RPG Superstar: The Collection?

[Christopher Gibson]

I found out about the contest kind of late, so this may have already been covered (and I'd look, but the Paizo site is loading very slowly for me today), but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Has there been any indication of whether Paizo is going to collect the results of this contest in a book form that people can actually buy once it's over.

I know I'd pay to have a nice bound copy of everything that's been produced here.

[Patrick Walsh]

There has, and they said "no".

I understand your desire - I find myself needing to make a concerted effort to pull out all the gems for inclusion into my own repertoire.

[Dungeon Grrrl]

I strongly suspect part of the problem is that many of us would disagree about what the "gems" are.

Still, Paizo has this stuff now. I trust Mikie or someone else has a file that contains all the submissions. If they decide some of this material is too good not to use, they can use it, in a complitation or elsewhere.

[Threeblood]

I see merit in the idea, but I think it might take to much man power to try and make something like this happen. Although...Maybe they could just take the final four's submissions, from magic items to final adventure idea, and print them in a small booklet that they could distribute at the Major Conventions. I'm not a marketing type, but introducing more of the gaming community to the awesome idea of RPG SUPERSTAR might bring more people to the contest next year. The advertisment that this might generate for PIAZO, by showing gamers submissions of other gamers, and how the contest worked. Might help generate a broader fan base for the company.

[Steven Helt]

We do NOT want more people in the contest next year. : }

[Jason Nelson]

Threeblood wrote:

I see merit in the idea, but I think it might take to much man power to try and make something like this happen. Although...Maybe they could just take the final four's submissions, from magic items to final adventure idea, and print them in a small booklet that they could distribute at the Major Conventions. I'm not a marketing type, but introducing more of the gaming community to the awesome idea of RPG SUPERSTAR might bring more people to the contest next year. The advertisment that this might generate for PIAZO, by showing gamers submissions of other gamers, and how the contest worked. Might help generate a broader fan base for the company.

If they do that I hope they give the final 4 a chance to make a few edits in response to feedback. I don't know that anyone would say "Oh my entry was flawless as it was" even IF it was good enough to get them to the Final Four.

[Joel Flank]

Isn't all of the material on the website OGL and therefore able to be published/re-packaged by basically anyone?\

If that's the case, then theoretically, anyone coudl take the material, edit it the way they want, then publish it. The big question is, would anyone buy it, when all of the content is available for free on Paizo's website?

[allen trussell]

JoelF847 wrote:

Isn't all of the material on the website OGL and therefore able to be published/re-packaged by basically anyone?\

If that's the case, then theoretically, anyone coudl take the material, edit it the way they want, then publish it. The big question is, would anyone buy it, when all of the content is available for free on Paizo's website?

No; the rules state that all entries become the property of Paizo. You can't just edit and re-distribute, even for free.

[Christopher Gibson]

JoelF847 wrote:

The big question is, would anyone buy it, when all of the content is available for free on Paizo's website?

If they edited things, as Jason suggests, packaged it up nicely in a perfect bound or hardcover book, and maybe even illustrated a few things, I'd definitely buy it (even though I can just go and copy everything I want from the site right now, for my personal use).

[Laserray]

Though not marketing experts, we who have followed Paizo's RPG Superstar Contest – reading, commenting, and voting - have made an unusual commitment. We have developed a sense of ownership and will always believe that our participation helped create "authors." Many will want a hard copy that represents not only the writers' contributions, but our own investment in their efforts.

Also, people LOVE to see their friend's and/or family's work in print. Producing a compilation of one entry from each of the thirty-two finalists would garner purchases for/from children, spouses, parents, friends, and extended family, as well as from the authors themselves.

If a reader wants stat blocks or spoilers in order to run an entry, the text can send them to Paizo.com. My desire is to have a copy in the classroom as inspiration for students to write. Each level of the Paizo RPG competition provides creative writing opportunities and meritorious examples.

[Maurice de Mare]

ancientsensei wrote:

We do NOT want more people in the contest next year. : }

Some people might nog even be able to compete next year, with the new edition being out, the OGL might not be available yet and the SRD will be a bunch of guidelines, unlike the wonderful d20srd.org.

[Joel Flank]

Darkjoy wrote:

ancientsensei wrote:

We do NOT want more people in the contest next year. : }

Some people might nog even be able to compete next year, with the new edition being out, the OGL might not be available yet and the SRD will be a bunch of guidelines, unlike the wonderful d20srd.org.

That assumes that next time they run the contest a) Paizo will have adopted 4E, and b) they choose to use 4E instead of 3.5E for the contest. I know that I'm a lot less likely to enter even if it's 4E, since I'm currenly strongly leaning against adopting the new rules.

[Jason Nelson]

Darkjoy wrote:

ancientsensei wrote:

We do NOT want more people in the contest next year. : }

Some people might nog even be able to compete next year, with the new edition being out, the OGL might not be available yet and the SRD will be a bunch of guidelines, unlike the wonderful d20srd.org.

I wonder also if there would or should be a moratorium on repeat contestants. Like if you got in the field of 32 one year you couldn't enter the next year. I dunno.

I know enough about American Idol to know that people who have gotten as far as the sort of intermediate "Hollywood Week" level but quit or gotten cut there have gone back and competed again in subsequent years (sometimes making it through local auditions, sometimes not), but I don't think anyone who has been in the final competitor group (24 maybe?) has repeated.

Not that that's the be-all and end-all of the model, but it's an interesting question for someone like Sam Kisko or James Mackenzie who did dynamite stuff in rounds 1 and/or 2 but didn't get past round 3. Would they be eligible to try again? For that matter, you could say the same about anyone other than the final winner.

Just thinking out loud. I'm not sure what the right answer is.

[Joel Flank]

Jason Nelson 20 wrote:

Darkjoy wrote:

ancientsensei wrote:

We do NOT want more people in the contest next year. : }

Some people might nog even be able to compete next year, with the new edition being out, the OGL might not be available yet and the SRD will be a bunch of guidelines, unlike the wonderful d20srd.org.

I wonder also if there would or should be a moratorium on repeat contestants. Like if you got in the field of 32 one year you couldn't enter the next year. I dunno.

I know enough about American Idol to know that people who have gotten as far as the sort of intermediate "Hollywood Week" level but quit or gotten cut there have gone back and competed again in subsequent years (sometimes making it through local auditions, sometimes not), but I don't think anyone who has been in the final competitor group (24 maybe?) has repeated.

Not that that's the be-all and end-all of the model, but it's an interesting question for someone like Sam Kisko or James Mackenzie who did dynamite stuff in rounds 1 and/or 2 but didn't get past round 3. Would they be eligible to try again? For that matter, you could say the same about anyone other than the final winner.

Just thinking out loud. I'm not sure what the right answer is.

I'm thinking that the top 6 are all likely to have their name on the cover of something by the time the next RPG Superstar comes around, and thus not be eligible. I think that should be enough to keep repeat entrants from becoming too familiar from previous years.