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More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

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Hamumu
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Joined: 12/31/1969
More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

I want to just say that I would NOT like it to be a "back of the box" contest, because BotB blurbs never tell you what you need to know about a game to buy it, much less to critically judge it! I'm all for a short synopsis that covers what about it is interesting... basically, I support the 800 or 500 word limit, but with the intention that what you're writing is whatever you need to to explain your idea well, as opposed to some sort of advertising blurb. Anybody can say "it's a game where you have to carefully balance your fairy collection versus your greed for magical powers!", but that doesn't really tell you anything about the nifty mechanics involved. So pretty much short, incomplete, rulesets is what I'd like to see. Doesn't tell you how many Farmland cards there are, or what all the different Galactic Powers do, but it gives you the idea of what types of things there would be, so you can think about how it would play.

Does that make sense? Is it any different from anything anybody else has said? I don't know, I'm just sitting out at my garage sale enjoying the wirelessness of my laptop!

Yogurt
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More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

Just a quick "me too" post: I think 800 words would be a fine length.

Yogurt

btaggart
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Rules length

I didn't have a problem with the submission length. I looked at this as "I'm only going to get to play one game, which one do I choose?" I skim through the summaries, and then look closer at the ones that look interesting. If I see a breach in the contest format or lose interest in the game, I quit reading.

This puts a lot of pressure on the designer to be succinct and (as appropriate) witty, but there you go. It's a pitch. If the rules are five pages long, I may lose interest right away.

Anyway, my thoughts...

Ben.

Challengers
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Let Me Say This About That ....

McDonald's makes an average hamburger, yet it's number 1.
I have read two theories on the reason for their success: Real Estate and Advertising.
In my opinion, the presentation of the designs will make or break their chances of getting votes. After reading the critiques, it is obvious that several entries were hurt by their lack of clarity. This seems to be contrary to the spirit of the contest, as reiterated by Brykovian. However, based on the fact that a submission only has one chance to "sell" itself to the voters, I believe that using a template would have a stultifying effect on authors who have mastered the art of clear writing, while doing little to enhance the efforts of those of us who are not so practiced.

If you must use a template, I hope that it contains large, empty boxes that don't restrict my input (like this Message body that I am using now!)

Can I get fries with that template?

Hedge-o-Matic
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More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

I have to agree. Not all rules systems are written in the same way. I've got a standard format, usually, which I've developed over the years, but even that doesn't suit all games. I'd say let people live or die by clarity. Better here than in a submission to a company. This is a practice space, after all.

Brykovian
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More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

I want to thank everyone for the great discussion on these items. I think that hitting this thing with a hammer after these first few challenges is getting it into great shape!

The last two posts by Challengers and Hedge-o-Matic have struck enough of a chord in me that I will be withdrawing item #4 in the list ... at least this next challenge still won't have a required template.

So, here's my approach regarding these 6 points for this up-coming challenge:
1> will do
2> will do
3> will do ... and I'll set it at 800 words for the entire entry this first time
4> withdrawn (will not do)
5> will do
6> will do ... and I'll use the "list your top 3" voting method, giving 5/3/1 points to the items on a voter's list

Hedge-o-Matic wrote:
I'd like to see the Showdown start ion the first of each month. I keep missing them!

For Hedge (and everyone else following along) ... the next challenge will be announced this coming Thursday (12-May) -- so no excuses this time!! ;-D

-Bryk

sedjtroll
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More Tweaking on the Showdown -- 6 points

Hedge-o-Matic wrote:
I have to agree. Not all rules systems are written in the same way. I've got a standard format, usually, which I've developed over the years, but even that doesn't suit all games. I'd say let people live or die by clarity. Better here than in a submission to a company. This is a practice space, after all.

On the oher hand, this isn't just any rules system... it's a specific rules system for a specific contest. Imposing a structure is well within the scope of the project, and may work to make judging easier.

That said, the judging is pretty free-form, and therefore is as easy as the judges want it to be...

- Seth

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