wotc "contest" and the money

[alsih2o]

i, personally, entered the "contest" and whilst discussing it with my wife we touched on how many gamers would have been just as eager to enter even if no money had been put up as a reward.

so, how about it, would you have entered if the only reward was prestige, honor, and glory(read:bragging rights)?

 

[Valicor]

I disagree because if it is sucsessful enough for wizards to make hundreds of thousands off me for free, think of income that was just thrown away. Prestige is important, but so is the money.

 

[Lizard]

It's not a contest, it's an open call for submissions.

Why should I write for WOTC for free, when I wouldn't do that for any other company?

 

[seasong]

Option #4

I would have entered my submission for considerably less than they offered (anything at or above what I could reasonably expect in the gaming industry). But since they're offering what they are, I'll take it if I can.

If there was no money offered, the heck with it. If my setting is good enough to win, it's good enough to get popular on the web, where I will ALSO not make any money, but will retain my rights.

 

[alsih2o]

contest :1.A struggle for superiority or victory between rivals.

2.A competition, especially one in which entrants perform separately and are rated by judges.

 

[Skarp Hedin]

For no money, I would definitely have submitted the 1 page and 10 page treatments. Far less likely I would have submitted the 100 page treatment -- if my setting had been good enough for Wizards to request a 100 page treatment, well, odds are I wouldn't have -given- it to them. The process would have been a good yardstick to determine if the setting was able to generate profit, however.

 

[Ashtal]

Dudes ... do not get into the contest/not contest arguement again.

 

[Aaron L]

4.
Yes, but the money made it that much cooler!

 

[toberane]

I agree that it was an open call for submissions, but here's the way I see it:

If I submitted it and they chose it, I would expect to be hired at that point, either freelance or as a WotC employee. It seems that this is what's likely to happen in any case, and I would see it as an opportunity to break into the gaming industry.

Without the money, however, I don't believe WotC would be legally able to transfer the rights to the setting to themselves. There has to be some compensation for intellectual property, and that's what the initial $20,000 is all about.

If the question above was supposed to be: Would you have submitted your setting to WotC knowing that you would never be paid for it or hired to write any of the supplements, and additionally WotC would acquire the rights to the setting free of charge? I think the answer toi that one would be a very simple, "oh, heck no!"

 

[arcseed]

100 pages is a lot of work for no compensation. But yeah, I prolly woulda done it if it were, say, 30k/5k. That I get to do college without borrowing if I happen to be #1 is awfully nice, though.