Don't take that too seriously. I even put a winking smiley at the end.

Also who would be crazy enough to write two stories per round? :D

Well, not exactly two stories but I know I would make basic outlines in the meantime.

I'm not sure, if you got what I meant by that. If he had both accounts he had to write both stories per round.

*Sigh*...can't I just make some jokes?

A thousand is flash fiction so three thousand is still fair right?

Yeah. 3k is fair.

Btw, do you have the Steam Keys?

ROUND 1 WILL BE UP LATER TONIGHT.

(my tonight, GMT+8)

Quote from ErrorBlender

The furthest wRHG battle in terms of word count we had was 8k which I believe was set by blakphoenix so a bit further would be okay?

While I doubt I'm the record-holder, allow me to point out that Gamma v. The Blade Mercenaries (that battle I know most of you probably haven't read) was two words short of running 10.1 K words.

It seems this tournament has been fundamentally altered since I last showed my face here. There are a few things I'd like to say.

Quote from ErrorBlender

The Challenges
Each round, a player may challenge himself by posting on the Round's thread [It will be linked here if you happen to get lost]. Once issued, I will PM the challenge to the participant and will remain hidden the entire round. Only myself and the participant will know of it. This is to prevent CnCs that revolve on: "You didn't do the challenge, etc." or votes that do the same.

Challenges are worth 10 points. If you happen to fail, you lose the same amount.

By being the one to assign the challenges though- as well as how they're rewarded- you're messing with your writers' motivations. Before when I mentioned continuity, I described it as an additional challenge that would be willingly self-imposed by the writer, and upon review implied, rather than explicitly stated, that it would go unrewarded in terms of tournament standings. That may have been my mistake.

But your proposed (and inherently current?) system, despite a lack of formal agreement for or against, says that if we accept your challenge, as opposed to any sort of unwritten one of our own- we receive an equivalent of two votes per story. I'm a little troubled by that.

Quote from ErrorBlender

Comment and Critique
We are here not only for friendly competition but for the learning experience. Who better to help than our fellow writers? For each CnC and for a maximum of 3, I will award an additional 5 points to that participant. Saying its good in this part, or you liked that but disliked this is Comment on its own and awardable but those with substance, those that deliver points that that writer can reflect on will be awarded additional 5 points for that CnC.

My Concerns: Now you're commodifying CnC. Somehow I don't see this going well.
Just so we're clear- you're saying these two people are worthy of equal standing in your tournament:

User who received NO VOTES but did (your) challenge, wrote things on 3 peoples threads.
User who did not opt into your challenge, did not write CnC, but received FIVE VOTES.

I'm not saying that it's bad to validate people for writing CnC- but understand... you're potentially undermining the votes of five of my audience members, without my approval and without my knowledge because, yes, I looked away from the thread for a few days.

To put that in perspective... I used to have a clan with five other people. If I did not post any CnC, but got these five people to vote, I could tie a person with no votes if I opt out of the additional challenge, and I would straight-up lose to them if I went for the additional challenge but failed to meet it. That's five people, man- all voting for me and not the other guy; that's hard to come by.

1)Kyra-
Working her way through college as the acting head in her family while her father struggles through a potentially fatal illness, her mom's off working, and her sister's dealing with problems in all the wrong ways. Sorry she missed the vote, they had to cut the power bill.

2)Acutelatios-
Helping run this lovely forum of ours till her heart gives out. Sorry she missed the vote, she was making sure the Writer's Lounge makes it to the revamped forum in-between her beloved shows.

3)Crank-
Working for . Sorry he missed the vote, I honestly just forgot to send him the link between shifts.

4)Hazzerdous-
Would vote for other guy if at all, haha

5)Nevron-
Blissfully aloof, dreaming of his fantasy world in the wake of some inescapable misfortune. Did someone say forum?


But this- oh this killed me:

Quote from ErrorBlender

Tournament Mechanics
Much like Hewitt's tournament that came before, I will use a Points System to track your progress. You will accumulate these points over the course of the tournament, rounds are won by points earned in that round and total points grant you the title of Master of Genres (ergo CHAMPION).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!

Quote from ErrorBlender

We've got Steam Keys courtesy of Xate/Hewitt.

I'm sorry, but I don't need a steam key. I don't need a title, and I'm not feeling these new rules. I came here to write stories, and I'm starting to think the only way I'll do that is my way. I'm sorry EB, but I'm dropping out of this tournament. I'm going to try and keep up with your upload schedule, but I don't feel right entering my stories in for anything other than a vote, and I don't feel right having anything other than a vote qualify to count as one. I guess you'll need someone to stand in for the golden 18.

So far, Chromium, I've been listening to the others replies. And I will listen to yours. We still have a few days before the actual deadline I set. What do you suppose we can do?

The Steam Keys were suggested as prizes, who am I to say no to someone that donates to the tournament? You may not like it but some do. The Title of Master of Genre? Mere flavor. You won't go parading around flaunting it, neither would I if I won such a thing.

About me commodifying CnC, I understand that these things must come out of heart. Rather willingly instead of a force of benefit. I'm glad you understand the small thought of validating those that do CnC, that much I had hoped. Hewitt managed to get us to CnC with the same tactic. I'm not trying to say this is the only way but it is a way to get them.

The end-game I had in mind was that to populate the Original Literature thread. Thats it. Whilst keeping people interested, what better way than tournament style? If you need to know why I implemented the challenge system, PM me.

I will listen and confirm with the rest of our participants.

Quote from Chromium7

-snip-

Oh no! A tournament is actually a competition!? Better back out and undermine everything EB said with a passive-aggressive tone!

Steam Keys will be in store and rewarded to everyone at the end of the "tournament". Whoever participates by writing at least half of the requirement (4/8) will be rewarded with a random key. Less of a winning prize and more of participation prize. If needed, we can even discuss further and give 2 to those who do all8, and 3 to the best. But I'm open to suggestions

Xate, I'll PM you the list of keys I never used up and we can pool the keys together

Quote from ErrorBlender

About me commodifying CnC, I understand that these things must come out of heart. Rather willingly instead of a force of benefit. I'm glad you understand the small thought of validating those that do CnC, that much I had hoped. Hewitt managed to get us to CnC with the same tactic. I'm not trying to say this is the only way but it is a way to get them.

I just wanna clarify that I only had this mechanic at the very very first wRHG tournament at the time because there had been a serious no-CNC-ing epidemic back then that was contributing to the section's downfall. You had legit good writers but they were only getting the barest of criticism, not even a single post sometimes. The CNC-to-score mechanic was implemented as a sort of transfusion to a dying section, to get people used to doing it and appreciate the value of communication in the hopes that in the future, users would be doing it as if it was a natural thing. Fast-forward to today and look how everyone's doing it to a degree. Ironically, Chrome is intent on doing it the most.

Now I dont wanna be arrogant and bring up the past, but Chrome wasn't around when this was all happening. This was in a time, when Mastertop was still awesome and a transitioning period was out of the question. So I can totally see where he's coming from today. The CNC mechanic is outdated if not anachronistic. But as a designer of events, I totally respect (if not feel flattered) about EB's decision to put it in. I can say that the only way that a CNC-to-Score in this tourney would work is if that Score doesn't really add a significant amount save for in a situation where 2 users were to tie on some level.

But again, that's just me and honestly, the fact that this event exists is enough to be thankful for so I'm just going to say this to everyone right now: I have no intention to CNC for points, if not CNC at all. I'm going write. Raw. Pure, plain simple. And I don't care if my standing decreases because I refuse to pop in a few words on the subject. This is because I simply take too long to do it. I cant be assed to switch off my OC unless that guy really deserves it or is just lucky.

So, whatever you decide Error. I think the people who want it more, still easily trump Chrome as it serves as a safety net that no story in this tourney remains unread. But like I said, it's a very outdated mechanic and seeing the wRHG community right now, I'm satisfied with how far we've come.



Also, I would just like to say that there were a million other ways to tell EB that you don't agree with someone's rules, but Chrome decided to pick the path of the PrimaDonna. Wow. At least Loboto would be more blunt about it.

Maybe you could have a separate list for people that kept track of who gave out the most CnC? Something that didn't effect the votes at all. Votes should be because of a writer's skill and nothing else imo. I like the challenges for extra points, though. It's just that deducting points for not doing them takes away the 'optional' category and makes it mandatory.

Also, will there be some method of unbiased voting in the tourney? I would hate if someone went and rallied up their clan members to vote for their story regardless of how good the other one is. Chromium bringing that up makes me think that it could really happen.

Besides all that, I'm looking forward to this :) It'll be tough since it's starting at the same time as Nanowrimo, but I'll do my best.

Also, would like to add the Chromium's walk-off is HILARIOUS.

He was complaining earlier to EB about the round order's switching because it was messing up with his planning. Yet, at the modification of how the tourney grades people for something he can never control (CNC-ing), he gets up and walks. If Chrome claims to not care about the title or the steam keys, why is he putting so much effort to care about how the rounds will be scored? Shouldn't he just write for writing's sake?