They've specifically said that your item shouldn't be an artifact (nor should it be so powerful that it probably should have been an artifact). "Intelligent" and "cursed" are different things, which technically any item could turn out to be (you could have intelligent or cursed bracers of armor +2, in theory. But, no, what you want for this contest is the equivalent of the "base" item; i.e, what most items of that type are going to look like).
I haven't heard anyone officially rule on it, but (to me) an artifact certainly isn't a wondrous item (it goes much more beyond that). And, intelligent and cursed items also have their own categories among magic items. So, far better to focus on the actual "wondrous item" category instead. Don't flirt with an auto-reject by giving us something that's not a wondrous item. This doesn't mean you can't create a wondrous item that has a "curse-like" drawback woven into it, of course. You just need to make sure it's more of a "wondrous item" than "cursed item."
My two-cents,
--Neil
This has been asked in previous years, and I believe the conclusion is as follows:
Artifacts are not Wondrous Items.
Cursed items can be Wondrous, but will probably get rejected under the 'Why would my PC want this?'-type evaluation. In other words, a Cursed Item that would pass the contest could probably be equally well represented as a Wondrous Item that isn't cursed. Something like dust of sneezing and choking, for instance, can be considered an offensive wondrous item as much as a cursed item.
Intelligent items can also be Wondrous, but they're a tough sell for word count and pricing issues. You item should be able to be cool without being able to back-sass you.
When you say make a wondrous item, does that limit it to ONLY wondrous, such as Bracers of Armor +2 or can it extend into cursed or intelligent items and artifacts?
I believe that the answer to this question lies in SKR's advice #7, Obvious Pricing Errors. Hope it helps!
7c) Your item exceeds the informal wondrous item price limit of 200,000 gp.Note I say "informal" price limit... nowhere in the game does it say you can't have a wondrous item with a price higher than that. But really, if you're building a wondrous item and you think it's so powerful that its price needs to be higher than a +10-equivalent weapon or a staff of power, you need to rethink your item, not because it's priced wrong (which it could be), but because you're trying to cram too much into a single item. Heck, an amulet of five wishes per day is 275,400 gp by the formula, and you have to admit that's a pretty excessively blingtastic item. And FYI, I'm posting this bit of advice because last year we had an item that was something like a 500,000 gp or 1,000,000 gp price... which is madness! Anyway, if you think your item's price should actually be upwards of 200,000 gp, you should rethink your item, you're trying too hard.