Setting Search Ponderings

[Undead Pete]

I need my Setting Search fix....

Over the past few weeks, I wondered about the chances of various contest outcomes:

• The number of quality submissions is so high that they ask 20+ people to submit a 10-pager
• On a similar vein, the 10 page submissions are so good that they ask 5-7 people to submit a 100 page bible
• The 100 page bibles are so durn good that they decide to publish more than 1 as a campaign setting
• Or..... the runners-up are kept in the wings for future publications
• Will they have another contest similar to this one? I'd say this has the potential of becoming an annual or bi-annual event (my fingers are crossed here)

<SIGH> To quote Something Positive, I'm "rolling a critical fumble in my pants" just thinking about it....

Thoughts?
Questions?
Rants?
Insults?
Commiseration?

 

[Maraxle]

My guess is that there will be 10-15 "winners" in the first round. Then, they will choose X/3 (with X being the number of first round "winners") for the one hundred pager. Finally, they will stick with the one overall winner. The runners up might see some of their stuff used, but not to the same extent as the overall winner.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

My guess is that there will be 10-15 "winners" in the first round. Then, they will choose X/3 (with X being the number of first round "winners") for the one hundred pager. Finally, they will stick with the one overall winner. The runners up might see some of their stuff used, but not to the same extent as the overall winner.

They'll stick to the top three instead of X/3. That's the round where they start paying for the submssions.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

[*]Will they have another contest similar to this one? I'd say this has the potential of becoming an annual or bi-annual event (my fingers are crossed here)

I doubt it would become a regular feature- they would not want to flood the market with official settings. They want one good setting they can milk for supplements.

If it bombs, then they will have the other entries as a consideration- if the winners had not already done something with them.

FD

 

[Maraxle]

The #2 and #3 entries will be owned by WotC as well, so if the #1 setting flops, they could publish either of the others.

 

[Undead Pete]

Re: Re: Setting Search Ponderings

I doubt it would become a regular feature- they would not want to flood the market with official settings. They want one good setting they can milk for supplements.

FD

I don't know about that....

They have obviously shown us that they'll be publishing more stand-alone projects, and leaving the supplements to the smaller d20 companies.

I would say a new setting every 2 years isn't out of the question. Maybe I'm just being wishful.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: Re: Setting Search Ponderings

I would say a new setting every 2 years isn't out of the question. Maybe I'm just being wishful.

Didn't they also say they were looking for the next FR?

FR is not open for 3rd party use.

They want something they can use as a platform for them to make supplements, novels, and possibly more.

TSR made the mistake of throwing out a bunch of campeigns and then failing to support them beyond a few supplements. That lead to the death of the campeign- I have trouble seeing them using a similar plan.

FD

 

[mmadsen]

Re: Re: Setting Search Ponderings

I doubt it would become a regular feature- they would not want to flood the market with official settings. They want one good setting they can milk for supplements.

They've made it clear though that official settings sell, but official-setting supplements sell less and less as they flesh out the same world. Each becomes a niche within a niche, with an even smaller potential market.

 

[ninthcouncil]

I'd be surprised if they change the numbers. It doesn't gain them anything; at the end, they still only want 1 setting, so increasing the number of candidates at stage 2 has no beneficial effect. The only reason I could see is if the various judges disagree markedly on the choices.

The #2 and #3 entries will be owned by WotC as well, so if the #1 setting flops, they could publish either of the others.

As I see it, getting three "bibles" written is an insurance against a favourite failing to come up with the goods at that stage, rather than an insurance against flops.

Anyway, who's to say what the hell will be going on at Hasbro/WotC in two years time?

 

[kenjib]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Setting Search Ponderings

TSR made the mistake of throwing out a bunch of campeigns and then failing to support them beyond a few supplements. That lead to the death of the campeign- I have trouble seeing them using a similar plan.

FD

I thought part of the Master Plan (tm) was to regularly create a bunch of one-off campaign settings like Wheel of Time. Am I remembering incorrectly? It looks like "Ghostwalk" might be another such setting.