The sad "I got culled" thread

[Scarletrose]

This is a thread for all us sad people who got culled to cry on each other shoulders.

I have a lot of trouble with RPG Superstar, this is the 4th time I enter the contest and there has never been one time when I remember about that in any significant time to seriously work on an item.

December is always a very busy month for me between festivities my birthday etc...

Last year I completely missed it... by the time I checked on Paizo the voting for the items already started.

This time was no different ... I just didn't even knew that RPGSS in august was a possibility.
I probably seen the logo thousands of tie and in the back of my head was "well.. it surely is a link to the contest at the beginning of the year.

so once again I came up with something on a rush in the last few days. I hoped it was good enough nonetheless but apparently it wasn't.

Seems like I will have to wait for next year. hopefully without having to resort to last minute ideas this time.

[Brigg]

I'll just leave this here, because my feelings haven't changed in this regard. ^.^

My comments on Last Season's Cull

[Scarletrose]

Brigg wrote:

I'll just leave this here, because my feelings haven't changed in this regard. ^.^

My comments on Last Season's Cull

oh absolutely... as a matter of fact it was a dream of mine to become a videogame designer since I was 6 and I did realize that dream.

On the P&P RPG front, I have my system I started to work on I don't know if that's something I will ever complete and publish but... might be.

I totally second your words.

[The Raven Black]

SR, I feel that maybe you did not workshop your item. I can attest that workshopping will make your item's quality increase tremendously. It did for my current submission. And all items I had the honor to workshop are still there.

Keep hope, and next season you will go further ;-)

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Brigg wrote:

I'll just leave this here, because my feelings haven't changed in this regard. ^.^

My comments on Last Season's Cull

Ach Brigg, between your avatar and your words, I'm reaching for the bucket all over again. I stand by what the OP said in that thread. ;=)

[Jarrett Sigler]

Scarletrose wrote:

Brigg wrote:

Inspiring stuff

oh absolutely... as a matter of fact it was a dream of mine to become a videogame designer since I was 6 and I did realize that dream.

On the P&P RPG front, I have my system I started to work on I don't know if that's something I will ever complete and publish but... might be.

I totally second your words.

Really!? I've always wanted to design a video game, but alas, I lack the technical faculties to REALLY make that happen.

So I've decided on Table-Top RPG design, because that at least I have a mastery of that I haven't really met an equal on until I started talking to the fine people of this contest.

[John Lynch 106]

Scarletrose wrote:

as a matter of fact it was a dream of mine to become a videogame designer since I was 6 and I did realize that dream.

Congratulations!

There are definitely alternative avenues to RPGSS that people can explore.

Enworld's Trailseeker. While nothing I've worked on has yet been published I can confirm they are more than open to speaking with unpublished designers.

[Swords for Hire] Contest: Villain Codex II is accepting submissions as we speak with each contestant allowed up to 3 entries.

[Zippykat]

The Raven Black wrote:

SR, I feel that maybe you did not workshop your item. I can attest that workshopping will make your item's quality increase tremendously. It did for my current submission. And all items I had the honor to workshop are still there.

Keep hope, and next season you will go further ;-)

By "workshop ping" do you mean submitting your idea on an eliminated ideas thread and letting the PF community have a whack at it or is there a different way to do it?

This was the first year I have submitted anything and, while I was pleased to make it past the first couple of culls with an item I drew up two days before deadline, this 3rd one got me. I believe I have some good ideas and would like to develop them further.

[Jeff Lee]

Zippykat wrote:

The Raven Black wrote:

SR, I feel that maybe you did not workshop your item. I can attest that workshopping will make your item's quality increase tremendously. It did for my current submission. And all items I had the honor to workshop are still there.

Keep hope, and next season you will go further ;-)

By "workshop ping" do you mean submitting your idea on an eliminated ideas thread and letting the PF community have a whack at it or is there a different way to do it?

This was the first year I have submitted anything and, while I was pleased to make it past the first couple of culls with an item I drew up two days before deadline, this 3rd one got me. I believe I have some good ideas and would like to develop them further.

Workshopping: a group of people each design individual things. They then critique each other's things. Each individual uses the critique to improve their thing, or not, as they see fit.

[Jarrett Sigler]

ZippyKat and ScarletRose, there are the Blazing 9. It's a thread here, that is entirely filled with practice items, and people's feedback. It's how I practiced this year. I feel ALOT stronger in my item this year than I did last year.

The Critique thread, after the competition is probably the most valuable tool specific to this contest. Getting to the second or third round, you pretty much get IMMEDIATE feedback, comparatively. Each round is a little shorter than the first. The first round is entirely anonymous; meaning: we can't give you direct feedback until after the round is over.

There was also the work-shopping thread that started BEFORE the competition this year, (I was only aware of it because I kept up with the Blazing 9 posts) and people working together to seriously put each other through the wringer before submission.

I had an open call to anyone who wanted to submit an item, that I would go over your item, give any feedback I could afford time wise. Several people took me up on my offer, and each iteration of the item was significantly stronger then the last.

What is needed, is an outside perspective and a different way of thinking outside your own. Designing in a bubble means that while you come up with a very solid idea IN YOUR HEAD, you miss putting the foundation ON PAPER. And just like a house, without the strong foundation the item falls apart.

Remember this mantra; I don't get to explain it to the users.

[Garrick Williams]

Scarletrose wrote:

as a matter of fact it was a dream of mine to become a videogame designer since I was 6 and I did realize that dream.

On the P&P RPG front, I have my system I started to work on I don't know if that's something I will ever complete and publish but... might be.

I'm a software engineer who got into tabletop gaming specifically because I wanted to develop my game design skills. RPG Superstar really propelled me further in that regard.

I tried to make my own RPG as well. I really like the current draft and had a very successful playtest of it. However, I feel it would be better to write a campaign setting book for an existing system than make an entirely new game from scratch. Depending on your goals, I recommend that approach as well. This reduces the scope of the project so you can focus on what's unique to your game, and the game benefits from already having an established community playing the system. The Strange (which uses Numenera's Cypher System) is a great example of this done well.

[Lorathorn]

I wonder what the Blazing 9 will be now. Blazing "Until the Next One"?Blazing X? Blazing Schrodinger Probability?

[Jeff Hazuka]

Lorathorn wrote:

I wonder what the Blazing 9 will be now. Blazing "Until the Next One"?Blazing X? Blazing Schrodinger Probability?

In before "ALl wiLl bE NinE."

[PM_ME_YOUR_ITEM_FOR_CRITIQUES]

Hiya!
Hopefully, I can help you all cope in these difficult times.

[Wren Brown]

Blazing 9 refers to the (assumed) 9 months between contests not season 9.

To echo what others have said, I am sorry if your item got culled that is always hard news to hear. But if you are serious about game design stick around during the later rounds for the Critique My Item thread and after the contest for the next installment of the Blazing 9 thread.

[Anthony Adam]

Blazing Before 10 ?

[Garrett Guillotte]

Anthony Adam wrote:

Blazing Before 10 ?

That's awfully early to get high, duuuuuude.

[Feros]

Well, no one has seen my item in over a day now so I suspect that my entry has been culled. This one hurts as I consider it the best I have done in the four times I have entered.

I remain at least a little hopeful, but it's not looking too good right now. I will just have to hold on until the Critique My Item thread opens up next week.

:(

[Brigg]

Feros wrote:

Well, no one has seen my item in over a day now so I suspect that my entry has been culled. This one hurts as I consider it the best I have done in the four times I have entered.

I remain at least a little hopeful, but it's not looking too good right now. I will just have to hold on until the Critique My Item thread opens up next week.

:(

OH NO! Not Feros.... ;________;

Keep up hope, though. At least a little longer!

[frank gori]

Feros wrote:

Well, no one has seen my item in over a day now so I suspect that my entry has been culled. This one hurts as I consider it the best I have done in the four times I have entered.

I remain at least a little hopeful, but it's not looking too good right now. I will just have to hold on until the Critique My Item thread opens up next week.

:(

Ouch man sorry to hear that.

[Tripp Elliott]

GM_Solspiral wrote:

Feros wrote:

Well, no one has seen my item in over a day now so I suspect that my entry has been culled. This one hurts as I consider it the best I have done in the four times I have entered.

I remain at least a little hopeful, but it's not looking too good right now. I will just have to hold on until the Critique My Item thread opens up next week.

:(

Ouch man sorry to hear that.

Indeed, be strong, as you know sometimes it's odd how things show up in the voting.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Feros wrote:

Well, no one has seen my item in over a day now so I suspect that my entry has been culled. This one hurts as I consider it the best I have done in the four times I have entered.

I remain at least a little hopeful, but it's not looking too good right now. I will just have to hold on until the Critique My Item thread opens up next week.

:(

Hang in there, and maybe distract yourself by rebuilding Rasputin for fame, glory, and cash. Also, remember there is at least one item in the voting queue capable of eating other items... so it's possible it just got a lucky natural 20 on its initiative roll vs your item.

[CripDyke]

I did submit.

i didn't tell anyone I was submitting and I didn't workshop any items I was considering submitting. Although I consider Blazing 9 (and Russ, yes, Lorathorn **did** know that it was named for the 9 months. That comment was specifically because there weren't 9 months between season 8 and season 9, not because season 9 was the ninth season) a tremendous help, I consider workshopping an item to be, well, a violation of the spirit of the rules.

No, of course I don't buy into the conspiracy theories. Yes, I get it that humans are social creatures.

It can also be good to talk about your ideas - at least enough to make sure it's not the meth talking when you decided the coolest idea in game design ever was when you realized your +7 double-keen laser-falchion of super-decapitation could be 4 sizes larger than your size and do all that extra damage with no penalty to hit because, "Hey, Lasers! No weight!"

But still, it feels different to me to cultivate feedback here instead of with your local game group - or even friends you meet other places on the internet.

So I didn't workshop it here. I thank Blazing 9 for giving me a couple of chances to tinker with ideas of both items and creatures. But it felt to weird (to me - I'm not criticizing anyone else) to use anyone here or that I met here to help me improve an item I might actually submit. But no, I wanted no one to even know if I submitted. It felt better and easier that way.

It was the first time I did, in fact, submit an item and I was off the internet for most of the summer, so it wouldn't be weird for me to not submit. Next year it might be harder to take the pose of disinterested observer, but if I do submit next year, I once again probably won't say anything until I think I've been DQ'd or culled. If anything, I may not mention it until later. Although I ended up being right about being culled, more items were added to the "seen" list after I decided I was likely done than I had expected. If I'd known 40+ more items were yet to be added, I would have held my tongue (or, well, keyboard) a lot longer.

As for being sad I got culled, it's curious. I knew the odds were very poor for me to get through to the final 36, but I know how to use a template, I chose an under-utilized design space, I gave the thing some flavor...and I couldn't make it to the top half of entries.

And that still wouldn't have bothered me except that there are a number of items remaining that just have nothing "special"* about them at all.

but my item did do something special (in the sense of new). It took advantage of under utilized design space and offered up an item that could be used by any character class **and** depended for its use at least as much on role playing as dice rolling. It's no worse at using the template. It's long, using more than 90% of the space allowed. That might hurt it in some head-to-heads. But still. New. Role-playing required for use (and even those items that lend themselves to role-play don't always **require** role-play). It has foreseeable utility. Can be used by anyone of any class. Yes, some characters might have some advantages in using it, but still that's more character-based than class-based.

And then there are items kicking around that seem to have nothing new to offer at all.

That's what gets me. I will clap for every item in the top 32. This is a popularity contest, and I get that. I even wrote something on another thread (pre-3rd cull) about how after Monday's 3rd cull anyone could win because there's only so much you can do - the rest is voter's tastes

But argh - I just can't get a few items that are still around out of my head.

Let it go, I know. But if I knew what could get an item with nothing new to offer past the 3rd cull, I feel like I'd know something very profound.

==================================
*I decline to use "mojo" because I don't want to assume my item does have mojo... I hope I'm talking mojo, but objectively all I can talk about is whether or not it's distinctive, whether or not it's new. A new way to set your arrows on fire to add 1d6 to your damage isn't "new". People have been lighting their arrows on fire for thousands of years before role-playing games as we know them existed. Using a platinum-plated refillable butane lighter to set your arrows on fire to add 1d6 is an idea, possibly even some might think it's a cool idea. But it seems like it couldn't possibly have mojo, could it?

[Lorathorn]

Good to see you around, CrypDyke. Glad to have you back!

[Feros]

I have a sneaky suspicion as to why my item could get culled. I will obviously not go into detail, but if I'm right...

...well, we'll see. For now, I continue on to get my 4th Champion voter title. They'll take that from my cold dead hands! :D

[Maurice de Mare]

Feros wrote:

I have a sneaky suspicion as to why my item could get culled. I will obviously not go into detail, but if I'm right...

...well, we'll see. For now, I continue on to get my 4th Champion voter title. They'll take that from my cold dead hands! :D

Your proposal is acceptable........

There are quite a few items that do this I believe

[Jarrett Sigler]

CripDyke wrote:

An emotional text wall that touched me, and made me question my self as a person.

Hey CripDyke;

As a person who gave feedback on peoples items before the competition, I feel as if I'm partly responsible for your frustrations. Because, perhaps you are correct. Perhaps work-shopping with other potential voters may impact voting.

Perhaps it was unfair on a competitive level, and perhaps it was unethical.

I'm not an unaffected outsider, so I don't feel qualified to make that call. I do think this needs to be a discussion, and perhaps; work-shopping is unsportsmanlike.

I don't know what the solution is; but I do know, that I don't want to weaken the game or the competition to suffer for my actions or the actions of others, however well intentioned.

Thank you for sharing your feelings.

[Jeremy Corff]

I'll add my voice to the condolences for the culled and encouragements to stay for the critique thread. I thought my submission was really solid last year, but learned so much about making it better in the critiques.

[Jason Dandy]

CripDyke wrote:

I did submit.

...

i would love to see the numbers in terms of how many voters there are overall in a given season and then how many times each voter voted. my theory is that there is a cadre of 10, plus or minus a small handful, who do the VAST majority of the voting and thus determine the top 32. and if the snark thread is any indication, the voting process for that cadre is detached from the stated goal of "select the items that best represent the qualities of an awesome RPG designer," and instead vote based on a number of pet peeves that primarily arise from the cadre's subculture.

filigree doesn't make an item bad in any way, nor does it detract from potential superstar status. same for runes. and while i can say with confidence that i'm not a big fan of putting either in my item descriptions, i can also say that every snarker who's trashed runes or filigree has no doubt contributed to the death of most runed or filigreed items this year regardless of the quality of those items, and that is sad and a bit shameful.

the fact that many entries in a given season are blood-related, or undead-related, or lion-related, or what-have-you says nothing about any individual designer in any of the aforementioned categories/themes. it says something about the synchronicity of individual actions when viewed as part of collective activity. and it says something about the voting cadre--they're fatigued from looking at item after item and begin to take it out on the entrants by voting not for or against a particular item on its merits, but voting for or against it based on the cadre's subculture's pet peeves.

when it becomes about being the latest person to post a clever snark trashing a certain theme or element that is being seen across a variety of submissions, i don't think that's any different from voting a certain way because someone talked publicly about an item in a favorable or unfavorable way--it's artificially skewing the voting via the natural social effect that occurs whenever people in one's self-identified group (e.g., the voting cadre) voice an opinion about a thing.

one doesn't have to say 'the derpblade of derpa is terrible' to kill submissions. all they need to say is "jeez, did EVERYONE make weapons that trigger derp effects?!" then BAM, watch as a huge chunk of anything that derps gets culled. and yet to many in the cadre, such observations are funny and 'part of the process.' same rationale used in fraternity hazings, but that's another issue and i'm not writing about it now. i can't believe the folks in the cadre honestly believe such comments have no effect on item survival--identifying specific items is not permitted for the very same reason as what i'm talking about.

it just feels that some people (and not even 'all the cadre,' just a tiny few) believe they are taking the voting very seriously yet they help destroy entire themes or categories of submissions by being specific enough to identify the category or theme but not specific enough to identify one particular item. and so each item that happens to share that theme or category, or most, get axed because they share that theme or category rather than because the item would not go well in an adventure or even a homebrew game.

as for workshopping--ideally, no one would do it outside of people they know in real, physical life, but that's simply not the case. those who workshop here gain not only the advantage of the group wisdom and feedback; they gain the familiarity of numerous participants with their submission, which, again, leads to upvotes and more positive views of the items than would otherwise happen. the psychology behind it is simple and well-established. through workshopping, all involved gain a small sense of ownership or having contributed to the growth of each item, and that sense naturally leads those folks to see the items they've worked with in a more positive light, even if they think they're being totally impartial.

my take-away message for next year, assuming i'm truly culled (seriously, whoever hits the magic "cull now" button could have immediately posted a single post stating it had occurred, no matter how messed up truly-irrelevant voter tags got, and saved a bunch of people a ton of additional anxiety), is that i WILL workshop my item, for exactly the reason i wrote about in the previous paragraph. it's an advantage, and not super fair, but it's allowed under the rules and many, many people do it. to NOT do it is to deliberately disadvantage oneself, and given the stress i've felt since clicking the "submit" button this year, fighting with one hand tied behind my back is not worth it.

i will give next year's submission much thought, as i did with this year's, but next year i will share it in private groups prior to the contest and hope that doing so gives it the boost needed to at least make the top 100, if not the top 32.

and to be crystal clear--i don't think ANYONE is a jerk or deliberately skewing things, or knowingly trying to hurt any particular item or theme or category of item. i just think it's the natural outgrowth of the voting system. i almost wish they'd just allow non-paizo employees to publicly discuss items throughout round 1 without identifying the creator in any way. at least then EVERYONE's items could be discussed and receive the benefit or penalty of the momentum that comes with public discussion, rather than it being the unlucky few who happened to make an item that, for whatever reason, had a theme or element that was popular among submissions that year.

[Curaigh]

Since there are only eight months between the end of one RPGSS to the beginning of the next, it has never quite been 9 months. However nine is my lucky number so I decided not to change the name. I hey if once in a while you can double your output:) (Since it takes about 3 items to make an article for the biannual Wayfinder, I could conceivably call it the Blazing 12 :).

In truth I started it because my home group, was unable to parse some of the RPGSS nuances, and more importantly had the same shorthand that I did when it came to writing game effects. I got little else than 'Cool' or 'Nice' and I needed someone to see the wholes we all missed. It has always been about practicing format, meeting (self-imposed) deadlines, and most importantly, accepting critique. Those are the only parts of this contest I feel even remotely competent enough to comment on.

Blazing 9, a ninth time contestant, a change to the 9th month should mean my lucky number should be called.
Instead, it appears I have been culled. :)

[omicloudd]

Think my item didn't make the 4th cull. 1st time entering and I don't understand how some items that didn't even put their entry in the right way are still in.

[Jeff Lee]

For those of you feeling disappointment and frustration, I can empathize.

This competition has been going on for 9 seasons now. I've entered all but one. I've never made it to the Top 32. I'm bitter about it every year. Every single one. In the years since the public voting on items started, there have been items in the Top 32 that I've looked at askance, not seeing what the judges saw in them. Some of those designers went on to do some really good stuff in later rounds, so I'll stick with the judges' take on them.

I was chosen as an alternate in 2013, which was probably the worst year of all, as I was literally one bad case of stomach flu or car accident away from being in the competition, which really would not be how I'd like to get in. Worse yet, one of the judges messaged me to praise the archetype I'd submitted for round 2, saying that they saw a lot of potential. Then I was actively wishing for someone to get the stomach flu, and I'm not proud of that.

My point is that it is natural to feel bad about it. You may even want to rail at the system or ponder the "unfair advantages" some entrants have. (Which they don't. A few people workshopping items together isn't going to be able to skew voting with the system that's in place.) However, what you do after this is entirely up to you. You can continue to be bitter or you can be professional about it. Ask for criticism on your item at the appropriate time. Plenty of people on the boards will happily comply, including some of the judges. Take what they say into consideration. If you're too attached to your item as it is, and can't allow yourself to find fault in it, then you need to step back and detach yourself. It's not your baby. It's a piece of game design, in which there is always room for improvement in some way or another. Pay attention to what people praise about the winners, as well as what they dislike about them. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the successes and missteps of others. Come back stronger next season.

Your item didn't make it. If you let that be the sum of what you take away from this experience, then you're missing out on a lot of potential growth as a designer and, I think, as a person.

[JJ Jordan]

Jason Dandy wrote:

Hey Jason. First, let me say that I agree with a lot of what you said.

Some of the snark posts are way too close to identifying the specific item, and some snarks describe just 2-3 items.

Random thoughts:

Snark Thread

While the snark thread does little to add to the overall community, it's a fantastic resource to see what people like and don't like. I entered for the first time last year and my item had both the words "rune" and "attune". If I would've thrown in filigree then I would've nearly filled up someone's bingo card with one item.

But by reading last year's snark thread, I learned why my item didn't stand a chance. It's just the nature of the competition. Some words are annoying over and over.

A lot of people don't like derp effects. So someone could read the snark thread, learn from it, and then submit something that doesn't derp the next year.

Competitions

Competitions are just for fun and they aren't designed to perfectly select the best of anything.

Is the Super Bowl winner really the best football team every year? Not necessarily.

This comes down to what's the best way to define what is best when subjective measures are all we have, and the reality is there is no perfect way to do this.

Workshops

As for the workshop groups, I tend to agree but it would be difficult for Paizo to enforce a "no workshopping" rule. Meanwhile, many of the former winners and finalists of the competition have used workshoppers to help them every step of the way.

Anyway, using a workshop, especially with random folks on the internet, is a huge risk for the contestant. If someone get's into the top 32 and then another poster shares some private messages with Paizo that show that they had a lot of input on the item then the contestant that places could be disqualified.

Voting Cadres?

I think Paizo has released total number of votes in previous seasons. I think a single Champion voter (5000 votes) had a pretty insignificant impact on the total.

A group of 10 or so Marathon voters (1000) would have little impact.

Get to your point, JJ

In short, the competition isn't perfect. Maybe Paizo could cap voting at 500. Maybe they could discourage workshopping and the snark thread.

But the voting is still more fun then some judges combing through the items behind a curtain and telling us what the best items are. At least the community has some control over defining what's a cool item for this game.

[Nazard]

On a related note, I'm curious...have any previous top 32 and above competitors ever made use of a pit crew during subsequent rounds?

[Wren Brown]

Nazard wrote:

On a related note, I'm curious...have any previous top 32 and above competitors ever made use of a pit crew during subsequent rounds?

I honestly don't know. Last time no one but me saw any of my entries until after I submitted them.

[JJ Jordan]

Nazard wrote:

On a related note, I'm curious...have any previous top 32 and above competitors ever made use of a pit crew during subsequent rounds?

Yes. Some have used pit crews and advised others to have pit crews ready to go in case you make it to the top 32. I don't think it's against the rules.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Regarding Pit Crews:

You need to do all the creative work on an entry yourself. You need to not do anything that identifies which entry is yours.

Beyond that, pit crews are fine.

What we are looking for is someone who does a phenomenal job producing material as a freelancer game/adventure designer. It's extremely common for freelancers to have a small group they have read over their submissions. My wife read everything I submitted as a freelancer for the first 6-7 years of my career. Groups such as the Werecabbages, Freelancer Forge, and Four Horsemen create semiformal guilds of freelancers who can exchange thoughts and give opinions on one-anothers material.

I used to call such folks "alpha readers," by which I meant the people you have read something first, before you sent it to your editor/developer/publisher. The term "pit crew" has popped up for superstar and I rather like it. These people aren't the driver or the engineer. They just kick the tires and see if the oil needs changing.

Without our tight deadlines, and the rules of doing your own work and staying anonymous until judging is over, I am fine with contestants getting the opinion of trusted friends or colleagues to give a first level of feedback.

And having someone on your pit crew is no guarantee they'll vote for your item over others.

[Jester David]

Congratulations to everyone here for making the Top 500!!

[Jason Dandy]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

{Very reasonable observations redacted for space-saving reasons...}

...Groups such as the Werecabbages, Freelancer Forge, and Four Horsemen create semiformal guilds of freelancers who can exchange thoughts and give opinions on one-anothers material....

when i grow up, i want to be a werecabbage.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Nazard wrote:

On a related note, I'm curious...have any previous top 32 and above competitors ever made use of a pit crew during subsequent rounds?

Absolutely.

Andrew Marlowe and I actually read each other's R3 entries before submitting in 2014 (though I wouldn't recommend that for other contestants, as it was a really stressful since I at least was torn between wanting to give the best, most honest advice possible and still wanting to make sure I was going to be one of a limited number of designers to advance in the competition). Last year, I didn't publicly comment on several entries as I'd read them and given advice pre-submission.

As Curaigh noted, there's some benefit to having your pit crew be active participants/observers in the Superstar competition as they know what the community is looking for.

Since then, I've relied on folks who were in my pit crew (and others who I became friends with since then through the Superstar competition) to look at some of my work before I submitted it for publication, and I've returned the favor for them. I know their comments have helped my work both in and after Superstar be better and I hope they feel my comments have done the same for them.

Here's what I wrote about my thoughts on pit crews (and general preparation for the contest) last year. As Owen says, you need to do all the real design work yourself, but having someone read it to point out blind spots is really essential.

[Cohle Slaad]

Jason Dandy wrote:

when i grow up, i want to be a werecabbage.

Werecabbages have nightmares about me.

[Jason Dandy]

JJ Jordan wrote:

Jason Dandy wrote:

i totally agree. i was just failing my save vs anxiety poison earlier. still having trouble figuring out why my item is MIA--cull was at 1:40 pm PST, my item was seen by a close friend later, at 8:00 pm PST, yet it's not been noted as seen on the informal tracking spreadsheet and i haven't seen it all day despite wearing my mouse-clickin' finger down to a bony nub.

luckily, the anxiety has passed and all that remains is a calming sense of utter surrender to the inevitable, like a rabbit in the final moments before the eagle snatches it up in its razor-sharp talons. mama, is that you? i'm...so cold...i'm ready to be stew now, mama...

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Also, for people who are upset (which I completely understand; I was crushed especially in 2013 when I didn't make the Top 32), I really urge you to remember that Superstar isn't the only avenue into game design.

I really like contests even today as an easy way to get your foot in the door (it doesn't matter who you know, it's all based on the quality of your work). That's how I got my module published and it's how I've since gotten regular work with Raging Swan.

Happily, Mikko and I are running a contest right now that can get you published (and getting published leads to getting published more!). If you want to be a game designer, enter. You can make MONEY (but not a lot of it from this contest)! You can get your work PUBLISHED! You can gain FAME*! MEN and/or WOMEN will fawn over you*! Donald Trump will pick YOU as his running mate*!

Seriously, if you entered this Superstar competition, you probably want to be a game designer at least to some degree. If you want to be a game designer, there's no reason to treat it as your one shot at the prize when you have so many OTHER chances to do so.

* OK, these claims may NOT actually be true. But it's possible they could be, right?

[Bradford Walker]

I submitted one item on a lark the day before the deadline, in the hour of downtime I took after I finished playing World of Warcraft and Hearthstone to eat dinner.

It survived two rounds of culling before it succumbed, and I am quite certain as to why it got shot down at the third pass; I'll see if I'm correct later. I kept my design simple, avoiding excess description (so a GM could make it fit his campaign as he sees fit, be it Golarion or something else) as well as excess detailing.

It was an obvious thing that would logically happen once a magic-using culture reached a given critical mass of usage in that form of magic, and would be desired by those who could get them. I may have screwed up the gold pricing, but that's about it.

I should have included the other half of the full concept as another item submission, but I'll reserve that for next time.

[pH unbalanced]

Jason Dandy wrote:

JJ Jordan wrote:

Jason Dandy wrote:

i totally agree. i was just failing my save vs anxiety poison earlier. still having trouble figuring out why my item is MIA--cull was at 1:40 pm PST, my item was seen by a close friend later, at 8:00 pm PST, yet it's not been noted as seen on the informal tracking spreadsheet and i haven't seen it all day despite wearing my mouse-clickin' finger down to a bony nub.

Not to increase you anxiety, but one possibility is that the person who saw it had his voting pair loaded up before the cull, but didn't actually look at it until later. That's a way that you could see a culled item after the cull happened. For this reason you always need to ignore the first pair you look at after things have changed.

(For instance, the first voting pair we all saw this year was actually from *last years* contest.)

Easy to verify though -- just ask your friend if your item was in the first pair he saw, or if it was after he'd been voting for a while.

[Isaac Volynskiy]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

Also, for people who are upset (which I completely understand; I was crushed especially in 2013 when I didn't make the Top 32), I really urge you to remember that Superstar isn't the only avenue into game design.

I really like contests even today as an easy way to get your foot in the door (it doesn't matter who you know, it's all based on the quality of your work). That's how I got my module published and it's how I've since gotten regular work with Raging Swan.

Happily, Mikko and I are running a contest right now that can get you published (and getting published leads to getting published more!). If you want to be a game designer, enter. You can make MONEY (but not a lot of it from this contest)! You can get your work PUBLISHED! You can gain FAME*! MEN and/or WOMEN will fawn over you*! Donald Trump will pick YOU as his running mate*!

Seriously, if you entered this Superstar competition, you probably want to be a game designer at least to some degree. If you want to be a game designer, there's no reason to treat it as your one shot at the prize when you have so many OTHER chances to do so.

* OK, these claims may NOT actually be true. But it's possible they could be, right?

I was going to submit a pitch but if that means Donald Trump might pick me as his running mate...

[Telsyn Setiva]

I'm so sad for all of you. It sucks to be told you suck.

[Bradford Walker]

Telsyn Setiva wrote:

I'm so sad for all of you. It sucks to be told you suck.

I'll rub some dirt on it, walk it off, and suck less next time. Got to git gud to win.

[Adam Daigle]

Cohle Slaad wrote:

Jason Dandy wrote:

when i grow up, i want to be a werecabbage.

Werecabbages have nightmares about me.

It's true. We do.

[Brigg]

Telsyn Setiva wrote:

Something I care not to repeat.

I really don't think your post helps alleviate the frustration of those whose items were culled. And if this is some kind of attempt to troll people and get a rise out of them, you're definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These people took time, heart, and courage to put themselves out there and say, "Here's what I can do." Now, I don't know about you, but I feel those who were confident enough to hit that "Submit" button are the 688 bravest people on this forum.

In my eyes, not a single one of these people will ever deserve to be told they are anything less than awesome. Because they have dreams, ideas, a wellspring of creativity, a passion for the very things this contest calls for, and the bravery to put their mind to the task and their fingers to the keyboard.

I've seen some incredible stuff this year. I've seen things that were well-designed, but didn't fit my personal tastes as a player. And yes, I saw things that could have used work. But I've voted with a smile since the day the votes went up because I could see the desire to create in every single submission.

My heart goes out to the 383 submissions no longer in the running. But I'll encourage you all to keep being awesome, and never be discouraged. Come back, and kick some butt...

...equipped with +5 boots of butt-kicking.