Timewaster's Guide Archive

Games => Role-Playing Games => Topic started by: 42 on June 07, 2002, 02:57:09 PM

Title: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: 42 on June 07, 2002, 02:57:09 PM
Wizards just annouced that they are looking for fantasy world settings to use as a bases for RPG games and novels. They're hosting a contest, the grand prize is $20,000.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020606a
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on June 07, 2002, 03:13:41 PM
Now that's some seriously cool stuff. Let's see how many settings I can whip up in the next few weeks?
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: 42 on June 07, 2002, 03:17:24 PM
Sorry, it is $100,000 for the winner, plus the $20,000 for being a semi-finalist.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on June 07, 2002, 03:21:11 PM
I told you guys, and you wouldn't beleive me--someday, people will pay me just to sit around and think of game ideas.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: 42 on June 09, 2002, 04:14:08 PM
I should point out that I'm expecting at least one person that I know to make it past the first round. If not I will have mock your time-wasting abilities. Initial proposals need to be sent by June 21st. That's less than two weeks from now.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on June 11, 2002, 01:26:34 PM
why not enter the scretch thing?
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on June 11, 2002, 01:35:58 PM
Because then if it wins, we'd either have to change our forum entirely or pay Wizards a license fee. I am, however, submitting an altered version of one of our early ideas for the forum--similar only in that the world(s) are shrinking. I don't think I'll submit the idea where the entire dimension is an enourmous bar.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on June 11, 2002, 02:04:29 PM
sounds like a good idea... ;D
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on July 03, 2002, 12:24:36 PM
Wizards has delayed "phase 2" an extra month, mainly because they received more than 10,000 submissions. I don't know how many they were expecting to receive, but the delay isn't really a surprise (their original plan was to announce phase two after less than two weeks--yeah right). So we can all keep waiting until the first week of August.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: EUOL on July 07, 2002, 02:39:16 PM
Ha.  I knew they'd have to.  What did they expect?  
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: 42 on August 08, 2002, 10:39:09 AM
Wizards has delayed the setting contest results even further. They say that they might have the results by the end of this month.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on August 08, 2002, 11:27:33 AM
shame it's over - ihave got the best idea ever

the whole world is a misty forest and people have to live in walled cities on the few mountains to protect themselves from the menacing creatures that inhabit the forest. unfortunately the mountains can support very few farms and groups of hunters have to enter th forest led by a ranger (the only people who can navigate the forests) to hunt for food. The ranger is like a dungeon master and the various people are the hunters
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on August 08, 2002, 12:34:14 PM
That's surprisingly similar to The Ill-Made Mute, actually, although she adds in flying horses and FF-style airships.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on August 08, 2002, 12:46:33 PM
mine is definitley fantasy with magic, no airships or relay stations


flying horses? ???
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on August 08, 2002, 01:22:07 PM
Are you saying that you think flying horses are lame, or that you are confused at the concept of a flying horse?
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on August 08, 2002, 01:33:30 PM
both

does it have wings or does it just float about?
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Entsuropi on August 10, 2002, 10:06:23 AM
does anyone else get the feeling that me hasnt read much fantasy?
ffs, there are flying horses in warhammer apart from anything else! try looking in the GW store, under monsters or bretonian heros. they are called pegasi.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on August 10, 2002, 11:46:06 AM
yeah i know but they might be either!
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: GuJiaXian on August 14, 2002, 02:50:45 PM
Back on topic, WotC has pushed back the results of the contest (yet again) to the end of August.  Again, how many of you contributed to the contest?
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on August 14, 2002, 03:07:47 PM
I contributed four ideas of my own and one that I co-wrote with Eric. The co-written one was definitely the weakest, mainly because we were both too busy with other things and did it more out of blind ambition than anything else. Two of my other ideas, however, I consider to be very strong contenders.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Lord_of_Me on August 14, 2002, 05:34:03 PM
good luck! :D
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Spriggan on September 05, 2002, 11:01:28 PM
Well Wizards notified the 11 people a week ago...Looks like noboby here got though.  
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Mr_Pleasington on September 06, 2002, 12:59:39 AM
Not necessarily  If you were contacted and accepted you can't let anyone know about it.  So Fell might have gotten in.  If he didn't, I'd love to hear his proposals.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on September 06, 2002, 02:47:09 AM
Nope, I was not contacted...at least not by Wizards...
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Mr_Pleasington on September 06, 2002, 06:26:34 PM
I think ENworld is doing a good thing.  They're taking all the submissions weren't accepting them and putting them on their site so GMs looking for inspiration can read through them.  Morrus is also having some charity contest where one of the setting proposals gets published by Natural 20 Press with all the proceeds going to charity.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on September 09, 2002, 12:44:26 PM
What's the link?

And I'm not so sure it's a good thing. If I remember correctly, we never signed away creative ownership of these ideas--we just promised to do so if we won and Wizards paid us. If I'm not getting paid for my settings, I'd rather save them and use them for future novels. I suppose this doesn't prevent me from doing so, but I think it's pretty under-handed.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Mr_Pleasington on September 09, 2002, 07:21:23 PM
I don't think Morrus at ENworld is trying to be underhanded...most people just submitted their homebrew worlds and were never going to do anything else with them.  I think the database is a good idea and the contest  is alright.  

If you're planning on using your setting commecially, though, then putting it up for public display would indeed be a bad idea.

ENworld is at http://www.enworld.org

IMO, it's the best 3E/d20 site on the net.  
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Slant on November 02, 2002, 04:52:28 PM
Did anybody here ever find out the names or ideas of any of the winners?  Did they finally get a single winner?  I haven't heard anything on the topic for the longest time.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Mr_Pleasington on November 03, 2002, 05:20:12 PM
They've narrowed it down to the 3 (?) finalists.  Each has to submit a 100 page treatment on their world and I don't think they've hit the due date for that yet.

A lot of the ones who got eliminated in the last round shared a common theme of a "golden age"

Should be interesting to see what wins.  Well, hopefully it will be interesting to see what wins!
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Spriggan on November 04, 2002, 12:39:36 PM
actualy they narrowed it down to 4.  they decided to add one more.  this happened about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  Now they have to write a 100pg manual describing the world.
Title: Re: Setting Ideas Contest
Post by: Fellfrosch on December 19, 2002, 11:53:42 AM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20021209x