River said:
I think if that is what they wanted it would be splashed all over the WOTC website. I don't think they want submissions from minors. The word is getting out on boards like this filled with hardcore gamers. Older gamers.
So, that makes it advertising aimed at older, hardcore gamers. What makes you think that such an advertisement must be aimed at all gamers, rather than being focused?
Plus, the fact that we got it first does not mean that it won't be all over the WOTC pages soon enough. I'm quite sure their message boards will fill with the news quickly
Also the contest would run for longer and accept e-mail submissions.... No I suspect this may very well be legit.
Wait a second! Who suggested the offer wasn't legitimate? It sure wasn't me. I suggested that a large motivation for the offer was advertising. I in no way suggested that they weren't going to follow through on their offer.
Let's face it, new and interesting campaign worlds are a dime a dozen. They don't need to shell out $160,000 to find or create one for publication. The interest generated by the contest, however, is like gold to a game company, is it not?
Oh, another thing they get out of this, if they so choose - market research. They're going to see a pretty good sample of what people actually want and play in. At the same time they see people's offers, they'll get to see what worlds we play in - and thus what kind of worlds we are interested in.
While some of the first 10 may be really odd, unique game-worlds, I won't be surprised if a number of them are chosen as exemplars of types they see frequently in the submissions. If they see lots of aquatic worlds, I'd expect them to think, "Hmm, aquatic worlds seem popular, let's pick the best for further development". Good to try something really new and unique, but also good to try things that are obviously well liked among the gamers, no?
