Btw, I keep looking at the list of contestants still in the race and at everything we've collectively submitted so far, and I just keep thinking, holy cow! that's a lot of great stuff from really strong contenders. It's an honor to be in such company, and if (heaven forbid!) I shouldn't make it to the next round, it'd be a comfort knowing I lost to such strong designers. (Feel free not to beat me, though :-)
And now, of course, I think of one little tweak that would have made my encounter significantly stronger :/ Ah well, the die is cast.
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*eats popcorn, observes!*
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I'm still working on mine but it's getting pretty close to finished. That 1400 word limit is a pain. :p
I slept about three hours last "night" .__o
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(Seriously, actually sweating up a storm and it's a balmy 7 degrees outside.)
And now, of course, I think of one little tweak that would have made my encounter significantly stronger :/ Ah well, the die is cast.
Oh, I'm right there with you. Already thinking of things I should have done differently.
Is this the part where we all hold hands and pray?
And Kalervo, I'm with you too. Was nearly falling asleep at keyboard, went to bed, proceeded to have endless actual nightmares about things going crazy wrong with the map, word count, etc.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8
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(Seriously, actually sweating up a storm and it's a balmy 7 degrees outside.)
And now, of course, I think of one little tweak that would have made my encounter significantly stronger :/ Ah well, the die is cast.Oh, I'm right there with you. Already thinking of things I should have done differently.
Is this the part where we all hold hands and pray?
And Kalervo, I'm with you too. Was nearly falling asleep at keyboard, went to bed, proceeded to have endless actual nightmares about things going crazy wrong with the map, word count, etc.
holds DQ's hand We're having fun, right? Right?
Yeah I had nightmares of trying to put puzzle pieces together to make a complete map, but none of the pieces went together. I'm not so sure about this O.O
Good luck everybody! We still have a few stragglers for submissions, so don't forget to get those in by 2 PM today! Also, be sure to check your inbox—we sent out an email to the Top 8 yesterday :)
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*eats popcorn, observes!*We will remember this moment Dana.
But I still have the garlic butter for the popcorn... *whistles*
Submitted.
I could have killed for another 100 words.
I'm just hoping you guys didn't forget to include the monkeys.
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...and I submitted. Phew.
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D'oh! The monkeys!!! Crap.
Hello dread about not receiving a confirmation email before the deadline. :)
If you go to the main superstar page you should see a confirmation that you submitted your entry. (Although now you're making me paranoid my map didn't go through. But it is at least safely in my sent box with a timestamp well before 5.)
Yeah, map is indeed the thing that is feeding my paranoia brain at the moment. :)
Like maybe there was some fine print about offering tribute to the goblins, so they won't eat your submission.
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The goblins already have my soul, my happiness, and my chocolate chip cookies. If they take my submission I will hotglue them to the Happy Hut and force them to watch the Brady Bunch forever.
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Heya guys, I'm going through the inbox right now, you should receive confirmation emails shortly :)
Thank you! I know you are undoubtedly crazy busy.
Got my confirmation! That's a relief. Thanks, Chris!
Me too! Thank you.
Now I really should get some sleep...
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Anyone else find that they're still checking this forum as often as ever, even though people aren't commenting nearly as much anymore? It's a kind of sickness....
I'm here. Watching and waiting for signs of weakness. ;)
It's probably a good thing that I didn't get through, because work has been brutal this week. Phew.
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Interesting maps and encounters! (Everyone knew I'd come back to say that, right? :-D )
It's going to be a very tough race...
I'll post some of my thoughts about encounter design on my blog later today. Not advice, per se, as it's already a bit late for that.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8
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Interesting maps and encounters! (Everyone knew I'd come back to say that, right? :-D )
It's going to be a very tough race...
I'll post some of my thoughts about encounter design on my blog later today. Not advice, per se, as it's already a bit late for that.
Oh now he decides to post something ;-) Any thoughts on it would be great, since it is the backbone of adventure designing and not really something I've ever had reason to think about.
You know what's a great cure for the pre-reveal blues? Dragon's Demand home game. What a great session today!
Yeah, in the first real day off in a long time, I get to go see a Hitchcock double feature with my sweetie! That's 5 or 6 hours when I won't be thinking about Superstar! (I hope....)
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I'm not sure why, but I'm finding this wait harder. Jacob said something in one of his Sword for Hire blog posts about being kept awake at night by RPGSS-related thoughts, and I've definitely been feeling that way much more this round than before. This obsession is much more unpleasant when there's nothing happening on the messageboards, too.
Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it? Do you walk around obsessing about game design constantly? Or is the dynamic of the competition a unique thing? I'm kind of appalled with how much head space this whole business is taking up.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it? Do you walk around obsessing about game design constantly? Or is the dynamic of the competition a unique thing? I'm kind of appalled with how much head space this whole business is taking up.
From what I see from living with a freelancer, it's not like this at all. He goes to his day job and then works on his freelancing in his "off-time." When things get released, he doesn't usually have a lot of advanced warning on when it comes out, but Andrew hasn't done a lot of work on scheduled release stuff yet, so that would change things. What does happen though is reviews get posted and it's kind of like getting the "reveal" from the judges - some good, some bad. I'm sure other freelancers have other experiences, but this is my view from the other side of the living room.
I am also having a harder time waiting for the reveal. Each round requires more intense work on our part and thus the judges', but it's really quiet in here now and I kind of feel like I'm in a padded room with the only other 7 surviving people in Golarion chained to the walls, close enough that I can see them, but too far to really talk for fear the dark overlords will hear us. Again, other contestants might have other experiences, this is just my view from this side of the padded room.
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Well, I'm not contesting, but I'm still obsessed with the contest this time around.
I've watched this contest every year, and I've entered most years, but I've never had the goal of becoming a freelancer. I had a competitive desire to get in the Top 32 (which I still haven't done, but oh so close), and that made designing and entering items fun.
But we got to the map round and I totally whiffed it. I turned in something, but it would barely count as a map. I had a decent enough idea. A dwarven gold mine structure, like you see on mountainsides in Alaska or the old west. A multilevel building, with all kinds of sluiceways and machinery running through it. But I lacked the skills to execute it. Believe me, my map was nowhere close to that, it was basically some boxes on a grid.
My biggest mistake was trying to learn some mapping software in the short time I had available. It wasn't the right time to get distracted with software, but I thought my hand-drawn style wouldn't be workable. Even if I had hand-drawn a map it would have fallen short of what I had in my head, but it would have been better than what I turned in.
And frankly, even the perfect version of what I had in mind wasn't great. I've just never thought about maps beyond sketching something out before.
Anyway, failing at that has strangely motivated me to spend a lot more time thinking about the contest and rpg design in general. I've been going through all the previous year encounters, for example, and reading them and the comments and thinking about what works and what doesn't. Thinking about what I'd do with each of the monsters of the last round, what makes them cool, how you could showcase that with an encounter. That kind of thing.
I've got a lot of work to do, but I would like to move toward freelancing in the long run. I really enjoy thinking about this stuff, and it would be great to do it on a professional level. If nothing else, the journey will be fun.
I'm not sure why, but I'm finding this wait harder. Jacob said something in one of his Sword for Hire blog posts about being kept awake at night by RPGSS-related thoughts, and I've definitely been feeling that way much more this round than before. This obsession is much more unpleasant when there's nothing happening on the messageboards, too.
Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it? Do you walk around obsessing about game design constantly? Or is the dynamic of the competition a unique thing? I'm kind of appalled with how much head space this whole business is taking up.
I wouldn't say I "obsess" over it, but part of my design process is to work ideas out in my head (and then sometimes sketch them out in a notebook). When I sit down to actually write, I want to be able to type away instead of trying to come up with ideas at the computer. Also, I usually have multiple projects I'm working on concurrently, each of which require their own brainstorming sessions.
Ok, so maybe I do "obsess"...but it doesn't keep me up at night :).
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I'm not sure why, but I'm finding this wait harder. Jacob said something in one of his Sword for Hire blog posts about being kept awake at night by RPGSS-related thoughts, and I've definitely been feeling that way much more this round than before. This obsession is much more unpleasant when there's nothing happening on the messageboards, too.
Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it? Do you walk around obsessing about game design constantly? Or is the dynamic of the competition a unique thing? I'm kind of appalled with how much head space this whole business is taking up.
I hear you, Scott, and Monica too. Although at this point, I feel antsy just about the general idea of waiting for something to happen at all than that what happens to me specifically. Do not get me wrong--I am very grateful for this opportunity, which if nothing else has been a giant, necessary kick in the pants to get me properly committed to freelance game design work which yes, I am new to (outside of freelance-editing some game materials).
I am NOT new to the idea of freelancing in general, and have done a good deal of freelance editing and a little writing; I've also worked full time for publications and am more than well aware of deadline crunch and the hurry up and wait game that the process sometimes entails. I've worked for a local newspaper--under a man I swear was the clone of J. Jonah Jameson--and have had to do things like, no exaggeration, write a long, quality, correct front page level article in 10 minutes because it was a breaking story but the paper needed to go to bed immediately. And I understand bizarre, doom-impeding stresses that come with when you hear someone proclaim things like "crap, we've got to edit the blues" and other things that sound nonsensical to the outside world. I've also worked in other areas that are high pressure and sometimes publicly viewed. While all of these come with notable pressures, one of that has been anywhere near as emotionally or energetically draining, nor moreover, obsession inducing, in precisely the unique way that Superstar is.
Several key differences between Superstar and the freelance/publishing work I've done are that
-- Working on a publication is collaborative, not competitive. Which is why I love this kind of work (by which I mean writing, editing, publishing). Even if you're editing from your bedroom 3,000 miles away from the publishing office, you're aware you're a part of a whole team and contributing to something bigger than just your bit. It's great to feel like you're part of this great big project that's going to look and read amazingly when it's done, even if all you did was delete a comma or get a cranky editor coffee or tweak a graphic, let alone if you wrote most of the content. You want to do well not only to show how well you can do but also to do right by your team. You're always communicating with the team--no, you should not be asking unnecessary questions or wasting people's time, but my general experience is there's always a lot of open communication between editors/clients/writers and the work you're doing is the better for it; you can't communicate with the judges, though, the way you'd stay in touch with your editor/client. You also CAN, although of course you must be very politically sensitive and polite about it and be sure not to be being reactive or defensive, tell your editor/client you think they're wrong right away. ;) But Superstar is by it's nature competitive and moreover we are, understandably, warned against saying anything, and thus it is extremely, extremely isolating. And I never realized how isolating it would feel until I was in the thick of it. That's where checking the board obsessively comes in, to feel less disconnected. :)
-- Even if the end result is very public, you don't feel in the public eye the way you do when you're waiting for people to vote for you. And moreover, usually pre-publication, NDAs keep you from interacting with the public--but also, because it's pre-publication, the public isn't going to be talking to you anyway. We're in a weird situation where the public has access to something and is talking about it publicly, before we're allowed to talk about it. (ETA--yeah, the public can bug you about giving spoilers for something that's been announced but not out--to which you very easily just go "nope" and move on your merry way--but that's different from responding to feedback.)
-- More with the public eye, I think we're in a very small (relatively speaking) but avid group of observers and we feel a lot more WATCHED than most folks who have credits on a game book. This can contribute to some performance anxiety.
-- In freelance or publishing, I've yet to get as an assignment in the following manner: "we need you to write something a month from now, but we're not going to tell you what the subject matter is until two and a half days before it's due, so you can't even research what it is we want you to be working on."
-- The whole point of freelancing is you control your schedule, and do your work when you have time to and set your commitments around that. Obviously, you have to make yourself available and accept jobs whenever possible, because if you're always telling employers "well, I can't do it because..." they'll stop asking you to work for them. But at the same time, you can be very up front with your editors/clients about your schedule, e.g., "I work full time so it would be best to get assignments/jobs for the weekend, even if you don't get it to me until Friday afternoon and I turn it in first thing Monday morning" and they can work with you on that. Even though you absolutely MUST prove you can work hard and fast and stick to deadlines (getting things in early even), scheduling is, within reason, flexible and negotiable. When you sign up for Superstar, you signed up for a very fixed and unforgiving schedule---now, we all knew what we came in for and the schedule was posted well ahead of time--but then you're asking if this is what freelance is like and my general experience is, no, it's not.
-- It's not usually a three-four month long ride with a lot of hurry up and wait in between (although there definitely can be hurry up and wait issues in publishing); with a freelance project it's more often a project that comes in, you do it, and it's done, often in a week or less, and then you get on with your life till the next thing comes in or your decide to respond to an open call, etc. I've had longer projects like editing novels, but those are sustained activity rather than rushing through a two and a half day deadline and then waiting two weeks for the next assignment while being largely isolated from anyone I'm supposed to be working with.
The last I think is why Superstar is particularly stressful... just because of the sheer length of time you end up committed to this cycle if you are successful. And it's a reality that doesn't really set in until you're in the middle of it. And that's also why the obsession kicks in--because it's important, and you don't want to lose sight of it while you know you're only waiting for the next step to happen, so your brain keeps reminding you of it. And you want to check in with everybody on the message board to be reminded you're really not alone in this. At least, that's where I'm coming from. Maybe it's just me.
Please note none of the above are complaints, per se, just my observations on what I feel are differences between freelancing/publishing work and this contest, and why those differences may contribute to some anxiety/compulsiveness. Most of the aspects of Superstar are the way they are for GOOD reason--including not replying (which is really to protect US) and the way the schedule works, etc. And who knows... maybe this is what freelance game design in particular is like... but I doubt it is as isolating at least.
All this is to say--chin up, you're getting some good writing challenges and experiences and I am pretty sure it isn't always going to feel like this. :)
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Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it?
Not all the time, and not quite the same, either.
But sometimes I admit it's a bit like RPG Superstar in slow motion. Instead of waiting a few days to see the monsters or encounters, you may have to wait 6 to 12 months to see how much the developer changed something you wrote, how the art looks like, and how people like it.
Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it?Not all the time, and not quite the same, either.
But sometimes I admit it's a bit like RPG Superstar in slow motion. Instead of waiting a few days to see the monsters or encounters, you may have to wait 6 to 12 months to see how much the developer changed something you wrote, how the art looks like, and how people like it.
But you know it's been accepted for publication.
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DQ, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your very thoughtful and delicate reply. Everything you said made a lot of sense. Especially about competition vs. collaboration — the competition is fun, but it would be a totally different kind of fun to build something collaboratively with a crew like this!
Also, for all that the competition can indeed be isolating, it's also given me an opportunity to have some great exchanges with other contestants, present and past, whom I might not otherwise have gotten to know at all. You people are even making me toy with the idea of a visit to PaizoCon (though don't tell my wife!)
And the "chin up" is appreciated, but don't worry, I'm fundamentally doing great. I've been having a blast the whole way through, and don't regret a minute. It just gets harder to wait through the downtime each round, and there's less and less distraction here on the boards to be had. But happily, my life provides other distractions in spades, most of them welcome ;-)
Because time doesn't sit up and beg at our command! :P
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DQ, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your very thoughtful and delicate reply. Everything you said made a lot of sense. Especially about competition vs. collaboration — the competition is fun, but it would be a totally different kind of fun to build something collaboratively with a crew like this!
Also, for all that the competition can indeed be isolating, it's also given me an opportunity to have some great exchanges with other contestants, present and past, whom I might not otherwise have gotten to know at all. You people are even making me toy with the idea of a visit to PaizoCon (though don't tell my wife!)
And the "chin up" is appreciated, but don't worry, I'm fundamentally doing great. I've been having a blast the whole way through, and don't regret a minute. It just gets harder to wait through the downtime each round, and there's less and less distraction here on the boards to be had. But happily, my life provides other distractions in spades, most of them welcome ;-)
Rock on! This is indeed a unique and exciting experience and I'm glad to be getting to know everyone too. Don't mistake anything I've said--I did not want to come off as unnecessarily negative, more sympathize--for the fact that I am very grateful and honored to be here, with all of you.
(And I SO want to go to Paizocon and it always ends up being scheduled at the same time--entirely randomly given the new date--as a major family event.)
Because time doesn't sit up and beg at our command! :P
Yeah, we really ought to do something about this....
I'm not sure why, but I'm finding this wait harder. Jacob said something in one of his Sword for Hire blog posts about being kept awake at night by RPGSS-related thoughts, and I've definitely been feeling that way much more this round than before. This obsession is much more unpleasant when there's nothing happening on the messageboards, too.
Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it? Do you walk around obsessing about game design constantly? Or is the dynamic of the competition a unique thing? I'm kind of appalled with how much head space this whole business is taking up.
As others have said, I haven't found it ever to be quite like this. Superstar is it's whole special kettle of fish, where you are on a stage and your deadlines are really unforgiving. That said, for me at least, when I'm working on a project, I get a lot of my ideas when I'm trying to fall asleep and I just let my brain go. I try to keep some note paper and pen (or my iphone/ipad) at my bedside so I can scribble something down, but even at the best of times I may find myself with an idea I have to jump up and check on right away.
Also, my interactions with editors/developers have always been far more collaborative than in the contest nature of Superstar. I may get the same type of feedback, but you can then edit based on said feedback instead of just hoping the public doesn't agree with the criticisms/mistakes or is willing to overlook them/advance you despite them.
You also CAN, although of course you must be very politically sensitive and polite about it and be sure not to be being reactive or defensive, tell your editor/client you think they're wrong right away. ;)
Man, I want to send all the reporters at my paper this quote. That "sensitive/polite" part would be awfully nice. :)
--
I'd also argue that you're not really in a hurry-up-and-wait situation. As I've said on Mikko's blog, you should be looking ahead. I'd hope that after taking whatever time they need for themselves to recover, the contestants have been looking at every adventure pitch from the last seven years of Superstar and taking notes on judges' comments about what people do or don't like. Oh, and of course coming up with a couple ideas they can use, pending the "twist" (which likely means coming up with a new monster and magic item too).
And as I've said many times, even if you don't make it to the final four, your work on your pitch can still pay off, as you could develop it for another company.
DQ, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your very thoughtful and delicate reply. Everything you said made a lot of sense. Especially about competition vs. collaboration — the competition is fun, but it would be a totally different kind of fun to build something collaboratively with a crew like this!
Also, for all that the competition can indeed be isolating, it's also given me an opportunity to have some great exchanges with other contestants, present and past, whom I might not otherwise have gotten to know at all. You people are even making me toy with the idea of a visit to PaizoCon (though don't tell my wife!)
Speaking about competition vs. collaboration- you may be competing now, but if you do decide to pursue a freelancing career, more than likely you will be working with your fellow competitors at some point on a project together or for the same 3PP. This competition is a good place to network and build connections.
Also, attending PaizoCon is an excellent idea if you are considering pursuing freelance work.
Modules Overlord
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But you know it's been accepted for publication.Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it?Not all the time, and not quite the same, either.
But sometimes I admit it's a bit like RPG Superstar in slow motion. Instead of waiting a few days to see the monsters or encounters, you may have to wait 6 to 12 months to see how much the developer changed something you wrote, how the art looks like, and how people like it.
Not always.
A lot of freelance work form some companies is "Pay upon publication," with no requirement that you be told if it's going to be published, or when. But you can't use it for anything else in the meantime. And you may have spent weeks, or months on it.
I wrote a 120,000 manuscript under a contract in 1998. It still hasn't been published. I can't even find the publisher or my editor anymore. But it could, in theory, be published any day now...
But you know it's been accepted for publication.Question for successful freelancers out there, especially ones who have been Superstar contestants: It isn't like this all the time for a freelancer, is it?Not all the time, and not quite the same, either.
But sometimes I admit it's a bit like RPG Superstar in slow motion. Instead of waiting a few days to see the monsters or encounters, you may have to wait 6 to 12 months to see how much the developer changed something you wrote, how the art looks like, and how people like it.
Not always.
A lot of freelance work form some companies is "Pay upon publication," with no requirement that you be told if it's going to be published, or when. But you can't use it for anything else in the meantime. And you may have spent weeks, or months on it.
I wrote a 120,000 manuscript under a contract in 1998. It still hasn't been published. I can't even find the publisher or my editor anymore. But it could, in theory, be published any day now...
Interesting. Good to know!
So did you judges actually playtest the encounters this round, or appoint people to do it for you and report?
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It's too bad they can't make it so contestants can't read the comments on their entry until voting is over.
As one of the creators of The Flying Pincushion Games, a 3pp publisher, along with Frank Gori and an amazing band of writers and designers, I can safely say that RPGSS is indeed not exactly like the experiences I have at TFPG. Some of the elements are similar, but as others have pointed out, rather than being competitive freelancing and/or working for or with a 3pp or other publisher is indeed a very coop thing.
When I compete in RPGSS, and I have been for the last three years, I tend to play my cards close to the vest so to speak, because my fellow TFPG writers and designers, with whom I normally work closely, are in fact my competition. However this year we decided to go a bit more coop in our efforts and worked the "pit crew" method for each other. Overall I think that actually helped.
Also, freelancing, depending on what and who, often does not spell out nearly as clearly, the details of what you are meant to write. That is not to say that it does not happen, but at TFPG more often than not, rather than a very specific set of requirements and requests, like RPGSS rounds rules, I find myself asking for much more general or broad items.
For instance, I am often overheard on our company boards shouting, in type format, "I need more ranger stuff" or "I need a bunch of fluff for xyz new race."
Bare in mind this is only my experiences, though I do have a decent number of pub creds at this point, but every last freelancer's experiences are likely to be at least a little, if not dramatically, different from each other.
But to sum things up, just like most things in life, you tend to get out of being a freelancer what you put into it, though you need to be thick skinned, willing to fail, and good and picking yourself up off the floor and getting your backside back to work, especially after getting knocked down to said floor, as it happens, and it happens often.
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Modules Overlord
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Also, freelancing, depending on what and who, often does not spell out nearly as clearly, the details of what you are meant to write. That is not to say that it does not happen, but at TFPG more often than not, rather than a very specific set of requirements and requests, like RPGSS rounds rules, I find myself asking for much more general or broad items.
That is something that varies quite a bit by company. At Paizo, we give out very detailed outlines spelling out as close to exactly what we are looking for as possible. However my involvement with other companies ranged from "Why don't you write something and we'll publish it!" to outlines that give a paragraph of requirements per page of writing.
Obviously we tend to skew the contest toward how Paizo does things. :)
That said there are absolutely differences, and the contest isn't even going to be an exact match. I'm still looking at ways to make it as good a test for the kinds of things we can test for as possible, but (for example) most projects we hand people are much bigger than any Superstar contest entry. There's no good and reasonable way to make sure someone can really produce a 20-30,000 word manuscript when given many months to do so. However, making something that big (which often has "milestones" where specific chunks must be done) is going to have its own series of time constraints and crunch times, and I firmly believe someone who can overcome a series of crunch contest requirements in short order is more likely to manage a big project on time, though it's not an exact correlation.