I grew up playing Rolemaster (hey, we were kids, having a million charts for everything was cool), and then 4E on-and-off for a number of years.
Yeah, Chartmaster! My first RPG was a Middle Earth themed Rolemaster variant. I spreadsheeted the heck out of that.
Hah! You just reminded me of MERP - I'd completely forgotten about it!
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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Okay...let's talk bidness. No one wants to be disqualified, so let's all remember not to revise remarks or respond to comments about our archetypes until after voting for the round is over.
I had a question I thought we might all benefit from along those lines: WHat are we allowed to say outside the Paizo forums? Can we say "Hey Facebook, come vote for my blahblah in RPG Superstar!", so long as we don't engage in conversation about the item? Obviously we can't publically reveal an entry before Paizo reveals them in any medium.
Just wanna make sure we're all square on this rule before anyone steps in it.
I had a question I thought we might all benefit from along those lines: What are we allowed to say outside the Paizo forums? Can we say "Hey Facebook, come vote for my blahblah in RPG Superstar!", so long as we don't engage in conversation about the item? Obviously we can't publically reveal an entry before Paizo reveals them in any medium.
Just wanna make sure we're all square on this rule before anyone steps in it.
By all means, you are welcome (and encouraged!) to promote the contest, and to ask friends to vote for you.
What you absolutely need to avoid is talking about your entry before voting is concluded. Anything beyond what's written in the entry is not OK. So "Come vote for my entry!!!" is great; but stay far, far away from "Vote for my entry - don't worry about the mechanics objection that Clark made, I've totally got a fix for it", or "Check out what I wrote - think how cool it'd be combined with the Summon Mass Desert teamwork feat!". Generally, limiting yourself to "Please vote for me!" is safe.
It's OK to share your work-in-progress with a small pit crew, but DON'T post it anywhere public (e.g. your Facebook feed, your blog...), and be sure that your pit crew knows the rules too - you don't want them popping up during voting and starting to defend your item using their insider info.
But the rules this year explicitly disallow even "Please vote for me!" posts. The judges said that people skirted too close to the line in the past, so they're putting the kibosh on everything. Personally, I'd avoid posting anything publicly, anywhere. Sure, you can tell your friends to vote for you, but what kind of friends weren't already going to vote for you?
But the rules this year explicitly disallow even "Please vote for me!" posts. The judges said that people skirted too close to the line in the past, so they're putting the kibosh on everything. Personally, I'd avoid posting anything publicly, anywhere. Sure, you can tell your friends to vote for you, but what kind of friends weren't already going to vote for you?
I'm confused here, because the FAQ and the rules say different things. In the FAQ, it says this:
Contestants are prohibited from commenting on their own entries (in the entry's own thread or elsewhere) while the voting booth is open.
In past years, contestants were allowed to post in their entry's thread to thank others for their support and encourage voting, but there have been times where these comments pushed the boundaries of acceptable commentary, so in this year's contest the contestants are not allowed to comment on their own entries in any way while the voting period is open. See Rule #5 on the Official Rules page.
Once the voting booth has closed, contestants may comment freely on their own entries.
...but Rule 5 has this to say:
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 submissions. 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 Publishing.
Only discussion that "could be considered as adding to, expanding upon or clarifying the content of their current submissions" is an offense. Which should I listen to, the FAQ or the Official Rules? Could one of the judges please clarify this?
I assume the rules simply weren't updated to reflect the change from last year. I'm fairly sure I saw SKR or another judge reiterate the change in policy on a thread somewhere.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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And that's why I thought we should have this discussion. My interpretation of the rule lies between Joseph's and Ziv's: In social media you can encourage voters to support you and your entry during voting, but may not expand or define your entry while voting is open. Here on the boards you may say NOTHING until voting for the round is over.
We need a ruling so no one missteps and we're all advancing or not for the right reasons. Judges!!?
Clarity on this issue would be nice. My inclination, personally, would be to simply direct my friends to the contest, but maybe I'm not self-promoting enough??? :P
Oh, I think we're in agreement. When I said that posting "Vote for me!" is OK, I meant for Facebook and such - off-site. Here on the boards, mum's the word.
Let's be honest here - anything off the boards is on the honor system. Nobody (I hope...) is tapping into your Facebook feed, your Wordpress blog, your Twitter account, and waiting for you to slip up. Slip-ups offsite also aren't as dangerous - you're less likely to be responding to criticism there; you're probably funneling discussion here rather than having an in-depth chat via tweets, and even if you do corrupt the minds of a couple of friends (hint: they were biased from the start!), you're not affecting the impression received by the vast majority of voters.
Let's be equally honest and say that there should be no friggin' reason to slip up, anywhere.
You don't need a precise ruling here - just exercise common sense, pretend that any details about your entry beyond its mere existence and URL are a state secret, and leave it at that.
This doesn't apply to posting a whole additional archetype, say on the "What I Would Have Entered" thread, does it?. It would be a "What I Would Have Entered If I Hadn't Entered the One I Entered" post. It wouldn't be an "addition" to my entry, and not official in anyway. It would be just showing people my second choice. That would be legal, right? Right? RIGHT?
I'm just having issues choosing between the top two of the five archetypes I have created.
I assume you're joking by your repeated "rights", but just in case I would definitely NOT do that, Nickolas. I would absolutely see it as saying, "Well, if you don't like what I submitted, here's another one I did just so you can see my design chops so vote for me anyway."
That said, I will say again that I think you all need to really bring it BIG in this round. Unlike previous years, I think a LOT more of the voters will have participated in Round 2, since we all knew the twist. I'm going to want to see things that I think compare favorably with the archetypes I wrote up over the last month. (And I definitely feel your pain; I had four I liked, which I'd narrowed down to two I was going to have to try to decide between.)
Yeah, I was joking. As much as I would like to show both of the two archetypes I'm choosing from, I would expect to get DQed if I did. There is probably a third of the five I would like to show as well. But after the round is over, it would be legal, right? Right, RIGHT?
Lets call this one "not a joke." We can talk about our items now because that round is over, so after the archetype round it becomes legal to post info and personal commentary on our submission from that round, right? And it would be legal to post another archetype then, whether we were still in the competition or not. Right?
I don't want to do it so much to gain an advantage, but I really can't decided which one is more awesome and I want to share them both eventually.
I stuck my head in briefly, but let me to a proper intro. I am 41, live in Huntsville, Alabama, and am the father of two boys (7 and 11). I am a research meteorologist at NASA. I love RPGs but had been out of the loop for a LONG time (after playing/running of MERP/Rolemaster in high school). Last year I got the Pathfinder starter set and started running a few games for my boys, and then started getting more rulebooks, and playing PbP here. Being a busy father I get to read about Pathfinder far more than I play it, but it's been fun getting the boys interested in it. I'm also a big boardgamer.
Gah, all of a sudden I'm plagued with doubts about the archetype I finished two weeks ago, and was about to submit today. I'm just going to assume it's jitters, and not my subconscious telling me there's something really wrong with it. Oh well, here goes nothing! *fingers crossed*
Okay...let's talk bidness. No one wants to be disqualified, so let's all remember not to revise remarks or respond to comments about our archetypes until after voting for the round is over.
I had a question I thought we might all benefit from along those lines: WHat are we allowed to say outside the Paizo forums? Can we say "Hey Facebook, come vote for my blahblah in RPG Superstar!", so long as we don't engage in conversation about the item?
You can encourage people to vote in the competition.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka burrahobbit
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Gah, all of a sudden I'm plagued with doubts about the archetype I finished two weeks ago, and was about to submit today. I'm just going to assume it's jitters, and not my subconscious telling me there's something really wrong with it. Oh well, here goes nothing! *fingers crossed*
Glad to know it's not just me! Nah, be it an entry like this, a college paper, or a new car, I get just about the same feeling 10 seconds after I seal the deal. It's just jitters, and they go away a bit later as I remember that I did the best I could. Best of luck - looking forward to seeing your entry!
Well, I just submitted. After I spotted 4 separate tweaks that had to be made. In a way, it's comforting that I now only have to be in the top half, instead of the top 2% or so. But I'm still screaming on the inside; since I'm at work right now, I'm trying not to scream on the outside.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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I totally understand. I should be selling insurance. Instead I'm wigging out over an archerype that I thought was sick genius a week ago, and a total crap shoot today.
Pardon me while I go vomit.
I've got two keepers. I need to sleep on it. But I go over one and I go "Yeah that's it!" Then like two minutes later I think "What if everyone is doing this class? What if they all did this same concept?" Then I go "But everyone's thinking that!"
So help me out here. IS everyone thinking that?
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9
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So help me out here. IS everyone thinking that?
I have 3 locales I expect to be covered, 1 rather heavily. I can't wait for round 2 submissions to be revealed to see if my guessery is good.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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I specifically chose two lasses I thought people were less likely to try, and I specifically fired my first attempt. As much as I liked it andthought it eas great in RK, I kept thinking it'd be one of four or six of that class. Now I simultaneously love my wntry and I want to start from scratch.
I've got two keepers. I need to sleep on it. But I go over one and I go "Yeah that's it!" Then like two minutes later I think "What if everyone is doing this class? What if they all did this same concept?" Then I go "But everyone's thinking that!"
So help me out here. IS everyone thinking that?
Yes, yes we are.
Seriously. It is kind of a crapshoot. I submitted my item and saw two items with striking similarities in the voting. There are design holes that need to be filled. You might be the only one to find the hole, but you might not be. Even if you pick the design that you think is the most likely to be unique, some one else might have made something similar and though the same thing.
Do you really want me to tell you what I think the most common themes will be? Of course, that prediction would no longer apply once I throw it out there...
Do you really want me to tell you what I think the most common themes will be? Of course, that prediction would no longer apply once I throw it out there...
No. That would be bad form at the very least. I created five and I think the two at the bottom of the pile are likely what you are talking about. But don't say it.
Do you really want me to tell you what I think the most common themes will be? Of course, that prediction would no longer apply once I throw it out there...
I don't think that would be a good idea.
I've already had to toss 2 ideas because they were too similar to ideas proposed from previous contests, or from archetypes I actually found in the rules.
Also, some of those archetypes in the published materials? Guys, we need to talk.
I won't say anything now, but I think it would be interesting if, after submissions close but before the entries are revealed, we all shared what we thought everyone else would submit. Probably still not a good idea though.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9
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I specifically chose two lasses I thought people were less likely to try, and I specifically fired my first attempt. As much as I liked it andthought it eas great in RK, I kept thinking it'd be one of four or six of that class. Now I simultaneously love my wntry and I want to start from scratch.
Be sure to use your spellchecker and double check! :)
"What if everyone is doing this class? What if they all did this same concept?" Then I go "But everyone's thinking that!"
That is definetely the hardest part. I had three concepts that I feel could be more innovative than the one I'm going with, but at the same time I thought they weren't as compelling. It's hard to know if you are being original or if there's three other people doing the exact same thing. In that case, it's important to strive to deliver the best execution and try to rise above the other similar entries.
Man, this is nerve-wracking.
On the other hand, if you post an archetype similar to another contestant's, it will be pretty easy to compare them. Which, granted, is not usually in the interests of one of those two entrants. But it will make judging easy! And isn't that what our goal is?
It's hard to know if you are being original or if there's three other people doing the exact same thing. In that case, it's important to strive to deliver the best execution and try to rise above the other similar entries.
I unknowingly did this during the wondrous item round. I was the "Best of the Thorny Shoes." That is a prestigious title. I should ask that my RPG Superstar title be replaced by that. Maybe I can submit a similar concept as others in the archetype round and come out on top of that too. That should at least give me some confidence.
I have no sense of whether or not what I'm doing is going to be trotted out by many others, but I do know it's not in the rules currently. That seems good enough to me. If people submit similar archetypes, as Nicholas said, the better of the lot will shine brighter -- so why worry about it if you're confident in your entry?
Oh... as someone who's not super confident in mine I guess I shouldn't talk hahaha.
What do you do?
Take a risky route with an archetype that has mighty mojo, but might have some minor balance issues (like not exactly swapping one for one).
Or go with a more balanced archetype, that still has some mojo, but might not appeal broadly, and has a slightly higher chance of being duplicated by another contestant?
What do you do?
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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I take the risky mojo every time, and I build it at 20th level. Skip the cats in the trees. We goin' to Morfor!
I k.ow my last post sucked at spelling. I blame the junior agent behind the eheel of the car. I promise not to post my archetype from my phone. :b
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7
aka Draconas
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Really you can't take the other contestants into account. You can't know what they are doing without breaking the rules of the contest so they shouldn't factor into your entry. Do your best with the material you're given and if you have done a good job, the work will shine on its own merits even if there are two, three, or half a dozen entries of the same type.
In year 2010, four of us out of sixteen did up the same monster (the Chuurjiir) for Round 3 and one of us (Benjamin Bruck) made it to the next round.
Good luck to everyone.
Arrrrg,... Just submitted my entry. Now i'm trying not to go back to see if I could have made it better.
Arrrrg,... Just submitted my entry. Now i'm trying not to go back to see if I could have made it better.
I saved my final draft as 'submitted archetype - do not read!' for that very reason. Though I proofread it a gazillion times before clicking on the dreaded button, I just know some bright, shiny error will jump out at me (and everyone else) as soon as it appears on the boards.
Oh well, keep smiling. Best of luck everyone!
I've submitted mine. I guess all that's left is the 'not talking about it' part. Good luck to all!
I won't say anything now, but I think it would be interesting if, after submissions close but before the entries are revealed, we all shared what we thought everyone else would submit. Probably still not a good idea though.
I can share that now. I honestly haven't spent a single shred of mindpower on thinking what anyone else is going to submit. Part of that is that I have so little free time to work on the contest that if I spent it worrying about what you guys are going to do, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm going to do.
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I had my archetype "finished" this afternoon. Then I plugged it into the submission post and hit the preview button. I started reading it aloud, got through the first two sentences and then found something to change. Hit preview again. Read aloud from the beginning, got a few lines further and found something else to change. Rinse and repeat. Nearly half an hour later, I finally read it aloud straight through to the end with no hang-ups, hiccups, or glitches. Submitted and then hustled off to a job interview.
Came back from my interview, checked my email, and there was the email from Paizo letting me know the Guide to the River Kingdoms and Inner Sea World Guide pdfs were in my downloads and ready to go. (Thank you very, very much, Paizo, for the generous gifts.) A good friend of mine loaned me his River Kingdoms book a while back, so all is well.
In any event, I'm ready to rock and roll. So if one of you gentlemen would kindly suffer a temporary bout of aphasia so I could step up into your spot, I'd greatly appreciate it. :)
Being completely serious for a moment... is there any coffee in here?
I was looking for the Jolt cola!
I have added the awesome sauce and sprinkled some mojo on this archetype, but I think it needs more cowbell.
Is the next round anonymous?
Is the next round anonymous?
Nope! All entries are posted under our names and voted on by the public.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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Clay - the round is not anonymous, but we may not identify or hint at our archetypes, nor comment nor respond to comments about them, not even to say "thanks!" until after voting for round two has closed.
My [REDACTED] is posted, reviewed, and submitted. May he/she/it be everything I sometimes think he/she/it is!
Good luck everyone. I look forward to seeing everyone else's genius!
Hey guys! Sorry I've been M.I.A.
Been workin' on the ol' Archetype. Ayup!
Finally finished. I'm gonna put this thing down tonight, read it in the morning, and post it.
I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous that other people might have come up with the same or similar ideas, but I personally like mine so much that I don't really care. :p
--
And, er, hey all you out there! If you want to know more about me, read my profile. I am too tired and lazy to bother with ya!
Well, tonight anyway. :p