This is it. I have posted my first ever entry to RPG Superstar. After only just realizing it's existence last year, just a tad bit too late to apply, i followed it anxiously marveling at the ideas i never could have thought up, frowning at the ones i thought i could have done better/would have done differently. And i can only wait. There is nothing i can to make my situation better, only ponder on whether i chose the right item. i have been thinking of ideas from when i first saw you asking for entries, having come up with about 15 or so items. some great, some quickly rejected, and some just not fit for this competition (forgive a GM for wanting to equip his bad guys). The hardest part of this has clearly been limiting myself. picking the one item out of the many, keeping the description text precise, rules lawyery enough, and most importantly NO BACKSTORY (so tempting, yet so stupid to go into after all the forum warnings). Well i hope my item will not just be seen as a spell in a can, but as something original and idea-inspiring, something brilliant in it's simplicity, something that will let me go on into the more description heavy, where i can really let my inner story teller free. But that's all just hopes. Even if i don't go on i doubt that i will be able to resist trying my skills again next year. No matter what i hope that i will be able to get my item(s) reviewed afterwards, so that i may be better equipped next year. But for now i can only prepare for the next round and hope for the best.
The best of luck to all entrants, new and old.
Good luck!
I'm coping with the pressure. No pressure. No pressure. I'm fine. Genki! No worries. Cool and calm. A-Game. No worries. No pressure. What's the time? A minute has passed?
;)
I entered for the first time this year as well.
stuff
You should remove the reference to when you submitted ASAP.
Best of luck to you too. I'm in the same position. Found out about the contest last year in time to watch, but not to enter. Definitely entering this year and hoping for the best.
I entered for the first time this year as well. I heard about it each previous year, but never had the entry in time (dug through too much and pondering waaay too deeply on an item that's simple). Good luck to you and everyone else! Erm the rpg force is with us all.
Best of luck everyone, I made my first submission this year too. Hope to get through to the top 32 but I'm looking forward to seeing what crazy stuff everyone else comes up with regardless
Best of luck to you all!
It has been said on these forums time and again, but I'll resound the echo once more for good measure: Entering RPG Superstar - regardless of whether or not you make the top 32 - is a fantastic and rewarding way of really getting involved with this hobby and industry that we all love so much. The incredible value of all the advice that flies around on the boards completely for free, in the finest spirit of community, cannot be overstated.
Read, pay attention, and watch it all unfold. This is one heck of a show.
Michael, consider yourself lucky if your biggest difficulty was having to choose one idea out of many. That a good sign and I wish I could say the ideas came to me as easily this year.
Good luck to you and to everyone else. I hope to see you in the top 32!
This is it. I have posted my first ever entry to RPG Superstar. After only just realizing it's existence last year, just a tad bit too late to apply, i followed it anxiously marveling at the ideas i never could have thought up, frowning at the ones i thought i could have done better/would have done differently. And i can only wait. There is nothing i can to make my situation better, only ponder on whether i chose the right item. i have been thinking of ideas from when i first saw you asking for entries, having come up with about 15 or so items. some great, some quickly rejected, and some just not fit for this competition (forgive a GM for wanting to equip his bad guys). The hardest part of this has clearly been limiting myself. picking the one item out of the many, keeping the description text precise, rules lawyery enough, and most importantly NO BACKSTORY (so tempting, yet so stupid to go into after all the forum warnings). Well i hope my item will not just be seen as a spell in a can, but as something original and idea-inspiring, something brilliant in it's simplicity, something that will let me go on into the more description heavy, where i can really let my inner story teller free. But that's all just hopes. Even if i don't go on i doubt that i will be able to resist trying my skills again next year. No matter what i hope that i will be able to get my item(s) reviewed afterwards, so that i may be better equipped next year. But for now i can only prepare for the next round and hope for the best.
The best of luck to all entrants, new and old.
Star Voter Season 6
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I am a first timer as well. To make the time pass quicker while waiting for results, I'm filling my free time reading the novel "Ready Player One". It's about a 'contest' that also has an online score board (waiting on the list of 32 to come up is similar to what happens in the novel). If you were a nerd in the 80's and/or you ran/played Tomb of Horrors then you owe it to yourself to buy and read this book. Downloaded it to my Kindle and loving every chapter.
I am a first timer as well. To make the time pass quicker while waiting for results, I'm filling my free time reading the novel "Ready Player One". It's about a 'contest' that also has an online score board (waiting on the list of 32 to come up is similar to what happens in the novel). If you were a nerd in the 80's and/or you ran/played Tomb of Horrors then you owe it to yourself to buy and read this book. Downloaded it to my Kindle and loving every chapter.
Being born in 1990 made it hard for me to be a nerd in the 80's :)
Still it sounds good and i'm definitely looking it up. besides who here aren't awed by the tomb of horrors? :D
It is really cool to see all these 'first timers.'
I wish you all the best of luck!
I wish you all even more of the best of fun. These boards, this contest, Paizo, the judges, the contestants, the fans make this a whole lot of fun!
First timer fist bump!
*fist bumps*
Good luck everyone.
This is also my first time entering as well.
I'm another first timer. Waited until this year was announced before doing anything (actually I think I was brainstorming ideas, I just lost them). Wrote out an idea I really like, then altered it, then started working on a backup plan, then realized that I might be breaking an auto-reject rule, was going to go full steam on backup item, got distracted by holidays, submitted first idea after deciding that it isn't auto reject (and having not touched backup item in weeks).
Hope it's Superstar...
Have two and a half weeks passed yet?
-X
(During final edits I realized that my item had the best run on sentences ever!)
First-timer admitting to submitting his entry in a sleep-deprived fit of inspiration. I rather enjoy the item though, and will probably use it in my homebrew whether or not I pass the 32 :)
Here's a scary thought.
The competition has run for 5 years now, and with all the advice and coaching
a) we have all gotten much better
b) the keep pile is getting way bigger year on year
Possible result
Next year an additional round is added, so the judges can start with Top 64 and have both Villains and Monster rounds available :D
First-timer and long time board-lurker. While i was struck with dread the moment i submitted my item, I've since worked myself back out of that hole and am pumped to see what how round one plays out!
I like many others have just (within the last week, approximately) submitted my first ever RPGSS idea.
I'm actually not sure if it is RPG Superstar Material. I am however actually looking forward to the 'reject critique' thread as partly what I want to do is learn is how to be a better GM.
Now my biggest fear is that I have done something (spelling mistake, typo, ommission, mis-step) which just takes me out without reference to the idea at all.
Echoing the many others above; Good luck to everyone!
Here's a scary thought.
The competition has run for 5 years now, and with all the advice and coaching
a) we have all gotten much better
b) the keep pile is getting way bigger year on yearPossible result
Next year an additional round is added, so the judges can start with Top 64 and have both Villains and Monster rounds available :D
I often wonder how many entries there are for round 1 each year, was this info released last year?
Also,I like the idea of a top 64, more rounds, more twists more mayhem! But alas, there may be only so much judging the judges are willing/have time to do.
Nope. Submission entry info wasn't released last year. We did comment that it was an all-time high number of entries. We broke that record again today. :-)
Nope. Submission entry info wasn't released last year. We did comment that it was an all-time high number of entries. We broke that record again today. :-)
That is good to read; it does the heart good to see all things Pathfinder flourishing. Also good to see that even more people are willing to put themselves out there creatively. The whole contest is just such a fantastic opportunity for people.
Here's a scary thought.
The competition has run for 5 years now, and with all the advice and coaching
a) we have all gotten much better
b) the keep pile is getting way bigger year on yearPossible result
Next year an additional round is added, so the judges can start with Top 64 and have both Villains and Monster rounds available :D
I often wonder how many entries there are for round 1 each year, was this info released last year?
Also,I like the idea of a top 64, more rounds, more twists more mayhem! But alas, there may be only so much judging the judges are willing/have time to do.
If round one included 64, round two likely would be the public voting 64 items to 32, without a new submission. I think the judges do an excellent job finding 32 though so it will be a while before 'tis really needed.
Im only joking on Top 64, I too think the judges go above and beyond every year.
They must really love this job, and that's one of the reasons why I, amongst so many, want in.
Chief Technical Officer
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...Also,I like the idea of a top 64, more rounds, more twists more mayhem! But alas, there may be only so much judging the judges are willing/have time to do.
We did have an extra round the first year, and I think it caused the contest to run longer than many people's attention span. Voter participation and discussion waned in a measurable way those last few weeks. I think we have the right number of rounds right now.
While we did get more submissions than normal, I haven't seen any indications that the judges are having any more trouble whittling down to 32 yet, and that's the only thing that could cause us to increase the number of finalists. And even if we did decide to do that, we'd almost certainly keep the same number of rounds and just eliminate more people in a few of them.
First time entering, after years of wanting to submit an idea. Then I forgot till about 30 minutes till end of entry time... Go smart phones... Darn the lack of spell check... On my smartphone:(.
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Big props to the first time submitters!
Good job, everyone!
I think you should be very proud of yourselves for having the courage and willingness to create and submit an item.
The creative process is very personal and revealing. As an author myself (not a very good one, admittedly), I understand how exposed you feel when you create something and submit it. Maybe for pros like Neil that feeling goes away, but I still have it every time I write something--it wont be good enough or they wont like it or someone will think it is lame or my inspirations are so transparent people will laugh at it and think I am some lame copycat or this has all been done before and no one will think it original.
I get it. It is a very humbling and exposing process to create art or to play music or to write. So I understand the reluctance people have to submit.
But you guys overcame that. You bit the bullet, you did what any freelancer has to do and you wrote, and then you submitted. And you had to make the hard parental choice of choosing between your children, which is how your ideas can feel sometimes to you.
So good on you! First timers in particular. Yes, it gets easier as timie goes on, but that feeling of exposure and insecurity that comes with creating and writing never fully goes away.
I submitted this year for the first time as well - Good luck to everyone! Even if we don't get picked, it's an interesting new perspective on a long-time hobby... and that's pretty cool.
Good luck to all the first-timers from a fellow first-timer. I'm nervous about what I submitted and frankly, I'm not sure what I'll do if I get into the 32 (not likely). My two biggest fears are that I don't understand the rules well enough and that my writing makes no sense.
So I'm a first time submitter too.
*Fist-bump!*
I am as freaked out as possible - it doesn't make sense, but it was incredibly frightening to even attempt to submit an item!
Myself, I have five minor regrets that hit me after I hit the 'submit' button (put into generic statements to avoid identifying myself):
1) The flavor text - I'm actually satisfied with it for the most part, but there are two-to-ten evocative words that really would have added that much more "pop". Alas. Now that it's a day or so after the competition is over, however, I don't think it's a major loss, just one that I would have liked to have added.
2) The name - I oscillated between more generic and more specific; one-, two-, three-, or four-words; and how strongly to tie it to Golarion. I am slightly unsatisfied with one of those choices. I'm not overly concerned, but in a competition this strong, it bothers me.
3) The crafting requirements make sense, and are very heavily thought out, but I'm not certain the judges will agree with me. I'm very pleased in a personal way with them... but I just don't know about how others would look at it.
4) This one's a doozy: the price. I quibbled with myself so much about this I can't even begin to describe it. I think - I think - I may have overpriced it by just a bit, but I'm just not sure. I may have even under priced it! Even now this decision haunts me. I stare at the item craft tables, look for "similar" items (and don't really find any, so I guess that's good for originality), and think as long and hard as I can, and the final answer on this still eludes me. I just pray that I'm not auto-disqualified just because a judge thinks I messed it up royally. Price has always been my weak spot and could easily undo me here.
5) I made one decision with the mechanics that I feel could kill my item. This partially relates to numbers three and four (in a very round about and non-self-identifying way), but it pains me to think that after all my thought went into this, I might have made the wrong decision. After reading all of Sean's advice, after looking through all the threads, and after reading a number of last year's items, this was the thing that filled me with regret literally the instant the "thank you for submitting" screen popped up. Gah. Gah! GAH! I was so satisfied with it, too! What really gets me about this one is how I'd looked at it, thought about it, run it through its paces, gotten thought and feedback on certain aspects of it (elsewhere, and not publicly) and put it all together and... GAH[i]! It smacks me right between the eyes after I've submitted it. The idea that it might get rejected based on one decision I'd thought was [i]great right up until the literal moment after submission... oof, it's a hard one.
Anyway, it's insanely difficult to keep quiet, to keep calm, and to keep focused. And I don't know why! I should be much more calm about this! Ack!
One other thing that wriggles in the back of my mind is that I didn't have the money this year for the UM or UC (or several other smaller titles I really wanted for that matter) and with being out of town (no access to a reliable internet connection) and our computer running as slowly as it is online this month, I've not been able to do the research I wanted to. I don't think I'm overlapping anything, but the lack of knowing for sure also kind of bothers me. "What if I'm doing something that's already been done?" I keep asking.
ANYWAY!
Pardon me freaking out. I've been trying not to on the forums for a while. :)
(I also find it funny that my post about my doubts for my item is quite substantially longer than my post on my item).
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Myself, I have five minor regrets that hit me after I hit the 'submit' button (put into generic statements to avoid identifying myself):
I hear you on all of your points.
For me:Did I price it right. I should of gone with a higher caster level, but does the one I used pull it off, while meeting the min requirements.
Did what I copy and pasted in, actually what I ment to.
I was in a situation where an did a lot of reformating before i sent it in. The problem is i forgot to save what I did after I hit send. So i'm extra nervous about what i have done.
But we had the courage and the dice are rolled. :-)
So as a first time entrant. How exactly does it work if we did or did not make it in the top 32?
If we do not:
Do we get a reject email, or do we just not see our name on the top 32?If we do make it:
Do we get an email, or do we need to check back here on the 24th?
If you get in, the list of the top 32 will go live and your name will be on it. More or less simultaneous with that, Paizo will send you an email letting you know that, offering you congratulations to that fact, and telling you what your next steps are.
If you don't make it, there's no specific notice to that effect, but you'd be able to figure it out rather quickly from your name not being listed in the top 32 (plus alternates).
Word to the wise, if you can't get the site to load (because everyone will be checking it) when the Top 32 are announced, go check your email. If you have an email from Paizo, you might be in the Top 32. My year, I couldn't get the site to load. And, I didn't stop to think Paizo might have sent me an email. So, I visited the DMTools.org chatroom and people started congratulating me. Liz was basically the one who let me know I made it in. Then everyone suggested I check my email and there it was...
So, yeah. Check your email if you want to definitively know you made it. You might find out faster that way. :-)
Neil, I changed my email recently (my old one stopped functioning for some reason, and I didn't know it... probably too little activity or something), so I hope it'll go to my new email instead. Also, would I still receive an email if I've opted out of news stuff from Paizo?
Neil, I changed my email recently (my old one stopped functioning for some reason, and I didn't know it... probably too little activity or something), so I hope it'll go to my new email instead. Also, would I still receive an email if I've opted out of news stuff from Paizo?
I just confirmed with Gary, we send the Top 32 individual emails to let them know they're in, so make sure Paizo.com has your correct email address. :)
As far as I know you guys do, but since I just changed it (on Paizo) I wanted to make sure.
I'm also not sure about the "coolness" factor, now. I'm not sure it's amazing enough... I think it's fantastic, and it should exist, but I'm not sure it's "wow" enough. Ugh, so many regrets... but still so much want to know. :)
Man, I would be super pumped to make it anywhere in this contest but especially as a 1st timer I just can't wait to get some good feedback!
EDIT: I just hope they don't go easy on the feedback, if I am gonna get rejected I would love to see something that would help me make a real improvement next time around.
Good luck!
Well done all you first timers.
Little snippet from an "old timer?", entered every year and guess what.
It's no less nerve wracking waiting now as it was the first time.
So enjoy and welcome to the fold.