My Estranged Item: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cull

[Oceanshieldwolf]

So it has to be faced somewhere in the dark recesses of our little designer's febrile, fetid and fragile hearts:

We have been culled. I, who was a most vociferous proponent of the cull , have had my item ignominiously… culled. Excised. Removed. Banished. Exiled.

And it took me a thousand votes to reach this place.

So I could bemoan that other items, so much less deserving than mine were spared, or the voting populace is a pack of jackal headed nongtards that wouldn't recognize an artiste of fine calibre if a well designed item gyrated upon their nonce, or the whole competition is flawed because of REASONS!!!

But no. There is no deserving.

My item was in fact possibly quite flawed.

The competition is not.

But I'm very happy such a large number of items were cut.

I do think many good and great items have been lost and that some exceedingly pedestrian items remain. This is merely the vagaries of fate at work.

Voters vote how they like. I know I do. I look for creativity and chops. I don't think my item had either of these in abundance, but it was interesting to me. Obviously it was down voted constantly compared to other items.

Still, this is the nature of the cull, and RPGSS and if you have been culled/think you have been culled, join me here in commiseration and honor thy fallen creations.

So without further ado:

Vale [redacted] of [redacted], your struggle is over, your battles lost and won but a memory to be redefined, better and with perhaps less words used, and more editing, and without that missed word that was not changed from the opposite and alternate version that one guy on my design feedback team said would likely work better, or that other word that also somehow got left in from the other version. You were….troubled, and misunderstood, but I believe, somewhere a benevolent and beneficent god smiles down on (or up to) you and will forgive you your sins. Gods' (or ideals if you are that kind of Inquisitor) speed.

Unrequited ambition, fly again another day. There won't be a next year because I think I might just have my name on a hardcover 3PP supplement this year. Which is great. And a great pity.

[James Casey]

It would appear that my item has also fallen. While I still hold hope that he may rise from the ashes of the cull like a phoenix, I must begin to face the reality that I have also been down voted repeatedly.

It is a sad day in Mudville for it appears the Mighty Casey has struck out...

My wife will be happy because the obsessing will now stop.

[Jacob Kellogg]

I keep seeing people talk like they already know that this or that item was culled. How would anyone know? Was there a memo I missed or something?

[Feros]

Jacob Kellogg wrote:

I keep seeing people talk like they already know that this or that item was culled. How would anyone know? Was there a memo I missed or something?

The list that everyone can edit has a post-cull sighted list; it hasn't been added to in hours. So it is all speculation at this point, but the signs are not promising to some...

[James Casey]

Post Cull List

[Fiendish Zen]

Ah I too will raise a glass to the funeral pyre of hope, having gritted my teeth post-cull and winced as the new list remained sadly bereft of the name I most wanted to see.

Yet looking back over the last few weeks, at all the items I've seen, both good and bad, I can say hand on heart that the experience has truly helped me. I can think of no less than a half-dozen ways I could have improved my item, and I'm already chomping at the bit for RPGSS 2016 so I can have another go!

So, let us toast and commiserate together, a battle well fought with lessons learned.

And Oceanshieldwolf, congratulations on a designer credit on a hardback, well done to you sir :)

[R D Ramsey]

It's still a bit early to be certain your item was culled. I'd hold out hope for another day or so at least.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

My item too appears to have fallen. As I don't think it had any fatal flaws, I am left with the most horrible verdict, that it made the only truly unforgivable sin: It was too dull.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

My item too appears to have fallen. As I don't think it had any fatal flaws, I am left with the most horrible verdict, that it made the only truly unforgivable sin: It was too dull.

If dull were the only prerequisite for being downvoted the list might look a little different. There are many reasons for an item being downvoted.

It didn't fit with people's idea of what they like to see. For their game, for their PC, for their RPGSS finalist.

It didn't fit my playstyle. Or my campaign world.

Didn't: Gel with my mood. Cater to my tastes. Pander to my peccadilloes.

Used the wrong word because of reasons.

So:

Slaadi, do not let the result change he experience or the learning. There is no "i" in personal approach. Each voter will have their own arbitrary reasoning.

Or your item truly was dull. But methinks not. ;)

[James Raine]

I sincerely hope each of you shares your item with us in the Critique My Item thread after the finalists are announced.

[Tripp Elliott]

I will gladly drink a brew at the altar to the items that were culled. My item lives on, but I respect all of the items, and their designers that have fallen. You may find posts from me in other threads that call out my dislike of certain aspects, specific or general, of items, and those aspects might be resident in your own items, but that does not man, and should not be taken as me not respecting the items or their designers. Nay! I say I respect them, as two warriors who face off on the battlefield can respect one another.

So truly, do not despair, in the end, all but 32 will fall by the wayside, and the rest of us will have served as the chaff, which must be culled to find the wheat!

[BLUKnight]

I know for certain that my item got culled, but I'm okay with that. It was my first year, I wasn't sure what I was going up against, and while I felt my item was decent and properly formatted, it just lacked the 'wow' of other items that made them worthy of Superstar. Now I know how to do better for next year.

No big deal, still excited to keep on voting and seeing what other rounds will bring!

[Alexander Bennett]

I thought my item was good, but I'll admit, it didn't have enough flair. If it hadn't been mine, it would have gotten downvoted the first time I saw it at least (every other time it was paired with something sucky)

[Brigg]

My heart genuinely goes out to those whom did not survive the cull. Just remember:

If it is your dream to write and design for fantasy roleplaying, or to write and design for anything for that matter...

...your dream is to have your name on a front cover, with the confines of the book's bindings relentlessly teeming with the fruits of your labor and the shimmer of your creatuve prowess...

...or even if your dream is to be that guy behind the scenes that grins in satisfied modesty as hundreds, if not thousands, of people fervently discuss something of your design...

...mark my words:

Once you have that dream, nothing can stop you. So keep reaching for it, and let nothing hold you back. It takes a special bravery to put something you've created on display for the world to see. Be proud of yourself: you have taken a step that countless others fear and wouldn't dare.

[xebeche]

It appears that my item, too, has been culled. I can't help but wonder fruitlessly if it was because of one or two tiny mistakes that could have easily been avoided. I imagine there are several of us in this position. Fortunately, we'll not likely make those mistakes again.

[frank gori]

Chin up folks. Assuming the list is accurate...

Of the 10 in my pit crew (including one I evaluated but never showed my item) 8 seem to have made the cull. The two that didn't completed their work maybe a day or 2 before them submission deadline which gave them not enough time to edit and refine. Both are designers in my stable that do very fine work that I have been proud to publish.

3 items in my keep folder appear to be culled. Items where if I knew the designer and had more work I'd sign on the spot.

[frank gori]

Correction after an update we are 9/10...

[UllarWarlord]

Man, I thought my item was unique and original, and had a nice visual...and yet, culled.

Can't wait until the Item Evaluation thread goes up, so I can learn from my mistakes for next year.

[Thunderfrog]

Wait, there's a group of 10 of you who knew each others items? Or am I misunderstanding?

Do you publish material Solspiral?

[Kiel Howell]

@Thunderfrog, yes he is the genesis of Flying Pincushion Games and there are a group of us that consistently contribute to the materials published.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Oceanshieldwolf wrote:

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

My item too appears to have fallen. As I don't think it had any fatal flaws, I am left with the most horrible verdict, that it made the only truly unforgivable sin: It was too dull.

If dull were the only prerequisite for being downvoted the list might look a little different. There are many reasons for an item being downvoted.

It didn't fit with people's idea of what they like to see. For their game, for their PC, for their RPGSS finalist.

It didn't fit my playstyle. Or my campaign world.

Didn't: Gel with my mood. Cater to my tastes. Pander to my peccadilloes.

Used the wrong word because of reasons.

So:

Slaadi, do not let the result change he experience or the learning. There is no "i" in personal approach. Each voter will have their own arbitrary reasoning.

Or your item truly was dull. But methinks not. ;)

I'm just more than a bit stunned that I so badly misjudged what the voters wanted. I didn't really expect it to hit the Top 32 or even Top 100, but I was confident the item would at least survive The Cull. While (IMHO) unique and creative, my item admittedly wasn't gross or undeadly or theatrical/explode-y or Legen-wait for it-dary by design, so maybe it was dull/unremarkable in comparison.

'Sokay. This morning, I finished typing up my item & developer breakdown/notes posting for the Critique thread. Hopefully it'll be undull enough to at least provoke some criticism and feedback on what the judges would have liked to have seen instead.

Edit: And I'm just now hearing the incredibly horrible news from Paris, so my post above seems extra privileged, petty, and whiny in comparison.

[Monica Marlowe]

I am sorry to those who have had their items culled.

To everyone who was here for the last two years, did this cull go deeper than usual? If the numbers are correct, the cull pulled out the bottom 50%, I didn't think we lost that many items in years past.

[Feros]

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

I'm just more than a bit stunned that I so badly misjudged what the voters wanted. I didn't really expect it to hit the Top 32 or even Top 100, but I was confident the item would at least survive The Cull. While (IMHO) unique and creative, my item admittedly wasn't gross or undeadly or theatrical/explode-y or Legen-wait for it-dary by design, so maybe it was dull/unremarkable in comparison.

'Sokay. This morning, I finished typing up my item & developer breakdown/notes posting for the Critique thread. Hopefully it'll be undull enough to at least provoke some criticism and feedback on what the judges would have liked to have seen instead.

Edit: And I'm just now hearing the incredibly horrible news from Paris, so my post above seems extra privileged, petty, and whiny in comparison.

If it helps any, my item isn't gross or undeadly or theatrical/explode-y or Legen-wait for it-dary either and yet it made it through. A LOT of items I thought would sail through The Cull were cut.

And yeah, what's happening in Paris does give some perspective on all this. We are very blessed to have this contest as the only major thing we're worrying about.

[Feros]

mamaursula wrote:

I am sorry to those who have had their items culled.

To everyone who was here for the last two years, did this cull go deeper than usual? If the numbers are correct, the cull pulled out the bottom 50%, I didn't think we lost that many items in years past.

Our numbers suggest quite a bit deeper. We're wondering if they didn't up the criteria for the cull this time around.

[Monica Marlowe]

Feros wrote:

mamaursula wrote:

I am sorry to those who have had their items culled.

To everyone who was here for the last two years, did this cull go deeper than usual? If the numbers are correct, the cull pulled out the bottom 50%, I didn't think we lost that many items in years past.

Our numbers suggest quite a bit deeper. We're wondering if they didn't up the criteria for the cull this time around.

That's my thought. If I recall correctly last year's Top 32 all came from the top 100 (with one coming in around 80 in the popular vote), so there doesn't seem to be much reason to have us voting on the best 75% when in the end the judges will likely pull from the top 10% (actually roughly 8%). It still feels a little weird to really be looking at less than half of our starting numbers. I do truly feel bad for our fallen friends, with their typos, formatting flaws and everything, they were known and will be missed. (I say this with no irony or malice, I really will miss some of them.)

[Kiel Howell]

One of my personal favorite items did not survive the cull, had a lot of formatting mistakes, and was utterly wonderful.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Brigg wrote:

My heart genuinely goes out to those whom did not survive the cull. Just remember:

If it is your dream to write and design for fantasy roleplaying, or to write and design for anything for that matter...

...your dream is to have your name on a front cover, with the confines of the book's bindings relentlessly teeming with the fruits of your labor and the shimmer of your creatuve prowess...

...or even if your dream is to be that guy behind the scenes that grins in satisfied modesty as hundreds, if not thousands, of people fervently discuss something of your design...

...mark my words:

Once you have that dream, nothing can stop you. So keep reaching for it, and let nothing hold you back. It takes a special bravery to put something you've created on display for the world to see. Be proud of yourself: you have taken a step that countless others fear and wouldn't dare.

Brigg, Have a drink on me. Seriously, where are you, I'm going to find you and buy you a drink. That brought a tear to my eye.

GM_SolSpiral, I'm very curious about those items you'd sign on the spot. I wouldn't mind having a talk with you about which items they are, and what I can do to emulate that.

On the topic of those Culled, I'd buy you a drink as well, and share in your glory. Every Item I read ran deep with a creativity that I envy on a level. I want you to know, that as a competitor I was absolutely moritified having seen what I was up agianst.

Know that being culled isn't a mark of your skill, your talent, or you as a person. You showed valor and courage that can be envied. Bask in that courage, and you will be rewarded well.

I do hope that everyone is in good cheer enough to post our items up for Critique. I am anxious to learn a thing or two about how to be Superstar, and I would love to discuss the values and see inside the head all these wonderful people.

[Brigg]

Tothric wrote:

Brigg wrote:

My heart genuinely goes out to those whom did not survive the cull. Just remember:

If it is your dream to write and design for fantasy roleplaying, or to write and design for anything for that matter...

...your dream is to have your name on a front cover, with the confines of the book's bindings relentlessly teeming with the fruits of your labor and the shimmer of your creatuve prowess...

...or even if your dream is to be that guy behind the scenes that grins in satisfied modesty as hundreds, if not thousands, of people fervently discuss something of your design...

...mark my words:

Once you have that dream, nothing can stop you. So keep reaching for it, and let nothing hold you back. It takes a special bravery to put something you've created on display for the world to see. Be proud of yourself: you have taken a step that countless others fear and wouldn't dare.

Brigg, Have a drink on me. Seriously, where are you, I'm going to find you and buy you a drink. That brought a tear to my eye.

GM_SolSpiral, I'm very curious about those items you'd sign on the spot. I wouldn't mind having a talk with you about which items they are, and what I can do to emulate that.

On the topic of those Culled, I'd buy you a drink as well, and share in your glory. Every Item I read ran deep with a creativity that I envy on a level. I want you to know, that as a competitor I was absolutely moritified having seen what I was up agianst.

Know that being culled isn't a mark of your skill, your talent, or you as a person. You showed valor and courage that can be envied. Bask in that courage, and you will be rewarded well.

I do hope that everyone is in good cheer enough to post our items up for Critique. I am anxious to learn a thing or two about how to be Superstar, and I would love to discuss the values and see inside the head all these wonderful people.

I shed a tear writing it. ^.^ I had to live by that when I first got into self-publishing and selling my own novels. The fear was there, and it was real. But I couldn't let that stop me. I had to know deep down that not everybody was going to like my work. That's the unfortunately-sobering reality of the creative arts.

I'm in New Jersey by the way! XD

And yes, I would highly encourage everybody to post their items for critique. And take all critique graciously. Never be afraid to learn and improve. Fear will imprison your talent.

[Anne Sullivan]

Brigg wrote:

Fear will imprison your talent.

Those are great words of wisdom, thank you. :)

[frank gori]

Quote:

GM_SolSpiral, I'm very curious about those items you'd sign on the spot. I wouldn't mind having a talk with you about which items they are, and what I can do to emulate that.

A bunch more I'd sign that have made the cull but I'll hint a bit...

There was a ring that had an impressive visual that related to a monster. It was a little monster in a can but I liked the way it went about it and I hope I get to critique that person.

Another was a weapon the wielder was dictated to having a strange relationship with. It was a heavy handed choice but otherwise a ver cool item.

Yet another was a joke item I hated but slowly grew to adore.

Honorable mention- I'd entertain the notion of going with the armor designer that made an item that evoked the image of Peter Griffin's multitude of fights over an expired coupon. If that designer took good notes in editing... could be a good one.

The rest fo my contenders remain in the competition.

[Brigg]

Anne Sullivan wrote:

Brigg wrote:

Fear will imprison your talent.

Those are great words of wisdom, thank you. :)

Thank you. ^.^!

[Alexander Bennett]

theheadkase wrote:

One of my personal favorite items did not survive the cull, had a lot of formatting mistakes, and was utterly wonderful.

As much as people liked some of the unformatted ones and thought they were superstar, in previous years the judges have declared that a deal breaker. I mean, I think some previous years they didn't even get read if they had a fraction of the formatting issues I saw.

[frank gori]

I liked more than one of the unformatted items. I can look past a copy past bbc code fail

[Jarrett Sigler]

GM_Solspiral, thanks for the hint!

Since you have 3PP publishing power, I'm curious if you've contacted anyone about some writing after the Critique threads, and such have opened up?

[frank gori]

Tothric wrote:

GM_Solspiral, thanks for the hint!

Since you have 3PP publishing power, I'm curious if you've contacted anyone about some writing after the Critique threads, and such have opened up?

Most of the folk I work with at TFPC are from these boards. I recruit from Superstar, I might not this year because I have a strong talent pool already but I'd also recommend it to other 3PPs.

[John Bennett]

My yearly advice to those who want to pursue freelancing-

1. Remember that while particapating in Superstar is great, it isn't the only way to break into freelancing.

2. Keep an eye out on the "Compatible Products from Other Publishers" forum on this board for contests and open calls from other 3rd Party Publishers (3PP). 3PPs are a good way to get your foot in the door and start building a resume.

3. Review the various Pathfinder 3PPs out there and find one who publishes the type of products you are interested in writing. Visit their website regularly/like them on Facebook (if they have a Facebook page) so you can keep up on any news they might have about contests/open calls. Also, see if they have a submission page and how open they are to working with freelancers.

4. Have material ready to show a publisher- a good way to do this is have a blog showing off gaming content you have created. I can't stress this enough. Last Fall, I reviewed prospective freelancers for an open call at Fat Goblin Games- some people were previous Superstar contestants, some were previously published, and some had blogs showcasing their work. All were considered. The only people that were immediately passed on had no writing samples for me to preview.

5. Engage in dialogue with publishers. Review their products- what did you like, what did you not like, what kind of material would you have liked to have seen in the product. It might turn out that you and a particular publisher have similar tastes and might work well together.

I have worked with plenty of fellow freelancers who have never gone through Superstar so I hope this advice helps.

[Nickolas Floyd]

GM_Solspiral wrote:

Yet another was a joke item I hated but slowly grew to adore.

Jokey items will do this to you sometimes. I was hoping that would be my own saving grace, but I wasn't confident about. I didn't expect to get culled, but if my item was able to grow on voters over time I figured I had a shot post cull. Alas, no. Next year I will not be entering a humorous item that might be considered a joke by some voters.

[Monica Marlowe]

John Bennett wrote:

My yearly advice to those who want to pursue freelancing-

1. Remember that while particapating in Superstar is great, it isn't the only way to break into freelancing.

2. Keep an eye out on the "Compatible Products from Other Publishers" forum on this board for contests and open calls from other 3rd Party Publishers (3PP). 3PPs are a good way to get your foot in the door and start building a resume.

3. Review the various Pathfinder 3PPs out there and find one who publishes the type of products you are interested in writing. Visit their website regularly/like them on Facebook (if they have a Facebook page) so you can keep up on any news they might have about contests/open calls. Also, see if they have a submission page and how open they are to working with freelancers.

4. Have material ready to show a publisher- a good way to do this is have a blog showing off gaming content you have created. I can't stress this enough. Last Fall, I reviewed prospective freelancers for an open call at Fat Goblin Games- some people were previous Superstar contestants, some were previously published, and some had blogs showcasing their work. All were considered. The only people that were immediately passed on had no writing samples for me to preview.

5. Engage in dialogue with publishers. Review their products- what did you like, what did you not like, what kind of material would you have liked to have seen in the product. It might turn out that you and a particular publisher have similar tastes and might work well together.

I have worked with plenty of fellow freelancers who have never gone through Superstar so I hope this advice helps.

And do not underestimate the benefits of buying time with people via "Dream Date" and other fund raising opportunities which become available around convention time.

[R D Ramsey]

Chris did say in the other thread that this year's cull was deeper than in past years. They felt since it was later in the voting period it made more sense to cut deeper.

[Monica Marlowe]

I am really confused about what is going on with the post cull list. First there were two side by side lists, now there's only one. Have we settled that the list we currently have is what we're working on? I know this seems like a strange question to ask, but there are definitely items on this list that weren't on both and it may be false hope for some, I'm just trying to get a clear picture for those who may not have been on both.

[Anne Sullivan]

mamaursula wrote:

I am really confused about what is going on with the post cull list. First there were two side by side lists, now there's only one. Have we settled that the list we currently have is what we're working on? I know this seems like a strange question to ask, but there are definitely items on this list that weren't on both and it may be false hope for some, I'm just trying to get a clear picture for those who may not have been on both.

In the thread about the community list, someone posted (I'm sorry I've forgotten who!) that they were merging the 255 items they had seen with the community list and put them side by side for comparison. There was one new item added from the 255 item list, and then it was deleted once the comparison was done.

Edit: It was Eric who was doing the comparison. You must have checked in just at the right moment to see it happening! :)

[Monica Marlowe]

Anne Sullivan wrote:

In the thread about the community list, someone posted (I'm sorry I've forgotten who!) that they were merging the 255 items they had seen with the community list and put them side by side for comparison. There was one new item added from the 255 item list, and then it was deleted once the comparison was done.

Edit: It was Eric who was doing the comparison. You must have checked in just at the right moment to see it happening! :)

Thank you! I thought I was losing my mind. I'm not keeping up with the threads very well and I went to check on another item and didn't get the file I expected to see! Too much voting perhaps? :-)

[Anne Sullivan]

mamaursula wrote:

Thank you! I thought I was losing my mind. I'm not keeping up with the threads very well and I went to check on another item and didn't get the file I expected to see! Too much voting perhaps? :-)

Haha yeah I could imagine it would be incredibly confusing coming in on the middle of that! :) There is never too much voting...right?

[Adam Daigle]

John Bennett wrote:

My yearly advice to those who want to pursue freelancing-

1. Remember that while particapating in Superstar is great, it isn't the only way to break into freelancing.

2. Keep an eye out on the "Compatible Products from Other Publishers" forum on this board for contests and open calls from other 3rd Party Publishers (3PP). 3PPs are a good way to get your foot in the door and start building a resume.

3. Review the various Pathfinder 3PPs out there and find one who publishes the type of products you are interested in writing. Visit their website regularly/like them on Facebook (if they have a Facebook page) so you can keep up on any news they might have about contests/open calls. Also, see if they have a submission page and how open they are to working with freelancers.

4. Have material ready to show a publisher- a good way to do this is have a blog showing off gaming content you have created. I can't stress this enough. Last Fall, I reviewed prospective freelancers for an open call at Fat Goblin Games- some people were previous Superstar contestants, some were previously published, and some had blogs showcasing their work. All were considered. The only people that were immediately passed on had no writing samples for me to preview.

5. Engage in dialogue with publishers. Review their products- what did you like, what did you not like, what kind of material would you have liked to have seen in the product. It might turn out that you and a particular publisher have similar tastes and might work well together.

I have worked with plenty of fellow freelancers who have never gone through Superstar so I hope this advice helps.

This is sound advice. That's roughly how I got started.

[Omnitricks]

I found out about RPGSS on the last day and made my item on the spot although I felt I was missing something. Two days later I figured out what it was but by then it was already too late. No surprise it was culled since I wasn't the only person with the idea although seeing one of the others survive makes me feel like I'm lesser :P

[Jacob Trier]

Adam Daigle wrote:

John Bennett wrote:

My yearly advice to those who want to pursue freelancing-

1. Remember that while particapating in Superstar is great, it isn't the only way to break into freelancing.

2. Keep an eye out on the "Compatible Products from Other Publishers" forum on this board for contests and open calls from other 3rd Party Publishers (3PP). 3PPs are a good way to get your foot in the door and start building a resume.

3. Review the various Pathfinder 3PPs out there and find one who publishes the type of products you are interested in writing. Visit their website regularly/like them on Facebook (if they have a Facebook page) so you can keep up on any news they might have about contests/open calls. Also, see if they have a submission page and how open they are to working with freelancers.

4. Have material ready to show a publisher- a good way to do this is have a blog showing off gaming content you have created. I can't stress this enough. Last Fall, I reviewed prospective freelancers for an open call at Fat Goblin Games- some people were previous Superstar contestants, some were previously published, and some had blogs showcasing their work. All were considered. The only people that were immediately passed on had no writing samples for me to preview.

5. Engage in dialogue with publishers. Review their products- what did you like, what did you not like, what kind of material would you have liked to have seen in the product. It might turn out that you and a particular publisher have similar tastes and might work well together.

I have worked with plenty of fellow freelancers who have never gone through Superstar so I hope this advice helps.

This is sound advice. That's roughly how I got started.

Same here. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the freelancers mentioned in the Fat Goblin Games Open Call.

Get those writing samples out there, people, and start responding to open calls and contacting people you'd like to work with/for. The chances that a publisher is going to contact you out of the blue and ask you to write for them are virtually nonexistent.

[Doc_Outlands]

Brigg wrote:

My heart genuinely goes out to those whom did not survive the cull. Just remember:

If it is your dream to write and design for fantasy roleplaying, or to write and design for anything for that matter...

...your dream is to have your name on a front cover, with the confines of the book's bindings relentlessly teeming with the fruits of your labor and the shimmer of your creatuve prowess...

...or even if your dream is to be that guy behind the scenes that grins in satisfied modesty as hundreds, if not thousands, of people fervently discuss something of your design...

...mark my words:

Once you have that dream, nothing can stop you. So keep reaching for it, and let nothing hold you back. It takes a special bravery to put something you've created on display for the world to see. Be proud of yourself: you have taken a step that countless others fear and wouldn't dare.

This, utterly.

[Terick]

I just hope I wasn't culled due to a lack of bolding words

[Cthulhudrew]

Terick wrote:

I just hope I wasn't culled due to a lack of bolding words

If you were culled, that wouldn't be the direct cause. An item would only have been culled if it was a low-performer voting wise (ie, didn't fall within whatever percent was determined to be the cutoff).

That said, an item could possibly have been a low-performer due to voters not picking it for formatting reasons, however.

[The Sinister Chris]

*scrolls through the list*

*does a happy dance*

Exciting! I haven't been culled! I honestly thought my submission this year was a little weak, but apparently people actually like it. That makes me happy. :)

Thank you Paizo community. You have made my day.