Countdown To Entry Time.


RPG Superstar™ 2009 General Discussion

Jon Brazer Enterprises

According to my cell phone, there is 2 days, 4 hours and 39 minutes until you can enter the Superstar contest.

No Pressure. Good Luck All.


DMcCoy1693 wrote:

According to my cell phone, there is 2 days, 4 hours and 39 minutes until you can enter the Superstar contest.

No Pressure. Good Luck All.

Good luck to you.


Gray wrote:
DMcCoy1693 wrote:

According to my cell phone, there is 2 days, 4 hours and 39 minutes until you can enter the Superstar contest.

No Pressure. Good Luck All.

Good luck to you too.


Yea but there's no benefit to being the first one to post your entry. You're supposed to spend the entire next week second guessing yourself, writing and re-writing your entry, recalculating the costs etc...

That makes it so much better when you finally feel like you're about to explode and then you see that your name is not on the final 32.

... Thinking about changing my name to Ragwaine the Optimist.

Jon Brazer Enterprises

Ragwaine wrote:
Yea but there's no benefit to being the first one to post your entry.

True, but it is simply the first marker.

Jon Brazer Enterprises

Gray wrote:
Good luck to you.

Thank you. Same to you. :D

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

DMcCoy1693 wrote:
Ragwaine wrote:
Yea but there's no benefit to being the first one to post your entry.
True, but it is simply the first marker.

Actually, there is. As the first entry you can definitely WOW the judges easier ;>

This will last until the next entry.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I remember the first batch last year. Many of them were rushed and were poor. I believe I recall the judges collectively saying "uh oh, is this indicative of the level of quality we are going to get in this contest?" Luckily the subsequent submissions really raised the quality bar.

So dont rush. Work on it. Sleep on it a few days. Edit it. You know.

As they say, good writing is rewriting.

Clark

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Clark Peterson wrote:

I remember the first batch last year. Many of them were rushed and were poor. I believe I recall the judges collectively saying "uh oh, is this indicative of the level of quality we are going to get in this contest?" Luckily the subsequent submissions really raised the quality bar.

So dont rush. Work on it. Sleep on it a few days. Edit it. You know.

As they say, good writing is rewriting.

Clark

What if I've spent the last week reviewing and reworking mine and it's ready to go?

Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

Remember that the enemy of good is perfect.

-Ben.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

Fatespinner wrote:
What if I've spent the last week reviewing and reworking mine and it's ready to go?

I've got 6 items now, and still I don't know which one is 'superstar', if one of them is 'superstar' or what 'superstar' even means?

My current number #1 is something I think PC's and NPC's want due to the cool factor, but will the judges think so as well?

You could go mad, trying to come up with answers ;>

Sovereign Court

Fatespinner wrote:
What if I've spent the last week reviewing and reworking mine and it's ready to go?

You too? Last night was the first time I've slept all week, since I finished polishing up my item yesterday. I don't know how I'm going to survive the suspense of waiting until 01/20 to find out if it makes the top 32. Guess I'll be working on my villain concept :-).

Jon Brazer Enterprises

Elora wrote:
I don't know how I'm going to survive the suspense of waiting until 01/20 to find out if it makes the top 32.

Easy. Become a regular freelancer and have another project (with a deadline) waiting for you. You move on from this same as you do every other project: because you have to, because you've got responsibilities, and because you want that next project to be the best that it can be.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Fatespinner wrote:
What if I've spent the last week reviewing and reworking mine and it's ready to go?

Then I guess you are ready.

I was mostly speaking to the people who rush and dont wait and havent edited or rewritten their item.

If you are ready, you are ready.

Clark

Sovereign Court

DMcCoy1693 wrote:
Easy. Become a regular freelancer and have another project (with a deadline) waiting for you. You move on from this same as you do every other project: because you have to, because you've got responsibilities, and because you want that next project to be the best that it can be.

Hmmm...I was really just trying to convey how excited I am about this contest. I don't think I'll actually have any trouble keeping myself occupied, being a grad student, part-time editor, mother and wife. But I will have RPG Superstar running around in my brain de-railing my thoughts until the top 32 are revealed. :-)

Jon Brazer Enterprises

Elora wrote:
being a grad student, part-time editor, mother and wife.

Oh is that all? Seriously though, Wow! Go you!

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

I've got three items that are all better than what I submitted last year, and a about a dozen concepts I like enough to try out a bit more.

I don't plan to submit for a while yet. Cook over the ideas. I'll come up with more, and develop the ones I've already got.


Clark Peterson wrote:
Fatespinner wrote:
What if I've spent the last week reviewing and reworking mine and it's ready to go?

Then I guess you are ready.

I was mostly speaking to the people who rush and dont wait and havent edited or rewritten their item.

If you are ready, you are ready.

Clark

Yeah, I guess this year there will be better early submissions because we can have been doing them over for a year now, and we have a bit better idea what is going on...

Myself, I have to look a bit at item pricing, and look for some good, evocative words for description, but the general thing is ready...

Jon Brazer Enterprises

Myself, I've got WI ready, but I decided I"m going to submit towards the end. Plenty of time for revisions. Plenty of time for new ideas. Plenty of time for doubt. Etc.


DMcCoy1693 wrote:
Myself, I've got WI ready, but I decided I"m going to submit towards the end. Plenty of time for revisions. Plenty of time for new ideas. Plenty of time for doubt. Etc.

The plenty of time for doubt aspect is what is pressing me to submit earlier! =) I am quite excellent at out-thinking myself, and my own worst critic after all.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

I will probably do a final once-over on my item tonight (since I saw a few things about the PFRPG format that I was unaware of) and submit it.

Evidently, if your item only requires Spellcraft in it's creation, you don't need to list it under construction. That frees up a few words. :)

Also, a note to people who are getting picky with word counts:

My entry reported 186 words in MS Word 2003, but in MS Word 2007 it reported only 174 even though I directly copy/pasted it from one file (on a different computer) into an e-mail and then put it right back in with no addition/subtraction of words.

If you're cutting yourself down to 200 words exactly, I'd argue that you should probably aim a little lower, like 190, just to be sure. I got a 12 word disparity from two different versions of the same word processing program.

Alternately, I think it might be fair if the judges told us what program they ARE using for their word counts. That way we could know for sure. Judges?

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Fatespinner wrote:

I will probably do a final once-over on my item tonight (since I saw a few things about the PFRPG format that I was unaware of) and submit it.

Evidently, if your item only requires Spellcraft in it's creation, you don't need to list it under construction. That frees up a few words. :)

Also, a note to people who are getting picky with word counts:

My entry reported 186 words in MS Word 2003, but in MS Word 2007 it reported only 174 even though I directly copy/pasted it from one file (on a different computer) into an e-mail and then put it right back in with no addition/subtraction of words.

If you're cutting yourself down to 200 words exactly, I'd argue that you should probably aim a little lower, like 190, just to be sure. I got a 12 word disparity from two different versions of the same word processing program.

Alternately, I think it might be fair if the judges told us what program they ARE using for their word counts. That way we could know for sure. Judges?

I use MS Word 2007 for Vista

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4

I'm dusting myself off from last year, Clark.

Get ready.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Clark Peterson wrote:
I use MS Word 2007 for Vista

Thank you. That's what I wrote my entry up in. :) Means I've still got about 25 words to play with (but really don't need to)!

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Fatespinner wrote:
Clark Peterson wrote:
I use MS Word 2007 for Vista
Thank you. That's what I wrote my entry up in. :) Means I've still got about 25 words to play with (but really don't need to)!

I'm not the only judge. And I am not the official word count measurer. As we said last year, we know that there are a number of programs that may measure words differently. BUT it is your job to make sure you are under the word count.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Clark Peterson wrote:
I'm not the only judge. And I am not the official word count measurer. As we said last year, we know that there are a number of programs that may measure words differently. BUT it is your job to make sure you are under the word count.

Well then, who is the official word count measurer? And what program are they using? I'm confident that my own item is well under 200 words, but I'm really gathering intel for others perusal. As I said, the same program came up with a 12-word disparity just by being different editions. If someone nailed 200 words right on with MS Word '07 and the judges used Word '03, they'd see a 212 word count and insta-kill it, right? Or is 12 words within the 'reasonable margin of error?'

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 aka flash_cxxi

Fatespinner wrote:
What program are they using? If someone nailed 200 words right on with MS Word '07 and the judges used Word '03, they'd see a 212 word count and insta-kill it, right? Or is 12 words within the 'reasonable margin of error?'

This is actually quite pertinent to me as I am using Word 2007 on Vista and my Word Count comes in at spot on 200 words.


If it is so close that you are worried about disparages between word processors why not just count them by hand it will take 10 seconds and it can't be wrong.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Fatespinner wrote:
Clark Peterson wrote:
I'm not the only judge. And I am not the official word count measurer. As we said last year, we know that there are a number of programs that may measure words differently. BUT it is your job to make sure you are under the word count.
Well then, who is the official word count measurer? And what program are they using? I'm confident that my own item is well under 200 words, but I'm really gathering intel for others perusal. As I said, the same program came up with a 12-word disparity just by being different editions. If someone nailed 200 words right on with MS Word '07 and the judges used Word '03, they'd see a 212 word count and insta-kill it, right? Or is 12 words within the 'reasonable margin of error?'

Try taking out the verbs. That should save you some space too.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Sebastian wrote:
Try taking out the verbs. That should save you some space too.

That great idea, Sebastian. I take that into consideration. Your feedback most useful, as always.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Trescenzi wrote:
If it is so close that you are worried about disparages between word processors why not just count them by hand it will take 10 seconds and it can't be wrong.

Because the judges likely won't be counting it that way. They'll be doing it with a word processor since they have to do HUNDREDS of them.

If I count by hand 190 words, but the processor says 210, I'm screwed.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Fatespinner wrote:
Sebastian wrote:
Try taking out the verbs. That should save you some space too.
That great idea, Sebastian. I take that into consideration. Your feedback most useful, as always.

"take" is a verb.

Sheesh.

Sovereign Court

When counting words, do short words count the same as long words? Do both 'a' and 'synchopationally' count as one word each?


According to my Word program, yes. Even gp is a word. I was really excited to have to include a Skill category. *grins*


I'm a big fan of "Go with your first instincts" and have spent the last 3 days mulling over fine tuning, wording, cost and presentation.

I will be submitting my item far before the deadline because the holiday season is no time for extra stress. I'm going to spend my three weeks away from 'all' work, not just my job ;)

Cheers,
<eggnog>

The Exchange Kobold Press

It's definitely a little easier to stand out from the crowd early (because the crowd is smaller), but we read and evaluate every entry.

Send them when they are ready.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

How do we know if our submissions were successfully submitted? I just tried to send mine a minute ago and didn't get any kind of confirmation.


I had the same problem the first time I went to submit mine. Had to submit it again to get the confirmation message.

Once your entry is submittted the main page should show "Thanks for entering RPG Superstar—good luck" right below the RPGSuperstar title.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 aka Fatespinner

Thanks, Keith. Had to submit mine 4 times before it finally took!

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