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Why do people keep saying this? Have people really never had a job where they're not allowed to talk about their work? Non-disclosure agreements and Non-compete agreements are very prevalent in business today. They're also prevalent in the publishing industry. It's another aspect of the job interview that is the core of RPG Superstar. The rules are there for a reason. They're like an employee handbook. They are not optional and they won't change; most of the current rules are the same ones from 2008. It's pretty simple. The rules say, "Don't talk about your item"; don't do it. Your day job says "Wear a tie," so you do. Don't follow the rules at your own risk. Complaining about them only reinforces the point of the rule. It's also somewhat boggling that we have the same discussion about this every year. It honestly tempts me to cut and paste my old posts on the topic.
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 didn't like this item, in all honesty. Too much Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was also underwhelming. "Upon a command word being spoken..." really bugged me. Add in the wayfinder and ioun stone bits, the item didn't stand well enough on its own for me to vote for it very often.
This item immediately made me think of Serpentor. I liked it, though, and voted for it more than a few times.
Oddly, I never actually saw this one during my voting. I like that it has unique powers. As others have mentioned the mechanics could use a little polish, but it's a good item with a solid theme. It is interesting to note that my own item last year was nautically themed, taking from the seafaring combat rules in Ultimate Combat. Glad to see a few of them making the top 32. Congratulations.
This one was also not one of my favorites, for several reasons. First, it's a bit of a SAIC. Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion does essentially the same thing. It's also a plot device and a camping item, useful especially when the ship is at sea and running low on supplies. Realistically, that would take months for a fully-stocked ship. That positively screams deus ex machine to me. In addition it reminds me far too much of Kakishon, from the Legacy of Fire adventure path. Finally, it's useful in far too narrow a set of circumstances, being only truly useful in a seafaring campaign, which got a few items dinged by the judges last year. It was tightly put-together and did have a good theme, to which it stuck, but it was definitely not an item I would have thought was Superstar.
This is an excellent point. In addition, design jobs of any type are not about how close you were to landing the contract. They are about who got the job and who didn't. They are about giving the client/customer what they want, with "just enough" creative spin. Companies who receive bids from design firms don't normally provide an explanation why you didn't get the contract; you just get to see the magazine cover, ad copy, or television commercial at the same time everyone else does. RPG Superstar, despite it dressing as a contest, isn't a contest. As Andrew said, it's a job interview. It's not about who was in any place other than the top 32 (and maybe as small as the top 4) and, in effect, get the contract. Providing rankings is not productive for a ton of reasons and asking for it to happen is ultimately based on insecurity and the need to have an ego assuaged. It serves absolutely no useful purpose to Paizo, the community, or anyone who's serious about the job aspect of RPG Superstar. Anyone who wants to see the voting results would be better served by posting their item for critique in the appropriate thread when it opens. It would also behoove them to seek out peer feedback. There has historically been at least one peer critique thread every year. Reading the critique thread not only for your own item, but everyone else who requests feedback as well is also a constructive and relevant use of time. I can understand the disappointment inherent in not making the Top 32. I haven't. To be painfully honest, last year I was somewhat discouraged by my previous failures and didn't enter. That was a failing on my part. But I spent time re-reading critiques and item entries from all the previous years, re-familiarized myself with Sean's advice thread, and read pretty much every bit of RPG Superstar commentary I could. I do not believe any of that time was time wasted. I do, however, believe pining for voting rankings is time wasted. First, it's not going to happen. Second, the ongoing commentary in the multiple threads requesting and complaining about it clearly and absolutely reinforce Paizo's (I refer to the collective, as I'm sure more than one person is involved in the decision) decision not to do so.
The message I'm receiving here is that Paizo's customers are too immature, childlike, unstable or not possessed of the requisite critical faculties to deal with competition. Have I misunderstood? You're proving your own point.
If this were to become reality (which it won't; we have sufficient commentary by the decision-makers to know) it will end badly. Even without this visibility, we have had people going berserk (more or less) over why their item wasn't selected for the Top 32. Some of them have even been given specific critiques, from the judges indicating why the item wasn't selected and some have even been given suggestions on how to improve subsequent entries. I do not believe being able to see the voting statistics, along with ratings for our items, would be constructive or prudent. If you want to know why you didn't make the Top 32, man up and ask in the Critique My Item thread, take what is given, and improve upon your entry. Anything else, any other metric, is a waste of time and a distraction from what really matters.
Wise words and utterly true.
In every past iteration of the contest, discussing our items has only been okay after the top 32 are announced. In this year's version, it makes sense as the celebrity judges are now discussing and finalizing the top 32 and alternates. Bottom line: wait.
I'm not sure I've seen a 'plot item' per say. What constitutes an item being a plot device? When is a magic more useful to a GM than a player? I can see how some items aren't tat useful to a player but might be useful to a certain kind of NPC. Is this the same thing? Pretty much, yes. there are other nuances as well, but that's the best basic definition I can think of. The Wikipedia page on plot devices defines them pretty well and also has a few good examples.
I don't think an item that seems like it would be almost exclusively useful to a GM and of little or no use to the players is Superstar material. These are plot device items and the judges have a long-standing history of saying precisely that; items that are simply plot-devices for the GM are not superstar.
I know I remarked on the masochistic items previously. It definitely seems a lot of people think along the lines of, "If a kyton would like using this item, or it'd be the focus of a Hellraiser film, the judges will lurve it." I don't and based on past instances of the contest, neither do the judges.
Amusingly, you wouldn't be the first. However, I have seen a couple items reminiscent of the infamous Pokeball this year, though nothing quite overt.
Thoughts? I concur with the awesomeness. I am sad over the general disgust with filigree. It was such a common historical form of decoration (dating back to its sporadic use in ancient Egypt) that it makes sense for masterwork items to have elaborate decorations along the same lines. But, yeah... When we look at a bajillion items, some that couldn't possibly even have attached filigree work, it makes one rather jaded.
This "Which worst is better" thing is starting to kill little pieces of my soul. I'd say I couldn't fathom how the judges did it in years past, except that'd be a lie, thanks to the new voting scheme. At least they had the luxury of only having to look at design travesties once. What's worse is that I'm continuing to see items I was voting down last week. I've seen several new items, which is good. Have yet to see my own item, which makes me sad. Condorcet, why dost thou vex me so?
Inspired for a new spell: Tasha's uncontrollable weeping. It gets a bonus to its DC and/or duration if you make your save versus Tasha's uncontrollable hideous dancing. Tasha never got invited to prom.
It's not that it was bad, in fact, quite the opposite. However, it was such a blatant rip directly from a movie that it stunned me. I'm well aware of the effects of negative criticism and trust me, I have no desire at all to discourage folks. But man... At least try to spin your idea so the tearing noise as you "liberate" it from the movie isn't quite so audible.
I was never fan of eye and hand of Vecna. I Always preferred eye of Rhynn and hand of Kwll. Haven't read the Corum stuff as yet. Been quite a while since I read any Moorcock stuff, honestly. It is appropriate to note, though... Severed body parts as magic items; way overdone and, most times, poorly done.
It's getting to the point where I have to express myself exclusively through meme.Indeed. Or wear the skin, skull, or dismembered hands of something disgusting. I never found the eye of Vecna all that enticing. Although, I am a fan of the head of Vecna.
Never heard "tony" used like that before. Thanks for the new word. I learned "sussurus" from the eponymous monster in the original Fiend Folio. To stay on subject: If an item mimics the effects of a spell, it should have that spell as a creation requirement.
I'm really tired of superfluous adverbs, like "apparently" or "seemingly." Trim the fat. The item either is or isn't. Totally with you on this one. "This honking huge juggernaut of metal armor is apparently made of mist, until a rogue of the most evil sort wears his evil mosquito backpack of shadowy doom, at which point it reveals it's innermost powers." I think this thread needs a new example similar to Sean's Hitler-killing greatsword of time traveling, metal-singing awesomeness.
What is the deal with masochistic items? "This item is a giant mosquito with a barbed harpoon for a proboscis. You wear it like a backpack, with its feeding tube stabbed into your jugular vein." Side note: I learned the word "proboscis" playing D&D. ::snicker::
Neither does obscure vocabulary. It does demonstrate good things, but if I need one of my players to look up every third word of an item's description and effects, they're quite likely to never use that item.<sarc>So... you never played AD&D?</sarc> ::chuckle:: Since 80 or 81. Like I said in a different post, there's words I only know (like sussurus and vespertilian, among others) because I play D&D. I'd be curious to see a list of all the words other folks remember seeing the first time in a D&D supplement, rulebook, or novel. However, that's a discussion for another thread. There's a small list here. If anyone knows of any others, please let me know. My curiosity has been piqued. (there I go, doing it again)
Character quotes at the beginning of an item's text. Arg! I can't recall which rule number it is off the top of my head, but I do know it's one of Sean's rules. It's also the one that seems to me to be the biggest peeve and most concrete. Also: Sentence fragments at the very beginning of the item description. Another addendum: Items with subjective conditions for use; "This item is only useable by characters who are sufficiently chaotic evil." Items like this make the GM have to work harder; no item should do that.
I've just always enjoyed seeing what you guys think of the stuff I've submitted. I'll readily admit I have an ulterior motive. I've been writing since my 20s and the only way you can really hone your skill as a writer is by receiving, analyzing, and responding to critique. Hell, being able to actually withstand a critique is a valuable skill, as a writer and in life. It also helps that my submissions have all seemed to hit that "almost" level, which mitigates the sting of not getting into the top 32... a little.
Nope. I'm out this year. Two very large commitments will be taking up my time instead. First and foremost, I'll be a father again with a newborn son in mid-January. Second to that, I'm on a major writing deadline for Paizo. Best not to load RPG Superstar duties on top of that. Well crud. However, congratulations. Just had my first in 2011. Well... Deadlines for Paizo mean we get to buy more of your stuff. Two positives outweigh the single, minor negative.
Here's something crazy: Not only has Neil voted and judged items multiple times in the past, but he's provided detailed critique in addition to posting a bit of redactd judge's commentary.(I hope he does it this year too) And, he gave us two cents every time.
To jump on the bandwagon here, I'm really not fond of items that are "... especially prized by..." or "... typically used by...". If that's the case, why would anyone who's not one of the relevant groups bother to keep, buy, or build one of the items? You're essentially telling players who should own an item. That's limiting or dictating player choices and that's a Bad Thing. Also, gross-out items; the ones made of severed heads still dripping blood and the internal organs of small animals; are really gauche and, quite frankly, disgusting. I don't mean either of those things in any way that even remotely approaches good. Nick Logue and Boomer write well and often tend to use some pretty wild ideas and imagery. But it's not the gross-out factor or over-the-topness that made/make their stuff good. The stuff they write is actually good and doesn't totally depend on the abattoir gimmick to get by. It does't matter how you paint a house if the superstructure is rotted. Ironically, these are all things that several judges have mentioned several times in the past. I'd say that, after 5 years, people should "get it" by now. However, based on every year's entries, comments, and observations, that is not now and likely never will be the case. However, at least these folks had the wherewithal to participate. That takes some guts (pun intended). Hopefully, they'll learn and it'll be an entirely new batch of contestants making the mistakes next year. |
