Idea: Backstory Contest

[Trylon]

I had this idea today when working on some backstory for an age of mine:
What about a backstory contest?

The concept:
Contestants take an already released Age (does not need to be an Age of their own), and write a short/long story around that age. The story has to respect established Canon for that age, and established D'ni canon, but beyond that, no restrictions apply.

Judging categories could be:
- how well does it fit the age
- how compelling is the story
- quality of the backstory used
- support items (drawings, separate notes, items, etc....)

Ok, clearly I'm not qualified to propose judging categories for stories
Anyone got ideas/opinions?

[robbieagray]

Sure I would love to join.

Just one quistion:
"Are you going to provide us with a list of ages we can create our stories for or do we have to look in curtain areas?"

[Al'Kaera]

Trylon, while searching the GoW for 'news' for our March Newspaper I ran into this new idea of yours. Great Idea btw, and a question I would ask is this; Who can enter, GoW only or any explorer? I mean, there are probably some real good freelance writers that also know have great ideas about some of the UCC Ages already.
Also, if the writer is NOT the Age creator, would it be recommended that the two get together and colllaborate, Or would it be more fun to have the writer 'wing it' just so you folks, and the rest of us, can peer into their head.

Last, I will hold off on mentioning this in the March Edition if you so choose.
Thanks,
Al'Kaera (sub'ing for Marten)

[Trylon]

Hiya,
for now it's still just an idea, but anyone can participate, the GoW does not make a hard distinction between members and non-members.

I'd say that it is always a good idea to contact the writer of the Age, but that it would not be a requirement. I'd say the story submitted would qualify as fan-fiction (or maybe fan-fan-fiction in this case )

A number of issues are still unclear, such as judging - for which I don't think e.g. I myself would be much qualified. It'd be great if some competent story writers/reviewers would offer their insights on it, and/or volunteer to be on a judging panel.

Please feel free to mention it in the March newspaper, as long as you note that we are looking for input, judges and participants, in order to actually get this off the ground. It'd be a great way to get some additional support here.

[Al'Kaera]

Please feel free to mention it in the March newspaper, as long as you note that we are looking for input, judges and participants, in order to actually get this off the ground. It'd be a great way to get some additional support here.

Great Trylon, will do and I hope it gathers a lot of interest and feeback.

Thanks, I've made a note.
Al'Kaera

[BAD]

A number of issues are still unclear, such as judging - for which I don't think e.g. I myself would be much qualified. It'd be great if some competent story writers/reviewers would offer their insights on it, and/or volunteer to be on a judging panel.

Though I would love to enter a contest such as this, I would be willing to be a judge for it if needed. I think this kind of contest is one of the things the GOW has been sorely missing and I applaud you for suggesting it.

I have been known to be a bit of a grammar Nazi and have a very good grasp on the D'ni storyline. I do have to say I wouldn't judge a story based on grammar, but I would be perfectly willing to add notes on it for the submissions.

[robbieagray]

So... what ages are we going to base our stories off of?

[boblishman]

I just stumbled across this thread ... and I was thinking that this is just what I need for an Age of mine - Ulteemah.

This Age was created for the November RAD contest, and, at the time of creating the Age, my focus was on pure "eye candy", and consequently it has ZERO story/storyline.

Now, not to dwell over the November RAD contest results, but some of you may have read about the "shambles" of the judging ... which left me with a rather bitter taste in my mouth ... and that in turn subsequently removed any motivation I had in completing and "fleshing out" any kind of storyline for this Age and, consequently, any further development of it.

This Age is very much in its infancy (creation-wise) ... and a good story/storyline is what I need to get enthused about finishing this Age, and so if anyone want's to use Ulteemah (or indeed, if it would make judging easier, if ALL the entrants wanted used this Age - and then you would have a "baseline" for judges to work from) ... then I might feel that the 4 weeks I spent flogging my Blender/Photoshop/Gentica/Alcscript heart out to create this (misunderstood) Age had not completely gone to waste.

For users of the ULM, there is a slightly updated version of this Age (with a few new texures and a faster, more stable elevator than the RAD entry) which is available for MANUAL download at:

http://www.guildofmaintainers.org/ftp/U ... 20lift.rar

or if you use Drizzle, I believe this (newer) version is currently available directly from Drizzle 16+ ...

One of the reasons I think this is a suitable candidate for this competition is that the Age is very much a "blank canvas" in terms of story, but it does already have a "mood" feeling, created by it's unusual two-part layout, and its atmospheric textures and sound.


(then again, you may hate it ... in which case, just ignore my late night ramblings ... )

... just an idea ...

[Zander]

I LOVE this idea!

*ahem* Just thought I'd mention it...

[Zander]

I LOVE this idea! (both the contest in general and Boblishman's suggestion, that is)

*ahem* Just thought I'd mention it...