My favorites from Round 1 are doing well

[Eric Morton]

Only twelve of the Top 32 were in my Keep folder from Round 1, but eight of those twelve are in the Top 16. What's more, four of the official Top 16 (Matthew Duval, Michael Pruess, Nicholas Herold, and Rorik Moore-Jansen) were on my personal Top 16 list from Round 1.

As the designers I liked and Kept in Round 1 start pulling ahead, I'm starting to feel much better about my Superstar instincts. So it appears I have some horses in this race, after all. Go, Keepers, go!

[Effie Schwartz-Craighill]

Coming from someone whose work in the homebrew forums I've admired for as long as I can recall visiting said forums, this means a lot to me -- thank you for your kind words, Eric!

[Eric Morton]

Huzzah! The folks whose items made my Round 1 Keep folder are still doing well.

Of the twelve contestants in Round 2 who made my Keep folder, six have advanced to Round 4. Which means, as of Round 4, contestants whose items made my Keep folder have outperformed contestants whose items did not make my Keep folder by a five-to-one margin.

Go, Keepers, go!

[Maurice de Mare]

Care to share that 'keep' list?

[Eric Morton]

My Keep folder and some near misses:

My personal Top 32:

boots of the dwarf
cauldron of the perilous pact
clasp of winter's embrace
dimensional stable
disappearing weapon cord
dragon claw
gloves of the confident smith
gloves, tree frog (official Top 8 or better)
gorget of living whispers (official Top 8 or better)
gorum's stompers (official Top 32)
hand of eternal remorse
hat of the musketeer
ishikawa's purse
mantle of a thousand hands (official alternate)
mantle of the defending hive
meridian needle
monastic sheath
patchwork cat
periapt of eldritch thirst
quill of the tengu sage
reins of the unstoppable stride (official Top 8 or better)
sandals of triple jumping
scrivener's inkpot
seer's soap (official Top 8 or better)
shroud of certain return
skipping stone (official Top 32)
trick shot glove (official Top 16)
turban of the magi
verdant crown of oak and iron (official Top 8 or better)
vest of mongrelkind
wintertide candle (official Top 32)
wristwraps of the triune self

My personal Next 32:

amulet of amended strategy
blightseed oil
boots of stillness
boots, earthscorn
bracelet of versatile summoning
bracers of extreme effort
bracer's of titan grip
cape, sticky-fingered
captain's tricorn
devourer's tabard
dryad's savior
efficient sheath of imbuement
erastil's footprints
flask of the doppleganger
ghoulslayer gloves
goggles of the legion commander
greaves of the tricky cat
hand wraps of unerring blows
icon of aspects (official Top 32)
nexian torc
ointment of last sight
orator's torc
paint of discerning demise
record of the fallen
scatterstep boots (official alternate)
shoanti scrolltube
soul scalpel
spectral saddle
tablet of heretical lore
tassel of the cosmic forge
trap springer ball
whispering gloves (official Top 16)

My other Kept items:

badge of shared space
black web corset
bloodtheif gem
boots of the primal hunter
cincture of calistria
cobra-hood cloak (official Top 8 or better)
crown of mental static
crown of royal command
cuff of the feral lord
dancing quills
dawnflower ankh
earthen spine
goggles of the critical eye
mandolin of synergy
matryoshka of the planar cadre
motive capacitor
nautilus pack of tangled tentacles
octavo of perseverance
orb of captured reality
quill of skilled forgery
redeemer's sash
sepllcycle medallion
spell knot
stoneguard amulet
summoning siphon (official alternate)
twinning glass

Some near misses*:

argent cigarillo case
blackbriar boots
bracers of the skinchanger
candle of distant assurance
chalice of communal dweomer
ego shroud
flute of the macaw
gloves of saturation
gloves of flame command (official Top 32)
gloves of the grenadier
goblet of the elements (official Top 32)
greaves of twisted earth
hell-shod boots (official Top 32)
map of refuge (official Top 32)
marbles of mischief
medicine poppet
paper messenger
quicksand cloak (official Top 8 or better)
quiver of spiderkind (official Top 32)
rat-tread boots
sash of the salty seas (official Top 16)
shoes of sudden escape
spectral lampblack (official Top 32)
stolen tears of the winter witch
surcoat of accord
tabard of cunning tactics
thorn creeper sandals (official Top 32)
traveler's hair tie
vestments of divine embrace
walking stick of concealed thaumaturgy (official Top 8 or better)
winter's clutch
witchwood comb (official Top 16)

*I passed over these items to ensure my Keep folder represented my choice for the top 10% of all items I viewed.

[Maurice de Mare]

Interesting,

Some of your picks I remember, did you check your keep list against the top 89?

[Garrick Williams]

I feel honored that Mantle of a Thousand Hands was in your keep folder, Eric!

Sadly, I didn't maintain a keep folder, but i did remember ones I liked. Most of them didn't make it. However, I do enjoy reading ones that did not progress.

[Eric Morton]

Maurice de Mare wrote:

Some of your picks I remember, did you check your keep list against the top 89?

If I remember correctly, there was only a 37.5% overlap between my Keep folder and the Top 89.

Garrick Williams wrote:

I feel honored that Mantle of a Thousand Hands was in your keep folder, Eric!

You weren't just in my Keep folder; you were one of my picks for the Top 32.

[Maurice de Mare]

I just did a quick count, I see you selected in one way of another 26 of the 37 picked by the judges, that is like 75%, very good odds if you want to make a bet ;>

[Curaigh]

Well played Eric :)
I have not looked at my RPGSS Fantasy rankings since I created them, but I can only hope I recognize SS half as well as you.

[Eric Morton]

The near misses skew the numbers in my favor. While many of my near misses made the Top 32, I did not mark any of them as near misses before the Top 32 were revealed. Only in hindsight did I designate them as near misses, and only because I knew by comparison to other items in the Top 89 that I gave each of them more consideration than I did most other items.

[Rogue Eidolon]

Eric Morton wrote:

My Keep folder and some near misses:

** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...

I'm honored that my wristwraps of the triune self made your top 32!

I don't remember seeing anyone mention them in the favorites thread except for people who knew they were mine, and they didn't make the top 89, so I was worried that they were pretty poorly regarded or just forgotten.

Now that I've seen how well your Top 32 designers who made it did in later rounds, maybe you see a different aspect of designer talent more useful in later rounds. Now I more need to learn how to get into the 32. I learned a lot more from this year than any other year due in large part to which of the items I ranked lowly made it.

[frank gori]

Yeah I'm thinking there's going to be a serious qualitative difference in round 1 next year. Allot of us learned from the voting experience.

[RonarsCorruption]

Ah ha, my motive capacitor is on a second keep list! :)