OK, so I've done all of my comments. I thought I would post here what I was sort of looking for.
I wanted to see growth.
I loved the fact that Paizo let people keep or scrap or revamp their prior villain for this round. It gave people the chance to take feedback and make changes. Because, lets be frank, only about 4 or 5 of the villains were really excellent. And even those werent flawless. I was underwhelmed with the first wave of villains. So I was pleased to see that Paizo gave people a chance to upgrade, so to speak.
And I really want to see what people do with that chance.
Here's what I dont like--playing it safe and not really making any changes or improvements. You really run the risk of letting your competitors pass you by if you play it safe, because they wont be doing that. Plus, by playing it safe you are saying that your villain was so good it didnt need much changing. You all read those villains. There arent many of them (if any) that were so good they needed no improvements (well, maybe Gulga, but even then you can always do something).
I am really looking forward to the voters evaluating the growth of the various contestants. I've already gotten the chance. I've already made my comments. And some people took this task to heart and others didnt. How that shakes out will be interesting to see. A couple people really stepped up and made some great changes and vaulted what were some questionable villains into some great entries. Others rested on their laurels or didnt put in the time or just presumed they could play it safe.
Here is what I didnt do. I commented on the stat block and on the new rules bit. But my comments werent as extensive as Sean, Wolf and Jason. 'Cause really, what can I add to that discussion? Those three are pre-eminent designers and stat block gods, if you will. To me, you dont have to get the skill points perfect on a complex villain. That is what d20 editors are for. But you better do a real good job.
So I guess I stayed real big picture this round. Hopefully my comments are helpful to all of you. But the beauty of this contest is that in the end you all get the winner you pick, not the winner I pick. I think that is really cool. And it is really cool for Paizo to do it that way.
So good luck to all the contestants! And I hope all of you are aided by the judges' comments. I cant wait to see how all of you view these submissions. I will say this, we had some real improvement from last round, which I think is great.
Good gaming!
Clark
RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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Awesome stuff, Clark. I think that improvement and growth will really impress some of us voters...there were defintely villain entries making it into the round that need to demonstrate attention to the feedback they received.
To me, having all your 'skill points' for the complex villain is pretty important in a stat block round. But most important to me is the question of whether a contestant can mechanically put together a great encounter. That will also be tested for the contestants moving on to design a lair.
Good luck to everyone in the top 16. All 17 of you.
I wanted to see growth... I loved the fact that Paizo let people keep or scrap or revamp their prior villain for this round... So I guess I stayed real big picture this round....
Glad to hear that this is the case, at least for dear Clark. Very cool.
Does everyone get one of those cool report cards with the letter grades? Hope so - those are always fun to read.
No report cards this time. You'll see what I did. More free form discussion tied to the three things I wanted to see: 1. growth, 2. stat block execution, 3. new rules bit.
No report cards this time. You'll see what I did. More free form discussion...
I really like the feedback and discussion you guys give us. I learn just as much (or more!) from what you say on everyone else's entries as you do on mine. So, I'm really glad you take the time to go in-depth on every submission...and every component of a submission. It'll be interesting to see more of the free-form analysis than the report card this go-around.
--Neil
No report cards this time. You'll see what I did. More free form discussion...I really like the feedback and discussion you guys give us. I learn just as much (or more!) from what you say on everyone else's entries as you do on mine. So, I'm really glad you take the time to go in-depth on every submission...and every component of a submission. It'll be interesting to see more of the free-form analysis than the report card this go-around.
--Neil
I'm not so sure everyone will like my comments.
Like I said, I wanted growth. I didnt see it from all the people I expected to see it from. I also didnt see it as much from a certain front runner who I thought took his or her foot off the gas pedal this round. I expect not to see that again in future rounds (without naming names). :) There's no resting on your laurels in Superstar.
Clark