How many items have you seen with links to the PRD? Did anyone disqualify an item for linking? It seems that I saw items that did this last year too, but I can't find anything in the rules that says anything about linking one way or the other.
I don't think it's a DQ thing, so much as a lack of attention to detail(which WOULD certainly be a decider when it comes to which item is better). It was stated that the items should be formatted as if they were to appear in print, and that printed products do not contain hyperlinks.
Personally, I haven't seen any items with links, but I've only gone through ~300 pairs.
Well, more specifically, Sean said not to use links and that parenthetical citations were the way to do it) , but Clark said that he really liked them and it showed that the designer had his finger on the pulse of the industry. (I think)
My understanding is that all of the judges pretty much see it as inconsequential. It's certainly not required, expected, or even desired; it's also not a problem or a reason to dock points. SKR sees it as an unnecessary addition to provided format; I think Clark sees it as handy - but I think everybody's gone on record saying that it's a really minor factor and shouldn't affect ranking much one way or the other.
As a voter, I've been fond of hyperlinked items because it gave me really quick lookup for full mechanics and comparable spells. But it's not something that sways me one way or the other.
Personally, a perfectly-formatted piece plus hyperlinks gives me a sense of professionalism and attention to detail. I like 'em. But an item with clear flaws doesn't become "better" just because it's got hyperlinks in it.
Marathon Voter Season 6
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I've seen a lot of items with hyperlinks and it had no impact on how I voted. If two items were exceptionally close in quality, I'd prefer to tiebreak them on which one had the better name or which one was more original rather than which one did or did not include hyperlinks.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
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I hyper linked mine last year and one of the judges commented as though it was a positive thing.
I figure, if you are posting the item to a message board with BBCodes why not use the format to the best of its abilities? You certainly shouldn't vote down an item because it has hyperlinks and you feel it is cheating, when the rules don't address it at all.
Of course if the item just references a rule section in another book (not a spell or other item) and you can't get an idea of what it does without referencing that, that could be a problem. But certainly if the item has a spell effect and the spell is hyperlinked for ease of reference, kudos to the designer. The items in the books reference spells and you have to look them up to get the details on how the items work.
Basically, if the item is written as it would appear in print, but the designer took the time to hyperlink the spells and perhaps other rules, great.
Actually, I'm sure I voted down an item or two during my mad voting run where I was looking for my own item, because I couldn't tell what it did without looking something up. If they had a hyperlink or two in order to make that easy, I might have clicked and then voted the other way.
By the way, I'm not saying I hyperlinked mine this year. I may have forgot.
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Of course if the item just references a rule section in another book (not a spell or other item) and you can't get an idea of what it does without referencing that, that could be a problem. But certainly if the item has a spell effect and the spell is hyperlinked for ease of reference, kudos to the designer. The items in the books reference spells and you have to look them up to get the details on how the items work.
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Actually, I'm sure I voted down an item or two during my mad voting run where I was looking for my own item, because I couldn't tell what it did without looking something up. If they had a hyperlink or two in order to make that easy, I might have clicked and then voted the other way.
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I'm not sure that was the best way to go with the whole voting against. I've seen a number of items reference page ### in the Core Rules or Ultimate Combat. The guidance stated we shouldn't be rewriting rules that can be found in other books. Referencing is how it would look in print format.
I suppose it's a matter of opinion, but I figure other opinions be heard before it becomes a matter of course.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9
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Hyperlinks have not factored into my voting. But I have noticed the ones with hyperlinks tend to follow the template better. I have yet to see 2 items paired together that have been difficult to select between.
I'm not sure that was the best way to go with the whole voting against. I've seen a number of items reference page ### in the Core Rules or Ultimate Combat. The guidance stated we shouldn't be rewriting rules that can be found in other books. Referencing is how it would look in print format.
I agree. Item should be written how it would appear in print, but within that could and probably should be hyperlinked. I'm not proud of the possibility that I voted based on not wanting to look up a rule or even a spell I was unfamiliar with. But I think it is likely that I did this after voting for most of my week long holiday break and putting in over 1200 votes before I finally saw my own item. For the last 150, I was voting with only the skim I could do in the minute wait time. As soon as I saw my own item, I slowed back down and voted with thought again.
Sean's post about hyperlinks.
Hyperlinks have not factored into my voting. But I have noticed the ones with hyperlinks tend to follow the template better. I have yet to see 2 items paired together that have been difficult to select between.
People who can hyperlink know and understand bb code. A lot of people, as evidenced, simply don't.
To require hyper linking would be an unfair thing to ask for, for many of the entrants - once you are freelancing, you submit in word, not via a bb forum.
I personally haven't let hyper linking affect my vote in any way.
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I think hyperlinking is a "nice to have" but nowhere near a "need to have" element of your submission. In the grand scheme of things, I pretty much never let it influence my vote that much...if at all. Additionally, when reviewing item submissions in the past, I pretty much always had another tab open in my browser to the PRD so I could look up spells and other game mechanics, as necessary. So, the hyperlinks were very rarely adding anything for me.
I think, at best, the inclusion of hyperlinks indicates you've got a bit of "attention to detail" as a designer. And, while that's certainly a good trait to try and display, hyperlinks are the absolute last thing you should focus your attention on. In other words, if you went to all the trouble of including hyperlinks, but you screwed up some other element of the formatting or game terminology, it can count pretty harshly against you. I know I remarked at least a couple of times in reviewing items that had hyperlinking that it was interesting how a designer could find the focus and the time to include it, and yet, they couldn't even be bothered with using the template correctly.
So, if you're going to do hyperlinking, get your priorities in order. Your wondrous item should have a cool name, a cool core idea with some reasonable mojo, some cool descriptive language that shows off your ability to write and inspire, some cool mechanical twists (or at least something which demonstrates you've mastered the rules enough to become a trusted freelancer), a tight submission in terms of word count and use of the template, and then...if you've still got time and the inclination...you can worry about adding hyperlinks. But if you mis-step on one of those other aspects, the inclusion of hyperlinks starts to feel like someone took the time to paint a pig in the hopes it'd be received as a best-in-show, carefully groomed dog...or maybe the goose that laid the golden egg.
In those situations, instead of adding something to your submission, it potentially detracts. It's kind of up there with including something from Golarion in your submission and yet, you don't understand the campaign setting well enough to do it justice. Instead of adding, it actually winds up detracting a bit. Not so much from the wondrous item submission itself. Rather, it detracts from the impression you leave as a would-be designer and contestant for RPG Superstar.
But that's just my two cents,
--Neil
Sean's post about hyperlinks.
Thanks Curaigh. I think at some point I opened all the advice links on that page and had them bookmarked but never went back and read through all the other posts on that page again.