When is the next RPG Superstar Season?

[Wren Brown]

Did Paizo make any annoucement at Gen Con regarding the timing of the next contest?

[Jacob W. Michaels]

I didn't hear of any announcements. It leads me to think it's going back to a holiday-timed contest, but I could easily be jumping the gun on that.

It's also possible that last year's announcement at GenCon was because they were changing the date and they didn't do any special Con announcements this year because the date's the same as last year.

Or maybe it's going to be some new time that's not end of summer or end of the year. :)

[Joseph Kellogg]

No one expects RPG Superstar!

Our four primary weapons are surprise, filigree, gore, a fanatical devotion to construction requirements, and-

[Thomas Seitz]

Joseph Kellogg wrote:

No one expects RPG Superstar!

Our four primary weapons are surprise, filigree, gore, a fanatical devotion to construction requirements, and-

Owen KC Stephens. :)

[Mikko Kallio]

I don't think it was announced, I hanged out with Adam and other Paizo folks quite a lot, so I'm sure someone would have mentioned it. I imagine they're just really really busy right now, and they'll wait until a more opportune moment.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Starfinder development hasn't hit it's stride yet. And while the Paizo team is super talented; they only have a little less then a year to finish the product. There is a lot of work to do, and RPG superstar also uses time and resources that could be diverted to development.

Owen has had some significant health issues as well. Delays are possible.

[Chris Lambertz]

Heya! While we'd love to have been able to keep on with our annual RPG Superstar contest, this year is full of exciting (and busy) projects that mean we're unable to devote the full attention necessary to run it. The contest is being put on pause to let Owen and the Starfinder team (as well as my team) focus on the crazy fun road ahead, and when it comes back y'all will be the first to know.

[Maneuvermoose]

Chris Lambertz wrote:

Heya! While we'd love to have been able to keep on with our annual RPG Superstar contest, this year is full of exciting (and busy) projects that mean we're unable to devote the full attention necessary to run it. The contest is being put on pause to let Owen and the Starfinder team (as well as my team) focus on the crazy fun road ahead, and when it comes back y'all will be the first to know.

With an extra year, Blazing Nine is now Blazing 21!

[Thomas LeBlanc]

It's a good thing, wasn't going to have any time off my new 6 day/50+ hr work week to vote...

[Kim Frandsen]

This makes me sad. :( - Ah well, time to devote energies to everything else. :)

[Jacob W. Michaels]

How disappointing. :(

I hope it'll come back soon!

[Sam Harris]

Too bad, but totally understandable. Here's adding my hopes for a quick return!

[Curaigh]

Sad dragon.
& yet I still find Paizo's treatment of fans amazing. Thanks for letting us know Chris.

[The Raven Black]

No RPGSS 2016 then :-(

Disappointing, though I understand that the team has a LOT of work on its hands and that RPGSS is not the priority

It was a good reprieve from the bore and stress of dull miserable RL life, so it will be missed. Here's hoping it will find its way in 2017

Time to put my energies to closer goals.

Hope everything turns out as best as possible for everyone :-)

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Also, remember the purpose of RPGSS is to find talented designers. Paizo has oodles of them now. Oodles!

[Joel Flank]

Chris Lambertz wrote:

Heya! While we'd love to have been able to keep on with our annual RPG Superstar contest, this year is full of exciting (and busy) projects that mean we're unable to devote the full attention necessary to run it. The contest is being put on pause to let Owen and the Starfinder team (as well as my team) focus on the crazy fun road ahead, and when it comes back y'all will be the first to know.

Maybe next year RPG superstar could feature Starfinder (either for the whole contest or one round). That would be a nice twist and keep things fresh.

[Covent]

I admit, I R Disappoint. This is one of the big events of my year. Not trying to rag on Paizo people, I understand about busy schedules. Just sad.

[Feros]

Well, it will be back and that is what is important!

[Finlanderboy]

Any news on this yet?

[Kerney]

Finlanderboy wrote:

Any news on this yet?

No, but I'm begining to think never. And if someone from Paizo comes and says "eventually" rather than, say July 15th, I'm not sure I'd believe them.

I love Paizo, but they have gone back on their word before. Usually I can understand why (The only sin I've never really forgave them for was the Unchained Summoner). But I suspect RPG Superstar is not a priority.

I hope someone can explain why I'm wrong.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

They've had a lot of success with Superstar and found a lot of good freelancers (Neil Spicer, Mikko, and TONS of others). However, it's very time consuming for them.

I think it's more than reasonable to believe their work on Starfinder is eating up that extra time that they typically devoted to the contest.

I'm hopeful Superstar will return next year (and I hope it'll return at the end of the year again, as I liked it better then), though I have no way of knowing for sure it will.

And for what it's worth, since there were two "seasons" of Superstar last year, it's not like we've really missed out on one. 2016's just came six months early.

[Finlanderboy]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

They've had a lot of success with Superstar and found a lot of good freelancers (Neil Spicer, Mikko, and TONS of others). However, it's very time consuming for them.

I think it's more than reasonable to believe their work on Starfinder is eating up that extra time that they typically devoted to the contest.

I'm hopeful Superstar will return next year (and I hope it'll return at the end of the year again, as I liked it better then), though I have no way of knowing for sure it will.

And for what it's worth, since there were two "seasons" of Superstar last year, it's not like we've really missed out on one. 2016's just came six months early.

That is a very fair statement.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

They've had a lot of success with Superstar and found a lot of good freelancers (Neil Spicer, Mikko, and TONS of others). However, it's very time consuming for them.

I think it's more than reasonable to believe their work on Starfinder is eating up that extra time that they typically devoted to the contest.

I'm hopeful Superstar will return next year (and I hope it'll return at the end of the year again, as I liked it better then), though I have no way of knowing for sure it will.

And for what it's worth, since there were two "seasons" of Superstar last year, it's not like we've really missed out on one. 2016's just came six months early.

It's also fair to theorize that RPG superstar came out early, so that they could FREE UP Those resources to work on StarFinder.

Owen is doing a lot of major work on Starfinder, as well as Jason, and many others. People who already have many time demands on themselves.

'Never again' is likely out of the question. They gained talent through this. The whole community has. It's a matter of patience. Paizo knows they haven't tapped the market on talent yet. They just need to grow a little more to house it. Starfinder will give us potentially 2 opportunities for RPG superstar...
Because They need to do some Starfinding as well...
Scifi writing and fantasy writing are different...

Also, I'll see myself out for forcing that play one words.

[Kerney]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

They've had a lot of success with Superstar and found a lot of good freelancers (Neil Spicer, Mikko, and TONS of others). However, it's very time consuming for them.

I think it's more than reasonable to believe their work on Starfinder is eating up that extra time that they typically devoted to the contest.

I'm hopeful Superstar will return next year (and I hope it'll return at the end of the year again, as I liked it better then), though I have no way of knowing for sure it will.

And for what it's worth, since there were two "seasons" of Superstar last year, it's not like we've really missed out on one. 2016's just came six months early.

Appreciate your answer. I want to agree with it and don't really disagree. But I suspect their market share is shrinking and they have recruited a lot of talent. How many quality freelancers do they need?

I have the logic of a glass half empty and you have the logic of a glass half full. Let us hope the glass is half full.

[Browman]

Kerney wrote:

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

They've had a lot of success with Superstar and found a lot of good freelancers (Neil Spicer, Mikko, and TONS of others). However, it's very time consuming for them.

I think it's more than reasonable to believe their work on Starfinder is eating up that extra time that they typically devoted to the contest.

I'm hopeful Superstar will return next year (and I hope it'll return at the end of the year again, as I liked it better then), though I have no way of knowing for sure it will.

And for what it's worth, since there were two "seasons" of Superstar last year, it's not like we've really missed out on one. 2016's just came six months early.

Appreciate your answer. I want to agree with it and don't really disagree. But I suspect their market share is shrinking and they have recruited a lot of talent. How many quality freelancers do they need?

I have the logic of a glass half empty and you have the logic of a glass half full. Let us hope the glass is half full.

Any decently sized business that isn't recruiting is dying. People retire, move, change careers, get hired by another company and so on. You need a constant trickle of new talent just to maintain a steady state, plus it brings in new ideas and a bunch of other stuff.

[Mikko Kallio]

While it's true that Paizo has found many quality freelancers through RPG Superstar, it's not the only way to discover new talent, and it's probably not even be the most efficient way. The winner, of course, gets to write a module and the runners-up are offered a PFS scenario each, but relatively few finalists (Top 4 or otherwise) remain active after their first few assignments.

Personally, I have seen no signs of a "shrinking market share" or "dying business". Quite the contrary, I've been offered a lot more freelance work this year than in 2015 and 2014 combined. I've noticed no decrease in the number Pathfinder products they publish, AND they're also working on Starfinder at the same time. As far as I can tell, everyone at Paizo is really, really busy at the moment. If anything, they're going to need *more* freelancers because working on two games at the same time is quite resource-intensive.

But that's just my 1d2 cp.

[Kerney]

Mikko Kallio wrote:

Lots of logical and well thought out stuff.

But that's just my 1d2 cp.

Thank you for writing a logical and fully convincing response.

Hope my question was not taken as uncouth.

[Mikko Kallio]

Kerney wrote:

Mikko Kallio wrote:

Lots of logical and well thought out stuff.

But that's just my 1d2 cp.

Thank you for writing a logical and fully convincing response.

Hope my question was not taken as uncouth.

No worries. I'll admit that I'm also a bit bummed that RPGSS didn't happen this year. Voting for items, trying to guess which ones make it to the top 32, talking to people on the RPGSS boards.. I miss it. The holiday season isn't quite the same without RPGSS. I understand it's even more disappointing for people who wanted to submit an item.

Anyway, for those interested in freelancing, there are other contests, Wayfinder, the PFS quest open call, and many publishers looking for new talent.

[Sarabel Hieronymus]

This post has some news.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

That makes me really sad. Superstar introduced me to game design -- and really increased my involvement with Pathfinder in general, I think -- and I was hoping to get one more shot at it.

I wonder if it could ever be done as a 3PP, though my gut feeling is that it couldn't.

[Kobold Catgirl]

That just about breaks my heart. It really saddens me that the module line becoming more "integrated" into Golarion comes at the expense of one of Paizo's most cherished traditions.

[Eric Hindley]

If this holds, I too will miss RPG Superstar. It was my first real break into RPG design, and the stepping stone that got me into freelancing.

[Mikko Kallio]

Very sad indeed. Like Eric, that's how I got into freelancing and I've been very actively involved in the RPGSS community even after I was no longer eligible to enter.

Jacob, Mike W, and I should organize more contests to fill the vacuum. Maybe hire more judges (e.g. Eric) and make it a multi-round thing. Not the same as RPGSS, but well, better than nothing I suppose.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Mikko, I was thinking the same thing.

I think the thing is we need a big enough prize to lure participants. I wonder if we could approach, say, Adventureaweek.com or another 3PP and partner with them (or maybe do some sort of small Kickstarter and get a small cash prize or something?). I'm not sure if being non-Paizo, though, would just be too much of a bar to make it really successful. After all, we tend to get 50 entries (give or take) to our contests, vs. around 800 for Superstar.

A bigger prize could certainly boost that number, and presumably the contest would grow if we do it right (I wonder how many entries there were the first year of Superstar), but definitely some issues we would have to discuss (posting this here -- instead of via email to just Mikko and Mike -- to see if others want to weigh in).

[Mike Welham]

I'd be game for a wider ranging contest. I agree we don't have the resources Paizo has, but if we could get a 3PP on board that would definitely help.

[Jeremy Corff]

I'm sorry to hear it is closing down, if that proves to be the case. I'd already started working on an entry.

I'm happy to help with a 3PP effort if y'all need it.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Well, that's certainly sad news. :-(
It's sad. :-( I've always wanted to break into game design, and thanks to this contest. I actually made some product.

It helped me immensely. I'd gladly participate in a 3pp contest.

[Kobold Catgirl]

I don't really have much to offer, but I'd be happy to help. :P

[Eric Hindley]

Mikko Kallio wrote:

Very sad indeed. Like Eric, that's how I got into freelancing and I've been very actively involved in the RPGSS community even after I was no longer eligible to enter.

Jacob, Mike W, and I should organize more contests to fill the vacuum. Maybe hire more judges (e.g. Eric) and make it a multi-round thing. Not the same as RPGSS, but well, better than nothing I suppose.

Hey Mikko, id be thrilled to judge a contest for you! Though that does cut into the number of contests I can enter ;)

Adventureaweek would be a cool partner, and Legendary Games might be a good fit, depending on the end result product. I suspect other companies might be interested too (Louis Porter always seems on board 3PP collaborations, for example). This might even be an idea to take to Kickstarter to find funds, so a partner with experience in that area might be worth talking to.

[Brigg]

Aww. Sad-faces :(
(Possibly) No more RPGSS!
This is a great contest. But of course, we can't tell them what to do or how to run things.

Who knows, maybe in the future they could bring it back. For now, I can wait while picking away at 3pp projects and my novel series.

I won't be bored. But I'll definitely miss the community shenanigans that RPGSS brought about.

[Isaac Volynskiy]

I'll definitely miss RPGSS while it's gone.

The community that springs up during the event feels almost like a virtual convention.
The threads climbed sky high with posts, the collaboration on Items Seen, the arts created around the contest (such as Brigg doing haikus).

I thought the tight deadlines in the contest would be killer, but they showed me that I could really dedicate to it if I loved what I was doing.
---

I would like to help out however I can with other contests that are run.

I think a big part of the discrepancy in entries may be tied to publicity, as RPGSS is hard to miss for most forum users, while contests in 3rd Party Product Discussion are really easy to miss, lost among the actual product discussions.

Perhaps Paizo could create a forum section for Contests, if we could get the ball rolling at some critical mass.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Isaac Volynskiy wrote:

I think a big part of the discrepancy in entries may be tied to publicity, as RPGSS is hard to miss for most forum users, while contests in 3rd Party Product Discussion are really easy to miss, lost among the actual product discussions.

Perhaps Paizo could create a forum section for Contests, if we could get the ball rolling at some critical mass.

That would be nifty!

[Grumpus]

I was more of a casual player before I made top-32 of rpgss.

Since then, I have purchased a ton of PF content, got into freelancing, and met some really great people. Which in turn led to me getting on a a plane and attending paizo-con last year.

RPGSS turned pathfinder from a hobby to an obsession for me. And I am sure I am not alone.

The contest may be resource intensive to run, but the benefits for paizo in the long run shouldn't be ignored.

[Wren Brown]

RPGSS going on haitus is really a bummer! As others have said, that is how I got started in game design as well.

Mikko & Jacob, for the next contest you organize - try contacting Paizo and see if they will mention it on the regular 3PP blog entry they post ever other week.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Thanks, Russ. Definitely something we're discussing. :)

[Covent]

Bummer...

Well if I can be of help for the 3pp version of superstar I would be glad to, just don't know exactly what I could do.

Also, on the Kickstarter angle, maybe start a Kickstarter that is to fund the contest and prizes?

[Eric Morton]

Bummer.

Open playtests and RPG Superstar were what initially drew my attention to Paizo back in the day and were two of the main reasons I remained interested in Paizo and its products throughout the years. Now both have gone the way of the dodo.

I perfectly understand Paizo's reasoning, though, and I don't hold it against them.

[James Risner]

I'd be interested in entering or judging!

[Chance Phillips 187]

Has there been any more progress on the idea of creating a 3PP RPGSS that was discussed upthread?