WotC Seeking Your Setting Proposals (was "Big Wizard announcement")

[Darraketh]

Re: Hmm

Says it on the WoTC webpage also.

>>>>>>>>>>>>
All initial proposals must:

1. be covered with a signed, unmodified copy of the Idea Submission Agreement;

2. include an accompanying cover letter with contact information;

3. be structured in accord with the initial proposal template;

4. be no more than one (1) page in length;

5. be postmarked no later than June 21, 2002.

Initial proposals that are longer than one page or that don't meet any of the other requirements will be automatically rejected.
>>>>>>>>>>>>


Verrrry interesting. Now I *really* wish I'd paid more attention to the order I put mine in.

Though I suppose if I don't get picked, I can always blame it on some such thing like that rather than my idea.

Hmmm... It's all apart of the test! aaahhhh!!! I'm doomed!!!

I refuse to worry.

 

[isirga eth]

Re: aaaarrrrrgggghhhh

I DID put the agreement last.

On ALL FIVE submissions... BLAST IT!!!!!

 

[Mistwell]

Someone misread the rules. "Covered" is a legal term, not a geometric positioning term, in this sense. It has to be "covered" by an agreement, meaning there has to be an agreement that speaks to, or for, that submission (not on top of). When the admin takes the package out of the envelope, they are going to have to open the whole thing - the cover letter and agreement to match it to a number, and the submission to match it to a number. It won't matter what physical order they are placed in the envelope, the admin has to take it all out anyway.

Y'all need to stop worrying. I sometimes feel like this is a thread composed of people telling us how they went about buying a lottery ticket. I am interested in seeing everyones ideas, and the sharing of an experience can be fun as well, but the paranoid worrying over small details is a bit frustrating. You have better odds of "winning" $120,000 is Las Vegas, then you do in this submission. The experience itself is what was important, not whether you "win", because the overwhelming odds say you did not "win" (even if your submission was fantastic). You do, however, now have experience formulating a submission to a game company. You have distilled an interesting senario into one page, and you have the opportunity to now add to that senario for your own campaign, and to share with the rest of us here, eventually. That's what you should be focused on now.

Personally, I think it is time to close this thread, and let the subject rest for a few days.

 

[Irysangel]

Personally, I think it is time to close this thread, and let the subject rest for a few days.

Naw, I like hearing about what everyone is thinking. Y'all may think I'm crazy, but I'd rather hear what everyone's thoughts are than sit at home and not hear anything about it for weeks. It helps ease the pain of waiting.

On a side note, the Texas Lottery is up to $70 million tonight, so I'm buying tickets for that as well.

 

[Zappo]

Someone misread the rules. "Covered" is a legal term, not a geometric positioning term, in this sense. It has to be "covered" by an agreement, meaning there has to be an agreement that speaks to, or for, that submission (not on top of).

That's exactly what I thought. I mean, who the hell cares about how they are ordered? It's not that they are going to have a robot sort the letters. But then I read

Q. Does it matter what order we put our pages (cover letter, submission agreement, proposal) in?

A. "As long as the submission agreement is above the submission then order is unimportant." (source: WotC Message Boards)

One gets worried. I placed the sheets randomly and didn't mind the order. I don't remember which order they were. I thought (and still think) that it is the epitome of irrelevant things. But the FAQ entry...?

 

[Altmann]

Re: Re: Re: colour vs compact

Don't tell me... you've used a different color for each paragraph? Sentence? Word? Letter? Or did you use multi-colored fonts? I'm sure the reviewers will sooooo like it!!

Actually, this was more about :
* giving a nice name to each submission
* writing a small novel-like introduction
* introducing story elements
* introducing unspecified concepts with interesting names
* writing everything first-person from the heroes point of view

In my shortest submission, I even wrote a (very short) novel-like conclusion.

But I do admit that writing everything with the blood from some Elder Gods could have added some more colour

Be reading you,
YA

 

[your father is]

I'm wondering how many people here also used a book (or story) idea as their basis? I'm not sure that there is any advantage to this approach, other than well-defined main characters and plotline. What do you folks think?

My submission is story based, but I tried to pitch the world and not the plot. Plot is handy, but Anthony said they were not favoring a single, dominant threat, which I take to mean a single dominant story arc. My world has room for many, many stories. I just happen to have one developed already.

______________

"Do or do not."

 

[Tom Cashel]

*shrug*

Someone misread the rules. "Covered" is a legal term, not a geometric positioning term, in this sense.

Well, the FAQ says different--that the agreement must be "above" the submission to which it applies. I assumed it was a legal thing...since we weren't supposed to staple the agreement to the submission, the agreement had to be on top so that it would "legally" apply to that submission.

But, I repeat: *shrug* I don't think it will make a difference, as long as everything's in the envelope. Hopefully AV will clear it up, so we won't have to worry about it any longer.

 

[Zappo]

You mean that geometric positioning of the sheets influences the legal effectiveness of the agreement?

...I just had a flash of the whole thing getting discussed in court. I think if I was the judge I would LMAO until they had to drag me out of the room. If it's true, it's really pathetic.

 

[kafka47]

Re: What are people actually writing?

I have the weirdest sensation that people were largely writing stuff that is far, far away from the point of this exercise... The questions that the template asks aren't "tell us about your world" questions IMO, but "so what does the ad-copy for this product line look like?"

To me, proceeding with the notion that it's merely a blurb-writing
contest is tantamount to trying to "guess" or "game" your response.

They were soliciting ideas, regardless of how they were printed, framed
or written. Anthony said (sic),
"If you have a story, then write it. If you have a world, then describe it."

If you're good at writing blurbs then do that. I think what really matters
is the content and the freshness.

/Craig