OK, I have to ask. How can anyone screw that up? How many years have we been doing this? Has there ever been a more clear auto-reject than being over word count? I am astonished that anyone could mess this up. And Paizo even includes a tool these days that helps you check your word count. And yet I have seen several of them. You might as well tattoo "I can't follow even the simplest directions" on your forehead.
Come on, people!
I'm the eternal cheerleader, rah-rah guy, but even I shake my head in disbelief on this on...
Clark
In fact, being over word count is such an obvious auto-reject that Sean didn't even bother to list that in his auto-reject thread. Yes, its that obvious.
How over word count are we talking here? Like 302 or 305 words? Or something like 400?
I've seen a few people talk about how their word processors check differently (still no excuse) and I could see that accounting for being a little over...
I can understand 302 words etc, because of the differences between word counts on various programs. It's understandable, but that isn't going to change the fact that it gets autorejected. It's not a guideline, it's a rule of the competition.
Use the submission preview (a lot!)
Also I recommend going under by at least 5-10 words, that way even if someone disagrees with something grammatical, like a hyphen or similar kind of stuff, you are still under the word count. I saw the couple of entries that got disqualified for this in the first year, so I made sure this wasn't going to be me. Make sure it isn't you this year either!
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I can understand 302 words etc, because of the differences between word counts on various programs. It's understandable, but that isn't going to change the fact that it gets autorejected.
Surely it's just 300 as defined by the counter on the submission form.
However else it may be counted by different programs, for the purposes of RPG Superstar it should be what the submission form says it is -- an entrant can't submit something that shows up as 303 words and claim that on his computer using Wordstar Express Pro 97 Chinese edition it counts it as 300, neither can a judge claim that even though the submission form says an entry is 300 by his reckoning it's 303 so should be rejected.
If we define 300 words as being whatever the word-counter on the submission form says it is, and the form not allowing entries exceeding that to be submitted, then this problem goes away -- there may be disagreement about what way should be used to count words, but it's clear that a specific way has been agreed on and enforced.
Contributor
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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To err is human? =D
Seriously though, I had several items to choose from, and I went with one of the ones that had the lowest word count simply because it was easier to understand what the item does.
One of the items I didn't submit had a word count dangerously close to 300, and a friend of mine had to read it over and over again to figure out what the heck it was about. (And then he had to ask me because he wasn't sure...) So I'm thinking, more often than not, items that are over the word count or dangerously close to it also have other issues.
i guess there are people who indulge in far to many needless frills, trying to make everything sound pretty rather than functional.
I hope it was me. :-)
i guess there are people who indulge in far to many needless frills, trying to make everything sound pretty rather than functional.
I was in that trap, but my worry now is that I may have over-corrected and removed all the spice... oh well. It is a pretty fine line when you start balancing multiple binary conflicts like word count vs interesting prose, game mechanics vs innovation, etc... but, as Clark says here, there's just really no justification for outright breaking a published rule of the contest.
How over word count are we talking here? Like 302 or 305 words? Or something like 400?
No one's gone over 400. But a handful have gone over 300. Does that help? :-]
I'm not sure I understand your question. If you hit the Preview button, you can check your item's presentation and get a word count for it. It will appear exactly how it would if you'd hit the Submit button. And, if you need to change anything, you can keep on editing it if you want.
If you're talking about comparing it to the template provided, you can use the Preview to compare it to item's from previous years...or any item that appears in the actual rulebook. That's the format you should be using. If your boldface and italicizing don't seem right, you can go back and use the BBCode examples in the messageboard to work out what needs to be tweaked.
Hope that helps,
--Neil
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What I mean is, after I submit, I will no longer be able to see my submission (check word count, how it is displayed, etc.), because it will be locked in the judge`s message boards, is that correct?
Thanks for replying!
Yes. Once you submit, you're done. It's very simple. Click "preview" before submitting. It tells you how many words you are at. That's what they go by. No other counting methods. If the word count in the preview says "302", then you are at 302. Not 308, not 299. I don't blame them for auto-rejecting those. If you cannot perform a simple word count, you don't deserve to make the 32, much less any further.
OK, I have to ask. How can anyone screw that up? How many years have we been doing this? Has there ever been a more clear auto-reject than being over word count? I am astonished that anyone could mess this up. And Paizo even includes a tool these days that helps you check your word count.
Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.
Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.
That's... actually a really good idea.
If Sean can spend weeks writing articles to try to save entrants from their own inexperience, stupidity, and/or love of toys that vomit, surely it's worth taking a few minutes to save entrants from their inability to count.
I wonder if perhaps some of the participants are thinking that the 300 word count applies to their description paragraph, rather than the entire entry? I mean, yes, I realize that the rules state the entire entry, including title, is limited to 300 words, but I've seen a goodly amount of posts in various discussion threads referring to the fluff text as the critical part of the 300 word limit - no one ever mentions the descriptors or the costs or the requirements fields - just the body paragraphs.
That being said, I'm wondering if I'm on that list. I ran the word count twice on mine and both times it came back with completely different numbers, so who can say?
But y'know - it's possible to put a script into the submission form that says "Your entry is too long! Please reduce it to 300 words or less and re-submit!"
That would clear this problem right up!
Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.
I admit that I didn't see the built-in word counter. But I have no problem getting booted for not following directions, in that case.
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I disagree with Cartigan on the word count program introduction. If the point is to find superstars, they need to be able to self-edit down to the required word count. You won't have a word count auto-reject function when it comes time to write your module, after all. Well, you will, but that's a lot of work on the poor editor.
WORD COUNT
Word count will appear at the top above your written description when you hit the preview button. If I recall correctly it will be in a blueish box.
I agree with Clark on this one. I believe that they have gone out of their way to help us contestants by providing a word count before entry, by giving us examples of what not to do, and by being forthcoming with advice. So if you can't follow the rules it is your own fault, hate to be harsh, but it is true. This specific rule especially.
It is a bit surprising that after 4 years of this contest people are still having issues with this specific rule. If I recall correctly this is the first year they have allowed contestants to use 300 words, it used to be 200.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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WORD COUNT
Word count will appear at the top above your written description when you hit the preview button. If I recall correctly it will be in a blueish box.
I agree with Clark on this one. I believe that they have gone out of their way to help us contestants by providing a word count before entry, by giving us examples of what not to do, and by being forthcoming with advice. So if you can't follow the rules it is your own fault, hate to be harsh, but it is true. This specific rule especially.
It is a bit surprising that after 4 years of this contest people are still having issues with this specific rule. If I recall correctly this is the first year they have allowed contestants to use 300 words, it used to be 200.
Last year allowed 300 words too.
Though as others have said, if your entry doesn't need that many words don't use them. And listen to Matt's advice -- be careful about skating too close to that edge.
What I mean is, after I submit, I will no longer be able to see my submission (check word count, how it is displayed, etc.), because it will be locked in the judge`s message boards, is that correct?
Yes. That is correct. You sumbit and it's whisked away to the judges' forum. No more second-guessing or edits...which is why you should polish it down to a fine sheen before you enter it into the submission tool. And why you should hit Preview to double-check it before you hit Submit.
Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.
No. People enter the contest for a shot at becoming a freelancer for Paizo...and not just for the RPG Superstar module, but hopefully many more projects after that. As such, it's their responsibility to learn the accountabilities and responsibilities of what it means to be a freelancer in the RPG industry. And that starts with properly managing your word count. A publisher shouldn't be required to hold anyone's hand on that. You're given an assignment, told how many words you're allowed, and it's your responsibility to meet that. If you don't, it's highly unlikely they'll be coming back to you on future projects. So, the auto-reject for going over word count is a legitimate means of sorting out those who can't follow instructions.
That said, Paizo was kind enough to include a word counter in the Preview window of the submission tool. Not because they're trying to prevent anyone from submitting something over 300 words. But, rather, it's primarily a method of showing people what Paizo's word counter shows vs. whatever word processing program a designer might have used. That's because they can sometimes count differently when it comes to hyphenated words, etc. The best advice I can give anyone with respect to this element of the contest is to avoid flirting with the limit. Do that and you'll be fine.
If Sean can spend weeks writing articles to try to save entrants from their own inexperience, stupidity, and/or love of toys that vomit, surely it's worth taking a few minutes to save entrants from their inability to count.
No. It's not about saving people from their inexperience or stupidity. It's about drawing back the curtain enough to help people understand what the judges are looking for...and what elevates an item to being considered worthy of Top 32 consideration. The purpose behind that is to increase the quality of submissions...not simply to head off or prevent submissions that don't follow the rules. There's a distinction to the advice threads vs. the rules.
I wonder if perhaps some of the participants are thinking that the 300 word count applies to their description paragraph, rather than the entire entry?
No. I don't believe that's the problem. And it's a very minor amount of people who have fallen victim to this auto-reject category.
I mean, yes, I realize that the rules state the entire entry, including title, is limited to 300 words....
Emphasis mine on the above. That's all you really need to concern yourself with right there. If the rules state that the entire entry can't be over 300 words, that's what it means. And this is the 4th year of the contest. So people who miss that rule either a) aren't bothing to read the rules (so why bother giving them a shot at the Top 32?), b) haven't been following along with contest the past 3 years (where this has been cited repeatedly), or c) if they're completely new to the contest, they didn't bother to do their research on how it's been conducted in the past and the pitfalls to avoid.
Any of those situations should still be grounds for excluding someone who can't meet the word count requirements. Because if you can't do that on a simple 300-word or less wondrous item, you can't be trusted with a larger freelance assignment. That's just the way it is.
But y'know - it's possible to put a script into the submission form that says "Your entry is too long! Please reduce it to 300 words or less and re-submit!"....That would clear this problem right up!
It's not Paizo's responsibility to clear up this problem. It's the responsibility of the freelance designer wannabe. End of story.
If I recall correctly this is the first year they have allowed contestants to use 300 words, it used to be 200.
It was 200 words or less in the first 2 years. It increased to 300 words last year and now repeats again this year. So, what that really means, is that you have even more words for your item than the contestants in the first two years did. And they all managed to meet that just fine. So, why people still can't stay under the word count in years when when you get 50% more words is just an inexcusable error on the part of the designer.
My two cents,
--Neil
Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.
It's an intelligence test. They actually are testing to see if people can follow directions. (And it's really not hard to do.)
If they "mommy-proof" it, then they DON'T find out if you can follow directions.
It may be a bit mercenary of me, but I like it that some of my competitors have been given an effective means of disqualifying themselves. I'm selfish that way.
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Word count will appear at the top above your written description when you hit the preview button. If I recall correctly it will be in a blueish box.
The submission tool formats your entry just like a message board post. The word count appears where the thread title appears in a normal board thread... in other words, you will see your item name in blue font, all caps, across the top in a grey bar. After your item name is a dash and then the word count.
A word of warning for anyone who might want to preview their item in the submission tool: if you are going to compare it to a previous year's Top 32 item, print off a hard copy of the Top 32 item. When I first previewed my submission, I had the submission tool open in one tab on my browser and a Top 32 item open in another tab. I noticed (thankfully!) that after I made a tweak to my formatting and clicked preview again that the browser got a little confused and had grabbed the item name (the "thread title" and word count) from the item in the other tab and inserted it into my preview. At that point I copied and pasted my BBCode to Notepad and then closed out my entire browser before going back into the submission tool for a fresh attempt.
For some reason, I think submitting my item with the name last leaves of the autumn dryad would not have gone over well with the judges... ;-)
In other words, do not confuse the submission tool by being logged into two different parts of the message boards in two different tabs at the same time. Use a hard copy or the Core Rulebook if you want to compare your template to something. :)
The purpose behind that is to increase the quality of submissions...not simply to head off or prevent submissions that don't follow the rules.
I will respectfully disagree with you here, although I do so wearing a software developer hat and not an editor hat.
Software (including internet messageboard software) exists to make peoples' lives better; where easy/reasonable/possible, it should try to save them from their own mistakes. The hard(er) part of preventing overlarge submissions is in the word counting; that already being done, preventing a submission or throwing scary giant red warning letters is easy.
I believe that keeping people from submitting slightly too big entries (maybe for next year, at this point it probably isn't fair to add it this year midstream) would increase the quality of submissions and it's probably something Ross could bang out in 5 minutes between policing flame threads.
I also think that someone who smacked into the word limit and was forced to change their submission would, probably, learn from the experience and not make that mistake again, whereas someone who does it now might not ever realize what killed their entry.
It's a mistake no one should make, but good software keeps people from making those kinds of mistakes a million times a day.
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WORD COUNT
Word count will appear at the top above your written description when you hit the preview button. If I recall correctly it will be in a blueish box.
I hit preview of order 20 times and didn't see that. I'm not saying it wasn't there, but if I'm just expecting a formatted preview on the screen then you could surround the count in nude, dancing, halfling pleasure-slaves and I still wouldn't see it.
Perhaps make the button say 'Preview and word-count'?
Hopefully the scant few words under limit counted by my editor were a sufficient buffer. If not, there is always next year.
For the record, my preview counts came in at 285 and 304 when I ran my checks. I changed one word. Not saying it wasn't there (it was), merely that it seemed to be a bit confused. This may have had something to do with what Crowface was mentioning above, I dunno. In the end, I just ran with it.
Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.It's an intelligence test. They actually are testing to see if people can follow directions. (And it's really not hard to do.)
If they "mommy-proof" it, then they DON'T find out if you can follow directions.
It may be a bit mercenary of me, but I like it that some of my competitors have been given an effective means of disqualifying themselves. I'm selfish that way.
I don't recall seeing a word count anywhere when I submitted an entry and I didn't notice anything saying "Use X word processor because it uses the correct word count formula."
I will respectfully disagree with you here, although I do so wearing a software developer hat and not an editor hat.
I've done software development myself. And, while I understand your viewpoint, it isn't appropriate to what it's like in a freelance writing career. Tools like word processors (which contain a word count function) are certainly more useful than having to hand-count your entry off a mechanical typewriter. But it doesn't change the fact that it's the designer's responsibility to ensure they're meeting the word count limitations of their assignment. This is the tiniest first test of that. The first two years, there was no word count mechanisim in the submission tool. And, in truth, there shouldn't have to be one.
The only reason it got added was because Paizo acknowledged that different word processors count words differently. So, they wanted to at least put one in there to both help the judges (i.e., so we don't have to copy/paste into our personal word processors and do a word count on everything) and to help contestants understand what the official word count would be (which they could then compare to their own personal word processor's count to see if they're operating under a different set of word counting assumptions).
Software (including internet messageboard software) exists to make peoples' lives better; where easy/reasonable/possible, it should try to save them from their own mistakes.
So, why not use your own word processor rather than relying solely on the submission tool's word count? Is it because you're flirting too close to the 300-word limitation? If so, that's a problem in and of itself. Not a shortcoming of the contest rules, the submission tool, or Paizo.
I believe that keeping people from submitting slightly too big entries (maybe for next year, at this point it probably isn't fair to add it this year midstream) would increase the quality of submissions...
The only thing that increases the quality level of submissions is the designers themselves. The tools are all out there to properly improve the quality of your item. Avail yourself of them. Don't count on the submission page of the contest to auto-correct or automatically highlight potential problems for you. It's your responsibility as a freelancer to do that yourself. This is part of what being a mature, responsible adult in the publishing/writing industry entails. Learn the lesson now. Or ignore it at your own peril.
I also think that someone who smacked into the word limit and was forced to change their submission would, probably, learn from the experience and not make that mistake again, whereas someone who does it now might not ever realize what killed their entry.
I think people who bother to read the rules and look back on prior years of the competition would probably learn from the experience and not make such mistakes either. Sadly, there's nothing I can do to make them do those things. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. An RPG Superstar doesn't need to be told these things. They go and learn them on their own. And they bring that as part of their A-game when they submit for this competition. That's the honest truth. And if you're not at a point where you can properly control your use of the word count on a simple 300-word assignment, you're not ready for RPG Superstar...and there's no amount of handholding that's going to get you there. You need to be a self-starter to go and apply yourself to mastering these things.
I hit preview of order 20 times and didn't see that.
And did you perform a word count in your own word processor before even pasting your item into the submission tool? No? Too bad. You should have. Yes? Fantastic! You're one step closer to acting like a proper freelancer. But did it indicate you were flirting right up to the edge of the word count? Yes? Uh-oh. Better make doubly sure you didn't go over 300 words. Personally? I'd count by hand if I had to so I can reassure myself. Or, I'd do my research on the prior years of the competition and find out there's an official word counter in the submission tool. If I didn't see it when I pasted my entry there, I'd ask someone about it. If I failed at any of those things and came in over word count, I'd only have myself to blame. Period.
I don't recall seeing a word count anywhere when I submitted an entry and I didn't notice anything saying "Use X word processor because it uses the correct word count formula."
Were you worried about word count? Did you check it yourself? Did you go back and read about this problem in earlier years of the contest? Simply put, did you do your homework? It's been discussed before. The rules are quite clear. If you're a good potential Superstar/freelancer-candidate, you recognize that pitfall possibility and take your own independent steps to avoid it. No one else is going to do that for you. And they shouldn't.
Yes, I checked the word count in the word processor I was using. I have repeatedly stated I didn't see one when I did preview my entry to check formatting.
It's a bit disingenuous to say a potential superstar would "recognize that pitfall possibility and take your own independent steps to avoid it" when the method for word counts is arbitrary and admittedly doesn't mesh up with popular word processing programs.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Didn't see one. Perhaps they should make it such that it is impossible to submit if over word count.It's an intelligence test. They actually are testing to see if people can follow directions. (And it's really not hard to do.)
If they "mommy-proof" it, then they DON'T find out if you can follow directions.
It may be a bit mercenary of me, but I like it that some of my competitors have been given an effective means of disqualifying themselves. I'm selfish that way.
It's all true. From Neil and the rest.
To be a superstar, you need to show you have imagination and mojo in large quantities.
To be a professional RPG writer/designer, you need to be able to follow directions.
To be a superstar professional RPG writer/designer, you need to show imagination, follow directions, and be able to work independently, without needing someone to hold your hand or walk you through the steps.
Yes, you will have back-and-forth with your editor or developer during a project, but you need to show that you can deliver what was asked, when it's asked, full of awesomesauce, and ready to be developed, not needing to be fixed.
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I hit preview of order 20 times and didn't see that.
And did you perform a word count in your own word processor before even pasting your item into the submission tool? No? Too bad. You should have. Yes? Fantastic! You're one step closer to acting like a proper freelancer. But did it indicate you were flirting right up to the edge of the word count? Yes? Uh-oh. Better make doubly sure you didn't go over 300 words. Personally? I'd count by hand if I had to so I can reassure myself. Or, I'd do my research on the prior years of the competition and find out there's an official word counter in the submission tool. If I didn't see it when I pasted my entry there, I'd ask someone about it. If I failed at any of those things and came in over word count, I'd only have myself to blame. Period.
Counted in the editor I used and then again in Word, since Vic said last year that the official word count was whatever Clark's copy of Word said. I missed the fact that there is now an official word counter and if that means that I'm over, rather than at 2[7-9]x then my fault.
I'd already given it a good trim anyway — to get the word count down any more I'd have had to lose the projectile vomiting and time-travel powers.
It's a bit disingenuous to say a potential superstar would "recognize that pitfall possibility and take your own independent steps to avoid it" when the method for word counts is arbitrary and admittedly doesn't mesh up with popular word processing programs.
No. It's not disingenuous at all. And if you can't perceive that, I'm afraid nothing more I can say will help you.
But it is a bit disingenuous to do a word count in your own word processor that flirts with exceeding the 300-word limit and then choosing to move forward with it anyway and not ask (or aggressively look) for confirmation that you managed to stay under word count. There have been plenty of discussions about word count issues in the past three years of the competition. Anyone paying attention would know that...and also know to avoid running into that problem by potentially overwriting their item. It's as simple as that.
The entire submission, including the title, must not exceed 300 words. The submission form includes a Preview button to view what your submission will look like, and will give you a total word count for your submission.
Emphasis mine. If you read the rules, you know there's a word counter behind the Preview button. If you knew that and didn't see the word count (or the Preview button), you could have asked for clarification and assistance. If you didn't read the Round One rules, that's too bad. Meanwhile, there are others who did. And if they met the word count requirement, their items will be given consideration for the Top 32. Any items going over word count will not.
Director of Brand Strategy
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As the person who will be developing not only the winner's module but the three runners-up's PFS scenarios, their ability to hit word count is paramount to me. Because I'll be the one who has to cut hundreds (if not thousands) of words from their final turnovers to make them fit. And it doesn't matter to me whether someone uses their word processor or our internal tools to get their count...as long as they don't go over their limit. We provide many tools to our freelancers, including style guides and statblock generators, but at the end of the day, only the author can choose to use those tools or not. Whether they do or not isn't as important as the end results, though. We're paying them for the product, not to use the tools.
So, why not use your own word processor rather than relying solely on the submission tool's word count?
Certainly I would do that, yes.
Still, I would rather compete with all the people with the coolest ideas, rather than the (admittedly large) subset of those people who are tech-savvy enough to nail the exact word count. I recognize getting length correct is an important freelancer skill; it's just not something I personally would cut for at this stage, when it's relatively easy to prevent it at the submission step.
My opinion; obviously, it's your show, not mine.
...I would rather compete with all the people with the coolest ideas, rather than the (admittedly large) subset of those people who are tech-savvy enough to nail the exact word count.
First, rest assured that you'll be competing with those who had the coolest ideas, who also managed to follow the same rules you did. Secondly, it's not about nailing the exact word count. It's about coming in under that. We've had submissions that were as low as 79(?) words and we've had only four(?) submissions go over 300 words. Those who stay under...with a cool idea...have a shot at the Top 32. Those who don't...don't.
I recognize getting length correct is an important freelancer skill; it's just not something I personally would cut for at this stage, when it's relatively easy to prevent it at the submission step.
Seeing as how it's one of the most important freelancer skills...and a very easy one to assess (and highlight) from the get-go...it is most certainly something that should be used to narrow the field in Round One.
But that's just my two cents,
--Neil
It's a bit disingenuous to say a potential superstar would "recognize that pitfall possibility and take your own independent steps to avoid it" when the method for word counts is arbitrary and admittedly doesn't mesh up with popular word processing programs.No. It's not disingenuous at all. And if you can't perceive that, I'm afraid nothing more I can say will help you.
No, I find it won't.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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The purpose behind that is to increase the quality of submissions...not simply to head off or prevent submissions that don't follow the rules.I will respectfully disagree with you here, although I do so wearing a software developer hat and not an editor hat.
Software (including internet messageboard software) exists to make peoples' lives better; where easy/reasonable/possible, it should try to save them from their own mistakes. The hard(er) part of preventing overlarge submissions is in the word counting; that already being done, preventing a submission or throwing scary giant red warning letters is easy.
I believe that keeping people from submitting slightly too big entries (maybe for next year, at this point it probably isn't fair to add it this year midstream) would increase the quality of submissions and it's probably something Ross could bang out in 5 minutes between policing flame threads.
I also think that someone who smacked into the word limit and was forced to change their submission would, probably, learn from the experience and not make that mistake again, whereas someone who does it now might not ever realize what killed their entry.
It's a mistake no one should make, but good software keeps people from making those kinds of mistakes a million times a day.
No offense, but I don't think that because you can do a thing, you should.
I also don't feel that the adage that "software makes things easier" should be used in this situation.
If you were an employer looking for a new prospective employee, would you perhaps have an unofficial test that the applicants may not even realize is a test, to weed out the ones you obviously wouldn't want?
Following the word count issue is huge. There have been multiple questions and questions answered on word count.
In this industry, you don't want to work with a freelancer who can't follow simple instructions, or at the very least pay attention to detail.
I'm sure in this particular situation, Paizo is looking at it more as a job interview with a contest format, than a contest that could turn into a job. Looking at it in that light, I wouldn't expect them to make it dummy proof.
I basically agree with Neil. The fact of the matter is that many people who play PF regularly (and certainly almost everyone who's been a serious GM) feel like they're pretty good at game design. A lot of us enjoy the "work" of producing RPG material and feel it would be amazing if Paizo recognised our talent and paid us to do what we love doing anyway.
This person is probably not going to be you. Hundreds of people enter the contest. Ultimately only one person is going to make it, but at this junction we're trying to be part of a 32-person elite. I, personally, am concerned about how good my item is. I think it's good and interesting, but I'm sure that's true of more than 32 of the submissions going into this. I don't just need to be good and interesting with my submission, I need to be amazing. And I hope that I am. But if you're so concerned with word count, among all other matters, I think you need to reorganise your priorities. Coming in under word count is pretty easy. The challenge here is design.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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I basically agree with Neil. The fact of the matter is that many people who play PF regularly (and certainly almost everyone who's been a serious GM) feel like they're pretty good at game design. A lot of us enjoy the "work" of producing RPG material and feel it would be amazing if Paizo recognised our talent and paid us to do what we love doing anyway.
This person is probably not going to be you. Hundreds of people enter the contest. Ultimately only one person is going to make it, but at this junction we're trying to be part of a 32-person elite. I, personally, am concerned about how good my item is. I think it's good and interesting, but I'm sure that's true of more than 32 of the submissions going into this. I don't just need to be good and interesting with my submission, I need to be amazing. And I hope that I am. But if you're so concerned with word count, among all other matters, I think you need to reorganise your priorities. Coming in under word count is pretty easy. The challenge here is design.
I agree with this.
Just because you can have 300 words, doesn't mean you must have 300 words.
Making sure you are at 285 if you need the words for whatever reason, should be fairly easy.
Part of self-editing, is realizing how to cut out chunks of unnecessary text, no matter how much you like it.
In line with Andrew... let's remember most people have to work their tail's off for years to even get this kind of opportunity. Paizo is expending the man(and woman)power to hold this contest and judge it. Remember what your goal is (I'm assuming): to write for Paizo. With that in mind, do the best you can within the boundaries they have set, not forgetting the one who writes the paycheck makes the rules.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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One other comment.
If it has become rather common knowledge that hyphens, dashes, double dashes, and slashes (or back slashes for some odd reason) end up constituting extra words using the format in which Paizo has chosen to do word count...
...then why can't you find a different type of punctuation to use?
The double dash or extra long dash -- that is used to separate a descriptive sentence or clause from the item it is describing within a larger sentence structure, can be rewritten using a colon. Or just write it as two sentences, or perhaps with a semi-colon.
Or don't use hyphenated words if you are that close to the nuts on word count.
Seriously...
Why use the punctuation methods that could put you over, if you are that close to the word count limit?
As a matter of fact, as an avid reader of both prose and game rules, I find that the more complicated your sentence structure, the easier it is to ruin the flow of your text. It can actually make it more difficult to understand what your item does.
Showing off punctuation and sentence structure acumen can actually hinder you just as much as too much flowery prose can.
The purpose behind that is to increase the quality of submissions...not simply to head off or prevent submissions that don't follow the rules.I will respectfully disagree with you here, although I do so wearing a software developer hat and not an editor hat.
Software (including internet messageboard software) exists to make peoples' lives better; where easy/reasonable/possible, it should try to save them from their own mistakes. The hard(er) part of preventing overlarge submissions is in the word counting; that already being done, preventing a submission or throwing scary giant red warning letters is easy.
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It's a mistake no one should make, but good software keeps people from making those kinds of mistakes a million times a day.
You've got to consider whose life you desire to make better. If you want to make life easier for the contestants now, by all means implement your proposed fix.
If you want to make life easier for the editors who may be working with a "professional" writer (successful contestant) later, make sure the contestants know how to follow instructions now. There's no shortage of people with good ideas. What Paizo needs is people with good ideas who can hit the target word count , on schedule, and with the required quality.
If works are rejected at the time of submittal, judge/editor work is immediately reduced - the onus is automatically on the submitter to fix their work.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8
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I'd join in heaping scorn on the poor people who went over count, but I can completely understand how it happens. You're excited, you're relieved, you're finally submitting. You've worked on this a while, been through seven drafts, four ideas and countless doubts and now it's over. And you completely forget to check the little title thing that says you're three words over. Your word processor software said it was okay; why don't these things all agree with each other?
Sure, it may not be professional, but a lot of people who are submitting aren't professionals yet. They want to be, they read all the posts, listened to the copious amounts of advice, but there's a long gap between hearing advice and living the life. They'll get there, they're not hopeless or mentally deficient, they're just a little over-excited. I realize this may still disqualify them, but it's a sympathetic situation. Sometimes excitement makes us forget to check the obvious things. Doh!
Plus, it totally could have been me. Heaven knows I've made stupid easy to fix mistakes on things before. It why we have erasers on pencils and delete buttons on computers.
...the onus is automatically on the submitter to fix their work.
Newsflash: It already is.
...It's why we have erasers on pencils and delete buttons on computers.
And an entire month to bang out a simple, elegant wondrous item in 300 words or less? ;-)
I'm sorry. I'm just not going to sympathize with the very few who can't manage to meet this requirement when so many others do. You botch this one, you're on your own...and on the outside of the contest looking in...
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8
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And an entire month to bang out a simple, elegant wondrous item in 300 words or less? ;-)
I'm sorry. I'm just not going to sympathize with the very few who can't manage to meet this requirement when so many others do.
And I completely understand your point. I think it's all the holiday spirits making my Scrooge-like heart a little softer than usual. Either that or a congenital defect. I should get that checked.
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Wow. Why is this so difficult? It's not Paizo's responsibility to make sure you follow the rules. "Sorry, officer. I know the speed limit sign says 50mph. But, I thought it was a suggestion so I did 75mph."
Do yourselves a favor. Tell yourself that the word limit is 250 or 275 and try for that. It's not impossible to make a good wondrous item in under 300 words. They are not looking for the greatest item ever made. They want to see if you have to potential to be a creative writer. Remember, the ultimate prize to is to submit an adventure "outline" to Paizo. Their writers and creators will be creating the adventure. They want someone with the creative juices. So, if coming in under 300 words is too difficult for you, don't enter.