I see. It has been very nice to do battle with you, The Strongest :D Walden was indeed a challenge. I will do my best not to disappoint you in the finals.

I disagree. I feel that having the antes displayed in the open add to the levels of CnC possible for an overall piece. It allows the readers to expect more out of a piece than just a cool fight. If antes aren't displayed then what's the point of having them, or any sort of battle prerequisites for that matter such as story or setting. I feel it simply adds an extra obstacle/layer for the writer and reader to enjoy. It adds to the challenge of writing a battle. Anyone can write some unbound piece of fantasy, a good writer knows how to make a caged bird sing....Maya Angelou anyone?...maybe it wasn't used well...my point remains. If you can write well under a condition, then you can write marvelously without them.

I don't follow your logic at all. As it is, the ante already poses an obstacle for the reader. The only difference is whether or not the reader knows there is an obstacle that they have to get over. As a result, hiding the ante adds more to the necessary skill of the writer, since they are expected to make their piece flow as a literary work should while simultaneously meeting these conditions. It fits in, still, with their voluntary nature, and it adds an additional level of challenge for the writer. Whereas before, some awkwardness might have been excusable in the name of completing their ante, if their ante is known only to them and to the judges they must make their piece better in order to make the ante seem as if it were an organic element already in, rather than a piece hammered into the work.

I don't believe that voters should be commenting as if they were judges, stating whether or not they felt the piece fulfilled the ante's requirements. Having CnC along the lines of "I don't think that the conditions for your ante were met, and this took away from the piece as a whole." contributes anything to improving the writing of the one receiving such a comment. If encourages writing according to a formula, rather, which I imagine is among the last things that we want to see happen here. Writing done as if they were lego-blocks being put together, such that we knew every piece already and the only difference was the order of the pieces.

Your statement suggests that hiding the ante removes the ante completely. To go off your analogy, a better writer, still, could make a caged bird sing without the viewer realizing there was even a cage to begin with. And they would marvel at how the writer not only got this bird, here, singing, but also got said bird to remain in one spot for the whole duration of its song, and then some.

Prerequisites not being displayed take away from the expectation of the reader, they do not affect what is actually written. If hidden elements were only judged by the judges, that would make me feel quite content with them, and I think you would, too. The voters should be voting on the piece itself, not on the mechanics behind it. While there are somethings, perhaps, that voters should be in on (like the setting of a fight or the overarching theme of the battle), I do not believe that the antes, which are each personal to the writer and to the writer alone, should be included in such a list.

If there are to be expectations placed onto a piece, I want those expectations to be the same for each piece.

Well I for one like the antes but if your suggestion is implemented, I'm fine with it as long as I get to know what they are in the very end.

I like the antes, too. And I in no way wish to see them gone, I just wish not to see them until after voting's finished.

Hey guys, keep voting and CnC please in the tourneys :)

Alright I've taken your thoughts into consideration. Addressing them one by one:

1) Lol I honestly haven't participated in a PBP duel in ages so I actually thought my limit was going to be a short one. I'll be sure to use it sparingly from now on if at all, if PBP's defiance is actually what led some of you here. And if anything, I will shorten the length and add some other conditions to make the harrowing experience more enjoyable. Although I will say that the fact that it's the semi-finals means that the rounds would only get harder and harder. I chose PBP for this semi-final round's theme because I feel that it's actually harder to react to someone else's post even with all the OOC in the world. But I do agree that it dragged for way too long.

2) As for the issue of Ante's, I believe that the problem is more of misinformation than the mechanic itself. I can hide it, yes. But maybe I should have also let the voters and the players know that Ante's aren't suppose to be the base for judgement. Maybe they just got used to it in the previous rounds and so the sudden introduction of this mechanic that is absent in normal wRHG battles just made them become more of a focus. I will take your suggestion to hide them into consideration but imo if I hide them it would distort the true reason I had them out in the open in the first place.\


Anyways, I'm just giving you guys time to rest up. I'll tally the scores when I'm less busy for completion's sake then we can begin the Finals which as I mentioned has long since been complete in terms of theme. I hope you guys will be surprised by what will come.

Also, in the future, I've been thinking of organizing a writing comp that's not necessarily wRHG-related. It'll be in the OLit section and it'll give us a chance to strut our stuff in other ways. I will be initiating a word limit or about 2000 (at least) so that entrants will actually submit something instead of wondering if their piece will be long enough.

I'm just a little busy today, but I'm planning to debrief the semi-finals tommorow or the day after if I really can't do it.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

It's been awhile and I apologize. Real life has picked up for me significantly so I really hope I can get the ball rolling on the finals so I can disappear much more naturally with this tournament picking up without a hitch. I'd like to say that I really really loved this round, even though it dragged on for a bit. I'll take note of what was said about it and be sure to improve on it next time. The battles were good and I appreciate the fact that everyone recieved more than 3 votes each, which really shows that the lot of you care for each other's pieces win or lose. The semi-finals certainly took awhile but in the end, 2 champions stand strong. Let's end this properly now with the scores:



The fellas in green have won it!

Anyways, let's tally the tournament scores from the previous round to see the new winning odds:



I hereby declare the wRHG Tournament Semi-Finals OVER!

The finals will take place, RIGHT NOW. That's right. Far be it for me to delay things further, this is it right here:


"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: the Proteus Project."

Amidst the hustle and bustle of aristocrats, corrupt politicians, and serial killer maniacs stood their Magnificent Host. He furrowed his brow and adjusted his glasses to the light as his lab coat fluttered in the wind. Their cruise destination wasn't going to be reached within the next two hours, much to the consternation of many. But he dare not unease the air further with suppositions and conjecture. Tonight was a great night for science! The time and resources spent kidnapping the finest fighters of this generation, and riling them up for this giant moment would have gone to waste if he didn't at least try to put on a show. Besides, he's always had this flair for the dramatic and what better way to make a dazzling entrance into the world of illegal arms trading than to showcase his finest creations.

"Tonight's entertainment of course, will be of a different sort..." his toungue intentionally slipped, to fake anticipation. "USER'S CHOICE!"

Immediately the crowd went wild. Maniacal laughter emanated from the lot, as they raised their fists into the air and each one began to spill their sickest fantasies and fetishes. This of course drew the attention of the Fabulous Host who responded with nothing less than a scoff.

"Yes." he muttered. "I believe we have our Setting."

With the push of a button, the central podium began to rise and machinery from beneath the ship's depth began to whirr...





Scoring (New)
For the first time since never, the scoring system will change. It will now be more simplified:

Votals - This is the only mechanic that remains unchanged. The bread and butter of this tournament: votes are still worth FIVE points each.

Ante - No more wagers. No more challenges. No more extra bells and whistles. For this Final Round there is only ONE Ante: Do not lose your Permanent Injury. That is, whatever damage you incurred in the previous round, you must still retain here. If your previous Permanent Injury was certainly fatal, it is brought back to the brink of it where everything is critical. You fail this condition and you lose 30 points. You don't, and you gain nothing.

And that's it! Onto the meat of the proposal:


Theme
In the duration that the semi-finals were taking place, I was going around PM-ing everyone else to submit something...a locale. That is, where the Finals will take place. That's right: The Finals for this tournament will be User's Choice. I asked people where they want to see you guys battle in in the end, and five people were creative enough to come up with some diverse settings for you both (sorry Crank, I received your entry too late and it probably got lost in the hack so I won't be including yours :( ). Let's go to our fellow entries shall we:

I then proceeded to ask everyone else (including those who weren't able to nominate in time) to rank their favorite locales from highest to lowest. Supposedly, the highest ranking locale will be the setting for this Final Round and the 2nd setting was going to set the stage for the Loser's Bracket Finals. But since the latter is now out of the question, I will be imparting the Freedom of Choice for both ErrorBlender and Lobotomizer. Amongst these five they must ruminate on which of the TOP TWO settings they wish to battle in. Discuss it here if you wish, but your choices must be unanimous. Now without further adew here are the results of that poll:



The Abyss and the Monastery have won it! Make your choice now Lobotomizer and ErrorBlender. Choose wisely.

When you have made your unanimous choice and visibly agreed on it, kindly post to acknowledge that locale and begin your writing. The deadline for this will be on THE FIRST WEEKEND OF NEXT YEAR (2014). Once both entries are here, I will make the battle thread and the voting will end it all!



Now get ready to rumble!!!



AS BEFORE: If you have any inquiries or clarifications, feel free to ask them in this thread for both the benefit of me and your opponent.

Hmm, I'd go for the Cosmic Abyss. Its a unique battleground I'd like to explore.

If we do go for Wyrmspawn's idea, would the walls of the pit be earth? Something Kalena would be able to manipulate using her sword? And since flying isn't an option, would Bl.An.C.'s wingpack be used to maneuver his fall, like rushing forward faster at Kalena or plummeting down quicker by aiding the unknown force pulling them down?

Man, my idea is just 1 point behind Wyrmspawn's! >o<

Well, choose whatever you like, guys. It's the final round, so let it all out!

Would the walls of the pit be earth? Something Kalena would be able to manipulate using her sword?
Yes. The pit's walls are made of earth so they can be manipulated by Kalena. Kalena's Earthen power afaik is a one-time thing anyway so it isn't as OP as expected. Perhaps this is also something you two can consider as what is 'fair'.


Would Bl.An.C.'s wingpack be used to maneuver his fall, like rushing forward faster at Kalena or plummeting down quicker by aiding the unknown force pulling them down?
It is possible yes. What is not possible however is flying upwards or slowing one's fall. Here is an excerpt of Wyrmspawn's when he pitched the idea as a nomination:

Quote from Wyrmspawn's Description of the Abyss

Any flight-based powers are not available for this fight; the reason is that, even the air at the edge of the world is sucked downwards, so fast that even hovering, much less upwards flight, is almost impossible.

***In case yer wondering, all the descriptions above are simply paraphrases of their original ideas. I did it so that no ranker could favor one user's choice if they knew who nominated it.

How big is the diameter of the pit? Or is it our call?

Anyways, I keep asking questions of the Cosmic Abyss when Lobotomizer hasn't picked. I shall wait.

The diameter is for you both to decide. It could be one thing in your version, it could be another in his. But bare minimum it has to fit both of you without squeezing you both.