contest

[Franconicus]

Hey, what about a new writing contest?:book:

[Ludens]

The Mead Hall appears to be going to a quiet spell.

[Franconicus]

Maybe we just need more mead?~:cheers: ~:grouphug: :dancing: :barrel: :barrel:

[Andres]

The Mead Hall appears to be going to a quiet spell.

The last contest was before the release of M2TW. Since the release of M2, we have alot of new members who joined the Org. Maybe they don't even know about this place. A writing contest, announced in the other fora, might draw the attention of the newer members towards the mead hall, resulting in some more activity.

Just my :2cents:

[Tamur]

I love contests! :party: :balloon: :party2: :party3: :vulcan:

What kind of contest are we having? 1500 word freeform? Day in the life of a historical character? The destruction of the library at Alexandria? What Julius Caesar ate for breakfast on 15 March?

The mind boggles...

[Warluster]

yeah I would love a writing contest! I saw the last one but never got invovled... I would defintly enter if one was to start again!

[sapi]

Depending on the timing of such a contest i might actually drop in and write something :laugh4:

It's quite likely that it'll clash with rl though...

[Ludens]

I am willing to help, but I am afraid I am too busy to organize it myself. I can help with forum announcements and stickies, off course. However, I would advice you to make a proper plan before embarking on this. Last year's mystery contest wasn't exactly a succes, and I believe this was because we arranged everything last minute.

[Tamur]

I'll be happy to help organise, plan & execute, just let me know what I can do. By the way, who's in charge, and when can I start pestering them? ~:)

My only suggestion would be to have prizes in hand before announcing anything. That's not a mistake I'd want to repeat.

[Ludens]

I'll be happy to help organise, plan & execute, just let me know what I can do. By the way, who's in charge, and when can I start pestering them? ~:)

My only suggestion would be to have prizes in hand before announcing anything. That's not a mistake I'd want to repeat.
So far there is no contest, just the suggestion to hold one. As for prizes, we generally ask Dimeolas to dedicate a picture for the winner. You can find examples of his work here (http://www.dimeolas.com/2.html).

[Franconicus]

We should see if there is enough interests in such a man vs. man fight (or women against ...). I think there should be at least 5.

Then we should discuss about the conditions - length and topic. Last time we had no topic. This time we could take "Inquisition" or something else.

[Tamur]

...such a man vs. man fight...

Errr, can you explain what you mean here Franconicus? Are you just warming up and poetically saying "such a contest"?

Tamur
(wondering if he should change"explain" to "shine some light on", "dissect", or "clarify like ghee through the cloth")

[Motep]

I likely will no have tha time to organise anything. Im having trouble balancing a mafia in at the moment, and I spend most of my small allotment of time tinkerin' with it. As for now, i cannot say much more, as I have to go now.

[matteus the inbred]

Errr, can you explain what you mean here Franconicus? Are you just warming up and poetically saying "such a contest"?

Tamur
(wondering if he should change"explain" to "shine some light on", "dissect", or "clarify like ghee through the cloth")


It means that one day soon you will find a wildly bearded man with blue paint all over him at your door, holding a big axe. He will insult you in obscure Germanic languages, wind your living entrails round a tree and then drink from your gore-stained skull in praise of his dark and ghastly gods.

On a more relevant note, I would probably be interested in participating, despite having largely given up on any Total-War related activities recently...

[Franconicus]

It means that one day soon you will find a wildly bearded man with blue paint all over him at your door, holding a big axe. He will insult you in obscure Germanic languages, wind your living entrails round a tree and then drink from your gore-stained skull in praise of his dark and ghastly gods. ...
And the winner is ..., wait a moment. You are disqualified because of rude language. :whip:


On a more relevant note, I would probably be interested in participating, despite having largely given up on any Total-War related activities recently...
What is up, old commrade? You are far too young to end your TW life.
By the way: Happy birthday!

[matteus the inbred]

Cheers Franc! :balloon2: :balloon2: :balloon2:
I have taken up climbing recently, and am also in the process of buying a flat in north London, a time-consuming business which involves far too many solicitors...so what with a full-time job and hanging upside-down off climbing walls at the weekend (and already being a kung fu fanatic), the playing of TW and any pretensions I had as a writer have fallen by the wayside...!
I shall still pop up from time to time, mainly to be rude to people.
:2thumbsup:

[pevergreen]

I may try my hand at something like this.

yes, this is my first look at the inside of the mead hall

My shout. ~:cheers:

[Tamur]

How many responses do we need in this thread before we try launching something?

[gunslinger]

19?

[pevergreen]

That would make 19 now then.

[Ludens]

I've put up an ad in the Frontroom to attract more attention. I'd say you'd need at least ten persons expressing interest in participating. Not everyone who says he's interested actually gets round to writing anything.

[Beirut]

Count me in. My typewriter needs a beating.

[Conradus]

Depending on my mood, the topic and the work I have to do, I migth write something.

[Orb]

Ininininininininininininininininininin!

[Tamur]

*claps for Orb*

Franconicus
AndresTheCunning
Tamur
Warluster
sapi
matteus the inbred
pevergreen
Beirut
Conradus
Orb

10! With varying degrees of qualification, of course. Andres didn't actually say he was going to participate, but maybe he could be enticed with the thought of undying fame?

[Lord Winter]

I might type up something I have laying around depending on the catagory. But it's not certain.

[Marshal Murat]

Sign me up, I need to be distracted from my life failures...

[matteus the inbred]

*claps for Orb*

Franconicus
AndresTheCunning
Tamur
Warluster
sapi
matteus the inbred
pevergreen
Beirut
Conradus
Orb

10! With varying degrees of qualification, of course. Andres didn't actually say he was going to participate, but maybe he could be enticed with the thought of undying fame?

Offers of free pie and beer would work better...

...actually, that would probably work for nearly everyone...

[sapi]

As I said, for me it all depends on the timing.

A month or so away would be good - as it is i'm writing a ~1000 word debate per week and studying for far too many tests (not to mention 3 assignments, one of which is 2.5k long) :laugh4:

[Csargo]

I'll try to write something. :sweatdrop:

[Andres]

Offers of free pie and beer would work better...

...actually, that would probably work for nearly everyone...

Beer? Did someone mention Beer?

What beer are we talking about? The quality of my story will be in proportion with the quality of the beer. So you better make that Westmalle Trippel or Ciney Blond :whip:

You guys already have a theme in mind? What about the Spinach-conspiracy? Or is it forbidden to talk about that dramatic and still ongoing episode of humanity?

Don't tell me you are all spinach-pies in disguise :inquisitive:

[Tamur]

Sign me up, I need to be distracted from my life failures...

Ha sounds familiar...

So, that's definitely 10+, should we scare up a topic?

I'd suggest keep it historical and broadly defined for this group (with a word limit to keep the judges from having seizures). But having dealt with a few writing contests before, make sure to have some constraints in place, much easier for writers to create with them than without... something as simple as "include a sneezing cow and a shattered roof beam" works better than a blank canvas.

(by the way, I will personally throw pineapples at anyone suggesting that we actually include sneezing cows in the contest!)

[Snite]

The sneezing cow is the missing link in deep philosophical revelations disguised as symbology at once both defining and refining the conundrum of our very existance.

Tamur, I want to include a sneezing cow.


Snite

[Marshal Murat]

I think we should have one about a harmless nation of bankers attacking another harmless nation of bankers, both preferably small Alpine nations.

:charge:

Or a Greek tragedy.
:hanged:

[pevergreen]

I want someone to give me very restrictive guidelines:
You must have this and this etc

Helps me out. :yes:

[Franconicus]

I think we are enough to start, now.
What we need now is

a schedule :clock:
rules:rulez:
a jury :gathering:

I suggest to start on Monday 12th.
Rules could be the same as last time. If we like to we can have limitations regarding the topics. What do you think about some story from the European Medieval? More stringent? Maybe something without fighting.
Very important: not too much sex or violence - keep to the org. rules! :whip:
Jury: Maybe we could just make a poll. Then we do not have to have a jury.

Hey, have you already seen those new smilies?

[Kagemusha]

Nah Franc.I think you should accept poor old Kage into the contest before you start.:yes:

[matteus the inbred]

Nah Franc.I think you should accept poor old Kage into the contest before you start.:yes:

Finally, this contest has everything!

I vote that we write stories exclusively about sex and violence, but entirely in a euphemistic fashion. I have pirates to back me up on this.

:hijacked: :pirate2: :captain:

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Matteus!:bow:
I agree completely.Sex and Violence should be the main focus. I think we should use different eras and cultures to bring some freshnes to the theme,but then Sex and Violence never gets boring.:smash:

[matteus the inbred]

To misquote Sheila Broflovski:

"Horrific, deplorable violence (and totally gratuitous sex) is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words! That's what this contest should be all about!"

[Franconicus]

Nah Franc.I think you should accept poor old Kage into the contest before you start.:yes:
Not in my wildest dreams I had the slightest wish to exclude Kage the poet.
Welcome, ole commrade.

What do you think about having a poll instead of a jury?

[matteus the inbred]

I like the idea of a poll.

As to the word limit, I think it was 1,500 last time? and I reckon only one or two people got anywhere near that many, so 1,000 -1,500 would probably be ok again.
A poll means that we will all have to read everyone's stories, so very long essays are obviously rather less desirable, and probably less likely to win votes as well...
Themes? I shall leave that to those with greater wisdom and authoritaaah. Or bigger axes.

[Tamur]

I want to include a sneezing cow

Gah!

I hear your plea though. Anyone for sexy, violent cows? Or for Andres, how about we all reveal our true identities and write stories about large pans of spanakopita?

Sorry, this could go downhill fast. I'll take Franc's format:

Schedule
A couple of people have expressed an interest in doing something a little farther down the road. How about we give people some lead time, start accepting entries 19 March, and let the contest run three weeks, closing on 9 April?

Rules
1000 word limit sounds good to me, that would keep things readable.

Open to anyone, junior members included? I would say it's an obvious yes, but just thought I'd bring the question up.

Theme
We've got a few suggestions: European medieval, day-in-the-life historical (any timeframe), Roman high society... deciding this will probably be the difficult part. So everyone keep suggesting.

Judging
Poll sounds great, jury selection is always a bit of a stinker. However, we might want to limit voting in some way so people don't spam the poll with newly-created junior accounts. (i.e. limit voting to junior members who existed by 28 February or some such)

[Kagemusha]

Tamur,that sounds like a plan. How about, becouse you are the head honcho and organisator of this contest. You could pick the subject? Then we can all blame you afterwards, becouse the subject was so wrrroooong.~:thumb:

[Snite]

I second the nominatin of Scapegoat candidate Tamur.

Not really, though.


Snite

[Franconicus]

Schedule
A couple of people have expressed an interest in doing something a little farther down the road. How about we give people some lead time, start accepting entries 19 March, and let the contest run three weeks, closing on 9 April?Fine!


Rules
1000 word limit sounds good to me, that would keep things readable.

Open to anyone, junior members included? I would say it's an obvious yes, but just thought I'd bring the question up.
Agreed! Let the juniors write! After all they are king of humans, too.


Theme
We've got a few suggestions: European medieval, day-in-the-life historical (any timeframe), Roman high society... deciding this will probably be the difficult part. So everyone keep suggesting.
It has to be something everybody can write about. So maybe day in life of some acient Egypt society may be too limiting. It should be somehow limiting, but not limiting creativity. There should be a lot of different stories.
Hey, what about this: "Revolution"? Or Church, Priests, Monks, Popes etc.


Judging
Poll sounds great, jury selection is always a bit of a stinker. However, we might want to limit voting in some way so people don't spam the poll with newly-created junior accounts. (i.e. limit voting to junior members who existed by 28 February or some such)
I say, if they are allowed to write, they are allowed to vote, too.

[Andres]

It has to be something everybody can write about. So maybe day in life of some acient Egypt society may be too limiting. It should be somehow limiting, but not limiting creativity. There should be a lot of different stories.
Hey, what about this: "Revolution"? Or Church, Priests, Monks, Popes etc.


Heresy or witchcraft perhaps? Situated in whatever timezone you like, history-related or complete fantasy/science-fiction, doesn't matter, it has to contain the element "heresy"?

:2cents:

[pevergreen]

Heresy or witchcraft perhaps? Situated in whatever timezone you like, history-related or complete fantasy/science-fiction, doesn't matter, it has to contain the element "heresy"?

:2cents:

Im liking it!

[Tamur]

"Heresy" sounds great... combines Religion and Revolution in a nice package ~:)

I'd like to have heresy defined loosely though, not just "standing up against the doctine of the medieval Catholic church". I should be able to write about a viking who didn't give up something required for a blot, and it should qualify. Yes?

[Andres]

"Heresy" sounds great... combines Religion and Revolution in a nice package ~:)

I'd like to have heresy defined loosely though, not just "standing up against the doctine of the medieval Catholic church". I should be able to write about a viking who didn't give up something required for a blot, and it should qualify. Yes?

'heresy' as in "any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position"?

So, it would be possible to write a story in a sci-fi/fantasy setting with an imaginary official/dominant religion and non-believers/heretics opposed to it as well as an history related story partially based on facts e.g. a story situated in medieval France in the period 1200-1230 during the crusades against the Cathars. The possibilities are infinite me thinks.

[Franconicus]

sounds great

[Kagemusha]

I like the subject also. In matter of fact i feel a tingling sensation that some kind of story has started to develop inside my head.:2thumbsup:

[Tamur]

i feel a tingling sensation that some kind of story has started to develop inside my head

Well that decides it then!

Since Ludens ran the annual contest, I'm wondering if he wants to officially take this one as well?

edit: just read his post in this thread saying he's too busy to take care of if. I'll be happy to do it if need be. I think the only issue left is the prize(s).

[Ludens]

Since Ludens ran the annual contest, I'm wondering if he wants to officially take this one as well?

edit: just read his post in this thread saying he's too busy to take care of if. I'll be happy to do it if need be. I think the only issue left is the prize(s).
You seem to be doing a fine job sofar, so I'd be happy too if you keep doing it.

As for the prizes, Ser Clegane can give a standard story-writing badge to the winner and the runner-up. Perhaps Dimeolas would be willing to help us out, too.

I think monday the 19th would be an excellent starting date: we should advertize it at least a week in advance. I can put up a message on the front-page, but for a forum-wide announcement you'd have to ask Ser Clegane or TosaInu.

About the judging: during the last story contest it turned out that there was a quite a difference between jury and public preference, so you may want to consider another system. The easiest solution would be a simple poll (TosaInu can make the results invisible if required), but there is a realistic risk of fraud if you don't exclude junior members.

Lastly, after the last contest someone suggested that the authors should only be revealed after the voting was closed, so that people would judge stories and not authors. What do you think?

[Kagemusha]

I would like the anonymous entries. I think then it would be all about the storyes and only revealing who wrote which story after the results:2thumbsup:

[Tamur]

...there is a realistic risk of fraud if you don't exclude junior members.

*nods* And after the chaos of HoF I'm a bit sensitive about that possibility. JM's need to feel free to write and enter, but we've got to put some limit on the voting to avoid problems.

And yes, great idea on the anonymous entries! I'm all for this.

[Tamur]

All right, going to steal Ludens format from the annual contest. Here's what the contest looks like at this point:
--------------------------------------

HERESY! The Org's Spring Writing Contest

The Challenge Write a story, fiction, max 1.500 words.

The Theme Heresy (definition: any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position)

This can be the usual conception of radicals defying the Muslim or Catholic faiths. But there are a lot of other settings where it fits -- A sci-fi future where a woman without multiple eyebrow rings is shunned as deeply offensive. A Ceilt druid who wants to incorporate the cross into a midwinter rite and nearly pays with his life. An Athenian general who overcomes a move to ostracise him because he ignored the Delphic oracle.

The Prize As the winner, you will receive a highly-sought-after Org literary badge under your avatar to remind everyone of your victory for years to come!

The Rules

1) One submission per person. All submissions must be original work, published or unpublished.

2) The story must be fiction, and must be 1.500 words or less. Use word-counting software or web site if you need help with this.

3) The standard Org rules regarding language (and not the more lenient Mead-Hall ones) apply for the contest.

4) The submission period will run from a minute past midnight GMT on Monday, 19 March to the same time on Monday, 9 April. To submit your entry, PM your story to Tamur. The story will be posted in a separate submission thread.

5) Everyone may write and enter, from Junior Members to Org staff.

The Judging

The winner will be decided by two simultaneous votes:


a poll open to all but Junior Members of the Org, and
a PM-only vote from the contestants themselves. Contestants should PM their vote to Tamur by the vote closure date.

Both voting halves will be weighted equally in the final tally. In the case of a tie, both parties will receive the winner's badge.

The voting period will be opened shortly after the submission period has closed, and will run until 23:59 GMT on Friday, 13 April.

Good luck!

[sapi]

Dates + Topic look good.

Someone remind me about it near the start of april and i'll get it in on time :laugh4:

I do strongly advocatet the use of a jury though (or even just have a system where the contestants pm you their choice for a winner, apart from themselves) to get the tide of public opinion out of the contest :laugh4:

[Tamur]

...to get the tide of public opinion out of the contest

Socrates would agree with you.

How about a hybrid? 50% public opinion via poll, 50% contestant opinion via PM.

That is, we have a poll where anyone can vote, but contestants can PM with their favourite (no voting for self here). Then the two halves are put together with an equal weighting to find the overall winner.

??

[Franconicus]

How do you do the equal weigting. Percentage?

What about the language? Could we do it this time in German please?

[Kagemusha]

How do you do the equal weigting. Percentage?

What about the language? Could we do it this time in German please?

I definately think the writing language should be Finnish. Im tired of all this wiriting in Indo European languages.:holiday: I support the poll.What does it matter if the winner is decided by public opinion,if the entries are anonymous. This way the best story will win and popularity of the writers doesnt have any effect on the poll,since the voters wont know who wrote which story.

[matteus the inbred]

You can certainly write it in Finnish providing you don't mind delaying the result for several decades until the rest of us have learned to read it!
I would certainly like to see a story with some of the more interesting vocabulary translated into Finnish, maybe you could get bonus points for that.

We could have a poll to decide who wants a poll and who wants a mixed judging system.
:logic:

I'm in favour of a poll.

Quite excited about this...haven't written about brutal nasty tortures and grisly executions for quite a while. :leer:

[Tamur]

All right, how about we just keep it simple, single poll open to all but JMs with anonymous story entries.

As for prizes, does someone have a "direct line" to Dimeolas to ask about volunteering him again for the contest?

[sapi]

@Tamur - I like the 50/50 idea, but if no one else wants it then i'll go with the public one :bow:

[The Stranger]

i think anonymous is okay... is this still on? been off for a while...

I'm in anyway... since thay cancelled my talentsearch of tommorrow i'm looking for a new challenge...

The language should be both dutch and english... because these are the most supported languages :D

[The Stranger]

I bet there are going to be a dozen stories called... The Heretic... :P

[matteus the inbred]

I bet there are going to be a dozen stories called... The Heretic... :P

Rats, I'll have to think of a new title now...

[King Henry V]

I hereby put a patent on The Damned.

[sapi]

no titles - that'd identify who wrote it, and this is supposed to be anonymous :no:

[Lord Winter]

Something's starting to come to mind, may be streching the theme abit but I'm sure I'll find a way to work it out. *Takes out paper and pencial and begains to write*

[Ignoramus]

I might as well have a go. I doubt I'll be any good though.

[Tamur]

...I doubt I'll be any good though.

Hmm. I think you should say, "I doubt anyone will be able to breathe properly after reading my stunningly well-done piece. But I do wish you all well during your time in hospital afterwards."

~:)

Meanwhile, anyone mind if the contest announcement gets posted Monday GMT afternoon? That'll give everyone a week's lead time before we start taking entries.

If that's ok, I'll get ahold of Ludens & Tosa about where/how to post these notices.

Happy weekend all.

[Ludens]

Meanwhile, anyone mind if the contest announcement gets posted Monday GMT afternoon? That'll give everyone a week's lead time before we start taking entries.
The sooner, the better. Just make sure you give sufficient detail in the announcement. If you send it to me, I can post it on the front-page, while Ser Clegane and TosaInu can put up an announcement that will appears on top of every forum.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Interesting, I might join this if I have time ~:)

[Tamur]

Sorry for the late post, I was struck down by an evil plague this weekend and have only just managed to crawl to the keyboard. :sick2:

Anyway, prizes remain the sticky part. I don't have any way to contact Dimeolas (he doesn't accept PMs) so someone with the ability to contact him will have to do that.

Either that, or we could just go with the badge as the single prize for the contest.

Over and out. *falls back into bed*

[warking]

im in i can right preety well so sign me up!!:beam:

[Franconicus]

The only purpose of this contest is that I get the badge. Therefore every story better then mine wiull be disqualified! Anonym!

[Motep]

The only purpose of this contest is that I get the badge. Therefore every story better then mine wiull be disqualified! Anonym! Ha! Just for that, I will sign up. Ha! Ha, Ha!

I have a topic in mind.....just to make sure....
:study:

[Tamur]

So, I'm not one to be patient, especially when sick. Is everyone all right with simply having the badge as the prize? I guess I'll wait another day but then simply go with the badge-as-prize unless there are strenuous objections coupled with an alternate prize.

[Kagemusha]

Im Ok with the badge.:yes:

[The Stranger]

Ill give the one that wins private lessons...

*hehehehe :evil: nobody will join now*

[Agent Miles]

I've got my story done (it doesn't involve my alter ego). Good luck to everyone!

[Franconicus]

I've got my story done (it doesn't involve my alter ego). Good luck to everyone!
The contests starts on March 19th. So if your story is already finished, you are disqualified.:rulez:

That has been one of my toughest enemies -err- competitors. :sweatdrop:

Of course I am still thinking about the story. :study:

[Agent Miles]

Oops! I, of course, meant that I am "mostly" done.:laugh4:

[Tamur]

Don't worry, any and all entries are fine whether they were finished a year ago or three weeks from now.

Contest was posted by Ludens very quickly, still working with others to get it announced more generally. Time for me to get writing!

[Ossie The Great]

hi
I want to right a story on the aztec petrayel is that allowed

[Tamur]

This is open to any subject that deals with Heresy. I'm sure that some creativity could make the Aztec conflicts (I assume you mean "betrayal") appear heretical.

The key is to make sure you have a 100% solid understanding of what "heresy" means, and make sure it is the theme of your story. Everything else will fall into place.

[Arbaces]

The announcement made me find this area, of which I didn't knew until now. Nice contest I'd say, since the theme is nice perhaps I'll get some time to try my hand writing something who knows... nice place anyway

[Tamur]

Just letting everyone know, we've already got entries coming in! I'll be posting them Soon (TM) Feel free to tell your friends, enemies, and favourite garden gnomes to get writing.

Deadline is a ways off at this point, 9 April, but early is better than too late.

[Monk]

Word has reached my ear of a new contest. I think I'll dust off my pen and maybe give it a try, who knows what could happen. Good luck to all entries.

[Motep]

how do you submit them?

[Tamur]

hi Motep,


The submission period will run from a minute past midnight GMT on Monday, 19 March to the same time on Monday, 9 April. To submit your entry, PM your story to Tamur. The story will be posted in a separate submission thread.

From the announcement text. Sorry this was not more prominent in the announcement.

[pevergreen]

can we use our own names in the story?

[Tamur]

Keep in mind that we're withholding the author names to make voting fair. As long as the names in the story don't make it plain to everyone who wrote it, any name is fine.

[sapi]

I'll get around to writing something next week, I swear :grin2:

[Franconicus]

Will there be a discussion about the stories? Comments etc.?

[Tamur]

Before it's ended, I think it will just lead to problems (i.e. criticism, even the constructive variety, isn't helpful for a story that cannot be changed for the contest --- plus there is the problem of maintaining anonymity).

However, I'd be all for starting a consolidated feedback/discussion thread as soon as the contest ends. Is that what you had in mind?

[Franconicus]

Excellent!