So who's getting ulcers from anticipation?

[wolff96]

Waiting is.

Anxiety is wasted energy. I have better things to do with my time than worry about that which I cannot change.

How very Zen of you.

 

[Chromnos]

I just find it difficult to be intimidated by writing from the likes of Ed Greenwood (no offense to Ed if he's viewing this thread). True, Forgotten Realms was good fun. But ever read Spellfire? Blah!

Come-on! We're not talking about three hundred pound guerrillas here. We're not talking about people who've been weeded out through the long process of playing foot-ball since kiddy league or a profession that pays like professional football.

We're talking about one of the most insular groups in history and a good number of them made it not because they were the best but because they were the first.

Far more luck than pluck.

Gaming is still a new field and we're just starting to reach the refinement stage. There's plenty of room out there for new talent. Hell- look at all the small press games springing up. Do you think they would be around if there wasn't a demand for something better?

Tell me, have you ever seen a fantasy role playing setting that just blew your socks off? Have you ever seen something that you couldn't tweak to make a little bit better, to make it really purr. I mean, one that you just had to play in. Or did you buy it because you just didn't have the spare time to create your own?

I would be willing to bet that a good number of these settings would be excellent fun. Where you're fishing or cutting bait is how much marketability there is in it.

-C

"The value of an idea is proportionate to how much you can sell it for. I wouldn't even try to sell some of the stuff that came out of discussions around the water cooler or in the locker room. But what about the idea that spawned the theory of relativity, or even just the pet rock idea. I mean pet rocks! Who'd have thought they'd sell a million!"

 

[Umbran]

How very Zen of you.

Yes, quite.

The folks feeling anxiety are doing so because they entered the "contest" with the goal of winning - the reward they intend to reap is $20K or more. Since they have not definitively succeeded or failed to reach their goal, but cannot act further, they feel anxiety.

I, on the other hand, started reaping my intended benefits as soon as I put my submission in the mail. My goal was merely to put forth a credible entry. The reward I intended to reap was a month or two of pleasant "what if" thoughts. I actualy welcome an extension of the timeline, as it means I get to have these thoughts for longer.

I occasionally buy lottery tickets on the same basis. I'm not buying a lottery ticket. I'm buying a credible reason to sit and think about what I'd do with $100 million.

So, in a way, I'm the zen archer of the contest. Everyone else's job is to hit the target, mine is simply to loose my arrow as perfectly as possible. Everyone else is giving themselves aneurisms while their arrows fly, while I'm relaxedly contemplating my navel

 

[Uller]

How very Zen of you.

I read an article about Mel Gibson over the weekend (which is strange for me because celebrities bore me to tears...even ones whose acting or other contributions interest me). In it he quoted his father (a devout catholic): "It's a sin to worry. To worry is to not have faith in God." This has always been the way I've lived my life...I don't worry about it...Bad things happen. You are guarunteed to have bad things happen to you. But good things happen too and your own actions can cause the balance of good and bad to come out in your favor (or at least improve the ratio). Unless of course you are a moron like MacAurthor Miller in the above article...Lemon Juice...what a dork!

I think I'm going to have to steal some quotes from it for my work e-mail signature...some people just need to have this pointed out to them.

I especially liked the Darwin one: "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."

 

[dead_radish]

Things I got out of it:

1. I finally sat down and actually figured out a number of the things in my theoretical world that I'd just sort of vaguely defined before. I found some problems, some new things, and flesh out some stuff.

2. I got to see all the worlds my friends came up with, and steal ideas from them.

 

[Xeriar]

I just find it difficult to be intimidated by writing from the likes of Ed Greenwood (no offense to Ed if he's viewing this thread). True, Forgotten Realms was good fun. But ever read Spellfire? Blah!

You're not competing with the likes of Ed Greenwood here, you are competing with the likes of George R.R. Martin and John Wick. I would be honestly surprised if neither of them made it into the top ten. It would not surprise me in the least to see them both hit the top three.

Come-on! We're not talking about three hundred pound guerrillas here. We're not talking about people who've been weeded out through the long process of playing foot-ball since kiddy league or a profession that pays like professional football.

Well, I weigh 350 pounds, does that count?

We're talking about one of the most insular groups in history and a good number of them made it not because they were the best but because they were the first.

Far more luck than pluck.

You aren't writing against Ed Greenwood here, man.

Gaming is still a new field and we're just starting to reach the refinement stage. There's plenty of room out there for new talent. Hell- look at all the small press games springing up. Do you think they would be around if there wasn't a demand for something better?

Indeed, and most of them are dreck. A lot of people think they are far better writers than they actually are

Tell me, have you ever seen a fantasy role playing setting that just blew your socks off? Have you ever seen something that you couldn't tweak to make a little bit better, to make it really purr. I mean, one that you just had to play in. Or did you buy it because you just didn't have the spare time to create your own?

Legend of the Five Rings and Orkworld came pretty close. I bought them because they were immersive and different.

I would be willing to bet that a good number of these settings would be excellent fun. Where you're fishing or cutting bait is how much marketability there is in it.

Yup, learn how to sell

 

[Green Knight]

I'd be encouraged to run my setting as a campaign if I had any talents at all as a DM. Oh well.

Thing is, I recently thought up a MUCH better idea than what I submitted. Ah well. To late, now.

 

[Chromnos]

George R.R. Martin?

Do you think he would enter this? Has he ever done any work with gaming?

John Wick?

The talented guy from White Wolf? Do you really think he'd stoop so low?

Anyway, you're right. Martin would be a five hundred pound guerilla. And Wick might wiegh in with other gamers at 350

-C

 

[Voneth]

I sent in 5 entries, one with a team.

My team mates and also my ex-wife (who sent in her own entry) are wondering if they should already work on their 10 page drafts as well as when, WHEN! are they going to find out. I have moved on to other things, until I hear differently.

But to tell the truth, I did my best and it is out of my hands. In a way, it would sort of suck to be accepted into the next round and then not make it to round 3 because there's no compensation and then odds are a whole lot different. I find it easier to blow it off now when the odds are close to a lottery draw, but what about when the odds shoot up to a 30 percent chance that I may get $20k.

So ask me if I still have my zen attitude when you find out if I am selected. And if I make round 3, I won't be taking calls or reading emails for about a month.

 

[Umbran]

Anyway, you're right. Martin would be a five hundred pound guerilla. And Wick might wiegh in with other gamers at 350

Yeah, but even they are gorillas, they're gorillas who have to stand on tiptoe, and are thus easy to topple over. They only have one page to get stuff across - that's not a lot of room to throw around weight.