Round 2 Exit Poll

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Someone has to create the exit poll thread, so here goes for Round 2.

List what you're voting for -- up to 8 this round -- so we can get some idea where things stand. (Keep in mind that just a fraction of the voters will contribute to this, so it's not a perfect predictor.)

I've got about 14 maps I would like to vote for, and I'm still trying to decide on the last two of the eight I'm allowed, but the six definites are:

- Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer (Monica Marlowe)
- Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks (Kalervo Oikarinen)
- Salvation's End (Brian Fruzen)
- Treant's Crossing (Chris Shaeffer)
- Drowning Temple (Christopher Wasko)
- Shadde-Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling. Calphiak Mountains (Scott LaBarge)

[Raynulf]

This is my first year getting involved with RPGSS... but this seems like it flies in the spirit of the competition, to me at least.

I appreciate the desire to know how things are going, but if the vote was intended to be a publicly known affair, we'd be able to see the votes as they're cast. Intentionally or not, this kind of thing can color the voting process, which I don't think is fair to the contestants, personally.

[R D Ramsey]

It's a tradition dating back to the very first year.

It's fun, but it's a tiny sample and not predictive. Just something to do, really.

[Chris Shaeffer]

R D Ramsey wrote:

It's a tradition dating back to the very first year.

I'll just leave this here.

Ahem.

[Mikko Kallio]

Back when I was a contestant, I had my concerns about the exit polls and how they may affect the voting, e.g. "That entry hasn't gotten any votes so far, so there's no point in voting for it" or "I hate that entry and it might advance unless I vote for these other entries" or something similarly silly.

On the other hand, comparing the exit poll results vs the actual results provides really interesting data for understanding how or why the most vocal members of the RPGSS community sometimes vote differently from the silent masses. Actually comparing these results with the judges' recommendations adds another interesting dimension to it.

At any rate, Paizo has never objected to people creating exit poll threads. So I'll be following this thread with keen interest. However, I won't be posting my own votes because I don't personally want to affect any rounds other than round 3.

[Maurice de Mare]

These are my choices. I wish I had some more votes, because I can think of 8 maps that should also advance:

Gabriel Almer — Caverns of Steam, Near Dwimovel (Darklands, Sekamina)
Charlie Bell — Smokemount Hold
Russ Brown — Lost Water Gardens of Jalmeray
Brian Fruzen — Salvation's End
Scott LaBarge — Shadde-Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling. Calphiak Mountains
Monica Marlowe — Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer
Kalervo Oikarinen — Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks
Chris Shaeffer — Treant's Crossing

[Charles Evans 25]

Tomb of the Mad Alchemist.
The only 'dungeon crawl' map I've seen in this round which suggests that adventurers in the area may have to actually break out of the 'kill things, take their stuff' routine, and take some time to work through solving puzzles.

[Anthony Adam]

I'll post my 8 once voting has closed so that I don't affect anyone else :)

[Neil Spicer]

I used to pay very close attention to the exit polls when I was competing, because, aside from just getting a sense of how I was probably faring (and all the anxieties and self-doubt which come with it), it often gave me insight into why people were voting the way they were. That's because they'd share more than just their Top-whatever. They'd sometimes feel obligated to explain why, and that would then give me the ability to alter my approach or form different strategies for the next round on how to appeal to them and win their votes for a future round. In many ways, I would liken it to an actual published freelancer paying attention to the reviews and commentary for any given product thread here on Paizo's messageboards. Not just the feedback shared in a review (or an RPG Superstar submission thread), but also the Top sales list once a product is released. It gives you a sense of what the customer (or, in this case, the voting public) wants to see, and what they find appealing. That alone is a worthy thing to educate yourself on, both as an RPG Superstar competitor, and as an eventual freelance designer.

I do, however, get the concern about influencing the votes of others. That happens even in common elections when you see the early returns coming in for a particular candidate in a landslide victory and you become demotivated to go out and cast your vote anyway. However, for the purposes of RPGSS, I'm not sure it's had that big of an effect (if any at all). The frontrunners for any given round are usually pretty clear. It's only the individuals hovering right around the cut-off line where it might have any effect. And, in reality, all of those competitors' submissions are usually getting right around the same amount of love regardless of what folks say in their exit polls. In fact, the most common situations where the exit polls have been wrong in the past stemmed from those trailing behind the ones at the back of the pack. Someone a bit lower down (from an exit poll perspective) has managed to edge out someone right at the cut-line on at least a few occasions over multiple rounds in multiple years.

So, if anything, the exit polls haven't really influenced the voting to lock in everyone who appears above the cut-off line. It might convince more people to support the clear front runners (who were going to advance anyway), but it generally doesn't influence things at the cut-line itself. And, in fact, that's exactly where the exit polling is usually wrong. So, that's a good thing. I think it shows the competition is still fierce for those last few remaining spots and the exit polls really don't influence it very much.

In the meantime, I think the added benefits of the exit polls in educating the competitors to sharpen their awareness of "what the gaming public enjoys" versus "what the designers themeselves enjoy and want to write" is a significant lesson the polling helps teach. Because that's not always in sync and a designer needs to find that out pretty quickly if they want to keep surviving from round-to-round and have successful product releases when they're being published.

In fact:

Spoiler:

There are a lot of little nuances to the RPG Superstar contest that I'm not sure everyone naturally realizes or picks up on whether viewing things from the outside, or even when they're in the process of competing. A lot of those nuances mirror the kinds of things you'll face and need to consider in navigating a side-career (or even a full-time career) in the RPG industry as a freelancer. You need to study multiple things like: what the gaming public wants, what your publisher wants, popular topics and subject matter which you might not be as well-versed in but you may be asked to write, what other successful authors are writing and how they're writing it, etc. At least some analysis of those things is worth pursuing if you want to be successful. And you need to keep pushing yourself to not only "write what you know," but also expand your horizons to explore other things that might be "out of your comfort zone," but are clearly of interest to the voters/gaming public and successful topics or approaches demonstrated in other products by other authors.

So, maybe to connect the dots a little, here's one way of thinking about it. The judges of the RPG Superstar contest are the equivalent of your publisher and/or your developer in the real world of freelancing. You need to learn from them and win them over with your work, because they're the gatekeepers who greenlight you, whether for being in the Top 32, or winning their recommendations from round to round, or when you're putting together an outline for a proposal on an actual freelance assignment, or even when you've turned in your manuscript and they're determining how much of your turnover needs tweaking or has to be cut for the final product. Hearing and heeding the feedback and direction the judges give you runs parallel to the same types of instruction and coaching your developer may take the time to give you. But, likewise, sometimes bucking the advice of the judges to chart your own course can totally pay off. It's a risk. But so are those interactions with your developer or publisher when you're passionate about a particular creative direction you want to go and you need to win them over so they'll greenlight you in writing it or publishing it.

Likewise, the other competitors in the RPG Superstar contest are your colleagues in the real world of freelancing. They're walking the same path as you. They're navigating it using their own creativity and sense of the marketplace under the guidance of their publisher just like you are. Sometimes, they do really well with a particular subject or pull off something really inspiring and innovative. Sometimes, they don't and they fall flat on their face. You need to learn from their lessons just as much as your own. And you need to adapt your future work accordingly. It's not so much about "keeping up with the Joneses" as it's about improving yourself and supporting one another as you do. You can do both those things during the competition even while trying to outlast or outperform your fellow Superstars. And the same is true in the real world when you're trying to improve yourself while supporting your fellow freelancers. Collectively, you're doing a service to the hobby itself...not just writing vanity projects and picking up a paycheck here and there. Recongize that. Commit to it. And support one another and your publishers in doing so.

In the meantime, the voters of the RPG Superstar contest are the same consumers who would be buying your products in the real world. The feedback they offer here via their comments and exit polling can give you tremendous insight into what they enjoy and want. But there are also a vast array of opinions and tastes out there. You need to keep an eye on where the best markets are for certain ideas. If you go too far off the deep end (or the reservation) on some things, you'll lose the majority of the marketplace...or the votes when it comes to RPG Superstar. To know the best, most effective waters to swim in, and how to take a particular "safe" bit of territory and turn it into something Superstar, is a skill you need to hone, both during the contest and in your eventual work. You do that by listening and paying attention to what people are saying. Not just about your work, but about everyone else's, as well. And that's something the exit polls (and other competitors' feedback threads) can help you with in the contest.

But that's just my two cents,
--Neil

[Monica Marlowe]

Chris Shaeffer wrote:

R D Ramsey wrote:

It's a tradition dating back to the very first year.

I'll just leave this here.

Ahem.

They even mention me by name. I love that musical, watched it just the other day ;-)

[Jacob W. Michaels]

As I noted, they're not perfect predictors of success. I believe both rounds I've been bumped, the exit poll showed me advancing (I may be wrong about that in 2012 as I haven't looked at it in some time, but I remember thinking I had a chance because of the poll even though I wasn't incredibly optimistic at the time).

And I can understand that concern too, but Victoria did win last year despite Robert having an overwhelming lead in the exit poll, so it's not a certain problem.

[thunderspirit]

I liked all the ones in the initial post and on Darkjoy's list. Paring my selection down to eight was tough; I wanted about a dozen votes this time around.

[Marcus Ewert]

I only voted for two:

Treant's Crossing (!)
and
Gravepit Basin of Fallen Cersai (sorry if I'm butchering the name)

I only vote for stuff I'm head over heels for me: that's just me

good luck, everyone

[Raynulf]

Just wanted to say thanks for the explanations, and in particular to Neil and Mikko for the time and thought in their responses. It's very much appreciated.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

After giving it some more thought, I decided on my final two votes:

- Elven Guardpost on the Tanglebriar Border (Dana Huber), as I think it's not a map I could draw myself and I see enough potential there of being able to drop it into an adventure; and

- Nanny Pajit's Gyre (Matthew Morris), but honestly this is largely on the strength of his Round 1 entry and the fact that I think some of my other remaining choices are in a little less need of support and I'd like to see what else Matthew can do.

It really wasn't an easy choice, which speaks highly to the contestants. Like I said, I had 14 I could have easily voted for. My runners-up were: Cavern of Steam, Lost Water Gardens, Inside the Glacier, Griffon Falls, the Haunted Dinosaur Graveyard and Leviathan's End.

[Zesdead]

Votes and reasons:

• Caverns of Steam, Gabriel Almer - well constructed, logical and fun adventuring site - I could just take this one off the shelf and run something fun - and tell a story with it as well. This was the first map I looked at in R2 and I was seriously impressed.
  
• Smokemount Hold, Charlie Bell - a well thought out 3-d locale - you could use this as an abandoned fortress, a place for social encounters or a site to defend...from outside invaders or maybe from creatures coming up the volcanic spire?
  
• Salvation's End, Brian Fruzen - this conveys 'ruin' very well - there are enough pointers to suggest what kind of adventures you might have...sink hole, nesting creatures, gravestones...without being prescriptive - a really good canvas for a fun adventure.
  
• Leviathan's End, Jason Keeley - this one definitely requires a bit of development but the seeds of a fantastic map / adventure are plain to see...what kind of work is being performed in the laboratory? What other creatures reside / feast upon the dead beast? Is the structure stable or sinking?
  
• Shadde-Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling, Scott La-Barge - the relative scale of the map vs the associated drawing seemed to put the judges off this one but I think they've missed the point - this is, by quite some margin, the best of the settlement maps submitted to R2 - it's logical, it's in a great / fun locale (cliffs, waterfall, etc), it has flavour (captured ships prows) and offers up an adventuring site with the cave behind the waterfall.
  
• Firebrand's Redoubt, Monica Marlowe - I think this one will get a lot of love - the use of upper / lower levels saves it from the kitsch 'axe-shaped fortress' it could have been and there is a great internal logic to all of the rooms inside - they tell me what kind of person Lady Delbara Axebringer was / is - an easy decision to vote this through.
  
• Ancient Cyclop's Stronghold - Kalervo Oilarinen - This one is fun!!! Sure it is only the start of an adventure into the stronghold but that initial assault up the peaks - cyclops, bridges / rope bridges and cockatrices just says excitement to me - what I love even more is that this map would appear twice in an adventure...once on the assault and then a second time when you've breached the gates and explored the stronghold and you climb up to the Tyrant's Tower...really good foreshadowing.
  
• Treant's Crossing, Chris Shaeffer - an adventuring site that I can just place down when my PC's come to a river crossing? Yes please!!! You just turned a 'you ford across the river, get a bit damp and move on' to a memorable night of adventuring...well done!!!!

[James Casey]

My votes went to:
Caverns of Steam
Salvation's End
Firebrandt's Redoubt
Ancient Cyclops
Treant's Crossing
Tanglebriar
Dinosaur Train!... er Graveyard ;-)
Griffon Falls

I would add comment but I have already done that in each entry's thread.

I will say the last three were a VERY tough decision. I liked Smokemount, Leviathan's End and Drowning Temple very much and they all were right on the cusp with my 6,7 and 8.

[Anthony Adam]

Ok, I doubt if revealing more exit polls will affect voting much now, so here are my 8 (in no particular order)...

Kalervo Oikarinen — Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks
Gabriel Almer — Caverns of Steam, Near Dwimovel (Darklands, Sekamina)
Christopher Wasko — The Drowning Temple
Monica Marlowe — Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer
Jeff Heikkinen — Inside the Glacier
Brian Fruzen — Salvation's End
Scott LaBarge — Shadde-Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling. Calphiak Mountains
Charlie Bell — Smokemount Hold

[Mikko Kallio]

Could someone volunteer to make a spreadsheet and count the exit poll votes? :) Easier to keep track of them.

[Pedro Coelho]

Already on it.

RPG Superstar Round 2 Exit Poll Spreadsheet

[Steve Miller]

I voted for:
Smokemount Hold - excellent location; I would love to adventure/GM here; could use some more color and furniture
Lost Water Gardens of Jalmeray - beautiful map, fun location, nice elevation view
Elven Guardpost on the Tanglebriar Border - I've imagined locations like this before and this map does justice to those thoughts; good elevation view
Temple of Kabriri, The Pit, Sandpoint Hinterlands - intriguing room names, combats in these rooms would provide a good challenge; 3 ft wide catacombs could have been drawn a little wider
Shadde-Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling. Calphiak Mountains - great plan view and elevation/isometric view, I want to go explore the Cave of the Dripping Spirit; the three buildings part way up the cliff appear to be colored a little differently than the rest of map – not sure if that is good or bad.
Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer - great functional shape, nice detail; more color is the only thing I see to improve this map.
Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks - this is a sweet location, love the elevation indicators, ice and boulders terrain; rope bridge from -20 to -10 over a horizontal distance of 10 feet is a steeply inclined bridge; key markers for palisade could have been more distinct from the boulders
Treant's Crossing - great idea, good encounter locations; key text any smaller would be too difficult to read, enlarging the treant a little bit, would open up the encounter areas to a more manageable size

[Steven Helt]

I'm pretty picky about the maps, and I don't want to vote for someone who doesn't distinguish themselves, so I am currently only dropping six votes. I have more than two sort of tied for 7th and 8th to me and I'm not sure what I'll do about those yet.

So right now, my votes are (in no order):

Charlie Bell: Smokemount Hold
Monica Marlowe: What'shername's Tomb
Kalervo Oikerinan: Cylops stronghold
Chris Schaefer: Treant's Crossing
Jason Keeley: Leviathan's End
Dana Huber: elven guardpost

[Mark Griffin]

I voted for the following maps more or less in this order.

Caverns of Steam
Firebrand's Redoubt
Inside the Glacier
Griffon Falls
Treant's Crossing
Ancient Cyclops Hold
Salvation's End
Drowning Temple

My last vote could have gone to either Smokemount Hold or Leviathan's End, it was really a toss up for me between those two and the drowning temple. I'm sure they'll make it into the top 16 without my vote.

[James Raine]

I didn't have any fretting about my votes: I made a list of the maps that impressed me, and it turned out to be 8. Here's my list:

Smokemount Hold, Salvation's End, Elven Guardpost on the Tanglebriar Border, Tomb of the Mad Elementalist, Firebrand's Redoubt, Ancient Cyclops Stronghold, Fancy Reefclaw Brewery, Treant's Crossing.

I was going to reserve a seat or two for people from Round 1 who had items that impressed me but maps that didn't, but it turned out that everyone in round 1 I was really in love with made a map I liked in round 2.

[CripDyke]

Okay, notice that I listed these in clumps. I had just 2 groups when I started looking through...

"maybe yes"

and
"definitely no"

Once there were enough in the maybe yes pile, I started sorting them into the "approximately equal" groups. So whenever you see no line breaks, the grouped maps were considered about equally worthy (though sometimes one's strengths were another's weaknesses - so not equally worthy for the same reasons...).

With no further ado:

Brian Fruzen, Salvation’s End
Jeff Heikkenin, Inside the Glacier
Jason Keeley, Leviathan’s End
Monica Marlowe, Firebrand’s Redoubt

Chris Shaeffer, Treant’s Crossing

Russ Brown, Lost Water Gardens of Jalmeray
Kalervo Oikarinen, Ancient Cyclops’ Strongold

Maria Smolina, Hexed Pathways to the Icerime Peaks

Cutoff ==========================================
Christopher Wasko, The Drowning Temple
Newton Philis, Escape from the Fleshlairs of Okeno
Dana Huber, Elven Guardpost on the Tanglebriar Border
Gabriel Almer, Caverns of Steam, near Dwimovel
Matt Roth, Needlecreek Chasm

===================
I felt it good to include my post-cutoff group because, TBH, Smolina's Hexed Pathways was so close to the group below, that on a different day I might have chosen any one of them as my 8th vote.

But it wasn't a different day, and Smolina earned my vote, even if I can't gainsay any who felt that, say, the Drowning Temple was more worthy.

[Pedro Coelho]

***DISCLAIMER***

The spreadsheet is public but view only, so I'm the only one who can edit it as of now. Those of you taking a closer look might notice some strange math if you compare the number of voters and the numbers of votes cast. This happens because of two things:

1. Not all voters used their 8 available votes;
2. I've received PMs from a few folks who didn't want to identify themselves to avoid any bad blood. I've added those votes to the spreadsheet. If anyone opposes this practice, I have no problem removing the PM votes, I just thought the community should know for the sake of transparency.

I'll add mine after voting is closed.

[EDIT] Feel free to double check the open votes and PM me if you notice something wrong, so I can correct it.

[Scott Fernandez]

These 8 Superstar hopefuls had the best maps for not only artistic merit, because a map has to look interesting, but also for grabbing my imagination and suggesting dynamic and cool places to build encounters in.

Gabriel Almer – Caverns of Steam, Near Dwimovel
Charlie Bell – Smokemount Hold
Brian Fruzen – Salvation's End
Jeff Heikkinen – Inside the Glacier
Monica Marlowe – Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady
Kalervo Oikarinen – Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime
Chris Shaeffer – Treant's Crossing
Christopher Wasko – The Drowning Temple

--Vrock Superstar

[Jaragil]

So far I've given seven votes:

Gabriel Almer - Caverns of Steam
Charlie Bell — Smokemount Hold
Russ Brown — Lost Water Gardens of Jalmeray
Monica Marlowe — Firebrand's Redoubt
Kalervo Oikarinen — Ancient Cyclops Stronghold
R Pickard — Town of Griffon Falls
Chris Shaeffer — Treant's Crossing

So I have one vote left, but I have three or four maps that are about equally good. Some are better designed, some have better idea, some tell better story. Honestly, at this point I'm feeling that I cannot lift one of them above the others. Even the magic items can't work as a tiebreaker, because they're all kind of meh to me.

We shall see if I change my mind, but at least these seven have more than earned their votes from me.

[Eric Morton]

My votes go to the maps of Ben Iglauer, Brian Fruzen, Charlie Bell, Chris Scaeffer, Gabriel Almer, Jeff Heikinen, Monica Marlow, and R Pickard.

My reasoning behind my votes is spelled out in another thread.

[Mike Welham]

I voted for:

Caverns of Steam
Elven Guardpost
Firebrand's Redoubt
The Haunted Dinosaur Graveyard of Mediogalti Island
Leviathan's End
Salvation's End
Smokemount Hold
Treant's Crossing

[Steven Helt]

I'm throwing my seventh vote to "Inside the Glacier". The best remark you can make about a map is that it immediately inspires you to go adventuring, and I wanna be in that glacier with time running out, background music spiked very high, and ice walls collapsing as I fight my way out.

[Eric Morton]

Steven Helt wrote:

I wanna be in that glacier with time running out, background music spiked very high, and ice walls collapsing as I fight my way out.

Now I'm convinced they need to add a challenge that takes place between Rounds 2 and 3: every finalist has to submit a background music playlist for someone else's map.

[Chris Shaeffer]

Eric Morton wrote:

Now I'm convinced they need to add a challenge that takes place between Rounds 2 and 3: every finalist has to submit a background music playlist for someone else's map.

Not good enough! We should have to COMPOSE and RECORD the playlist. :3

[David H]

But what if the only instrument I can play is vigorous jazz hands?

[Christopher Wasko]

Chris Shaeffer wrote:

Eric Morton wrote:

Now I'm convinced they need to add a challenge that takes place between Rounds 2 and 3: every finalist has to submit a background music playlist for someone else's map.

Not good enough! We should have to COMPOSE and RECORD the playlist. :3

Okay, here's my first draft:

DununununununuDAnununDAnununnDAnuDAnununDAnununDAnunDAnununDAnununnDAnuDAnu nunDAnununDAnunDAADAADAADAADADADAnununDAnununnDAnuDAnununDAnununDAnunDAADAA DAADAADADADDAnununDAnununnDAnuDAnununDAnununDAnun...

What do you think?

[Scott LaBarge]

Eric Morton wrote:

Steven Helt wrote:

I wanna be in that glacier with time running out, background music spiked very high, and ice walls collapsing as I fight my way out.

Now I'm convinced they need to add a challenge that takes place between Rounds 2 and 3: every finalist has to submit a background music playlist for someone else's map.

You joke, but how I would love that round, considering the amount of soundtrack music I've collected for *exactly* that purpose.

And let me put in a plug here for a free program called Softrope that never made it out of beta, but which I still use all the time to control sound effects and music during play. Not without flaws, but a really handy tool, and did I mention free?

[Jeff Hazuka]

I put my votes into three piles. "Absolutely yes," "Absolutely no," and "Further review." Six got in on first pass:

Jeff Heikkinen's "Inside the Glacier"
David Higaki's "Gravepit Basin"
Dana Huber's "Elven Guardpost
Ben Iglauer's "Dinosaur Graveyard"
R Pickard's "Town of Griffon Falls"
Chris Shaeffer's "Treant's Crossing"

These two made it out of the "next 7" to round out my top 8:

Kalervo Oikarinen's "Ancient Cyclops Stronghold"
Monica Marlowe's "Firebrand's Redoubt"

[Jeff Heikkinen]

Jeff Hazuka wrote:

I put my votes into three piles. "Absolutely yes," "Absolutely no," and "Further review."

I'm going through and finalizing my own votes now and this is basically the exact method I'm using, though I'm worried that the "definite yes" pile for me might have more than eight in it. I could never rank them all, but this kind of system of tiers is really helpful in sorting this out and I recommend it for anyone still deciding or especially anyone having trouble narrowing down the field.

(Not a peep from me at this time about which ones I put in which categories, except to say that my posting this here is NOT an endorsement of your specific list, which is quite different from mine! I'll PM Pedro when I've finalized my list but don't anticipate making it public.)

[Jeff Heikkinen]

I have selected my top 8.

Without commenting on any specific entry, there were eleven that I thought deserved my vote, so cutting that down to eight was one of the harder parts. A further seven had enough good points that they might have had a chance against weaker competition. Even a couple of the ones that were never contenders for my vote struck me as solid and usable, just not outstanding. Overall the good strongly outweighed the bad here.

I'm moderately confident that I'll reach the next round, but if I do, I will definitely need to step up my game.

[Mark Nordheim]

It was not an easy choice, but I voted for the following list:

Gabriel Almer - Caverns of Steam, Near Dwimovel (Darklands, Sekamina)
Charlie Bell - Smokemount Hold
Brian Fruzen - Salvation's End
Dana Huber - Elven Guardpost on the Tanglebriar Border
Monica Marlowe - Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer
Kalervo Oikarinen - Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks
R Pickard - Town of Griffon Falls
Christopher Wasko - The Drowning Temple

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Charlie Bell - Smokemount Hold.
Brian Fruzen - Salvation's End.
Jeff Heikkinen - Inside the Glacier.
Scott LaBarge - Shadde Quah Shoanti Cliff Dwelling. Calphiak Mountains.
Matthew Morris - Nanny Pajit's Gyre, Gogpodda.
Kalervo Oikarinen - Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks.
Chris Shaeffer - Treant's Crossing.
Christopher Wasko - The Drowning Temple.

[Pedro Coelho]

Just updated the spreadsheet.

[mplindustries]

I am probably not the best person to vote in this round, I think, because I don't use maps at all when I run games. What I ended up looking for were maps that I could draw inspiration from, or that I could hand to a new GM and have them run a game from. I ended up voting for (in order on the list, not my best to worst or whatever):

1) Caverns of Steam -- it was very clear and had a nice series of implied encounters.

2) Smokemount Hold -- even though I probably wouldn't use the map itself, I loved the concept of a dwarven stronghold built around a volanic vent and could easily use that. Frankly, the tiny view in the corner would be all I'd really need, though.

3) The Gravepit Basin of Fallen Sercai -- I don't know, it just seemed like an interesting area and set of possible, connected locations.

4) The Haunted Dinosaur Graveyard of Mediogalti Island -- The title just made it sound so interesting and I like the terrain. It's an interesting concept, but, well, yeah, I could probably have been just as inspired by the name alone.

5) The Tomb of the Mad Alchemist -- It seems like most people hated this, and while I agree that its really small, I really liked the subtle, implied puzzle here. I don't need the literal floorplans, remember, so the concept of the four elemental traps and the "find the runes in the correct order to proceed" thing just spoke to me. It's also very easy and straightfoward for a new GM to pick up and run. I really liked it, though, I'm pretty sure it will end up losing, given the negative feedback in its thread.

6) Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peak -- I will admit, this is, for me, the weakest map I chose. It didn't do much but look pretty. The implied encounters were ok, again, nothing I need a map for...I guess I just liked the inspiration it gave me about aerial aqueducts? I'm still a little torn between this one and those water gardens.

7) Treant's Crossing -- I think this was the best map in the competition. The concepts were great--a fallen tree dude forming a bridge with all kinds of encounters nearby and inside? Very inspirational. And on top of that, it also looked the best artistically (which was not a criteria for judging, I know).

8) The Drowning Temple -- I like water, and water filled temples. I liked the concepts here of the aquariums and prisons, etc. It did bug me that there didn't appear to be anyway to walk around the main complex before the pillars fell, but, as I'm using this for inspiration and not literal square for square mapping, that's not a big deal.

[Rich Malena]

A late vote, but it was a great reward during this full grading weekend. I opened up every map in a new tab and looked through all of them, asking myself if this map would be a useful visual aid during an adventure, and whether it would be visually interesting at the same time.

If a map didn't hit me as particularly useful or visually interesting, I closed the tab. Then I sorted the remainder with stuff I really liked on the left and the rest on the right. At that point I had twelve, so I picked four sure keepers and eventually sorted through the rest.

First off, these maps were fun. I really enjoyed this round and all the varied ideas contestants worked with. So just a general "great work." With that, I voted for:

Gabriel Almer — Caverns of Steam
Brian Fruzen — Salvation's End
Jeff Heikkinen — Inside the Glacier
Monica Marlowe — Firebrand's Redoubt
Kalervo Oikarinen — Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks
Newton Philis — Escape from the Fleshlairs of Okeno
Chris Shaeffer — Treant's Crossing
Christopher Wasko — The Drowning Temple

[Jacob W. Michaels]

The spreadsheet seems to have gotten a little jumbled, Pedro. Monica and Chris S. are assigned to each other's maps, and the same for Chris W. and Scott L. Gabriel also appears to be with someone else's map, and I think a few other people too...

[Koboldhammer]

My voting is based more on concept than execution: are there challenges in the Map, terrain that can be used one way or another? So, in short:
- the glacier (very strong concept)
- treant crossing
-salvations' end (most complete and thought-out map)
-drowning temple
-smokemount hold
-leviathan's end ( both this one and the treant really thought it through: what happens next, rather than just: dead thing looks cool)

Then there were seven sort of in a photofinish of which I picked on gut feeling:
-port vito smugglers' den (very controversial, I admit, as it feels unfinished)
-elven outpost (because a tree is difficult thing to map, and I think she did a decent job)

[Pedro Coelho]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

The spreadsheet seems to have gotten a little jumbled, Pedro. Monica and Chris S. are assigned to each other's maps, and the same for Chris W. and Scott L. Gabriel also appears to be with someone else's map, and I think a few other people too...

Yup, it seems like I didn't select column A last time I sorted the list. The maps and the votes were correct in relation to each other, but the names got mixed up. It's fixed now.

[Sporge]

Here's my list :-p
Sewer, Bridge, and Hypogeum Under Caliphas
Ancient Cyclops Stronghold in the Icerime Peaks
Smokemount Hold
Treant's Crossing
Caverns of Steam, Near Dwimovel (Darklands, Sekamina)
Smokemount Hold
Leviathan's End
The Drowning Temple

[Pedro Coelho]

Sporge, you wrote down Smokemount Hold twice, you still have one vote left. ;)

[Sporge]

Whoops missed this one my bad, I was just copying to notepad haha
Firebrand's Redoubt: Stronghold of Lady Delbera Axebringer