I will do it again this year.
Thanks for your responses Clark and Vic.
Clark, I hope you don't plan on getting much sleep until spring! Very nice of you to offer to do this.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
aka Bats Kabber
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I've made all my edits to our discussion of each of the top 32 plus alts. Sean and Wes should do so soon and then our top finishers are off to Vic and Gary and guest judges.
I do want to say, I'm sorry you guys dont get the fully unedited versions of our comments, but it really is best this way. Also, what you come to realize is taht we spend way more time talking about the faults of an item rather than its merits. As designers, Sean, Wes and I can all pretty immediately spot a great item and know what is good about it. So, strangely, what we often talk about is what is BAD about a GREAT item. Funny how that works out. But its because we all see what works and there isnt much need to discuss it.
I would like to also voice my thanks. I am a 1st time submitter as well and would be more than a little thrilled to read the cruel dissection of my submission. I can't wait to see what the judges thought of it. Even if you have to e-mail it to me rather than post it here, I greatly appreciate you taking the time and energy to satisfy our curiosity and help us learn something in the process.
I admire a company that treats their customers and fans with the same level of quality they put into their products, which is substantial to begin with.
Well done, bravo and I thank you all for doing what you do.
I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.
I love hearing that. I know as a writer/designer/whateverthehellIam that writing something is great. The process of creation is awesome. But seeing it in play, now that really really rules.
I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.I love hearing that. I know as a writer/designer/whateverthehellIam that writing something is great. The process of creation is awesome. But seeing it in play, now that really really rules.
Agreed. The one saving grace of knowing that the odds are against me as a contestant in RPG Superstar is the fact that regardless of how I perform in the competition, in about five days' time, I will have a LOT of cool goodies to drop into my weekly game - not to mention the stuff I can pull out of future rounds of the competition and the "CLARK PLZ RATE MY ITEM" thread (yeah, yeah, I'm gonna post mine too, so I guess I should shaddup already).
And really, that's enough to salve any disappointment I'll feel if I don't make it to Top 32. Killing PCs makes everything better.
Killing PCs makes everything better.
Yes, yes it does.
+1. For the record, I'd love to be one of the top 32 and get to continue, but I already feel like I've "won" because I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.
Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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+1. For the record, I'd love to be one of the top 32 and get to continue, but I already feel like I've "won" because I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)
Sweet! Now THAT is cool!
Awesome! That is COOL!
There, we have emphasized all of the words in that sentence now and my mild case of OCD is satisfied until next time.
+1. For the record, I'd love to be one of the top 32 and get to continue, but I already feel like I've "won" because I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)
Hmmm... that could be mine!
... But the chances of that are slim, I think. I identified a couple problem areas (not showstoppers, but probably enough to keep me out of the top 32) with my item after I submitted it. Naturally.
I feel better knowing I'm not the only one who read that and thought to myself, "Would my item make sense as part of a suite?" ^_^()
That IS awesome, though, and you'll have to point it out if it isn't already evident from the comments. Makes me think of Spicer's Last Leaves.
Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)
OOohhh... Initial reaction:
third reaction:
fourth reaction
fifth reaction:
Wes came up with a new, more scientific and precise way for us to rank the submissions that really was great. Wes is the man!
Interesting. Does that mean no "Golden Tickets" this year?
Or did you take the top 26 or so and filled the remaining slots with golden tickets? Because IIRC you said that in the last years the golden ticketed contestants often were good for a surprise in the later rounds, and i think it would be sad if these "outsiders" ( complete with darkvision for working those all-nighters and [designer] subtype ) would miss their chance to shine just because you had a scientific way to rank them.May i safely assume that it was something along the lines of give 1 to 10 points to all remaining submission, rank by number of points ? )
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Wes came up with a new, more scientific and precise way for us to rank the submissions that really was great. Wes is the man!
Interesting. Does that mean no "Golden Tickets" this year?
Or did you take the top 26 or so and filled the remaining slots with golden tickets? Because IIRC you said that in the last years the golden ticketed contestants often were good for a surprise in the later rounds, and i think it would be sad if these "outsiders" ( complete with darkvision for working those all-nighters and [designer] subtype ) would miss their chance to shine just because you had a scientific way to rank them.May i safely assume that it was something along the lines of give 1 to 10 points to all remaining submission, rank by number of points ? )
The Golden tix did indeed feature in the first year. I recall specifically that James Mackenzie's "leash of the shadowhound" got ticketed and he produced one of the knockout entries in the whole contest with his "Stained Peaks" country before falling in the top 16. Christine, the winner, I think almost had to get golden ticketed for her "Arcane Anvil" (though I think in the end she just got added in the regular way).
Could be more - the judges didn't reveal all of their GT recipients, but those were two I remember.
Yeah, i had those two in mind too, and then Neil's name comes up, but i think my memory is tricking me off there..
"Golden tickets" aren't just random, though; it's my understanding that a judge who "tickets" in an entry is saying "If judged on its own merits, this item wouldn't be good enough, but it shows a certain creativity which makes me want to see more by the same author."
Maybe the new system does this too. Or maybe the overall quality of entries is up such that they would feel bad knocking out the 31st- or 32nd-best item to ticket in something else.
+1. For the record, I'd love to be one of the top 32 and get to continue, but I already feel like I've "won" because I introduced my item into my current campaign and my players are enjoying finding all kinds of uses for it.Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)
Interesting, just a few more days and all the speculations will be done!!
"Golden tickets" aren't just random, though; it's my understanding that a judge who "tickets" in an entry is saying "If judged on its own merits, this item wouldn't be good enough, but it shows a certain creativity which makes me want to see more by the same author."
Maybe the new system does this too. Or maybe the overall quality of entries is up such that they would feel bad knocking out the 31st- or 32nd-best item to ticket in something else.
Yeah the new system incorporates the same concept that one judge basically has the power to make an item they love get into the top 32 just like the prior years' golden ticket process. We just didnt do it in the same way. Prior years we found the consensus top items and then golden ticketed in the rest. This year we didnt have to do that. Our keep folder was much smaller this year. So when we got to final sorting it was alot easier to do. I think we only had 45 or so in the Keep folder when all was said and done and it was really easy to rank them in our view. The submissions lent themselves to more of a numerical rating that didnt require golden ticketing. Wes came up with it and it really worked great. Prior years we had a larger pool of keeps, over 60 or so, with about 20 items we all agreed were great and then no real rankable way to distinguish the remaining 40, so Erik came up with the golden ticket. Last year was similar. This year we were much stricter on our initial sorting of items into the keep bin since the overall quality of the average submission was higher this year it allowed us to do that. So cutting 45 or so down to a top 32 and alts is easier than cutting 60+ down to a top 32 and alts.
"Golden tickets" aren't just random, though; it's my understanding that a judge who "tickets" in an entry is saying "If judged on its own merits, this item wouldn't be good enough, but it shows a certain creativity which makes me want to see more by the same author."
Maybe the new system does this too. Or maybe the overall quality of entries is up such that they would feel bad knocking out the 31st- or 32nd-best item to ticket in something else.
Oh, i never assumed they were "random", I always understood them the way Clark just stated: a way for to allow a Judge to pass an item he likes by the other judges, who might not hold the item in the same ( high) regard as the first judge.
This year we were much stricter on our initial sorting of items...
I bet you broke out the lose/loose, there/their/they're, to/too/two, and its/it's boomsticks this year, didn't you? :P
New Wondrous Item:
Golden Fist of the Brass Judgernaut
So there weren't any golden tickets this year? Just the top 32 out of the top 45, as determined by Wes' ranking system? ...
Well, it was never really like that. Golden tickets were used to sort out items in the keep folder that we couldnt all agree on. We would sort the hundreds and hundreds of entries into keep and reject piles. In years 1 and 2, the keep piles were 60 or more items. The question then becomes how to pick 32+alts from that. Our prior approach was to find unanimity on as many as possible--all judges agree the item is top 32. That is what we did. That would usually be about 20-26 items. Leaving a number of top 32 slots to fill. Because it was nearly impossible to objectively rank the remaining keepers, we decided to use the "golden ticket" method. Each judge got some tickets and we took turns awarding them to our favorites of the remaining items. So please keep in mind we were giving golden tickets to items already sorted into the keep pile. So these are all good items (as you can see from the prior top 32 items). There was just no way to say an item that Wolf and I liked, but Erik didnt, is better than an item that Erik and Wolf liked but I didnt. So golden tickets were our solution.
This year, we had about 45 that we all three agreed were good items. So we had unanimity on all of the keepers. That allowed us to then rank the top 32 since we all agreed they were good items.
Does that make more sense?
And no, we wont be revealing our scoring system or the relative rankings of the various items.
In our view, its a clean slate. They all made the cut, they all stand the same chance to win. No need to put a ranking or seeding on them from the first round. You guys, as the community, get to do that. Not us.
This year, we had about 45 that we all three agreed were good items. So we had unanimity on all of the keepers. That allowed us to then rank the top 32 since we all agreed they were good items.
Wow. That really sounds like an increase in quality.
Now I can wait even less to see the top 32.
This year, we had about 45 that we all three agreed were good items.
So maybe this year should be expanded to the top 45?
OK, mine probably came in around the mid 400's so I should just shut up...
Along this line, there's at least one Top 32 submission that made us say, "we need to include a suite of items like this in the Advanced Player's Guide!" :)Crap. Now I'll be even more disappointed if I don't make the cut, because you just described the exact reaction I was going for with my item this year.
Ditto.
Clark, I swear, if you and Sean and Wes were any more cool, you'd need your own pocket dimensions to store all that extra coolness that the rest of us poor mortals can't handle.
This is the truest thing on the internet ever, ever.
Can you tell us what method you used to rate the submissions?
It's all very complicated, it involves lots of math and deep thoughts and math... and rating each from 1 to 10 then adding everything up. Again, all highly complicated. I don't really expect non-judges to understand.
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Clark, I swear, if you and Sean and Wes were any more cool, you'd need your own pocket dimensions to store all that extra coolness that the rest of us poor mortals can't handle.This is the truest thing on the internet ever, ever.
I'm glad you think so. So I'm totally in the top 32, right? Words cannot express how much I'm hoping I get the chance to prove my "gamer chops" to you guys, and to the wider paizo community.
My ultimate goal would not only be to get the chance to write an adventure, but to get a shot to work on the Pathfinder AP's. And I'd REALLY love to work on the world-building stuff.
*anxiously waits for d-day*
It's all very complicated, it involves lots of math and deep thoughts and math... and rating each from 1 to 10 then adding everything up. Again, all highly complicated. I don't really expect non-judges to understand.
Wow, that's a lot of maths. Were there any dice involved in this rating system?
Ahem, Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.
Whoa. It didn't, but now later rounds might. This is some potent new technology right here and Paizo prides itself on being on the cutting edge.
So I'm totally in the top 32, right?
We'll talk.
Wes' math-fu is strong. At one point he was posting all these strange equations and funny triangles and stuff. I didn't really get it, and some how HIS items all wound up in the top. Not sure how that happened. Some type of mind influencing effect on the other judges I think. Hey wait, what just happened?
Brass Judgernaut vs. the Mathemagican
the fight of the century.
Eh, that's nothing compared to Sean the Silent Killer. He's far more deadly. While the other judges are debating something, he just glides in and kills it dead. ;-)
shhh. You weren't supposed to reveal the surprise combatant.
In the third round he will grab himself a folding chair and a red marker and sneak up to the others.
This screws up all the bookmakers who placed their bets on any items.
Wes' math-fu is strong. At one point he was posting all these strange equations and funny triangles and stuff.
Triangles? So, you're admitting he's stuck in a mere two dimensions? Hah!
(Fun fact: symmetries of the d6 and d8 are equivalent. So are the symmetries of the d12 and d20. You can see this by mapping face centers to vertices at the edge connection points.)
This is a funny year. This contest has really progressed.
The presumption, therefore, is you expect NEXT year's contest to be even harder to judge?
Even more reason to feel for you and really appreciate what you guys are doing.
Roll on Tuesday...
Director of Brand Strategy
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'First it's a cube' (chopping) 'and now we cut off the corners' (more chopping) 'and it's an octahedron. And now if we cut off the corners again' (more chopping) 'it's back to a cube. Okay everyone, mashed potato for dinner tonight!'
Wouldn't continually cutting off the corners result in more faces, not fewer? Eventually you'd end up with something that would, to the naked eye, appear to be a sphere, like a d100.