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Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Dec 8, 2010 21:36:00 GMT -5
In the interest of breathing some life into this board, I want to announce the coming (soon) of two separate competitions for board members to participate in. Honestly, it's just an experiment to see if anyone at all would enjoy doing this in the hope of getting some more life into the forum.
These competitions will take place in the Predator Fan Fiction and Predator RPG boards. I will post in them soon, and link to them in this thread once I've done so.
========================================
Fan-Fiction:
There will be different openings updated now and then. The participating writers will be given either a setting, goal, or situation and then set loose to write a short story on it.
Different events will have different limitations and requirements on them. Absolutely anyone can participate, and you don't need to sign up. When the event is posted, you can simply write up your piece and then post it in your own separate thread before the dead-line. Any thread that participates in this need only have "Ch:" written in front of the title.
Note that these will be very simple and short stories. They only need to be a couple pages. Even one page will do depending on how good you think it is. The overall plot will always be simple, but how you write it out can be as complex and twisted as you like. An example of a given plot is, "Your character is being hunted by a single Predator while out in the forest," and you can take it from there. Who's perspective you write from, who survives, all of that will be up to you.
RPG:
The RPG competition will be direct versus fights between two players at a time. The arena and rules will be posted before the actual event begins, but it will require character sign-ups in the thread for people who want to participate. After signing up, you'll either be assigned to versus another player, or perhaps you can decide for yourself who you want to compete against.
Depending on how many people participate, this will end up being a Tournament. Players will knock each other out of the competition until one remains to be declared champion.
========================================
Judging:
At the moment, I am the only judge as this is brand new and I haven't asked anyone else. However, if this gets any participation, there should eventually be a small panel of judges, with the average scores between judges being used as the final score.
Judging works on a point system from 0-10 in the following categories:
For fan-fiction:
-Writing- Points are given based on how well the story is written. This includes spelling, grammar, and how nicely the English language is used. Pretty self explanatory really. Note that this does not mean the story itself is good because of the writing, this category involves the mechanics of writing itself. Good vocab, cool ways of putting things, humor.
Examples: Picture any good book on the shelf, (Be it Dostoevsky, Harry Potter, or some obscure book like House of Leaves) and you have an example of good writing. Now read this and you now what a 0/10 for writing is.
-Characters- Points given depending on how interesting and fleshed out the characters are. This includes all characters, not only the protagonist. Does the character feel realistic? Do they draw out sympathy from the readers? Can we relate to them? Do they make sense? Are they cool as hell or just your average joe?
Examples: Bella from Twilight is the example of a crappy character getting no points. Hannibal Lecter is an example of an excellent character.
-Immersion- This is a little mix of both, writing and character work. In short, how well the story draws the reader in. This depends on description and character thoughts. Does the story get the reader into the character's head? Do you feel for the characters? Can you picture the environment in your mind?
This is the "good writing" party of writing a good story, while the "writing" category only addresses the literal words used in the writing.
-Plot- Although the overall plot will be given to you at the beginning of the competition, this category judges what you do with it. How the story works out, if it's interesting, and if it makes sense. Plot-holes = dock points. A fun story = wins points. You get the idea. In other words, if the judge liked how the story fleshed out or not.
|Sub-point: Technical Accuracy. Points are docked for any inaccuracies in description of actions or technology. In short, anything that's impossible, wrong, or denies physics loses points. This does not apply to sci-fi. Any Predator technology or other sci-fi stuff like that does NOT have to be accurate, since it's fiction. Your character can become a freaking werewolf if you want, and that will not cost points. In other words, DO YOUR RESEARCH. If, that is, your story needs it at all, which it may not. For some pointers, go read the "Things people think are true" thread to know what not to do.
=================
RPG Section
Note guys, that one of you will have to lose the versus. However, whether you win or lose does not decide who wins the actual match up. That's decided by the points. I will leave it up to your own levels of cooperation and maturity to determine who should die in the versus. Discuss it over PM if you like, or consider me to be King Solomon and I'll sort it out for you.
Also note that you must follow the rules of the RP boards, to which I suggest reading the "Guide to RP" combat section.
-Writing- Unlike the fan-fic category of writing, this includes everything in the RP writing. From description to use of language.
-Character- Unfortunately, the versus will require disposable, one-time use characters (Since one of you will die every time) but it is precisely because of this that I want you to try and create interesting characters in the versus. How they like to fight, their personality, how they think. This is rather challenging considering how limited your options are in a versus, and it's because of this I am making it a category for judging.
If you make simple brawl characters to fight with and leave it at that, you'll lose points in this category.
-Skill-Level-This category is judged on how cool your character fights. If he does nothing but walk in a straight line and punch, punch, punch, it's simple and boring. This will not make you lose your points from the main categories, as I don't want you to force your characters to do things that doesn't suit them. However, if they use weaponry, or you describe their melee combat style and how they do things and what they do best, this earns points.
In other words, how well your character fights (And in turn, how well you react to your opponent's attacks).
-Ingenuity- These are BONUS points. They are added to the end average at the end of the fight, and are can be awarded from 0-5, instead of ten. If you did something insanely over the top(but plausible), cool, and unique, it's worth a point. It's up to the judges to determine whether you earned them or not.
===================
Rewards
The winner of the RP tourney, or the winner of the periodic fan-fic competitions, will earn something expensive and amazing. Which is pretty much the only thing we can give: sigs. And therefore bragging rights.
There will be sigs for 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place winners, all marked with which competition they won.
So wait an hour or two, I'll get the threads up. And then we'll see where this goes.
These competitions will take place in the Predator Fan Fiction and Predator RPG boards. I will post in them soon, and link to them in this thread once I've done so.
========================================
Fan-Fiction:
There will be different openings updated now and then. The participating writers will be given either a setting, goal, or situation and then set loose to write a short story on it.
Different events will have different limitations and requirements on them. Absolutely anyone can participate, and you don't need to sign up. When the event is posted, you can simply write up your piece and then post it in your own separate thread before the dead-line. Any thread that participates in this need only have "Ch:" written in front of the title.
Note that these will be very simple and short stories. They only need to be a couple pages. Even one page will do depending on how good you think it is. The overall plot will always be simple, but how you write it out can be as complex and twisted as you like. An example of a given plot is, "Your character is being hunted by a single Predator while out in the forest," and you can take it from there. Who's perspective you write from, who survives, all of that will be up to you.
RPG:
The RPG competition will be direct versus fights between two players at a time. The arena and rules will be posted before the actual event begins, but it will require character sign-ups in the thread for people who want to participate. After signing up, you'll either be assigned to versus another player, or perhaps you can decide for yourself who you want to compete against.
Depending on how many people participate, this will end up being a Tournament. Players will knock each other out of the competition until one remains to be declared champion.
========================================
Judging:
At the moment, I am the only judge as this is brand new and I haven't asked anyone else. However, if this gets any participation, there should eventually be a small panel of judges, with the average scores between judges being used as the final score.
Judging works on a point system from 0-10 in the following categories:
For fan-fiction:
-Writing- Points are given based on how well the story is written. This includes spelling, grammar, and how nicely the English language is used. Pretty self explanatory really. Note that this does not mean the story itself is good because of the writing, this category involves the mechanics of writing itself. Good vocab, cool ways of putting things, humor.
Examples: Picture any good book on the shelf, (Be it Dostoevsky, Harry Potter, or some obscure book like House of Leaves) and you have an example of good writing. Now read this and you now what a 0/10 for writing is.
-Characters- Points given depending on how interesting and fleshed out the characters are. This includes all characters, not only the protagonist. Does the character feel realistic? Do they draw out sympathy from the readers? Can we relate to them? Do they make sense? Are they cool as hell or just your average joe?
Examples: Bella from Twilight is the example of a crappy character getting no points. Hannibal Lecter is an example of an excellent character.
-Immersion- This is a little mix of both, writing and character work. In short, how well the story draws the reader in. This depends on description and character thoughts. Does the story get the reader into the character's head? Do you feel for the characters? Can you picture the environment in your mind?
This is the "good writing" party of writing a good story, while the "writing" category only addresses the literal words used in the writing.
-Plot- Although the overall plot will be given to you at the beginning of the competition, this category judges what you do with it. How the story works out, if it's interesting, and if it makes sense. Plot-holes = dock points. A fun story = wins points. You get the idea. In other words, if the judge liked how the story fleshed out or not.
|Sub-point: Technical Accuracy. Points are docked for any inaccuracies in description of actions or technology. In short, anything that's impossible, wrong, or denies physics loses points. This does not apply to sci-fi. Any Predator technology or other sci-fi stuff like that does NOT have to be accurate, since it's fiction. Your character can become a freaking werewolf if you want, and that will not cost points. In other words, DO YOUR RESEARCH. If, that is, your story needs it at all, which it may not. For some pointers, go read the "Things people think are true" thread to know what not to do.
=================
RPG Section
Note guys, that one of you will have to lose the versus. However, whether you win or lose does not decide who wins the actual match up. That's decided by the points. I will leave it up to your own levels of cooperation and maturity to determine who should die in the versus. Discuss it over PM if you like, or consider me to be King Solomon and I'll sort it out for you.
Also note that you must follow the rules of the RP boards, to which I suggest reading the "Guide to RP" combat section.
-Writing- Unlike the fan-fic category of writing, this includes everything in the RP writing. From description to use of language.
-Character- Unfortunately, the versus will require disposable, one-time use characters (Since one of you will die every time) but it is precisely because of this that I want you to try and create interesting characters in the versus. How they like to fight, their personality, how they think. This is rather challenging considering how limited your options are in a versus, and it's because of this I am making it a category for judging.
If you make simple brawl characters to fight with and leave it at that, you'll lose points in this category.
-Skill-Level-This category is judged on how cool your character fights. If he does nothing but walk in a straight line and punch, punch, punch, it's simple and boring. This will not make you lose your points from the main categories, as I don't want you to force your characters to do things that doesn't suit them. However, if they use weaponry, or you describe their melee combat style and how they do things and what they do best, this earns points.
In other words, how well your character fights (And in turn, how well you react to your opponent's attacks).
-Ingenuity- These are BONUS points. They are added to the end average at the end of the fight, and are can be awarded from 0-5, instead of ten. If you did something insanely over the top(but plausible), cool, and unique, it's worth a point. It's up to the judges to determine whether you earned them or not.
===================
Rewards
The winner of the RP tourney, or the winner of the periodic fan-fic competitions, will earn something expensive and amazing. Which is pretty much the only thing we can give: sigs. And therefore bragging rights.
There will be sigs for 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place winners, all marked with which competition they won.
So wait an hour or two, I'll get the threads up. And then we'll see where this goes.
I'd be happy to judge some writin'. 
