WoZ 2006 #2

Post by **Quantum P.** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:47 am

Seeing as how posting about the WoZ in advance worked for Kjorteo, I figure it can't hurt for me to try it too. The time of this year's second WoZ is yet to be determined, but it will probably be in a few months, possibly somewhere around April or May. However, it's all speculation at this point.

I have no qualms with the bulk of Kjorteo's rules from the last contest; as a result, the rules for this contest will likely be similar to those of the previous one. Like Kjorteo, I will accept suggestions to the rules; however, I reserve the right to determine what the final set of rules will be. I will be posting my first draft of the rules sometime soon.

I will also be looking for judges, and seeking to prevent what happened last time, I will make reasonable efforts to verify Internet identities (Although I must say that I was impressed with the craftiness of the prank in the previous contest). The judging lineup won't be finalized for some time, so you have plenty of time to decide what role you'll play in this contest.

That's about all for now. Let the pre-contest discussion begin!

unstickied - madtom

Post by **Zenith Nadir** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:13 am

i will judge for real this time! because it was actually quite amusing last time even though i hadn't planned to do it

Ando · Post by **Ando** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 3:30 pm

Cool, lookin' forward to it.

VinceP · Post by **VinceP** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:29 pm

I'll try and participate in this one, I guess. Otherwise I could judge if needed.

Jotz · Post by **Jotz** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:15 am

I'll judge. This will make up for the 24hozzt I forgot to judge a few years back (and this time I will judge).

Post by **Quantum P.** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:00 am

Here's the first glimpse of what the contest will be like. Feel free to coment on anything that you feel should be changed...

* Because three is a nice number, I will give three topics for this WoZ. One of them may be a joke topic, but all three should be workable.

* The contest will begin [a Friday - yet to be determined] at [time - yet to be determined] and end on [the following Monday] at [the same time of day the contest began]. There will be no grace period; if you get any extra time, it will be because my clock is off by a few seconds. In short, take your deadlines very seriously. I may appear on #z2 near the end of the contest and periodically announce how much time is left.

* The topics will be announced in lots of places: in this thread, on the Z2 news page, on my LiveJournal, on the ZZT community LiveJournal, #rawr, etc... However, in an attempt to bring some activity to #z2, the topics will be announced first in that channel, for those of you who want to be a few milliseconds ahead of your competition. Announcements everywhere else will follow immediately afterward.

* You may make and submit as many entries as you like; however, I strongly urge you to make one game and make it good. I would rather see one really good game than two shorter, less polished games. If your games are poor because you valued quantity more than quality, don't expect me to be lenient.

* You may use external editors to make your entry; you will not be penalized in any way if you use ZZTAE or KevEdit. Other tools, such as those programs that turn regular images into ZZT boards, are allowed; however, be warned that some judges may judge on effort, and excessive use of content like this may cause you to lose points.

* Your game will lose points if it strays too far from one of the three topics given. Whether a game is on topic or not is rather subjective, and this decision will be in the hands of the judges. However, I will lay down basic guidelines. If the story's main conflict/character/setting involves one of the topics, you're good. If the engine/enemies/artwork represents some significant facet of the topic, you're good. If you have to insert the topic verbatim into the game's text and emphasize it (e.g., "Bob was planning on visiting his cousin, who liked to play *Chess*"), you're probably not as on topic as you could be.

* You only have to include one topic. Including more will not get you bonus points.

* The games will be judged by me and two other judges. Each game will receive an overall score on a scale from 1 to 10; these scores will be averaged to determine who won. In the event of a tie, I have the authority to break the tie. In the event that a judge does not take his job seriously, I will post his scores and get public opinion on them, after which I will decide whether or not to reject the scores.

* The judges will have a week to get their scores together, after which the games will be compiled and released to the public. If a judge does not send me his scores within a week, he forfeits his right to judge.

That's the first draft of the rules. You'll notice that no time or date has been set; I guess I'll set a speculative date sometime soon, but first I'd like to know if there are any weekends in April or May that would not work for you. Also, if you live outside North America and you are thinking about participating, please state your time zone, so I can start to get an idea as to what time would be most convenient for the most people.

DarkShadow · Post by **DarkShadow** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:03 pm

I'm gonna be in this one, not as a judge though. I can't wait.

Zandor 12 · Post by **Zandor 12** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:38 am

Here's hoping I'll actually be able to participate in one of these for once.

Kjorteo · Post by **Kjorteo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:27 am

I find it strangely flattering that the rules and such are so similar to how I ran mine. I guess it makes sense, since mine was highly successful, but I guess it just feels neat to see some of my ideas live on too. :D

Anyway, I will try to participate, but my work schedule is almost as unpredictable as whether I'll have any good ideas. Tentatively count me in, though!

Also,

Zenith Nadir wrote:i will judge for real this time! because it was actually quite amusing last time even though i hadn't planned to do it

Even though Nadir disagreed with my scores enough to change who would have won, he did a really good job, took the job seriously, and made thoughtful reviews and stuff. I highly endorse Nadir for judge!
:keen:

Nadir give me a 10

Kjorteo · Post by **Kjorteo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:38 am

Also,

Quantum P. wrote:Here's the first glimpse of what the contest will be like. Feel free to coment on anything that you feel should be changed...

I really like what you have here so far. It's looking good. You said to post your time zone if you're not in North America just for feedback purposes. Can I do it too even if I am in North America? If not, then don't read this --> MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME (GMT -07:00) <-- Don't read that

Anyway, on a more serious note, how will you deal with junk entries? My first draft of the rules had absolutely no mention of them either, and then totally at MadTom's suggestion, I went back and added the stipulation that they will be completely thrown out, not counted or scored or compiled, and not even given to the other judges. This ended up being a moot point because every entry I received was legitimate. From my observations, that is not usual, though, so you might want to address the possibility.

Post by **TTTPPP** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:10 pm

Hey, I'll try to participate. The main problem is likely to be me forgetting, but assuming I don't then my timezone is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +0).

Post by **http://yahoo.com/** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:23 pm

I'd like to try my hand at a ZZT competition sometime, but that's what I said about Kjorteo's as well.

Kjorteo · Post by **Kjorteo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:26 pm

you make me sad :(
:sadness:

PapaBear · Post by **PapaBear** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:50 pm

You know, I think I should give it a try too! Count me in!

Jotz · Post by **Jotz** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 11:38 pm

This might be too strict, but I suggest the games should not involve the community in any way. Past ZZT contests never had games like that get very far in judging.