Hey Ash, could you go over some of the details of the contest for us here? I'm sure it would help any others interested if we got the straight dope from you in this section.
Well, the main rules are in the 'Contests' link from the main menu, but I'm bound to have forgotten something important, so feel free to ask me about anything. The basic format will be that everyone will get a concept from the hat and has to write a mini-RPG or an RPG supplement based on and around that concept, but treating it in a completely new light. The thing I really need to think about at the moment is the scoring, and specifically who will be doing it. I think I'm going to end up doing it myself at the end of the day, but if we get a real TON of entries I might need to get some help or turn it over to a peer review system.
Ash
Ah, I knew I'd seen it somewhere. My page doesn't have the link on the left hand menu bar. I had to hover over the Main Menu button on the upper right hand side of the page to find it. Sorry!
Oops, forgot to put it into that menu. I'll fix that.
This question may go against the spirit of the challenge, but would it be possible to get a list of the potential random concepts?
Or as another option…maybe everyone could throw in a couple of random concepts that they'd like to see "re-imagined", then the concepts are redistributed out to participants (ensuring that participants don't get to play with concepts that they suggested).
V
I'm not averse to listing the topics a little bit ahead of time, but if more people join I may need to add more topics to that list. The only real problem is that it means people who joined up early get longer to think about those topics, but I guess if it's only a day or two before the actual contest starts it won't be too much of a problem. I'll have a think about it. People are more than welcome to suggest topics though, so I'll add a thread for it in the other forum.
Ash
I've already figured out what my game will be if I get Ninja, Post Apocalyptic, or Secret Agent.
…Post-Apocalyptic Superspy Ninjas?
MS WORD format question. I use WORD 2007 with the new .docx suffix. Can you accept that? or would I need to set it to WORD 97-2003 compatibility (.doc)? Probably turn it into a PDF anyway so I don't know why I'm asking.
Better to use original DOC format. My version of Word is 2003 and I cant guarantee compatability.
Ash
Are we allowed to playtest the game before submitting it for the contest?
No, I'm nowhere near that stage yet, but I might be as we get close to the deadline. Certainly, games go through a lot of playtesting normally, but it could be seen as outside help, too, so I don't want to do it if people are going to frown upon it.
Sure, I have no problem with that. Playtesting is an important part of any game, so if you have the time and inclination go ahead. People who don't have that time, don't forget you can also discuss your rules with your contemporaries on the forum to help weed out the little mistakes.
Ash
The Rules page is either vague or I missed it, when EXACTLY is the deadline?
I'm pretty sure it's the 10th. I think it read 'begins October 1st, you then have 10 days to do your thing', or something along those lines.
OK, I shall be absolutely precise just to be certain. The final deadline is October 10th, 11:59pm (to save confusion about midnight). Timezone is Greenwich meantime, but I'm willing to give a little bit of leaway just in case of problems with the internet and so forth. GMT is likely to give most entrants longer than expected rather than less time, I think.
Ash
For us North Americans, it will actually be earlier: 7pm for those on eastern standard time, and even earlier for those on the west coast. I'll be working that day, and so won't have the time to send it in on the 10th.
Of course, I figured all that out a while back and worked accordingly. I'm on track to have my game submitted tomorrow (the 9th).
Yike, that would make it about 4pm for West Coast.. that loses half a day.
See, this is why I don't get a job that involves Geographical knowledge :D Ok, tell you what, it's only fair if we say that it's the last possible hour of the 10th on the face of the whole planet, which would be GMT+13 (Nuku'alofa??? I want to know where that is now, that name is awesome!)
Ash