that "Hey, all I need to do to be funny is ramble on and have poor grammar" is a case of Stone Soup.

As long as you don't count me as a ZP plaigarist because I have a similar sense of humor and inclination towards colorful language with my own reviews, I agree whole-heartedly.

LeoLeonard3:
OKAY OBVIOUSLY NO ONE GETS THE JOKE ON THE BAD PUNCTUATION THING. There is none. Get it? ZERO punctuation, heheheheheehe...he..he....he?

only funny through voice, in writing it is crap.

That one you said was funny and you enjoyed LeoLeonard3, was total arse, IT JUST DOESN'T work. even attempting a similar style to Yahtzee doesn't work. The reason why ZP works so well is because the style he developed is original. If you try and enhance it or change it and ultimately end up making a complete hash of it all it just fails...

Leave Yahtzee to do his thing and stop trying to rip him or his style off.