NWN Contest: The DRM Monster and the Treasure of GOG (posted OCT 27/2010. Contest ends Nov 24/2010)

[Legacy_Banshe]

               

olivier leroux wrote...

May I ask, why the "No teams" rule? That's another hurdle for people with limited spare time on their hands and it's so much more fun to do it when you're not alone. NWN should be all about working together, not everyone for himself. And that would be an important lesson for newcomers, too. I don't agree that team work gives builders an advantage more crucial than the advantage people with a lot of spare time already have over people with a lot of real life chores, or the advantage NWN veterans have over newbies when it comes to finding ways to circumvent the strict rules (which you explicitly stated as one of the challenges in the contest). On the contrary, team work might make it easier for new builders to compete with the veterans, once they realize that.

Besides, anyone can use scripts that were written by other people, anyone can get inspired by ideas of other people and how would you even ensure someone did his or her module completely without help? With team work forbidden I don't think this contest is much fun and I'm doubtful a lot of community members will join it,..

You are absolutely right! But so am I!

I mentioned this in a previous thread somewhere (here or GOG) but there isn't a right way and a wrong way to run a contest IMHO. Well, there are some wrong ways but there is more than one right way.

When it comes to "No teams" I'm going with my gut. The actual parameters are fairly simple so that newcomers can make something simple. A newcomer that is a good storyteller can really shine in this contest. It is not a contest to see who can come up with the cleverest scripts or use the best tricks. Because it involves new and old players, you don't want to just hand over the prizes to the vets because they know what they're doing.

On top of that, even people that can only spare a few hours out of the whole month can still get this done.


However, I'm going to cut you a deal. I'm intrigued by your last comment. I don't know why people would be so averse to a contest that requires not too much effort and great prizes simply because they couldn't team up.

So this is what I'm going to do. If four teams (only needs two members) are willing to sign up for the contest

AND

No one in either community objects

We can have teams.

All the members of each team must post here in this thread. The team leader needs to identify his team members and state how many of the five games each member gets.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               

Banshe wrote...
I don't know why people would be so averse to a contest that requires not too much effort and great prizes simply because they couldn't team up.

Because it doesn't feel right to get great prizes for a hastily built module and to put your name under something that you're not enjoying yourself. You may be misjudging the high standards community members set themselves. Or maybe I am, we'll see.
'>

Anyway, thanks for that offer! You should also post it on gog.com, so that gog members get a chance to team up, too, or to announce their objections (I hope not!).
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               

olivier leroux wrote...

Banshe wrote...
I don't know why people would be so averse to a contest that requires not too much effort and great prizes simply because they couldn't team up.

Because it doesn't feel right to get great prizes for a hastily built module and to put your name under something that you're not enjoying yourself. You may be misjudging the high standards community members set themselves. Or maybe I am, we'll see.
'>

Anyway, thanks for that offer! You should also post it on gog.com, so that gog members get a chance to team up, too, or to announce their objections (I hope not!).

It certainly doesn't have to be hastily built. The authors put as much effort into it as they like and can maintain the standards that they set themselves. And they can do that alone in a month.

I actually do expect high standards from the contestants. But to be clear, I'm not judging inexperience and mistakes. I'm judging effort and thoughtfullness. If someone hands in a module of a guy standing in an empty inn whose one line is "the treasure is that way", the drm monster is a simple goblin and the Treasure of GOG sits in a simple cave in a chest, I probably won't be choosing their module.  


Superfly does good work and he did his very quickly. I like to think it's because it is a simple and straightforward contest. If you can get inspired by the simple theme of the contest, you can do it in pretty good time.

As for posting this on GOG too, I'm going to wait. I can't keep this open-ended for too long. It is not good to have ambiguity in the rules for any length of time. So I'm going to wait until Monday evening to see how this works out. If people show up in this thread stating that they are willing to enter the contest only as teams (four teams) and no one objects, I'll bring it over to the GOG forums. Then I'll wait a couple of days and if no one objects there (they don't have to field four teams as well), we'll make it official.

But no teams should start working together until it is known whether teams will be allowed. Expect a decision on Wednesday.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Ok. Well, it seems that there are no holdouts due to teams not being allowed. So I'm going to stick to the original rule: No teams allowed.



I'm glad we did this. I don't want the rules to be a barrier to entry. So it is good that those who would only join if in a team seem to be non-existant.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               Hm. Let's just hope that's not due to a generally low interest in the contest and this thread.

But it's probably for the better this didn't work out as I think it actually *would* have been an unfair disadvantage for GOG members if they had been the last to get the message while NWN community members already had a bit of time to team up. Would certainly have given them enough reason to object.

Alright, I take on your challenge then and see how far I get by working on my own.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Great! Good luck in the contest!



Just so you know, had the rule change been implemented, I would have posted it on GOG last night. And the final word on the rule change would have been Wednesday night. So both NWN1 and GOG members would have had official word of the rule change at the same time. As the rule did not change, there was no need to post it there. So there would not have been advance notice for NWN1 players. Like I said, I want to make this contest as fair as possible. '>



As for low turnout for the contest, I think the forum board switch from the old forums did cause a bit of disruption in the community. As it stands now, you may walk away with 5 free games just for entering the contest. So it would be good to see a behinds get kicked into action for this contest, if you feel like rousing the troops.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               Don't despair about turn out until after the competition closes. A number of us are working on mods for it as and when we get free time. As to quality again wait and see.



TR
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               

Tarot Redhand wrote...

Don't despair about turn out until after the competition closes. A number of us are working on mods for it as and when we get free time. As to quality again wait and see.

TR

That is good to hear. I want you guys to put a good face on NWN1. The GOG community seems pretty enthusiastic about NWN1. I would like them to come here and join the community. But a poor showing for the contest will dampen their enthusiasm for the joining NWN1.  
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rubies]

               

That is good to hear. I want you guys to put a good face on NWN1. The GOG community seems pretty enthusiastic about NWN1. I would like them to come here and join the community. But a poor showing for the contest will dampen their enthusiasm for the joining NWN1.

I'll definitely be submitting my entry in the coming weeks as long as there's nothing against puzzles! It's wonderful to hear that there are people gaining interest in NWN so I find it hard to miss the chance. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Nope. Nothing against puzzles. But you may want to include a walkthrough just in case the judges can't solve your puzzle. Just a little text with the solution is fine. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               11 days left folks. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               It just occurred to me. Does the DRM Monster count as 1 of the 10 hostiles or 1 of the 3 friendly/neutrals or is it seperate from both?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Balduvard]

               Let the tab key guide your decision:

Red - Hostile

Blue/Green - Neutral/Friendly

Blue/Green but turns into Red at some point - Uh...that would actually be good to know, but I think it will only count for one category. Not like you expect to have any meaningful interaction with a DRM monster other than combat, but perhaps there are other enemies in the module that switch to hostile from neutral/friendly.



Like crazy cultists that embrace the arrival of the DRM monster as the end of times and become quite angry when you suggest doing in the foul beast.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               As he is such a special fella, he can be seperate. So he/she/it will not be counted along with the others. However, if there is more than one DRM monster, the rest will be counted. The only free one is the first one. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               What about the third category that Balduvard mentioned, neutral NPCs who'll turn hostile only after they delivered their "You are so going to die" speech? I hope they don't count as neutral/friendly NPCs just because their names appear as blue the first time you meet them in-game?
               
               

               

                     Modifié par olivier leroux, 13 novembre 2010 - 08:20 .