Interest in a new contest!

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Ok as I am finishing up the final touches of meh sexy setting I want to make sure that the rpg system I put forth is that which people truly desire. In light of that I have myself organized the concept of a setting that I will be creating but I want to issue a contest to see if any one might have better ideas than me. So I will be issuing a contest of sorts in which all the participants are issued the task of coming up with the fully functional frame work for a system.

To snuff out any thought that I am trying to get out of the work of designing my own system, I am simply open to the fact that I may not have the best ideas is all. I certainly plan to submit myself into the contest as well and will except a win or loss just the same.

The final winner of the contest will be expected to allow me to use the bases of the system for publishing use (very much like an open game license) but can otherwise do as they will with it. I also plan to make specific acknowledgment of them in every book I make using the system. On top of that participants would have the following compensation:

1st place: The free PR from every book I write with the system in it. As well as $75, and a free signed copy of every book I make using the setting.
2nd place: $50
3rd place: $25

Every member who participates in the contest will also get a discount on the purchase of the book when it is out.

The contestants would produce the games mechanics from a pre- scripted out series of scenes describing how players would play the game. From these descriptions of scenes the participants would have to tailor a rules set that fits the play style, as well as aesthetics of the setting.

As far as judging goes each system would be released in pdf form to people who have subscribed in order to judge. They will judge each system on a variety of aspects (yet to be decided) and which ever system scores best over all will win.

To get people interested in judging randomly the following prizes will be distributed.

1st place: $25 and a free copy of every book published for the setting from the first book forward
2nd place: $25 and a free copy of the book when it's finished
3rd place: a free copy of the book when it is published

The contest would not be for a little while as I still have to get the setting info up online, as well as the scripts that people will be working off of.

I just wanted general opinions on the contest and if seems like something some people would be interested in. One thing to keep in mind is that I will myself be submitting myself into the contest, but if I win will slip the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes down to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.

If you have any ideas of suggestions to add or take away from the contest please post them up, as I want to make sure the contest suits the needs and wants of the people that will be in it.

Well folks I am off if I think of anything else to add I will post it up later today, as well a getting back to any questions, or comments.

Regards, Seth

[Eero Tuovinen]

Why not... I could imagine participating in something like this after the convention season closes down. Nothing much to add about the contest rules, except that I'm slightly skeptical about the wisdom of using an outside judge to pick a game system for your own game. Surely you should yourself be the judge? There is no partisanship there as long as you're footing the bill for the awards yourself.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Well the only reason for the outside judges is because I actually want to get as many outside potential customers to join the subscriber mailing list. This massive quantity of people will then get to vote on which system they prefer providing input on them all. When all is said and done the (potential) client base would have a game they can feel they were involved in bringing to the table... and a couple people would have prizes. One reason I don't want to myself be the final say as far as judging goes is that I myself have an idea for what I think would be a nifty system for the game. The only reason I don't just go ahead and publish with said system is I want to make sure that it will be something people like.
regards, Seth

[Reprobus]

Reasonable answer for not being the judge yourself. No other comments yet

[Eero Tuovinen]

I'm not so sure it's reasonable. Of course it's not my business, but designing by majority vote has rarely gone well. It might be different when the people are voting on complete packages instead of rules details, I wouldn't know; I still know so very little about the interactions of rules and setting that I couldn't begin to forecast the range of results from something like this. For all I know you might end up with a system you yourself despise and don't understand, which might be a bit difficult for the future of your game. A bit like all those companies that published d20 conversions of their games while the people behind the company name never even tried to play D&D.

Anyway, that doesn't really affect the design part of the competition, so I don't care so much. If you think it's wise, then go for it.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

might be different when the people are voting on complete packages instead of rules details

When the actually contestants are creating the systems they will have access to setting information as well as the scene packets. This way when the actual people voting are looking through systems they can keep in mind how it interacts with the setting.

For all I know you might end up with a system you yourself despise and don't understand, which might be a bit difficult for the future of your game

This is one thing I am concerned with, to counter this the part of voting where the actual people judging give feedback on the games and where they falter, as well as any suggestions is going to be a huge asset to providing a workable system.

When it comes down to it I am very eagerly anticipating the wide variety of system concepts people conjure up from the same scenes.
Thanks for bringing up your concerns, with every ones feed back I am starting to get things nailed down a bit more. Out of curiosity when does "convention season" end?
Regards, Seth

[Christian Liberg]

Aye, i would definitely agree to join in such a contest, not as much for winning the prices, but it could be interesting to see what other people think about the same things as my self.

I think that you should check all the rules set's and instead of critiqueless taking the system all the judges think are best, create an amalgamation of them, into what fits your ideas, and future development of the game.

my best bet would be to create the contest, but to take pick and choose of individual parts of the systems coming in.

Chris

[Eero Tuovinen]

For my purposes, the convention season is all but finished after Ropecon/Gencon (meaning, Ropecon in Finland is almost on top of Gencon). I'd probably have spare time for something like this after that if the material caught my fancy.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Due to some financial complication (being robbed) I will not so much be able to implement this contest exactly as I was hoping for a while. I will look to do something in the future and will start things back up when a budget exists.

Regards, Seth

[Vulpinoid]

I'll be keeping an eye out for this contest when it starts up again. It sounds like a great idea.

V

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Thanks a bunch for the response I think the thread should close now though as it is not currently applicable. Any one interested can pm me and I can keep them updated that way. I think it's more important to focus on the relevant current things people are doing. Thanks a ton though for the support.

Regards, Seth