From Hell Contest Story Update

[End Master]

I figured I might as well make a thread about this.

So far Death's Song (I think that will be the name) is 20 rooms long and the main storyline branch is completed. Still have a lot of work to do on it though.

[Usoki]

I have until, what, Halloween? My official stance is not participating, since I doubt I'll come up with something to fit the theme...but should I actually get hit with a muse stick, I wanna know how long I have. XD

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

Halloween is the deadline.

[apotheosis]

I have a rough idea of what I want to write... but it isn't exactly fitting the "From Hell" theme enough yet so I need to work around with the plot before I start writing.

[End Master]

Here’s an example. Just a little sample…of how I could just kill a man!

(No, I have no idea why I just quoted Cypress Hill either)

The next day arrives and you finish your trip to Nuro and that’s when you see the city for the first time. You always wanted to visit it after hearing about it from Wessel, but even from this distance it doesn’t look like anything he described.

“By the gods…what…” Wessel slowly whispers.

The stench of death is thick in the air. You see thousands of bodies outside the city gates and they aren’t lying down either. They aren’t advancing either though. There just standing there like…well zombies.

Your company isn’t the only one here though, there are a few others awaiting orders. You see one from the Brot Kingdom and another from the Azi Republic. Thankfully there’s another Zalan one as well to boost your numbers.

The respective captains acknowledge each other’s presence, a short meeting is made and then the inevitable comes. The attack.

At first things seem to go well. All ranged troops are ordered to fire upon the enemy who are still just standing there. Arrows pierce zombie brains, gunshots destroy skeleton bones, spells blast at walls and it seems very easy.

Then from the battlements of Nuro a few figures begin casting a few offensive spells of their own. It’s at this point a charge is made towards the city.

“When you get in range aim for the fucking wizards! Don’t fear these rotting meat sacks! We’re the fucking Zalan army! We don’t lose!” Captain Valhlat shouts.

Fine words, but they do little to uplift your impending sense of doom. It doesn’t help that the sky goes completely dark while you’re marching towards a bunch of undead and at the same time hoping you don’t get hit by a wizard’s spell. In the distance you briefly see a cleric from the Azi Republic riding a horse by himself. He appears to be calling upon some sort of holy might from whatever god he worships since a blue protective sphere appears around him. The next moment he’s hit by a black ray that goes straight through the sphere and his life is gone. Not even his god could protect him.

As you get closer, you see that the undead soldiers still haven’t moved, but there are significantly less of them as they continue to fall from ranged attacks. However, now other undead pop up on the walls of Nuro holding bows of their own.

“SHIELDS!” Captain Valhlat shouts.

More of your side falls and now you’re so close you can smell the death in the air. The undead troops are now finally moving to do battle with your side. You attempt to target the robed figures on the battlements, but of course it’s very difficult in all this chaos and your fear.

You mostly only get the undead archers. Wessel is a little more successful is downing an enemy wizard.

“Ha ha! Don’t you realize I graduated top of my class?!” you hear him shout.

The gates of Nuro are being broken down and despite the horror you’ve already seen, this battle still seems hopeful.

Then a black cloaked hooded figure sudden appears on the battlements. You see him merely raise his arms briefly and that’s when you get the very real feeling that hope is lost.

Ghostly spirits come through the walls of Nuro making worse shrieks than when you fought the Quillars. At least they were living creatures. These drain lives at but a touch and there isn’t enough magic to fight so many of the incorporeal creatures properly. You see the Brot Kingdom’s company break and run, but unfortunately for them and you, your possible retreat has been blocked. All the soldiers on your side that fell have now suddenly been raised; the undead soldiers that were killed have been raised as well. You’re fighting in the front, from behind and in some cases from within. It’s chaos.

“Shit, I’m going to die today…” you whisper to yourself.

Captain Valhlat is knee deep in the dead, but this figure who’s apparently changed the tide of battle hasn’t escaped his attention. He points to the figure and barks orders at the top of his lungs.

“KILL HIM! SHOOT THE FUCKER! DO IT! NOW!”

Attempt to shoot the figure

Run away

[donteatpoop]

Despite all the progress I've made with the story I was originally going to use for IWT4, I have decided to reserve that story for a later date and start a new one that is more on theme.

I'll still get it done in time for the deadline (assuming this bout of creativity lasts long enough).

[Vesnic]

I am an uncreative and utterly useless specimen of humanity. I haven't written anything in ... I don't even know how long. I am filling up the big void of my writer's block with some nice calming substances.

[donteatpoop]

I am an uncreative and utterly useless specimen of humanity. I haven't written anything in ... I don't even know how long. I am filling up the big void of my writer's block with some nice calming substances.


If you use the "calming substances" in moderation, they can help.

[Usoki]

I officially announce my candidacy for the IWT4. To my left is my running part...err, no, wait...

So, after a good whack of the muse stick, I'm in. I'm excited about this one too, except for one small thing. It's sorta/kinda a lot like Rentyre. Which puts my count of stories involving body switching on this site to 5, I think. Two Rentyres; one unreleased, the contest piece, and two doors in the Hallway.

I swear I write other things. I really, really, do. They're just far too linear for this site.

[End Master]

Actually you can still get away with linear as long as you give two choices.

Just write out your storyline from beginning to end and break it up into sections where some sort of “crossroad” would be. One choice goes immediately to some horrible end (Or not so horrible if you prefer) and the other continues with your true storyline.

Most of the old Zork books were like that.

For this contest I’m probably not having that many branches either and it will be more linear. I get lazy with these contests.

[Usoki]

The problem with that is, most of these works don't really have much of a crossroad. Or, if I were to make one, it'd be really obvious which choice is and is not absolutely idiotic. I hate the thought of a purely-linear story.

As far as branches go, this piece will be lazy too. It'll tell one story from three different perspectives. There'll be about half of the story repeated from each branch, just in the way the characters interact.

Zork makes me happy. I've only played Zork: Grand Inquisitor, but oh if I could find more. 8D

[apotheosis]

I've decided that my story, like the kings new clothes, can only be viewed by wise people. The link is presented to the story below... but only wise people can see it.













Isn't a great story? (this question is directed to the non-fools on this site)

[donteatpoop]

I've decided that my story, like the kings new clothes, can only be viewed by wise people. The link is presented to the story below... but only wise people can see it.













Isn't a great story? (this question is directed to the non-fools on this site)

I don't know, apoth. It's seemed to lack substance, and there were definately some things missing. It needs a lot of work.

[apotheosis]

You must not understand post-modernism then DEP otherwise you'd be quite impressed with the piece.

[End Master]

It's September. Clock's counting down.

I'm almost finished with mine. I just realized that this would only be the second story I've written this year and this one is sort of short and linear.

Laziness and distraction dominated me this year I guess.

[Vesnic]

End, you are like that kid in class who "only got an A minus" while the rest all failed, whining about how you only got an A-. I am nowhere near finished and probably won't be on time. Humph. Any other complete slackers in the house?

[End Master]

Hah, I’ve only ever had that fortunate scenario occur to me a few times, but I never whined about it. I did laugh everyone else though.

*Laughs at you*

[Usoki]

I've yet to be "in the mood" to keep working on it, which is sort of depressing. I really don't feel any pressure to work on it...so I wonder if it will ever get done.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

So what exactly are the contest's rules?

[Vesnic]

The "from hell" theme is really pretty open-ended. The only requirement is that "from hell" should in some way describe the theme of your story. From the discussions and updates we've had, some people are choosing to write stories that depict just generally hellish situations. Mine will describe a place that I like to think of as hell on earth. It can be dramatic or funny or anything you like, really. It's extremely open-ended. Since Katie won last year, she had the right to choose this year's theme. She posted a list that everyone voted on and "from hell" won out. So whatever it means to you, there's your story.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

I see.

Hmmm. Sounds interesting. At this point I'm not going to announce my participation. Everyone knows I never finish these contest stories, anyway.

I might, however, give it a shot. I've never really accepted the notion that 'Hell' is a 'place' in the afterlife. Hell is a place on earth. It's called New Jersey.

Maybe I'll write a story about some jerk from New Jersey!

[apotheosis]

I've still got nothing.

[End Master]

I'm basically finished. I'm just in the process of cleaning some stuff up and pondering whether or not to add pics which I probably will. This story will probably go up at least by the end of the week, if not sooner.

I've made a great effort to make this story coincide with events going on in Necromancer. (The True Path in Necro of course) While mainly semi-linear I made a little effort to make a short "secondary path" and an even shorter "third path". Hopefully I didn't screw up on some of the "X years passes" things, but I'm pretty confident I didn't.

Save for a few of the demon characters in Necro, most of the Main characters are referenced in some way or even interact with the protagonist . (Yes Apoth, Big Red DOES make an appearance in one of the paths)

I'm thinking about "Dying World" as the new name, but I'm not sure yet.

[End Master]

Death Song is posted. (Probably not showing up on the main list yet) I decided not to go through the torture of image hunting and just posted the damn thing.

In other news, Saga has been reverted back to Legend due to a couple requests.

That is all.

[apotheosis]

Since I still haven't started this contest, I have an idea. I'm going to do the entire thing in one or two nights and only add to the story when I am profoundly drunk.

Should be fun. I realize I won't be winning.

[donteatpoop]

I only have five rooms. This thing is difficult to write... I might have to switch back to the other story I had started. It's at about 15 rooms, but I think this one fits the theme better.

Agh!

[Usoki]

Mine's hard to write for solely because I'm making it so freakishly long. To appease Apoth and his STD, I offer the following comparison-

Hellstone: 8 Rooms, 4,184 words.

Rentyre: 50 Rooms, 14,516 words.

Personally, I think that speaks for itself, but I'm sure Apoth will convert it into ratios or percentages if his STD gets bad enough.

[apotheosis]

Rentrye is about 290 words per room, versus your hell story which is 523 words per room.


Other comparisons: HOID is approximately 102 words per room, End's Ground Zero is about 722 words per room, Gurl PowR! is 439 WPR, and AMM is a pathetic 41.7 WPR


It's not an STD.... no one else has caught it from intercourse with me....

[apotheosis]

Alright, I'm officially in, I've started my story.


The story itself is a surprise. But Xnull already loves the idea, he is the only one who I have revealed any plot details to.

This story is going to be epic.

Xnull, do not give away any of the details.

[Vesnic]

Hey, did you all notice that Katie has quietly posted her From Hell story?

As her self-appointed PR spokesbitch, I say, GET YOUR ASSES OVER TO THE SITE AND READ!!!

http://www.infinite-story.com/story/3625/

[End Master]

Yeah I saw it. I read some of it as she was writing it.

She said she's still working on another From Hell one too, so I think there will be two entries from her again.

[Vesnic]

Well of course you saw it, End! :p I meant all of our other fine feathered fucktards.

[apotheosis]

How is the voting going to work for this thing anyway?

[End Master]

With the handy dandy new poll system we have, it would be easier to just put it to a vote that way.

I sort of think that would pander more to people's laziness around here and get at least few more people voting. Unless DEP really thinks we should still do it the old way with the category stuff, 10 point system and PMs to a "Judge" who tallies up the total scores.

Last I remember Jeff was supposed to be the judge for this one, but he's dead. If we do it the old way, I nominate Apoth as the judge, he likes adding several numbers together.

[donteatpoop]

I would really prefer the rating system.

I know it takes more work, but it has everyone rate every story instead of just picking one they like. They rate 1-10 (with decimals) on three or four categories.

Total score is an average of these.

[apotheosis]

I think we should just do a poll. I really feel awkward rating the stories based on different categories. But if you need a numbers master I suppose I can do that as well.

[Vesnic]

I agree with DEP. I don't think pandering to laziness is really appropriate for this, the biggest contest of the year. I'd much rather spend some time in considering the different aspects of people's stories than just go with a gut-reaction judgment of which I like best.

[End Master]

Okay well then let’s do it the old way then. Apoth can tally up all the scores.

As I remember the categories went like this:

Storyline/Plot

Grammar/Spelling

Originality

Amusement? (I forgot if that was one)

[apotheosis]

Should people submit there scores to me via messaging on the forum or messaging on the regular site? (i'd prefer site since there isn't a message count limitation)

And with those rules, anyone who is a member may vote, and I'll just do average overall scores for each story.

Edit: And I'm assuming you may not vote for yourself.

[donteatpoop]

Should people submit there scores to me via messaging on the forum or messaging on the regular site? (i'd prefer site since there isn't a message count limitation)

And with those rules, anyone who is a member may vote, and I'll just do average overall scores for each story.

Edit: And I'm assuming you may not vote for yourself.

Correct, no voting on your own story, average the scores together. Please include comments iwth your ratings so that Apoth can give some "rave reviews" and stuff like you would see on the inside of a book or something.

I like the site messager better too, and if that's what youn prefer apoth, I will send mine ot you that way.

I plan on getting some serious work done on the story this week, cause I'll be on vacation.

[End Master]

I plan on getting some serious jerking off done on the cat this week, cause I'll be on vacation.

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/028.gif

[donteatpoop]

Wow, did you run that through a translator?

No, I won't be getting any of that done. The wife is off too, so she'll take care of it. It's our 1 year anniversary (or 10 years, if you ignore that marriage ritual)

[apotheosis]

Should we weight votes based on how long people have been members of the site, how much they have contributed, ect?


Also, what will the categories be, and should every category be equal in weight?


Another idea. Voters can get two options, just to rate how much they enjoyed the story 1-10, or to rate specific attributes of the story. If a person chooses the less work intensive option, for the purpose of my calculations, I will assume their enjoyment rating is the rating they gave to all categories.

[Vesnic]

Meh. I'm still all for requiring that voters write about the specific attributes of the story. It'd be nice to know what people think of the stories qualitatively.

[donteatpoop]

The categories for the past tourneys have been:

Storyline/Plot

Grammar/Spelling

Originality

Enjoyability/amusement


Each of those categories gets a 1-10 rating (with one decimal point)
I don't think site participation should have anything to do with the weight of your votes, it didn't in the past and the past tournaments went over rather well. And I don't want to pander to the lazy bastards who can't throw 4 fucking numbers together, so I vote against having the option of just giving the story a 1-10 rating.

[End Master]

Katie’s other From Hell story is up. “Odalisque Paradise”

Edit: Wow, nice and demented just like I like them.

[apotheosis]

You see, these categories don't seem equal to me at all.

Storyline/Plot - Most Important by far

Grammar/Spelling- Unless it is riddled with errors, this doesn't matter either. And anyway, the grammar and spelling go under the enjoyability section because if everything is misspelled you won't enjoy it as much.

Originality- Not nearly as important as whether or not it is enjoyable to read and has a good plot. If it is original but stupid and unenjoyable, then who cares?

Enjoyability/amusement- Second most important


Basically what I'm saying is, I don't like the way in which these stories are rated for the contest. I don't think it accurately picks the best story.

[Locke]

That's kind of true. Maybe the categories could use an overhaul, or some sort of weighting system? The enjoyability is more important to me than plot, by the way; if it's a short ambient story where nothing much happens but is very well written and aesthetically pleasing, I'll remember and prefer it over something longer with plenty of plot I liked not quite as much. Basically these categories seem to boil down to "Did you like it?" and "Does it have any literary merit?" You can think up any number of questions based around those to get the voting system right.

Of course, for most ISers, getting relatively high scores in grammar and originality shouldn't be a big thing. Probably all the stories will end up within a few points of each other on those, leaving them to be decided more on their "weightier" merits anyway. Originality is an easy 9 or 10 unless you've gone and plagiarized. All the spelling/grammar category requires is a little attention, which should be applied for a big contest like this one. Even a spellchecker should get you at least a 7 or 8. If you lose on that one, you really only have yourself to blame. A few errors don't detract terribly from the story - maybe a point or two's worth - but if it IS riddled with them it deserves to be rated accordingly; the grammar category should stay on in some form to ensure quality.

That's all those two categories are for me, quality control. If all the stories maintain a minimum of quality, they'll all get 10s and will be judged exclusively on content, effectively. In this way the system is weighted already, but if you have thoughts toward changing up the categories, please, discuss.

[apotheosis]

I think we should change the categories. Simplify them and make them more fair. A better system may be:

-Enjoyment

-Plot/Originality

-Writing Quality


And additionally, the voter may star one of their ratings, effectively doubling the weight of that particular rating, creating a fourth vote. That way, people can pick what they think is most important to them.

[donteatpoop]

I think we should change the categories. Simplify them and make them more fair. A better system may be:

-Enjoyment

-Plot/Originality

-Writing Quality


And additionally, the voter may star one of their ratings, effectively doubling the weight of that particular rating, creating a fourth vote. That way, people can pick what they think is most important to them.


I think that fucking rocks.

[apotheosis]

Alright sweet, so we have a new rating system then?

[End Master]

Works for me.

[apotheosis]

I promise to have very detailed statistics and graphs for the voting information received. Everyone's votes will be anonymous, meaning I will not link your vote to your name, but I will list who voted. Sound good to everyone?

[Vesnic]

Yeah, just don't forget to include the words that people use to describe their impressions of the stories.

Mommy to baby: "Use your words, sweetie! Use your words!"

[Locke]

I can't say I like the voter option to double the point value for any one category. But as I'm not participating in this one, I won't object this time around.

[donteatpoop]

I can't say I like the voter option to double the point value for any one category. But as I'm not participating in this one, I won't object this time around.

That's cool, we'll just ignore your objections the next time around.

[apotheosis]

Well, the reason I put that in was each voter values a different aspect more than another. If they value each aspect evenly and do not star any vote, I would just simply weigh the other three categories with an additional 1/3 so that it balanced out when the overall votes were tallied up.

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

We know when the stories are due to be posted, but when will the votes be due? Everyone needs time to read the stories. I know I do at least, I'm balancing school and work and writing, but I do want to participate.

Also, in order to vote for any of the stories you must have read all the stories correct? But anyone can vote as long as they read all of the stories?

I'll leave the math stuff to you geniuses.

[donteatpoop]

In order to vote, you must read every story.

2 weeks for voting is what we did in the past. That's enough time for me, any objections to 2 weeks for voting?

[Usoki]

We have over a year to write this, but only two weeks to vote? That seems odd. I certainly wouldn't be able to read that many stories in that amount of time. Browse, maybe, but not read.

[Vesnic]

Me neither. I'm too busy these days working my menial job and staring at my ceiling to really be able to read every story thoroughly in two weeks. Plus, I am what a teacher once called "a deliberate reader". Translated: slow as a dyslexic snail. So, hows abouts a month to finish reading/rating?

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

I think a month would be fine.

[donteatpoop]

I'm cool with a month too.

As for the year to complete this, Usoki, it's normally a six month entry period.

[Usoki]

Well, whatever. My point is, if we're gonna allow for a lot of time for the contest, we might as well allow for a lot of voting time. It's not like there's any rush. A month sounds golden.

[apotheosis]

Month is what it will be.


I actually started the story, then deleted it because I started it while I was drunk and it was mostly incoherent swearing and pictures of burn victims and dismembered babies.

[JJJ-thebanisher]

HAAHAHHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHHAHAH
I find that incredibly funny and very entertaining.

[apotheosis]

*bows*









Obligatory text to make this message long enough to submit.

[JJJ-thebanisher]

I think you should have released it instead.

[End Master]

Chubby would've accused him of plagerism.

[JJJ-thebanisher]

Chubby would've accused him of plagerism.

Hahhahhaahah!!!

Never thought of that.... :rolleyes:

[donteatpoop]

10 rooms on my story. I should have 12-13 by the end of the night. I'm getting to 20 slowly, but I can tell my story is not going to be a finished story.

[End Master]

So how far is everyone?

I know Usoki, and Apoth said they were also in this, was there anyone else?

[Usoki]

I highly doubt I'll finish. I'd like to at least get one branch of my ridiculously linear story done, but I'm not even sure I'll get that much done, given the only branch I'm working on in also the longest. Ten rooms at the moment. The finished work'll definitely have enough...it's just that, I have this one planned out in my head so well that I don't have any motivation to actually write it down. I think I write better when I'm making it up on the spot...

But, yeah, I'll make it public once we're past the deadline. I encourage everyone to go ahead and send a failing vote for my story to Apoth without even reading it, and then go read and rate Rentyre instead. If you've already rated Rentyre, I guess you're stuck reading Hellstone. XD

Or, for DEP... {|}

...I'm probably making my piece sound worse than it actually is, again, I suppose. It's just a lot more melancholy and angry than what I usually write.

[donteatpoop]

Uh... 12 rooms.

But I'm hustling... slowly.

I swear I'm going to get it done in time.

[End Master]

Remember for rooms you don't finish, put this down as a place holder:

"Some shit happens. Yeah, that's it. Crazy shit. You die."

[donteatpoop]

Remember for rooms you don't finish, put this down as a place holder:

"Some shit happens. Yeah, that's it. Crazy shit. You die."

Lol. I still haven't filled in much of those place holders in Borkka... When I'm done with this contest I'm going to have to refocus on Borkka and Brothers.

[donteatpoop]

I have opened Youngstown Demon (http://www.infinite-story.com/story/3650/) to the public eye. It's not quite at 20 rooms yet, but it will be before the deadline, even if I have to use the placeholders like I did in Borkka. (which I hope I don't have to do)

If you have a moment, check it out and tell me what you think. Maybe that will help me get my ass in gear.

[apotheosis]

Mmmm. Not sure if you should count my entry legitimately. I mean... I will submit something, but I'm not sure what it will be classifiable as...

[End Master]

Just submit it anyway and we'll just mark points off or something. I'm sure mine will get points marked off for straying a bit as well.

Haven't read DEP's yet (Lots O' Pics on the first page though) but Katie's story is pretty damn "Hellerific".

[apotheosis]

Do we have to have 20 rooms in our story?

[End Master]

Well yeah, that's sort of one of the main requirements of the contest.

[apotheosis]

Alright. After many long hours of laborious writing I have completed my masterpiece. It is called Infernal Gate and it is going to blow all of your submissions out of the water.

Here is the link. Enjoy.

http://www.infinite-story.com/story/3599/

[Vesnic]

The last few days have been loaded with computer drama. I nearly lost my entire hard drive, then brought it to a most valiant geek who managed to save it...by a hair. Some things got screwed up anyway and I had to rearrange a whole bunch of settings. I've been working hard on IWT4 and was planning to do a lot more with it yesterday, but I inexplicably lost consciousness at about 3 in the afternoon and now it is no longer yesterday, but rather today, which means one day closer to the deadline. Shit.

[Usoki]

so i here u liek mudkips?

20 rooms, huh? Well, if that's the case, then I guess I'm not gonna have a complete submitted story. It's not going to get over twenty rooms on its own accord...(Damn you, weekend! Get back here!)...and I refuse to bump it over with filler. I'll just make it visible on Halloween, and you people can do what you want with it.

[End Master]

What the hell happened this year? We had tons of people express interest and just drop out. Granted that usually happens, but it was really a lot this time. That's why I wonder why we even have these things.

Cat- Disappeared
Jeff- Disappeared
Chubby- No story (Though admitted from the start he wouldn't finish)
Calen/Shuyin- No story (Unless he's being REALLY secretive)
Nappi- No story (Unless he's being REALLY secretive)
Xnull- No story (Unless he's being REALLY secretive)
JJJ- No story (He could've copied and pasted from CYS at least!)
Ves- Unlikely to finish (Due to technical difficulties)
Usoki- Unlikely to finish (Due to indolence)
DEP- Will probably finish, but it's probably going to have some filler pages
Apoth- Finished. He might be right though, I'm not sure if we should count it!

[apotheosis]

Well, you have to count mine simply to add to the pool of stories being voted on. Even though there aren't that many submissions, hopefully there will be a ton of votes.

I'm ready to crunch the numbers. It will be interesting to see how my amazing story fairs in the ratings.

[Vesnic]

Let's not forget, either, that a story doesn't need to be all the way finished to be entered. Unless my computer slits its cord when I'm not looking, you will have something from me, finished or otherwise. I've already got more than enough to post a story. I'm just generating everything on Word first.

So don't get all temperamental. :D


And now I add:

AHHHHH!! Need coffee! Too much PRESSURE!

[Vesnic]

Sorry for the double post, but it's the first time I've done it (intentionally) and this is really a separate idea anyway.

Thank God for the Writing Tournament!

I don't know about the rest of you (excluding, of course, BrownNoser, I mean, EndMaster...) but I really need a kick in the ass sometimes to get any writing done. I also notice that I've slacked off considerably in reading and rating, but this will change once I'm forced to read everybody's stuff. It's a nice juicy shot of creativity up the ole' mainline, so I take my Red Sox cap off to Poop, who I think is the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

[End Master]

Stat Fun for Apoth

Currently out of 356 Stories on the public reading list Apoth's new one ranks 355th in terms of word count.

Death Song is only 69 (Giggle!) rooms, but the word count is 52,267 (9th place for word count)

[donteatpoop]

Alright, Youngstown Demon has been released.

7 rooms of filler. I'm going to try to edit in some content for at least one of those rooms tonight.

My apologies, I wish I had come up with the idea for this story much sooner...

[donteatpoop]

Nevermind; hey look, some ascii porn.

8==D {I}

[Vesnic]

The Country from Hell is now public.

I'm going to go spend some time gashing at my arms with rusty melon spoons.

[Locke]

As I've only been around a few months: is it usually just the one big contest per year, or will there be another with a deadline before next October?

[Vesnic]

This is currently the year's one major competition. There are also various smaller contests/collaborations on the forums, and of course the hope that people will be inspired enough to continue writing independently of any organized community efforts.

[donteatpoop]

As I've only been around a few months: is it usually just the one big contest per year, or will there be another with a deadline before next October?

The first 3 writing tourneys were done every six months, but on this last one we got waaaaay too lazy and kept extending it so that it took a year to do. I don't know if the next one will be in a year, or in six months...

It was originally brought about because submissions of quality stories to the site had gotten low, so I figured that if we maybe had a tournament, people would start writing good stories. The first challenge (themed "Silver Screen Movie Monsters") elicited stories from donteatpoop, EndMaster, and Cat2000. The second challenge (themed "circus/carnival/amuzement park") elicited stories from EndMaster, donteatpoop, and jeffisthebest. I don't remember much about the third except that Katie won it...

And this is the fourth.

There is always the forum thread challenge, of course... But that's not the same.

[End Master]

Third one was a Children's story, Katie won that since she submitted two children stories while Apoth got off track, DEP only half way finished with filler again and I just made a "child friendly" combo version of the rest of my stories.

I say we just do these contests once a year for Halloween. It's worked so far. Gives everyone plenty of time, in fact given that most people don't properly finish in the first place maybe we should push it to Christmas.

[Usoki]

...maybe we should push it to Christmas.

Ooh, that'd rock hard core. It'd give me all sorts of time during Winter break to work on a story right before its deadline.

[End Master]

Hmm, I was sort of joking, but Christmas would probably work out better.

Okay it’s settled next year’s contest will be on Christmas.

If there are any objections, say so now.

Fine, there are no objections. Motion passed.


EDIT: Glad to see the Ves and Usoki came through despite technical difficulties and laziness. 6 entries by 6 different people this time! This really is the most we've ever had.

[apotheosis]

My story was more about a child rather than for a child....

[Usoki]

...Usoki came through despite technical difficulties and laziness.

Well, I figured if Apoth was cruel enough to make everyone read and rate his five-minute quickie piece 'o shit, I shouldn't feel bad making everyone read my crappy, linear story.

So...am I allowed to alter the piece in any way during the voting period? Or are those filler rooms going to have to stay for a month?

[Vesnic]

I just assumed there was a freeze on further additions for another month so that all the ratings would be based on the exact same story. That would seem to make sense, anyway.

[Usoki]

I just assumed there was a freeze on further additions for another month so that all the ratings would be based on the exact same story. That would seem to make sense, anyway.

That's what I'm thinking, too- I just want it verified. It's gonna bother me to not be able to do my room every week or two like I was averaging earlier.