I guess I get it, but it still seems like a lot of work for a fan-fiction contest. What if one of the contestants who makes it to Round 2 has a bad month and though their first story was birlliant, their second one is lacking. And vice versa.
I understand the nod to RPG Superstar, but this isn't an RPG contest and I thought the community voted on the winners for lower rounds in Superstar. From what I saw of the contest the Paizo community isn't involved. I don't know, I might toss in an entry and see what it's about, but this isn't like any other contest I've ever seen.