The following is the unanimous ruling of the judges and Paizo representatives following meeting and discussion:
Unfortunately, we have decided to disqualify competitor Bob Drouin from the 2012 RPG Superstar competition.
The Round 3 rules state that a submission may be disqualified if
"Competitor adds to, expands upon, or clarifies the contents of his or her own submission during the voting period, whether this takes place on paizo.com or elsewhere."
The Official Rules for the entire contest state
"5. During public voting rounds, contestants are prohibited from any public discussion that could be considered as adding to, expanding upon, or clarifying the content of their current submission. This applies to (but is not limited to) interviews, personal blogs, and messageboard posts on paizo.com or elsewhere, including the paizo.com discussion thread for the entry itself. Any such discussion may result in disqualification, in the sole discretion of the judges and/or Paizo."
The competitors were warned during Round 2 about crossing the line for what is acceptable posting, reminded about the FAQ and its safe-to-post statement.
We've reached the point where gentle warnings about "do this one more time and someone is getting disqualified" are not sufficient. While we want this to remain a friendly and pleasant competition, Paizo needs to make sure that competitors can follow the rules of a contest (just as we'd expect them to follow the rules of a work contract or a confidentiality agreement).
In future rounds, competitors will not be allowed to post about about their submissions at all while voting is open.
Bob Drouin's entry is disqualified and he will not advance to the next round. No alternates will be brought in to take his place. To prevent a technical issue where deleting his entry may accidentally redistribute votes for him to other competitors, his entry in the voting booth will have a line through it; if you vote for him, that vote will not count. You are still able to reassign your votes until the voting period ends on Friday, February 20th.
In future rounds, competitors will not be allowed to post about about their submissions at all while voting is open.
Is this going to be enforced by the forum software such that they cannot post? With the new PM system, will those be monitored as well?
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That's a shame. :(
Am I correct in assuming we will still be allowed to post the "Thank you, vote for me!" message in our entries?
That's a shame. :(
Am I correct in assuming we will still be allowed to post the "Thank you, vote for me!" message in our entries?
I'll refer you to...
In future rounds, competitors will not be allowed to post about about their submissions at all while voting is open.
I took that to mean, nothing at all. Besides, who at this point doesn't know that all of you would like to thank those commenting on your thread and encourage them to vote for you? It's kind of superfluous really.
Yeah, that's why I asked.
Duly noted, and I sort of agree with you on the superfluity.
Thanks!
I am always sad to see this happen to someone. :-(
That they have done so to themselves makes it particularly disheartening, though I understand why it needs to be done.
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The unfortunate thing is that Bob's infractions were nowhere near as bad as some of the other competitors during round 2 (albeit they didn't make it to round 3). I understand why the judges did this, and there were repeated warnings in round 2 about this.
I hope Bob bares no ill will and holds his head high on getting this far in the competition, to which he must be given his due credit.
Argh, I can't tell how much I am pi**ed about the fact that someone who displayed such good entries is not able to follow a very simple rule.
Such a waste is a shame.
It is indeed a shame. Thanks for the run, Bob.
That's a shame. :(
Am I correct in assuming we will still be allowed to post the "Thank you, vote for me!" message in our entries?I'll refer you to...
In future rounds, competitors will not be allowed to post about about their submissions at all while voting is open.I took that to mean, nothing at all. Besides, who at this point doesn't know that all of you would like to thank those commenting on your thread and encourage them to vote for you? It's kind of superfluous really.
A follow-up to this (although I suppose it will be clarified in the round 4 rules) - are we allowed to remind others about the contest and issue a general appeal for votes and support? Case in point, I posted this in my PbP threads:
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Well, I'd like to give both my respect to the judges for making the decision (I'm sure it's never easy to make the choice), compassion to Bob with the disqualification and most of all remind all the other top 16 (15) to be very, very careful in everything they do on these boards. Consider every post, both for wording, politeness and for "is this really worth the chance of even potential disqualification?" as long as the round in question is running. Stay careful, all of you.
I took that to mean, nothing at all. Besides, who at this point doesn't know that all of you would like to thank those commenting on your thread and encourage them to vote for you? It's kind of superfluous really.
In future rounds, competitors will not be allowed to post about about their submissions at all while voting is open.
That's certainly the safe way to read Sean's instruction, and is what I will do pending any clarification. It's a shame that the judges feel this is a necessary step, in a couple of ways. Firstly, it's just plain polite to respond to people who take the time to comment. Secondly, responding appropriately to both praise and criticism is a good 'freelancer-ready test'.
So even though this will make life simpler for everyone, and I understand the drivers... it's still a shame.
Oh, I'm not mad. Thanks for the sympathy, all!
But they did completely remove my thread, hmm. Which is going to make it deuced hard to get comments on it once the voting is down, as I'd like to go through my thought processes when making my beast.
Am I going to be allowed to repost my submission and deconstruct it once voting is done?
Also, I'd like to post a link to the picture which inspired my creature, and now that I'm out of the competition, was wondering if that was okay...or to once again wait for the voting to end.
And yes, I did vote for some of you other people! ;) Good luck to you all, and hopefully you gnaw your shields longer then I did!
===Bob Drouin
I still see your thread, Bob. Sorry about the DQ.
As a fan of Lovecraft/REH/etc, I'm a big fan of your cancer from the void, Bob. Kudos to you and your creative genius. Tough break this time around, but I hope to see you here in the trenches next year!
Always a shame to see any part of a contest end in disqualification. :-(
I also hope you try again next year.
Chief Technical Officer
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But they did completely remove my thread, hmm. ...
Also, I'd like to post a link to the picture which inspired my creature, and now that I'm out of the competition, was wondering if that was okay...or to once again wait for the voting to end.
We didn't remove it. Not sure why you couldn't see it....
Yes, please wait until voting is closed, just to keep the focus on the votable entries.
Thanks!
Always a shame to see any part of a contest end in disqualification. :-(
I also hope you try again next year.
Oh, I've already got my item for next year!
==Bob Drouin
Aw, bummer that you got DQed, Bob. I'm really impressed with the way you are carrying yourself throughout this though. Hope to see your work next year.
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Just waiting for results to be announced on Monday for some more posting!
Y'know, not having the stress of competition made this a much more relaxing weekend then last one!
Thanks for the kind comments! Now wish good luck to the survivors!
==Bob Drouin