RPG Superstar: Top 4 Announced!

Congratulations to the Top 4! And to the Top 8 for producing such fantastic and memorable encounters. You should all be proud of your achievements throughout the competition... On to adventure!!!

Congrats to the top 4 and also to the rest of the top 8 for making it this far.

The top 4 happens to be exactly the same as my vote.

Congrats!

Congrats to the top 4!

Congrats to the top 4! Can't wait to see what module I'll buy next from Superstar!

Congrats, guys!

Congratulations, gentlemen. The brass ring is there for the taking. But you've got to bring your A-game to grab it. Be awesome. And good luck.

Congratulations fellahs! Bring it!

Great job! Now the wait to see the next level of awesome...

Congratulations Steven & Pedro!
Congratulations Matthew & Scott!

Huzzah! Well done.

Congrats to all!

Congradulations, and good luck in the next round!

Congratulations! I look forward to your adventure proposals.

Congrats to all of you!

I look forward to what you come up with next. :)

Well done guys. Final round, do your best work. Good luck!

Solid top 4. Really happy to see them.

Clark

I think it is also interesting to look back to round 1 to see how well the sorting process of the wondrous item does for eventual winners/top 4.

This year, both the quicksand cloak and the verdant crown were strong keeps from the judges. No surprise they are in the top 4. Which shows you can have excellent execution and mojo in round 1 items even that early in the contest. Great work Scott and Steven.

The reins were more of a dark horse. Both Sean and I called them a weak keep but Wolfgang saw something and he pulled for them. Looks like what he saw proved to be correct--Pedro has really come on.

As for the soap, that was really an outsider item. Neither Sean nor Wolfgang felt that strongly but I thought they were clearly a keeper item and I fought for them in the top 32 and I'm glad I did since I think Matt has been fantastic.

So, the moral of the story is that each year there is a contestant who comes from the "barely got in the door of the top 32" list and makes it to the top 4. This once again validates my constant comment that the issue for round 1 is NOT to design the perfect item, but it is to show us some spark as a contestant (and thus we as judges should not be overly impressed by the perfect execution in round 1). Maybe I've just been doing this for a while, but I think we judges have a pretty good eye for that contestant with mojo whose round 1 item isn't perfect. Each year one of us finds one of those persons who just squeaks in that one of us championed who winds up going real far.

Just for the record, remember how we used the top 89 items from the public vote from which to choose the top 32? Well, without naming names (and they don't necessarily relate in public ranking to judge ranking), the top 4 contestants submitted items 7, 11, 37 and 45 from the public vote. Just in case anyone was interested. Based on the judges rankings, though, of the top 32 they were items 2, 4, 22 and 28. So once again I think this shows the judge's input is valuable. Though it is clear the public does a good job of sorting the keep pile, it still really needs judicial ranking by experts of the top 32 from that pile. Lots to learn and think about. I love this contest!

Congrats top 4, good to see that all my votes made it.

Congrats and good work!

Congratulations all - you have the hardest fight left now - the big one.

I won't ask for your A game, I want your A++ (or using UK exams, your A**) game.

I want to buy your proposal yesterday - that's what you must make me feel for gaining my final vote. So get to it.

Well done; four deserved places. Bring out the awesome.

Well done, guys.
Now knock it out of the park!

Well Done. Gongrats!