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Story Contest Planning Thread

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D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Hello everyone, D F Angel here. I'll save you all my usual waffling and get directly to the point: I've been thinking that the Story Contests that used to be hosted on here should be brought back to life.

The Story Contests of old were great community events, that saw players from various subforums joining in for the hopes of winning the grand prize, and also strengthened moderator/community interactions.

As the stickied Stories Forum Hall of Fame thread indicates, Story Contests date back to at least February 2007 and had six strong years of activity. Originally the contests were judged by Jagex Moderators, with some assistance from Forum Moderators. Having reached out to a forum moderator already, there is currently the potential that a member of the Jagex team might be interested in this proposal- at the very least, the idea (and this thread,) is going to be passed along to them. Therefore this thread is going to serve as a gathering point for all ideas and suggestions on how a revived story contest would run.

Note that everything written here is simply ideas, rather than a finished product: if you disagree with any point made then I implore you to let your voice be heard- this is, after all, a community product.

Also, keep in mind that if Jagex staff become involved, they would desire as much flexibility with the idea as possible so that their input into the project can coincide with our own. The broader your ideas, the more likely they are to be taken on.

Anyway, without further ado, let's start the thread! Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:39:52

D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The Contest

Seeing as this is the first contest of its kind in years, (if we are not including the Roleplay a Raid and other events which took place back in July as part of Forum Month,) I feel a more simplistic approach is probably for the best. As we are, as of yet, uncertain of how popular such a contest would prove to be, I think it would be best if only short story submissions are to be accepted- as a ball-park figure, I'd class any story that is at maximum, 4000 characters (two forum posts) long as a short story.

Next we need to decide on a topic for the story contest. Given the time of year, I thought that having Christmas be the main theme might be a nice idea. It's a holiday that everyone is familiar with, but it also gives writers the chance to explore whatever genre they prefer- whether you're a cowboy in the wild west, a marine in the far future fighting aliens or a werewolf named Shanty Claws off the coast of Karamja, you'll be able to understand and appreciate the concept of Christmas. I think, as far as themes go, it's both inviting and broad, thus should produce a wide variety of entries.

Regardless of what is chosen as the central theme, in order to keep in line with the Code of Conduct, every entry must stick to PG13 topics. Furthermore, in order to prevent flaming, trolling or hurt feelings, using Mod Mark H's rule of not depicting any real-world conflict that has taken place in the past 200 years should probably also be implemented. The discussion of modern political parties and religions should also be avoided.

Of course, if Jagex becomes involved with this project, there's every chance that the contest would be limited to Runescape related entries only. Given that we've all been playing this game for years though, I don't imagine that would be too great of a problem. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:40:27

D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The Judges

As previously mentioned, there is a chance that Jagex may become involved in the project to some capacity. Of course, it is up to Jagex to decide what level of involvement they may have, if any, so it would be best not to be presumptuous. If there are any Jagex Moderators that wish to be judges in this contest, then that would be absolutely fine. If that is not the case, but Forum Moderators wish to be involved instead, then I think that is equally agreeable- seeing as we have no forum moderators that partake in our forum activities, they would be impartial judges in such an event.

If either of these avenues turn out to not be available to us, then I would suggest that a judge, or perhaps a panel of judges, (three should be enough,) be appointed to oversee the competition. Either this would be someone appointed by Jagex to undergo the task, or else someone(s) picked from the community. I think our community can be trusted to vote for, and appoint their own judges if needs be, who should be impartial and unbiased in their marking. A judge, for obvious reasons, would not be allowed to produce their own work for the contest, and must take this into consideration before accepting the role. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:40:46

D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The Judgement

How the contest should be marked is something very open for discussion, as I have personally not been involved in this process before. At a guess, I would say that the judges would mark a piece of work for its prose, (their understanding of the English language and execution of their writing,) plot, (the depth of their story and pacing,) characters, (self explanatory,) and ability to stick to, but also be versatile with and expand upon, the given theme.

A scoring system of 1-5 for each category would suffice, though of course this scoring system needn't be published to the public, but used simply as a reference for the judges' personal use. The person with the highest scoring would therefore become the winner.

I think accolades should go to the first, second and third place winners, as is traditional in most competitions. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:41:00

D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The Rewards

Again, any rewards for the winning of this contest would depend on the involvement, or lack thereof, of Jagex staff. Originally, the winner of a story contest would get their story entry stickied for a period of time, (I believe this to have been one month, but I could be wrong.) Given that short story entries could most likely simply be posted in the response section of the contest thread, rather than taking up an entire thread for two posts, this would become a moot reward. Perhaps the winner, if they have a story/roleplay of their own, can elect for that thread instead to be stickied for a month?

I know that the winners of the Roleplay-A-Raid and other competitions which took place in Forum Month were given a choice between ~300 runecoins and one month's membership (thanks to Sir Eos Lee for this information,) so something similar could be given this time around as well. Alternatively, (and I suggest this with some hesitation because I know it would involve dev. time,) a title could be created for the winners of story contests to have, simply saying 'Story Contest Winner', and perhaps the year of the win.

.Without Jagex involvement, what prize there would be, apart from the knowledge that you have won, would be up in the air, and is something that I would have to brainstorm further before coming up with any kind of solution.

The stickied Stories Forum Hall of Fame documents the winning stories of every contest that has taken place on these forums since 2007, and the winning stories would likely be recorded in this thread too. However the thread owner, Aeraie, visits these forums very infrequently, and if contact could not be regained with him/her, then the thread might have to be remade. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:41:16 - Last edited on 16-Nov-2015 14:51:36 by D F Angel

D F Angel

D F Angel

Posts: 19,587 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Player Suggestions

Here is listed the suggestions of other members of the community.


Sir Eos Lee, on plot ideas for the short stories.

sir eos lee said :

- It's Christmastime, and instead of the player character coming to save Christmas, this time you have to prevent it, in order to save it!
- How would you deal with a horde of drunken snow imps?
- NPC's are protesting Xmas. Do you join them and lead them in glorious revolution against the tyrannical Santa Claus? or do you try to show them the error of their ways and focus again on the spirit of Xmas?
- You must discover the recipe for the greatest holiday desert/dish?
- Jmods are trapped in game, while they have their typical jmod powers, they can't escape. how do you save them? or do you save them?
- Tell a story of how you would celebrate Xmas/the holidays in Gilienor?

Azi Azi, on community interactions during the contest:

Azigarath said :
Also, if a SC/RP contest unfolds, it'd be useful if participants were encouraged to offer a little feedback of an entry of their choice, to help with interaction; those who provide a little feedback could be given a bonus point as a thank-you for their time. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

13-Nov-2015 14:41:39 - Last edited on 16-Nov-2015 14:54:19 by D F Angel

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