Coming in 2008! Vignette Competitions

[Call me J]

On the first of January 2008, Althanas will have a vignette competition that will last a month. This vignette contest will be an ooc competition, but must involve IC characters. Unlike tournaments, characters are not competing to win, but instead will be involved in scenarios that respond to a prompt.

There will be prizes involved. At the end of the month, the thread is closed, a winner is given 100 GP, second place 75 GP and third 50 GP. Everyone gets 100+50 EXP*level for their trouble. A moderator will rank the top three vignettes at the end of January.

The rules would be as follows.

1) One submission per character.
2) Please make your posts during the duration of time allotted.
3) The moderator judging the monthly vignette contest will post a vignette at the end, but will not be eligible for a prize.
4) Only on-topic vignettes will be considered for the prize. The topics are meant to be broad enough that no character should be particularly limited.
5) PCs must be involved in all vignettes. How "canonical" you choose to have the events of the vignette is up to you.

Any questions?

[Bloodrose]

Is there going to be any sort of length requirement/limit to qualify for prizes, or is it going to be more of a free-form thing?

[Streetrat]

Will zero-level characters be treated as first level characters for this? Since, you know, 50 times zero is still zero. ^^;

[Call me J]

Is there going to be any sort of length requirement/limit to qualify for prizes, or is it going to be more of a free-form thing?

No. Also, length is unlikely to be a major category in determining the winners, but people who write things that are longer stories and not simple vignettes are not going to win. Similarly, details for details sake will not help anyone. In general, the only restrictions on length are the same as in any other thread, the only difference is here you are supposed to write a vignette. Unless one of the later posts is very different, the posts in the turkey thread would all qualify.


Will zero-level characters be treated as first level characters for this? Since, you know, 50 times zero is still zero. ^^;

Whoops... typo. The actual rewards are 100 + 50(level), so that way, level 0s get 100 EXP, which is comparable to what other levels receive.

Also, anyone that has comments is welcome to make them here too, even if those comments are to be disparaging of the very premise.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

I assume that the topics will be posted come January?

[Call me J]

Well January's will be posted then. I'll make a thread in Other Regions and an official announcement then. Basically, I would love to get people's reactions, questions, objections, etc. now so that if anyone has legitimate qualms/constructive criticism, it can be adressed before the competition begins.

[Whiteshadow]

I may seem a bit naive at this point, but what exactly is a vignette?

[Call me J]

I may seem a bit naive at this point, but what exactly is a vignette?

A vignette is more like a single snapshot into a character's life. It is not meant to be a whole narrative, but instead is supposed to convey a single image. I remember in High School English, my teacher said vignettes were the literary version of a snapshot. I'll look around for a good example of one on the forum.

EDIT- I can't really find all that great of an example. Raven has one in the Creative Writing forum, but it may not be the most demonstrative.

[sweet_oblivion]

Not sure if this is exactly right, but from my understanding a vignette is a small moment in a characters life. Like in a movie, i guess a flash back half way though that enlightens you on what/why certain things happened.

So I am guessing we would just do a descriptive (yet short) post about a moment in the life of our character.

I hope thats correct, cause if not i am completely lost on this.

[Kovalai]

The description I know of a vignette is: "vignettes are short, impressionistic scenes that focus on one moment or give a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting."

I'm not sure I'm totally clear on the concept, but here's what I gather, let me know how accurate I am, yeah? Based on your comment about the turkey posts, the impression I'm getting of this is, there will be an opening post in a thread, by a moderator, and then, each person writes one post, describing a vignette style scene for their one post based on the prompt?

Also! So, about the exp reward. I get that since it's just one post, and people are getting exp awards for just participating, but the exp award based on level brings up a question I had in general. Do actual quest threads get more exp if the players are higher level? Cause it's based on the writing, yeah? I remember reading something like what you're describing in the FQ rewards page, and though I understand lower level people getting less powerful physical rewards, do they normally get less exp too? Cause that don't make cents to me.

[Call me J]

Also! So, about the exp reward. I get that since it's just one post, and people are getting exp awards for just participating, but the exp award based on level brings up a question I had in general. Do actual quest threads get more exp if the players are higher level? Cause it's based on the writing, yeah? I remember reading something like what you're describing in the FQ rewards page, and though I understand lower level people getting less powerful physical rewards, do they normally get less exp too? Cause that don't make cents to me.

Actually, higher levels also get more EXP, because higher levels need more EXP to level up. However, it is still harder to level up as a higher level than as a lower level.

Also, Kovalai's definition of a vignette is a good formal definition. Though I should clarify one thing, unlike the turkey thread, there will be no obligation for people's vignettes to be linked to each other. I'm not saying you can't link them, just that you don't have to.

Depending on the moderator doing the prompts, the prompt may be something that does not link the characters to each other. For instance, a prompt could be something like "describe when your character confronts his/her greatest fear" and then unless two characters are linked by the same greatest fear, the posts will all be very different.

However, that wouldn't be a vignette topic, because a character confronting their greatest fear is something that is more conducive to a longer story than a vignette.

[Skie and Avery]

Is this just a one time thing or is it an ongoing montly competition that will just start in January?

[Winterhair]

Vignette's, huh? I remember that once I made a thread consisting of just those. Sounds interesting.

[Call me J]

Is this just a one time thing or is it an ongoing montly competition that will just start in January?

The plan is for it to be an ongoing monthly competition. However, seeing as its a new thing, the results of the first contest (in terms of how much people seem to be enjoying it, how active people are, etc.) will go a long way in determining if it does become a more permanent fixture.

Also, I should note, if it does become a permanent fixture, it will be judged by a different moderator every month.

[Karuka]

All right, guys. Here's the sample vignette, for your own entertainment.

Sample topic: You are walking down an extremely muddy road.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rains had ceased and the sun shone mercilessly down on the rolling hills of Dheathain. Karuka hadn't waited for the roads to dry enough to be passable; she had sat still for far too long already, and needed to be on the move. She didn't know if it was the constant moving around she'd done since she'd come to Althanas that had sparked her need to always be going somewhere, or the troubled thoughts that spun through her head as ephemerally and violently as Fallien dust devils.

As a result of her impatience, travel was extremely slow.

SHLORCK.....SHHHHHHLOOOOOR --

"DAMNIT!"

Caught in the mud, one of her boots had wrenched itself free of her foot and sat proudly independent half a pace away, much to the red-head's irritation.

Sighing, she brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, noting a slight sheen of perspiration following her fingers. It had gone from being chill and rainy to sweltering and sunny in just a few hours, in a twist as unexpected as an accidental death or debilitating accident...or being dragged to Althanas on your way through France, but more welcome than any of the scenarios. By a little bit.

Grumbling, Karuka extended her foot, slipping it back into her boot and rocking gently, trying to release it before continuing to struggle her way through the mire.

I've changed. Before I had boots, I'd have splashed through the mud and been happy for it. Before I had sturdy clothes, I'd have done cartwheels in the rain, no matter how cold I got or how ineffective my canvas was. Now I have so much...more than I'd ever hoped for...more than I'd ever wanted...what happened to the happy times of poverty?

Of course, her previous poverty and continuing indigence weren't always a blessing...she remembered many times she'd almost been killed, many foolish adventures and narrow escapes. Of course, she still had those. But what she no longer had were the times of wishing for just one small coin to buy a piece of bread, the chill nights in the wilderness spent starving nearly to the brink of death because there was just no food to find. She could afford shelter now. She didn't have to struggle to survive on a daily basis.

So why can't I smile anymore? Why was the skeletal thing that I was at sixteen, fresh from my mother's death and stepfather's heavy hand...so much more able to smile? To laugh? How could she stand so boldly with nothing and dare to be happy no matter what?

Sighing, Karuka brushed the same lock of hair back out of her face and behind her ear. She knew the answer to that question, and she knew it all too well.

Faith.

She couldn't have faith anymore, it was a gift reserved for the ignorant. The ignorant hadn't seen the evidence of their gods' deaths, hadn't seen the blatant worship of things such as money and sex when the gods were forgotten, hadn't been at the event that had seen their deaths. The ignorant could have faith. The ignorant could be happy.

SHLORK! ... SHLORK!

Karuka was no longer ignorant. With knowledge had come a dreadful realization of reality, and yes, it had taken away the bright smile that she'd been so willing to give any and everyone. It had taken the merry laugh and bestowed the heavy sigh. Without faith, Karuka was left to trudge her way through the quagmire of life without either direction or blinders.

And just like everyone else, she'd have to fight to keep her shoes on.

[Cyrus the virus]

Such excellence I have only dreamed of. On the morning wind such majesty can only be perceived, not captured to be relived at one's whim. A fleeting glimpse of heaven, I've seen.

OH GLORIOUS DAY.

[Call me J]

http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=97767#post97767

The contest has begun!