Jerett Schaufele's page

I have to admit that, good or bad, I also see strong evidence that PFO is being designed primarily to cater to PVPs and hardore gamers that are heavily into guilds/raids.

To be honest, as a casual gamer, this is not what I would have prefered but I can't say that this comes a surprise or that I didn't know the game would be moving in this direction. I mean, Goblinworks made it pretty clear that the content of the game is driven by the community and that it wouldn't be a themepark game. How else can the community generate content if not by socially interacting through PVP and inter-guild politics. So even though I'm not super stoked about this apparant direction, I don't regret backing it because it was the idea of Pathfinder becoming an MMO that I supported.

That said, I agree with Maccabee that it is too early to form a clear idea of how this game will play on launch day, or even a year ofter that. I am, however, going to give the game the benefit of the doubt because I see some innovation here and I really want it to succeed.

I will add, however, for any devs that may be listening, if it turns out that the game is designed to limit game content (areas, elite loot, game systems) to only those who heavily invest in the socal aspects of the game or if it severely limits the capabilities of factions who are not as economically powerful as others, I will have a hard time justifying paying a monthly fee. Conceptually, the idea of community driven content is cool but I would like to see more evidence that the game is fun outside of the politics. I want to be able to explore the world on my own if I choose to. Can I do that?

Jerett Schaufele wrote:

I don't personally feel that it is up to Paizo to tell me how good my English has to be. It is up to me to showcase my best work and skills in the hope that I can convince the judges that I can deliver an entertaining manuscript that will make them money.

It is if they're the ones paying you to write for them, talent or no.

It has been said many times before: this is not purely a showcase of talent or creativity, although that is one of the contributing factors in winning.

The ability and willingness to follow the proscribed rules is as important as anything else. Minor mistakes are at least overlook-able and at best a teaching/learning opportunity. Blatant disregard of, and antipathy toward, the contest or job's requirements are not desirable traits.

This is a job interview disguised as a contest. It would behoove everyone to remember that.

I agree completely. What I meant is, you shouldn't need to be told what level of quality is expected of you. Your best work is expected and that should go without saying.

I'm seeing two null items and can't decide if 'null is better', 'null is better', or 'both items are equally good/bad'.

Decisions, decisions.

If you want to be that nit pickey then you are barring people with lower education, learning difficulties, issues like dyslexia. Not to mention people who's first language isn't English. This is supposed to be an "Open call" not a "Call to everyone with a degree in English"

What is being looked for here is creativity.
How many errata are there for the Pathfinder Core Rulebook? How many times have you seen a rule that needed more information or a quick check online to see how others apply it?

I respectfully disagree with this comment.

While RPG superstar is a 'Open Call' contest, it is competition that is primarily designed to find new freelance talent for Paizo (who happens to be a publisher). Its not a creativity contest per se. Yeah, we should be enjoying the creative process and be able to offer something creative as designers. Why else would we be here and why else would Paizo want to hire us, but you need to have a strong command of the English language if you want to get your work published.

A child might be able to come up with a cool and creative idea but he would not possess the necessary language to communicate it properly. That is our job as designers and it is expected of us.

That's not to say you shouldn't enter the competition if you have learning difficulties or a poor grasp of grammar. You just need to understand if you are doing it more for yourself, to grow as a designer or to have fun, or if you are aiming for the big prize.

...

Thank you for your feedback (and votes) on my Handkerchief of the Scoured Visage item James.

The marathon voter's are tense,
Since Clark's wicked suspense,
Maybe in, maybe out,
Pure evil without doubt,
His true meaning I cannot sense.

I don't mean to sound critical about it. Seeing repeats do slim down some of the reading time when voting on submissions.

Yeah, I agree. I think that it is important to spend the 60s when considering items you have not seen before. As time goes on and you are regularily comparing items you have already read, 60s may be too much.

I am not paying a huge amount of attention to an item's formatting at this time because it is relatively easy to select the stronger item based on the mechanics alone which I feel is more important.

When many of the not-so-worthy items stop appearing, and I must compare two quality items, my focus is going to shift to start looking at the finer details like formatting, template use, and punctuation.

I think that allowing the public to vote during Round 1 while still letting the judges have final say on who makes it to Round 2 is a great idea. Every year there are more and more submissions and it can't be easy going through that many items over Christmas.

Good luck everyone!