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Iron dm summer champion announced!
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<blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 996333" data-attributes="member: 67"><p>Well, now that all entries are in, I'm going to discuss, a bit, what I think makes a good Iron DM entry, and what I think makes a good adventure, overall.</p><p></p><p>To do so, I'll respond directly to some comments:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>First of all, I think you've got it backwards, Wulf. There is a meta-game invovled in the Iron DM tournaments, but writing for the judge isn't it. When submitting entries, myself, I would often play little games for my sole amusement, writing for myself, as it were. That is the metagame. And you know what? I lost every single one of those matches. I don't think it was because of the metagame, per se, but I definitely should have used the time to refine my submissions.</p><p></p><p>But, you know what else? I'll do it again. It's fun, and helps to justify the enourmous amount of time requisit in playing in the tournament. However, I've always kept in mind that the object of the game is to write for the judge, and, to a lesser extent, for the audience. It's not a meta-game.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This may be shocking, but I'm going to say it, anyway. Linear adventures are <em>not</em> inherently bad. If they were, time-based adventures (excluding time-travel adventures) would automatically be bad, as time is linear.</p><p></p><p>Railroading occurs when the players <em>feel</em> as if they have no choices. If they think they have choices, no matter whether all roads lead to the same conclusion, or not, it is not railroading.</p><p></p><p>Is it better to provide actual choices that lead to multiple conclusions? I tend to think so, but for an entirely different reason:</p><p></p><p>I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A good adventure serves as a seed for a good campaign.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A good generic adventure should include a variety of elements, to try to appeal to all types, but there is no hard and fast set of elements that an adventure should have (although, it would be foolish to try to sell an adventure with no combat (for instance) in it, probably.</p><p></p><p>It is important that players can feel the consequences, but I think you're assuming that consequences necessarily need to differ from potential consequences to be felt. It's nice when that happens, but it need not be requisit, depending on the situation. It <em>does</em> however, need to feel different from the consequences of failure. The basic point, however, is that it's all an illusion. If you are able to sell the illusion, that is all that matters.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It really depends upon what the background is used for. If it's used to explain history, it probably is wasted space, if it's too large. If, on the other hand, it's used to set up political intrigue, motives, and character (combined), then it's an excellent use of the space. I've never believed that an adventure needs to come to a nice, packaged ending. If most of the events occur as a result of conclusions that the DM (or judge) can easily infer on his (or her) own, that's not a problem. As a judge, I've frequently read between the lines.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think you're overestimating the role that that little factor plays in judgement. As a judge, I've always attempted to judge a work on its own merits, factoring in style <em>last</em>. I've seen it matter in past tournaments, but even in the tightest matches of this tournament, it has only been a factor once (so far--I still haven't read the final two entries).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'd hope to see you do so. Maybe I could get to play again. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's actually not a bad way to approach this. All of Seasong's former entries (excluding, possibly the last, which I've yet to read) have been distinctly Seasong's.</p><p></p><p>If I saw an entry from him that I couldn't recognize as his, because it looked too much like mine, I doubt he'd win the round. I don't think I've been too opaque about this, but I value creativity higher than all other elements in judging the tournament.</p><p></p><p>If I couldn't recognize Seasong in his entries, or anyone else in their's, I'd be supremely disappointed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rune, post: 996333, member: 67"] Well, now that all entries are in, I'm going to discuss, a bit, what I think makes a good Iron DM entry, and what I think makes a good adventure, overall. To do so, I'll respond directly to some comments: First of all, I think you've got it backwards, Wulf. There is a meta-game invovled in the Iron DM tournaments, but writing for the judge isn't it. When submitting entries, myself, I would often play little games for my sole amusement, writing for myself, as it were. That is the metagame. And you know what? I lost every single one of those matches. I don't think it was because of the metagame, per se, but I definitely should have used the time to refine my submissions. But, you know what else? I'll do it again. It's fun, and helps to justify the enourmous amount of time requisit in playing in the tournament. However, I've always kept in mind that the object of the game is to write for the judge, and, to a lesser extent, for the audience. It's not a meta-game. This may be shocking, but I'm going to say it, anyway. Linear adventures are [i]not[/i] inherently bad. If they were, time-based adventures (excluding time-travel adventures) would automatically be bad, as time is linear. Railroading occurs when the players [i]feel[/i] as if they have no choices. If they think they have choices, no matter whether all roads lead to the same conclusion, or not, it is not railroading. Is it better to provide actual choices that lead to multiple conclusions? I tend to think so, but for an entirely different reason: I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A good adventure serves as a seed for a good campaign. A good generic adventure should include a variety of elements, to try to appeal to all types, but there is no hard and fast set of elements that an adventure should have (although, it would be foolish to try to sell an adventure with no combat (for instance) in it, probably. It is important that players can feel the consequences, but I think you're assuming that consequences necessarily need to differ from potential consequences to be felt. It's nice when that happens, but it need not be requisit, depending on the situation. It [i]does[/i] however, need to feel different from the consequences of failure. The basic point, however, is that it's all an illusion. If you are able to sell the illusion, that is all that matters. It really depends upon what the background is used for. If it's used to explain history, it probably is wasted space, if it's too large. If, on the other hand, it's used to set up political intrigue, motives, and character (combined), then it's an excellent use of the space. I've never believed that an adventure needs to come to a nice, packaged ending. If most of the events occur as a result of conclusions that the DM (or judge) can easily infer on his (or her) own, that's not a problem. As a judge, I've frequently read between the lines. I think you're overestimating the role that that little factor plays in judgement. As a judge, I've always attempted to judge a work on its own merits, factoring in style [i]last[/i]. I've seen it matter in past tournaments, but even in the tightest matches of this tournament, it has only been a factor once (so far--I still haven't read the final two entries). I'd hope to see you do so. Maybe I could get to play again. :D That's actually not a bad way to approach this. All of Seasong's former entries (excluding, possibly the last, which I've yet to read) have been distinctly Seasong's. If I saw an entry from him that I couldn't recognize as his, because it looked too much like mine, I doubt he'd win the round. I don't think I've been too opaque about this, but I value creativity higher than all other elements in judging the tournament. If I couldn't recognize Seasong in his entries, or anyone else in their's, I'd be supremely disappointed. [/QUOTE]
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