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Right. Here goes.
An offer to my fellow contestants.
If you take part in the Blazing 9 thread (or whatever it is called this year), and by this I mean post at least one item for practice discussion and dissemination, I will offer you the same level of review I am doing at the moment on your entries, as PM messages, in next year's competition.
There will obviously be a time / resource limit to me doing this as I am only human, so don't post it to me for review on deadline day for example. I may even, during the competition post saying when I am closing the offer which might be a day or two before deadline.
I can't promise it will make you Superstar, I can promise you will get nailed on template, really nailed.
And I will check your passivity and provide an overview level of feedback on how your items shine.
All you need to do now is think about whether you would find my reviews at all helpful in your design processes and take part in the practice thread after this year is done and we have our winner.
Fair enough?
Challenge Accepted!
Anthony, I'm not sure if I'll be participating in the Blazing 9, but the amount of time and effort you put into these boards has helped me more than once. I would very much appreciate any feedback you'd be inclined to give and I salute you for being so generous.
Much appreciated, Anthony.
I tend to be an infrequent on the messageboards. Doing them year round would greatly decrease the number of years I will remain married. :)
That said, I'm noticing the amount of respect you have garnered. I find it very intriguing and would hope Paizo might be paying attention to this as ask you for an interview outside the RPGSS.
I only participated in the Blazing 9 off and on last year but it was more than worth the time that I spent there. Especially Anthony, but everyone else in that thread was awesome.
Anthony, you really are a saint. I'm hoping to participate in the Blazing 9 (or similar) thread, barring any unforseen snags, so this would be really fantastic. :)
Other than my PBPs, I've not really been a big participant in the message boards outside of Superstar -- I just don't have the time. That said, the one thing I do year-round is the 9 Blazing Months.
It actually doesn't take that much time since the participation level isn't *that* high (usually a handful of items posted every month), but it's a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.
Much appreciated, Anthony.
I tend to be an infrequent on the messageboards. Doing them year round would greatly decrease the number of years I will remain married. :)
That said, I'm noticing the amount of respect you have garnered. I find it very intriguing and would hope Paizo might be paying attention to this as ask you for an interview outside the RPGSS.
I know this may sound daft, but I probably wouldn't take up an offer like that. If I can't make top 89 then I still have much to learn and more practice to do. I want to earn my place as a freelance AND be good at it, not just for myself, but for any employers and any fans that might get things I end up writing.
I actually really enjoy reviewing, it's one of my big tools in learning what to do better next time and by committing myself to doing all top 32 (haven't forgotten, just been a crazy day, hence my lack of posts) each year, I force myself to read every snippet I can.
But that's just me. I'm sad like that.
I was just chatting in emails to some fellow contestant postulating, as one does, that I might offer to Paizo some time and effort gathering up all the last 6 years of advice for all rounds, rather like I did for my template thread - and create from this a "Superstar contestant guide" pdf/document that could be freely available to all contestants and save a lot of the forum trawling.
There is just so much good stuff there and so much is buried now.
I also wanted to include some screen shots of the submission page of round 1 so we never see someone putting the title in one place and not the other ever again, or putting bbcodes in the first title box and so on - and include a step by step guide how to preview and check those word counts. (it's not difficult, I know)
Oh, and one of the fellow chappies chatting with me just mentioned that something along those lines was already being done and was mentioned on another thread. So fingers crossed.
I'm in!
Anthony, Kudos to you sir! I am contemplating participating in The Blazing 9, after my first year submitting an entry for RPGSS, and I think your input would certainly help in eliminating some of the weak points in my design.
Not only is your offer "fair enough", but I'd say that dedication is more than many of us could ask for. If you haven't gathered from the response so far, your friendly candor and extracurricular activities on these boards are a bit of an inspiration.
And, I thank you!
Anthony...you really impress me!
I remember the item you made last year, and the poor reviews it got. Instead of letting it knock you down you have let that situation inspire you to push forward and try harder! I haven't entered an item the past few years due to school time commitments, but next year I am eager to get back into the Top 32. I look forward to seeing the 9 blazing moths thread open and the creative collaboration and evaluation begin again.
Ohh, I will definitely take you up on your offer. I was planning on participating anyway, but extra incentive? I'll take it!
When will the Blazing 9 be this year?
It starts about two weeks after the final winner is announced and runs to the announcement of the next one :)
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Having just been PM'd a couple of times.
Blazing 9? Wha? I say sunshine, what do you be going on about??
9 months give or take from April thru December when contestants like myself, who are still eligible to enter each year, try to post an item a month as if they were entering the competition for real.
Fellow contestants and winners and past winners visit and help critique, and we sometimes get a famous "face" pop in too to give a gentle nudge here and there.
Last year I worked all year in the thread, posting multiple versions at times of the same item as I reacted to the critique and feedback I received - it helped tighten my design skills. I still need to find that elusive mojo though.
The discussions on the items in these yearly threads go way way beyond what I have been doing this year, if you want a real in depth peek, search those threads and hopefully observe the improvements demonstrated by everyon participating in them.
It is purely voluntary, you can even post other round entries for practice, or just drop by and lurk, or jump in when you spot things you like.
In last year's thread, I feel particularly proud of some of my latter items like this one (although now I can see that it mimics future tech - remote controlled cars anyone?)
Widow Hoop
Aura faint conjuration (creation); CL 5th
Slot hands; Price 3,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
A silken hoop made from spun spider thread surrounds the splayed carcass of a black widow. The spider is removed from the hoop with a swift tug whereupon it pulsates and twitches. Placing the now animate spider within a vehicle’s controls allows it to envelop the steering mechanism in a steely grasp. Alternatively, the spider can be placed or thrown onto the vehicle shell where it will scuttle into the recesses of the vehicle, finding and enveloping the steering control in 1d3 rounds +1 per 6 Vehicle Squares.
As a standard action, holding and rotating the hoop instructs the spider to turn the vehicle in the direction of rotation. The hoop user must make a Turn check as if they were the vehicle's driver. If the vehicle driver does not contest the turn, the result of the turn check is resolved normally. To contest the turn, the vehicle driver makes a Turn driving check to retain control of the vehicle, the DC set by the hoop user's Turn check. Failing any turn check by 10 or more results in the vehicle gaining the broken condition. If already broken, then it gains the wrecked condition.
Destroying the spider or the hoop will free the vehicle of any control by the hoop user. The spider has a hardness of 2 and 15 hit points; the hoop has hardness 1 and 5 hit points.
The spider releases the vehicle and drops to freedom when the hoop is more than a mile away, the vehicle is stationary for 4 consecutive rounds, or the hoop is destroyed.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, phantom driver; Cost 1,500 gp
... to answer many wonderings about now...
Yes! I CAN see many improvements I can make to this now, so, the question is, can you?
A couple of starters to get you going...
a) I mention the default action cost in one of this years reviews that is the default action cost when not listed, so what shouldn't I have said in the above?
b) and what is the biggest template error in there (yes there is!)
There is loads more in last years Blazing 9, so give yourself a treat while waiting for the archetypes, curl up and have a nice looooong read of 9 months work of fun, games, giggles and serious practice and feedback.
Now, back to these Top 32 reviews for me... (knowing that thread should keep you all quiet for an hour or more, enjoy yourselves in there).
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Hmmm, that's an interesting thought for a thread later on - the Template Fu monthly challenge - How many template issues can you find from a deliberately error-ed item posting? - I might just do that a few times for fun... :P
This is a fantastic idea!
I'd like to add that while I may not go into the same level of detail as Anthony, I'd be willing to review items from any 9 blazing months participants as well.
I'll go good bad and ugly for anyone interested as well. I'm not Anthony though my reviews are straight up opinion
I'll be participating for sure, and I extend the offer as well. I'll try to comment on every item I can, and make items that are, I hope, progressively better.
Throughout the practice thread, as many as possible comments will be welcome. Beware of getting too many people critiquing your submission item lest it become a group effort.
But we can play when the pros are done. Please stay focused on the Top 32. If you need some stretching of your RPGSS muscles and are out of threads, go back and read 2011's archetype rounds. 'Tis good practice for reviews of Tuesday's announcement. :)
Curaigh said he'll start it up when the RPGSS logo disappears from the top left corner. Probably next week if I remember correctly from previous years.
Looking forward to lots of people participating. I've already got my first item, which is definitely not Superstar but I think a fun practice item.
I'm personally planning on multiple threads for items, monsters, and archetypes....
I think a great exercise might be a redesign an item challenge. Use my thread which has every item from the critique my item thread and the page its on roll a 1D4 to determine 1st or second 100 then roll 1D100 to get an item to do a redesign on you get 3 days. Basically teaches revision and editing.
Another way to go is to group think archetypes to submit to wayfinder. Write one get feedback, submit the best version to everyone's favorite fan mag.
Solspiral, I think I will be participating in each of those threads for some more well rounded design practice.
I already have some monsters for when the practice threads go up!
FWIW, I'd like to see it all in one thread, but that might just be me.
I was actually going to suggest we do an RPGSS-style game to practice, since obviously if we want to become better designers we need to do more than just wondrous items.
My suggestion would be that all you need to do to enter is submit an item. Then, you get one vote for every critique you do. The winner gets to pick the twist(s) for the next round.
We can do item, then XX (winner's pick, since Round 2 changes the most), then monsters, encounters and finally pitch an adventure.
I think it'd add a little fun to the usual practice thread. Thoughts?
Bigger the thread the less approachable it is for folks down the line. I also think its better if each thread has its own focus. for example lets pretend for a second I had a huge thread already about monster design on the homebrew section, am I really going to want to practice more on that subject? Lets say I'm just happy to get in the top 32 and all I want to do is items? When the thread shifts focus you lost me.
Different folk have different goals why not spread out the love a little to keep people invested?
Neil didn't trademark that yet right?
~Frank
Well, maybe this is the year it changes, but it's usually not that unwieldy a thread. Looks like last year's ended up with 538 posts, which is about 60 posts a month or two a day on average, with about a half-dozen regulars posting in it.
I know a lot of people have said they're interested, and I'd love to see them participate, in which case maybe separate threads do make sense. I suppose I'll keep checking in daily, as I did last year, so it doesn't really matter, but it does feel a bit less useful to me (and, again, that of course is just my personal feeling).
Consider me in! I think I fell into a lot of pitfalls this year and would like to shoot for the stars next year!
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You know, Anthony, they should really give you a custom forum tag for how involved and helpful you've been to the community over the years. :)
Are you sure this doesn't break the rule against revealing what your item is during the anonymous round? *confused*
One is not allowed to elaborate, explain, or clarify what has been submitted. One (two?) is not allowed to collaborate on an entry. One is encouraged to have proof readers before entry.
@137ben and lurkers ;)
A PM on the forums to me is a private message and is not open to the public. Any feedback I give will be returned in the same way. In this way, it is no different in asking a friend or family member to have a look at your item ( which I am sure many of you do ;) )
So long as nothing is discussed openly anywhere, you are quite safe. Just don't mention your item name or reveal anything I provide to you in feedback anywhere else, these forums or other public areas anywhere.
@ Chris
LOL - it's actually a selfish offer - I am trying to avoid a few non formatted entry headaches :P