Pathfinder 1E Paizo's RPG SuperSTAR Contest Top 32

[Ghostwind]

I find it interesting that there is this much teeth gnashing over something that is essentially an open call. Yes, it is a publicity stunt but an effective one. It did exactly what Paizo had hoped for -- a large response rate and a lot of buzz. Paizo laid down specific guidelines and asked that the entries meet those guidelines. Those that didn't or those that weren't original enough in the eyes of the judges weren't accepted. This is no different than the process other publishers have to go through when vetting submissions for their projects. Heck, I had to go through over 70 pages of open call submissions when I was designing Arms & Armor v3.5 and about half that with Pale Designs: A Poisoner's Handbook. It is part of the business, plain and simple. No one is twisting anyone's arm or holding their favorite cuddle toy hostage and insisting that the chosen people move on to stage two. That is up to the individuals. Either they are capable of writing to spec or they are not. I'm amazed at the amount of negativity here and on the Paizo boards about the whole process.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I work in a newsroom. They take the left thumb the first time you do it, then the right, then they move on to things I'd miss even more.

I take it your newsroom isn't in Britain then.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, and the cat in the box? One of the creepiest magic items I've ever come across in D&D. Instant classic, IMO.

 

[GlassEye]

I LOVE the Migrus.

(And I think this contest is a particularly cool and entertaining way to recruit new talent.)

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

When I first heard about this, I didn't even know it was a "search for the next great module writer."

(Oh and I put my period inside the quotes; it's the way I learned how to write, although putting it outside makes more sense to me. Why wouldn't you end the quoted text with the close quotation marks before ending the sentence with the period? But writing habits tend to die hard.)

I thought this was just a fun thing Paizo was doing - hey, try your hand at writing stuff, show off to other gamers, that kind of thing. It's a contest, winners get whatever.

Maybe if it were a fun little contest, people wouldn't get so upset about it.
Perhaps if we all calmed down a little bit and looked at it like a community building celebration of our hobby and creativity, some of the snarkiness and bad feelings would end.

Just a thought.

 

[Quasqueton]

Paizo laid down specific guidelines and asked that the entries meet those guidelines. Those that didn't or those that weren't original enough in the eyes of the judges weren't accepted. This is no different than the process other publishers have to go through when vetting submissions for their projects.

But they let the contest rules/guidelines slide for items they thought were cool enough. That's just not right.

They let the SRD-format requirement slide if the item was cool enough.

They let the word-count requirement slide if the item was cool enough.

They let good-mechanics requirements slide if the item was cool enough.

The judges all admitted the slides in their comments and responses.

And I'm surprised that some of the winning items had one or two of the three judges dislike them. I mean, I've never heard of anything winning a contest where two of three judges give a thumbs down. Doesn't even American Idol require all three judges to agree to send a person on past the first round?

I've read many of the winning entrants, and I will agree, most are indeed pretty cool concepts and ideas. But letting the contest rules slide if the concept is cool enough is poor form. Sorry, but it is.

The winners should be cool concepts with solid mechanics, written within the stated contest rules. Surely, out of 850+ entries, there were some.

Quasqueton

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

(Oh and I put my period inside the quotes; it's the way I learned how to write, although putting it outside makes more sense to me. Why wouldn't you end the quoted text with the close quotation marks before ending the sentence with the period? But writing habits tend to die hard.)

This is a holdover from the old days where the printed word had to be typeset. In that respect, it is similar to the spacing after periods at the end of sentences. Used to be, you put in two spaces (again, for typesetting reasons). Since the advent of the computer, that's been formally changed; now you only use one space after the period. I expect the quotation thing to slowly evolve that way as well. For example, it is telling that the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style identifies the British system as an "alternative". Hence my comments above.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I've got this fear that I'm being lumped in with some that I consider have an irrational reaction to the results. By way of example, it seems like an entry that was rated Coolness 10 and Technical Merit 5 was accepted over one that was rated Coolness 5 and Technical Merit 10. There don't seem to be any representatives of the latter in the Top 32, and I must assume that out of 800+ entires there were at least some that fell into that category. As I've said elsewhere, Paizo is certainly entitled to use such a system, but I didn't personally like it.

But they let the contest rules/guidelines slide for items they thought were cool enough. That's just not right.

They let the SRD-format requirement slide if the item was cool enough.

They let the word-count requirement slide if the item was cool enough.

They let good-mechanics requirements slide if the item was cool enough.

The judges all admitted the slides in their comments and responses.

These aren't quite right. On the SRD issue, they decided that, based on their own imprecise wording of the rules, the format requirement was not explicit, and they didn't want to screw people who were in that gray area. On the word-count issue, they said they didn't want to screw people who were over by a few words because some software generate word count differently. In both cases, while I agree that the ultimate decision lets some inattentive entrants through, I can get behind the idea that they didn't want to screw people who, generally speaking, were following the rules.

 

[Quasqueton]

it seems like an entry that was rated Coolness 10 and Technical Merit 5 was accepted over one that was rated Coolness 5 and Technical Merit 10.

See, I would think that the winners would be Coolness 9-10 and Technical Merit 9-10.

based on their own imprecise wording of the rules

I saw the rules, and they were not imprecise. They were pretty darn straight forward and clear. In fact, a stated part of the contest was testing to see if the entrants could follow the rules.

Quasqueton

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

See, I would think that the winners would be Coolness 9-10 and Technical Merit 9-10.

So you had rather have well-formatted junk than somewhat less-well formatted, but more inspirational stuff?

I'd rather they go with the better ideas, and let the specifics slide at this point. You're supposing that Coolness 9-10 and Technical Merit 9-10 stuff was submitted; apparently that's not the case. Maybe we're not all as cool and smart as we like to say we are. In any case, you'll get the chance to register your opinion in the next rounds.