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

[wdodd]

Re: A word of caution...

If your world becomes as popular as, say, Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, you end up getting screwed.

Of course the chances your world will becomes as popular as Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms without the marketing muscle of WoTC and their pull with distributors and retailers approaches zero. Of course, if your world does become this popular (thanks to being selected by WoTC) then you have a good chance of getting picked up to write projects for them that will generate royalties or get a designer job with another RPG company.

I think people forget that good ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is what makes great products, brands, and companies. If you are a freelancer in the RPG business you have a snowball's chance in hell of publishing a world setting that will spawn sourcebooks, adventures, CCG's, miniatures, etc. if all you have is a bright idea. If you can grow a grass roots following in your product and prove there is a market first (ala Harry Potter) then you can start to negotiate for and demand royalties on movies, accessories, etc. because your publishing partners will recognize that there is demand waiting to be filled.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Re: This isn't 100 pages of text.

This is 100 pages of techinical details, such as weather systems, industry types, dieties, classes, races, histories, heroes, pictures etc.

This stuff has to be very well thought out, and proofed. If you dont have the time and the team for that dont submit.

I fully expect it would take a team of several people to get all this stuff together and organized in a professional manner within the time frame. Not many people have that kind of detailed ability to do all these things.

On top of all that, it would have to be loose enough to leave plenty of hooks for adventures and story lines.

The ecosystem alone could take weeks to set up even in a small area. What does that pack of hungry werewolfs live on? At 65 people per square mile wouldn't be long before starvation sets in. How many deer? Get the point, they aren't buying a story, they are buying a campaign setting.

For 130k they should expect the kitchen sink also.

I just hope they have the time to shuffle thru 30000 entries. Hmm, How many beta signups did bioware get? Sounds like a job for temp workers.

Do I have any idea the population of my world? No
Have I developed all the ecosystems? No
Do I have a team of people to work up graphs, illustrations, and endless tiny details? No

I'm entering anyway, because all I have to do at this point is come up with 1 page of interesting ideas. If out of thousands of entrys mine is chosen then I have to get a little serious and come up with 10 pages. Then if they offer me $20,000 I will come up with a team somehow.

I think they are looking for stories MORE than they are looking for a world. look at the questions they ask:

Who are the hero's? What do they do, and why? Who are the villians?

They don't need new ecosystems, they need new modivation for players who are tired of playing the same plotlines over and over.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[mythusmage]

The sense I got was that they want to know what sort of people become heroes. Are they out of the ordinary? Or do they arise out of the commons when need arises. Are they extraordinary in some way, or ordinary people who do extraordinary things?

In other words, is it the world of Tristam, Rustum, and Hercules? Or the world of the Little Tailor?

Hope this helps.

 

[Tallow]

Re: A word of caution...

While this announcement is surely a great start for people to get their worlds published and what-not, I must caution you all: once you give your hard work to the company, THEY own it. Sure, you will receive like 120,000 bucks (nothing to shake a stick at, that's for sure) but you will not receive royalties. If your world becomes as popular as, say, Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, you end up getting screwed. Just make sure this is something you really want to do and that you aren't too attached to the world you create. Once it's theirs, the butchering may commence to this place you have designed...
Good luck to you all....this is something I cannot bring myself to do, but for all of you who are competing, I wish you the best.

For most of us, at least for myself anyways, I believe having the credit as "creator" in all the supplements attached to this would be royalties enough.

Andy Christian

 

[Zulkir]

Ok, I'm about sure this has already been asked, but I can't find the answer. When the template says "who are the heroes" and "what they do", do you want individual heroes who are central to the setting (like 'Elminster' in the FR), or what kind of people are the heroes of the setting (like 'heroes who battle monsters with magic' in the FR)?

The latter.

AV

 

[Zappo]

The latter.

Thanks.

Hey, what if someone who followed this thread from page 1 wrote a FAQ thread? It could be useful.

 

[Tallow]

FAQ

Thanks.

Hey, what if someone who followed this thread from page 1 wrote a FAQ thread? It could be useful.

Hey that is a great idea! I think you just volunteered

Andy Christian

 

[Zappo]

Re: FAQ

Hey that is a great idea! I think you just volunteered

Wh... what? You joking? I can't, I'm too lazy and I'm going to see Spiderman this evening (which would be, about in half an hour). Someone else do the work.

...hmm...

...hey, AV, do you have a few minutes?

 

[Tallow]

Re: Re: FAQ

Wh... what? You joking? I can't, I'm too lazy and I'm going to see Spiderman this evening (which would be, about in half an hour). Someone else do the work.

...hmm...

...hey, AV, do you have a few minutes?

Spiderman is only 2 and a half hours, give ya 30 minutes drive tops, geeze man, you gonna go to bed at 7pm tonight?

Andy Christian

 

[SoulsFury]

There is nothing in the template about pantheons. Thats wierd since both FR and DL have an extensive history that directly involves the immortals. I guess gods don't generate books?

Nik