If you're disheartened about not making it into the Top 32, don't be.
We haven't said exactly how many people entered the competition this year, but I will say it was much more than 320. For the sake of this example, let's just assume it was exactly 320 people.
By keeping the Top 32, that means that the bottom 90% didn't advance to the next round.
There's some mighty good company in that 90%, though. It's easy to assume that you were at the bottom of the list, but that's a skewed way of looking at things.
If I were teaching a college class, and I told you "only the people who scored an 'A' average in this class get to take the next class," that means even the people with a solid 'B' average or even a B+ average didn't make the cut. That doesn't mean they should drop out of school, it means they might want to try harder and push for those last few points that get them into the 91st percentile. We've already heard from some competitors whose items were good, but a similar item just beat them out by a little bit. That's a good sign! It means you're close, or that you just had some bad luck this time, or a minor error tripped you up. Keep practicing!
The judges (and Paizo) want good submissions. We want it to be hard to sort the entries. If the choice is
1) 32 excellent entries and 288 poor entries, so it's easy to pick the Top 32, or
2) 320 awesome entries, so we have to agonize over which are Top 32,
we'd much rather have option #2. It's a stronger competition, a healthier competition, a more interesting competition.
Every year we have to eliminate most of the entries. Some of them are a hair's breadths from getting in. Part of the reason we exclude the Top 8 from future competitions is so we guarantee that spots open up at the top (rather than being the same finalists every year).
Practice. Study. Writing is work, even when it's easy. I've been doing this for more than ten years and sometimes it's still hard--not to get the words out, but to get them out right. Keep trying. You can't do better unless you try--whether it's submitting something for RPG Superstar, or answering the Pathfinder Society open call, or to Kobold Quarterly, or self-publishing.
Anyway, don't be disheartened if you didn't make the Top 32. You may be at that 89% and just need a little practice or bit of inspiration to bump you up that last bit.
Practice. Study. Writing is work, even when it's easy. I've been doing this for more than ten years and sometimes it's still hard--not to get the words out, but to get them out right. Keep trying. You can't do better unless you try--whether it's submitting something for RPG Superstar, or answering the Pathfinder Society open call, or to Kobold Quarterly, or self-publishing.
+1
We've already heard from some competitors whose items were good, but a similar item just beat them out by a little bit. That's a good sign! It means you're close, or that you just had some bad luck this time, or a minor error tripped you up. Keep practicing!
I can't help but think you are talking about me, specifically :)
Anyway I'm not going to let myself down. this was the first year entering for me and i will surely try again next year. And those who have failed three years in a row, every time got close, and don't let themselves down have my respect, and everyone who thinks about giving up because he's not in the Top 3% ( assuming about 1000 entries) should take them as an example.
If you fight you can loose,
If you don't fight you already have lost.
So, I'm off refining my Round 2 Entry.
I know I'm not even in the Top, but thats not gonna stop me :)
For what it's worth, unless the contest has suffered a severe drop in submissions since year 1, 960 is probably a fair estimate for number of entrants. That means the top 32 are the top 3.333%. If you didn't get into the top 32, you could still have an entry that was a "96%" (which is a solid A grade in the schools I'm familiar with) and still not be advancing to the next stage of the contest.
RPG Superstar truly is searching for the literal "A+" entries.
People need to remember that, excepting the items that were auto-rejected for rules reasons, items aren't really "rejected". I'm betting the majority of items were actually pretty solid as far as magic items are concerned. Once you have gotten to the point where you have a good item the hard part is pushing it to be great. Even then you have to go even further. There were probably over one hundred items that were great and could have been selected. But the judges have to narrow it down to only 32. So the difference between good and superstar is more than just mechanical polish or proper grammar. A superstar item has to have creativity and mojo that grabs the judges attention. A lot of that is subjective. I'm betting if the judges looked at the same list of items next year, the top 32 would be different. Maybe not completely different, but different. Sometimes a particular phrase will catch them in the right mood.
So don't think of it as rejection, think of it is not being at the very top. Keep pushing. Try to learn from what other people did to stand out. Part of what makes this contest harder at the beginning is that we don't have the intermediate narrowing down phase. In a contest show like "So you think you can dance" they take the thousands of applicants and narrow it down to a few hundred. Then they have intense tryouts for those few hundred before they narrow it to a top 20. We don't get to see the hundreds that almost made it, only the very top. If your very good item is only compared to the top it is easy to think "why did that one make it instead of me?" when really you should be asking, "why did that one stand out over the couple hundred that were as good as me?"
I have an exercise for anyone who wants to try again next year. Write one wondrous item per month. When next years contest rolls around, you will have 12 items you can look at, pick the best, and polish it until it is superstar.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8
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I have an exercise for anyone who wants to try again next year. Write one wondrous item per month. When next years contest rolls around, you will have 12 items you can look at, pick the best, and polish it until it is superstar.
That's.... not a bad idea at all!
I have an exercise for anyone who wants to try again next year. Write one wondrous item per month. When next years contest rolls around, you will have 12 items you can look at, pick the best, and polish it until it is superstar.
Right.
Starting with names :)
In my opinion, that's the hardest part: coming up with a name that makes someone go "ooh, I want to read that item!"
(As opposed to cringing and going "my God, is it really called that?, or rolling their eyes at a terrible pun, or dozing off :)
For what it's worth, unless the contest has suffered a severe drop in submissions since year 1, 960 is probably a fair estimate for number of entrants. That means the top 32 are the top 3.333%. If you didn't get into the top 32, you could still have an entry that was a "96%" (which is a solid A grade in the schools I'm familiar with) and still not be advancing to the next stage of the contest.
RPG Superstar truly is searching for the literal "A+" entries.
That is true. I dont want to hit a number, but lets just say we are *easily* dealing with the top 32 being top 5% or better.
Once you have gotten to the point where you have a good item the hard part is pushing it to be great. ... So the difference between good and superstar is more than just mechanical polish or proper grammar. A superstar item has to have creativity and mojo that grabs the judges attention. A lot of that is subjective.
That is very well said.
I'm betting if the judges looked at the same list of items next year, the top 32 would be different.
That would surprise me. I think the top items tend to stand out with that something extra. It is pretty clear, which ones are keepers. Now, how we rank the keepers might change. But finding that top 10% has been easy enough to do. We can separate the As from thh Bs.
That is true. I dont want to hit a number, but lets just say we are *easily* dealing with the top 32 being top 5% or better.
to put it in to gaming terms: Natural 20!
...Practice. Study. Writing is work, even when it's easy. I've been doing this for more than ten years and sometimes it's still hard--not to get the words out, but to get them out...
This is why this is not simply a hard nosed, cut throat professional open call but, thanks to the Judges involvement and genuine support and interest, rather a thing that has the air of a fan based, inclusive try out - a very rare thing nowadays indeed!
Chiron held up his hand to calm his eager charges.
“Now who will cast the spear further?”
The eyes of the boys gathered before him glinted with eager anticipation. All started to speak to claim their superiority.
“Enough!” he said.
“Go each of you and cast an ash spear. We will see who shall be the winner”.
The boys ran to the spears set against an ancient olive tree and began their competition.
The old centaur sat in the cooling shade of the boughs and smiled. While one would surely win the day, the competition would hone the skills of all. One day all would be formidable warriors. The gods will be pleased.
I dont want to hit a number...
I, on the other hand, have no such compunctions. The six Powerball numbers I picked owe me money, and I will liberally apply the smackdown to them until they provide.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
aka AWizardInDallas
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I thought I'd throw in my two cents because I'm here now and submitted an entry last year that didn't make the cut. I've even been published in the pages of Dragon but I know that buys me nothing. There's always room for growth or regrowth.
Even better, no one's saying "Gentlemen, congratulations. You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training. Now there's just one more test...an eye exam."
So, no flashy thinging goes to anybody! If you keep trying, if you feel the talent seeping in your bones and if you're just plain thick skinned, then you will make it, you'll find your niche. Quitting is the real defeat.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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In my opinion, that's the hardest part: coming up with a name that makes someone go "ooh, I want to read that item!"
(As opposed to cringing and going "my God, is it really called that?, or rolling their eyes at a terrible pun, or dozing off :)
I think names are nice but they are kind of over rated as being the be all end all hook. At least 2 of the entries had fairly bland names (Mine included) and one was criticized extensively for the name but made it.
Seems to me the real trick is your item needs to have something really unique or just have some really, really good imagery that helps paint a picture and bring out emotions. If your concept can provoke an emotional response in the reader then you are halfway there.
The other thing is the idea needs to be packaged in such a way that makes it desirable for the judges to drop into their game. It has to be mechanically sound and interesting for the players.