Hello All,
The crew over at the harpingmonkey.com are gearing up for InWoCreMo. It is much like NoNoWriMo but instead of creating a novel you are trying to get 50,000 words down about a campaign setting. You will retain all rights to your material just like NaNoWriMo. I thought this may be of interest to some of the people on this board.
Have fun.
Jester
As a point, 50,000 words is huge. A quick wordcount revealed that my setting (http://www.thecbg.org/settings/12) has roughly half that number, and it's considered large by most members here. I think we only have three or four settings around here that could manage such a number (the only ones that spring to mind are Altvogge, which is already being published, and Tasothilos, which is currently under reconstruction).
Túrin
PS This post is mostly aimed to make a point to the other members that this is a pretty heavy request, though if an actual contest is to be held around this, it's also a critique of the organization, which seems to be asking a bit too much.
Um... has Dystopia enough words?
Heh. Urbis would fit in perfectly.
@ beejazz: dunno.
Apparently, the idea is that you create the entire (!) 50,000 word (!) campaign setting from scratch (!) in just one (!) month (!). That sounds pretty insane to me.
Just noting though. Feel free to judge it yourself at www.harpingmonkey.com.
Túrin
Call me stupid, but I can't find anything about InWoCreMo itself. What month are we actually talking about here? October?
Yeah, it's hard to find, that's why I posted what I found. Most of it can be found here: http://www.harpingmonkey.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=129
I coldn't find it either, except where other people on the site were asking for advice on it.
Yeah, as cool as that sounds, there's no way I'm writing more than fifteen hundred words each day straight for a month. In December no less.
Do you think I could enter if I type campaign setting 25,00 times?
Quote from: PoseidonDo you think I could enter if I type campaign setting 25,00 times?
Try it.
So commands ElDo. :P
Reprinted from here http://harpingmonkey.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=129 Without permission by the way. Because so many people were having issuse find it.
Enjoy.
The main idea behind International World Creation Month (IntWoCreMo) is pretty simple. You have 31 days to write 50,000 words original campaign world. For those keeping score, that's about 1,612 words per day. It's no small feat, and yes, I know many of you creative folks out there can do it.
Here are the basic guidelines:
1) Registgration will open on December 1, 2006. There will be a new section of the website, or a new website altogether, and we'll post the address here when it is ready.
2) Start writing on Jan 1, 2006.
3) Hit 50,000 words of *original* content by January 31st, 2007.
...and that's it.
Here are some of the FAQs I can answer:
Q: Is this a rip-off of NaNoWriMo?
A: We prefer to say it was inspired by NaNoWriMo. But...yes. It is.
Q: Is there a prize?
A: Tremendous personal satisfaction at a job well done.
Q: Who will read my world when its done?
A: Whomever you give it to. It's yours.
Q: Does the Harping Monkey own the right to anything submitted?
A: Hell, no. You own everything. Worlds uploaded at the end of the month for word count verification are deleted, unread, after being verified.
Q: Will you be publishing any of the work submitted?
A: We're not a publishing house. That being said, there is talk of creating a library of worlds, npcs, etc at the Harping Monkey. If we do that, it will be a seperate process.
Q: How do you win? Are there judges? What are the prizes?
A: The way to win IntWoCreMo is by writing 50,000 words by midnight on January 31. Every year, there are many, many winners. There are no "Best World" or "Quickest-Written World" awards given out. All winners will get an official "Winner" web icon and certificate.
No doubt there will be more questions and discussion. Please, visit our forums, which is where we will post the most recent information.
What exactly is harpingmonkey anyway? I couldn't really figure out what the purpose of the site was, just glancing around...
Quote from: Death_JesterReprinted from here http://harpingmonkey.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=129 Without permission by the way. Because so many people were having issuse find it.
Enjoy.
The main idea behind International World Creation Month (IntWoCreMo) is pretty simple. You have 31 days to write 50,000 words original campaign world. For those keeping score, that's about 1,612 words per day. It's no small feat, and yes, I know many of you creative folks out there can do it.
Here are the basic guidelines:
1) Registgration will open on December 1, 2006. There will be a new section of the website, or a new website altogether, and we'll post the address here when it is ready.
2) Start writing on Jan 1, 2006.
3) Hit 50,000 words of *original* content by January 31st, 2007.
...and that's it.
Here are some of the FAQs I can answer:
Q: Is this a rip-off of NaNoWriMo?
A: We prefer to say it was inspired by NaNoWriMo. But...yes. It is.
Q: Is there a prize?
A: Tremendous personal satisfaction at a job well done.
Q: Who will read my world when its done?
A: Whomever you give it to. It's yours.
Q: Does the Harping Monkey own the right to anything submitted?
A: Hell, no. You own everything. Worlds uploaded at the end of the month for word count verification are deleted, unread, after being verified.
Q: Will you be publishing any of the work submitted?
A: We're not a publishing house. That being said, there is talk of creating a library of worlds, npcs, etc at the Harping Monkey. If we do that, it will be a seperate process.
Q: How do you win? Are there judges? What are the prizes?
A: The way to win IntWoCreMo is by writing 50,000 words by midnight on January 31. Every year, there are many, many winners. There are no "Best World" or "Quickest-Written World" awards given out. All winners will get an official "Winner" web icon and certificate.
No doubt there will be more questions and discussion. Please, visit our forums, which is where we will post the most recent information.
wait, what? am i reading that right?
Um... I don't get it. How is creating a 50k setting at HarpingMonkey different from creating a 50k setting at the CBG? (Well, different color scheme, I suppose...)
But then again, I see a new member "Ishmayl" over at HarpingMonkey, so maybe the real story here is the secret, unofficial collaboration/cross-spammination of two similar message boards. In that case, I'm behind it all the way. 200-or-so-member message boards unite!
Bubblegum and jizzcakes!
Including the standalone fiction, the tags, and some of the elaboration on the various technologies, Dystopia barely breaches 25'000 words!
I have a lot of work to do...
PS: By "original", does that mean that we have to create an entirely new setting? I hope not.
What Salacious said.
I doubt Kahtar, even with its many subsettings, has more than 25,000.
*points at SDragon's emphasis*
So basically, we don't get a prize, and they delete the new stuff afterwards?
Quote from: Epic MeepoUm... I don't get it. How is creating a 50k setting at HarpingMonkey different from creating a 50k setting at the CBG? (Well, different color scheme, I suppose...)
But then again, I see a new member "Ishmayl" over at HarpingMonkey, so maybe the real story here is the secret, unofficial collaboration/cross-spammination of two similar message boards. In that case, I'm behind it all the way. 200-or-so-member message boards unite!
I think Ishmayl was trying to figure out what the hell that site is.
As am I.
Quote from: Elven DoritosI think Ishmayl was trying to figure out what the hell that site is.
As am I.
As far as I can tell, it just looks like a small community of folks discussing various geeky topics via forums and blogs. They count some gamers as members, they go to at least one con, and they have a recurring newsletter-type-thing. There doesn't seem to be a central theme to their content beyond self-proclaimed geekiness and they appear to sell advertising space on their site, meaning they might be a commercial enterprise. But they do have photographic evidence of at least one cute gamer girl amongst their membership, so they can't be all bad.
That's a biref run-down about what I've been able to gather thus far. As for the contest itself, I'm still not too clear about who else is going to be submitting entries, who might read those entries, how much feedback entries will get, etc.
Quote from: Epic MeepoThat's a biref run-down about what I've been able to gather thus far. As for the contest itself, I'm still not too clear about who else is going to be submitting entries, who might read those entries, how much feedback entries will get, etc.
Then you're ahead of me-- I'm missing the point altogether.
Quote from: GolemWhat Salacious said.
I doubt Kahtar, even with its many subsettings, has more than 25,000.
*points at SDragon's emphasis*
So basically, we don't get a prize, and they delete the new stuff afterwards?
all that for just 1.6k+ words per day :D
With a deal like that, who could possibly refuse?
Quote from: Salacious AngelWith a deal like that, who could possibly refuse?
No joke. I can usually barely eke out a thousand words every week or so before I get some serious creative burnout. There are excpetions, but overall, the premise seems...
:dots:
Well, let's just say I'm thinking what most (I hope all) of you are thinking.
:stupid:
On a good week I can nail a good 10K, but then, like you... the burnout.
I did a little research on the "NaNoWriMo" this is based off of.
Jeez. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NaNoWriMo)
I wouldn't want to be involved with either.
Quote from: lemonjoe, FKA sdragonQuote from: GolemWhat Salacious said.
I doubt Kahtar, even with its many subsettings, has more than 25,000.
*points at SDragon's emphasis*
So basically, we don't get a prize, and they delete the new stuff afterwards?
all that for just 1.6k+ words per day :D
Such a GOOD deal.
NaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
Quote from: GolemNaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
It's like telling Da Vinci, "Okay, I'm going to give you a thousand canvases, no goals, and a month. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, and don't bother making them any good, the only thing that matters is how much paint you use."
Sadly, yes. I'm just glad I don't have to judge it...
It is odd... I spent about 45 minutes surfing around on the site, and saw 2 things: one, no central theme to the site (which isn't, in-and-of-itself, necessarily a bad thing), and two, lots of "projects" that ask for a lot, but offer nothing in return. Well, you guys are welcome to post your 50,000 word settings over there then; I give you permission ;)
Quote from: Elven DoritosQuote from: GolemNaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
It's like telling Da Vinci, "Okay, I'm going to give you a thousand canvases, no goals, and a month. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, and don't bother making them any good, the only thing that matters is how much paint you use."
It's a motivational thing. Apparently, there are people out there who
don't spend inordinate amounts of time writing stuff for the hell of it, and they won't actually write stuff unless they have a deadline to keep them motivated. *shakes head* Crazy non-compulsive writers.
Quote from: IshmaylI give you permission.
not[/i] doing their job.
Having said that, I'll take up the challenge regardless.
Quote from: Epic MeepoQuote from: Elven DoritosQuote from: GolemNaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
It's like telling Da Vinci, "Okay, I'm going to give you a thousand canvases, no goals, and a month. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, and don't bother making them any good, the only thing that matters is how much paint you use."
It's a motivational thing. Apparently, there are people out there who don't spend inordinate amounts of time writing stuff for the hell of it, and they won't actually write stuff unless they have a deadline to keep them motivated. *shakes head* Crazy non-compulsive writers.
It's still bullocks.
Quote from: Epic MeepoQuote from: Elven DoritosQuote from: GolemNaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
It's like telling Da Vinci, "Okay, I'm going to give you a thousand canvases, no goals, and a month. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, and don't bother making them any good, the only thing that matters is how much paint you use."
It's a motivational thing. Apparently, there are people out there who don't spend inordinate amounts of time writing stuff for the hell of it, and they won't actually write stuff unless they have a deadline to keep them motivated. *shakes head* Crazy non-compulsive writers.
to be fair, how many average people set out to create worlds? yknow, just for fun?
motivation is great and all, and i do admire people who can work hard enough to get out tens of thousands of words in under a month, but ultimately, this is recreation. the vast majority of us wont lose our jobs if we dont create a world, and even less of us havee a deadline to do so.
Quote from: IshmaylIt is odd... I spent about 45 minutes surfing around on the site, and saw 2 things: one, no central theme to the site (which isn't, in-and-of-itself, necessarily a bad thing), and two, lots of "projects" that ask for a lot, but offer nothing in return. Well, you guys are welcome to post your 50,000 word settings over there then; I give you permission ;)
Wait, that's a trick, right? Nobody actually has a 50,000 word setting to post there (Tasothilos and Altvogge might be exceptions).
@ Salacious Angel: You're actually going to try to create a new setting from scratch that will be bigger than your current largest setting in one month? Good luck.
Túrin
Someone was asking about what the Harping Monkey board was, or what it was about. The board is to support the listeners of their podcast strangely enough called ... the round table. Ok, so it doesn't make sense but that is what they decided to call it. Their podcast if free, so if you are of a mind just download a few of season 3's episodes. Their theme for this season is World Building. I thought that this community would be particularly interested in what they were talking about or at least mildly amused. If I made an error please forgive me as I'm still sort of new and not really sure about what is acceptable or not.
I have enjoyed listening to the guys and gal in the round table podcast and wanted to bring a new resource to the community. Once again if I have made an error then feel free to ignore it.
Thanks for your time in advance
Jester.
Quote from: Death_JesterI have enjoyed listening to the guys and gal in the round table podcast and wanted to bring a new resource to the community. Once again if I have made an error then feel free to ignore it.
It's not an error per se, really. A community built around a podcast, eh? Well, to each his own...
As a community of worldbuilders, people who constantly try to improve the quality of our work and get peer reviews, it just seems absurd to most of us; simply pumping out content for content's sake is a bit inane.
Why the harsh response, everyone?
Admittedly, World Creation Month doesn't fit my own motivational style, and I was confused about what Harping Monkey was all about. I suspect the same is true for many folks here.
But damn, dude. Death Jester isn't selling anything; he's just pointing out a non-commercial event that happens to coincide nicely with the stated purpose of these boards.
This is the first time that I've ever seen the CBG community attack someone who is legitimately talking about the topic of world creation. So what if he's talking about it from a different perspective? If Monte Cook posted here saying he wants submissions for his publishing house in less than a month and he won't be able to offer any feedback, would we trash him, too?
Worse, should members of the CBG get lambasted on other message boards every time they suggest that someone bring their campaign setting to the CBG, just because the CBG has a different approach and a different level of commitment to world building?
This is the first time I've ever been embarassed by the cliquishness of our community. If people at other sites are so exited about our community that they come here to ask us to create content for them, unless their selling something, I say let them come. How is the CBG going to grow if we mock anyone who sees our community as a resource for world builders everywhere?
We're not having a go at him. We're laughing at the idea...
Since when did the members of the CBG deride the ideas of others just because they don't work for us, personally? What's next, mocking ideas for campaign settings that don't seem, from our perspective, to be well thought out? After all, trashing someone's campaign setting is just mocking the idea, not going after the person, right?
Quote from: Epic MeepoWhy the harsh response, everyone?
Admittedly, World Creation Month doesn't fit my own motivational style, and I was confused about what Harping Monkey was all about. I suspect the same is true for many folks here.
But damn, dude. Death Jester isn't selling anything; he's just pointing out a non-commercial event that happens to coincide nicely with the stated purpose of these boards.
This is the first time that I've ever seen the CBG community attack someone who is legitimately talking about the topic of world creation. So what if he's talking about it from a different perspective? If Monte Cook posted here saying he wants submissions for his publishing house in less than a month and he won't be able to offer any feedback, would we trash him, too?
Worse, should members of the CBG get lambasted on other message boards every time they suggest that someone bring their campaign setting to the CBG, just because the CBG has a different approach and a different level of commitment to world building?
This is the first time I've ever been embarassed by the cliquishness of our community. If people at other sites are so exited about our community that they come here to ask us to create content for them, unless their selling something, I say let them come. How is the CBG going to grow if we mock anyone who sees our community as a resource for world builders everywhere?
I think you're reading too much into this, bro. I'm allowed to say that I think the whole concept is silly and inane if somebody else thinks it's awesome, aren't I? Am
I supposed to filter out my thoughts because you don't like them?
That just creates the inverse effect you're trying to achieve. My thoughts are equally valid as his.
*nods*
What ElDo says. The concept of just writing for the heck of it really doesn't mesh with my thoughts.
Anyway, we *do* criticize other people's ideas on this site. Hell, look at the 12-14 pages of debate that lead up to our first meaningful anything on the new CBG system. Look at the "ew, natural 1" comments on my discussion thread. Look at the general disagreement on the philosophy thread. Contradiction is by no means derision.
Quote from: Elven DoritosQuote from: Epic MeepoQuote from: Elven DoritosQuote from: GolemNaNoWriMo - oh... god... that's sad! Sad I say!
It's like telling Da Vinci, "Okay, I'm going to give you a thousand canvases, no goals, and a month. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, and don't bother making them any good, the only thing that matters is how much paint you use."
It's a motivational thing. Apparently, there are people out there who don't spend inordinate amounts of time writing stuff for the hell of it, and they won't actually write stuff unless they have a deadline to keep them motivated. *shakes head* Crazy non-compulsive writers.
It's still bullocks.
It's practice man. Writing 50,000 words in a month isn't going to result in anything particularly
good, but it's a
hell of a lot of practice for when you need to make something good. You know, later, when writing the next great american novel/campaign setting. And when the hell did people need a reason to join a contest? People join contests to
win.
Allow me to clarify into a unifying voice the nature of dissent on this thread, please:
We don't find it to be our taste. We think it's silly. We think it's a bum deal. But to each his own.
We were partially kidding. To my knowledge, we weren't riding anyone's ass, at most we were kidding around a bit. We do that here.
I apologize for anyone I've offended, including you, Meeps. I don't want to ruin the fun around here for you, just please try to take this kind of stuff a bit lighter.
And besides. There are a couple people who've mentioned that they'll be entering.
-ElDo
Death Jester, I would like to apologize if my words seemed in any way harsh. Thank you for your explanation as to what Harping Monkey is about. I joined the site, and I'll probably hang around, because there are some interesting facets of the site. In all honesty, I've always found "contests without prizes" to be somewhat pointless... I guess it's just the fact that the word "contest" in-and-of-itself implies there to be a prize for the winner. I guess if it was called more of a "Call to Arms" for building campaign settings, there would have been less of a hostile response. Although that's really no excuse itself, because we're really good, cheerful people over here, and possibly/probably shouldn't have reacted this way anyway. I won't speak on anyone else's behalf, and I won't be participating in said event, but anything to get people to be involved with creating fantasy worlds can only be a good thing, right?
Well, I agree with all of that statement, but...
Really, writing that many words in a month will bring out some total crap. :P
Maybe for you it will... for someone else, it may bring out a pure gem. Many famous authors say their best work is done as the deadline is approaching.
Touche!
Still, I wouldn't like to have to do that...
As for myself, I have confidence in the ability of the CBG to rise to any world building challenge, and I am honored that Death Jester shares this faith in the creativity and talent of our community.
Sorry if this sounds in any way offensive, but I won't hold myself accountable if the poor guy can't differentiate between criticism of an idea and criticism of a person...
(If you haven't figured it out, it was criticism of an idea)
I for one thoroughly appreciated the sentiment, and admittedly it would have been a good idea for us to show our appreciation before we lunged into our critique, but my comments, and the comments of everyone else who opposed the idea still stand.
I don't think I recall anyone actually lambasting Death Jester. He presented us with an idea - someone else's idea - and we criticised it, not him, because we thought it was somewhat preposterous. That is our prerogative. After all, we don't just nod our heads when the flat-earthers start preaching their nonsense. It's bad form to attack and insult them, but as always, their ideas are fair game.
And I think we were pretty damn civil too. The worst anyone said was that the idea was "bullocks", and I'm pretty sure we can all agree that no-one went out of their way to deride the idea, only to indicate their disagreement with its parameters and their subsequent unwillingness to participate.
Like Meepo, I agree that "if people at other sites are so exited about our community that they come here to ask us to create content for them, unless their selling something, I say let them come." But I will not accept that it follows that we cannot disagree. We may invite them for debate, for instance. If I think an idea is stupid, nonsensical, pointless or otherwise of limited value, I'll be civil in my response but I won't necessarily be all smiles and kisses.
And it's an unfair assumption to suggest that this occasion is indicative of "cliquishness". We didn't see much merit in what Harping Monkey had to offer, but once again, our statements were expressions of personal opinion and were not indicative of any real antipathy towards the idea. When we see something useful or relevant, that's all well and good, but it is our right, as individuals, to refuse an idea we disagree with as individauls.
It is in no way indicative of a flaw in the CBG's character.
On another note:
Hell yes it's different if Monte Cook was asking for submissions! It sure as hell ain't something for nothing, and as we all know it's all about the benjamins...
Moneymoneymoneymoney...
NOTE: Once again, let me be perfectly clear that Death Jester's initiative is commendable. It's always great to know there are folks who have such an interest in the community.
Quote from: Salacious AngelSorry if this sounds in any way offensive, but I won't hold myself accountable if the poor guy can't differentiate between criticism of an idea and criticism of a person...
(If you haven't figured it out, it was criticism of an idea)
I for one thoroughly appreciated the sentiment, and admittedly it would have been a good idea for us to show our appreciation before we lunged into our critique, but my comments, and the comments of everyone else who opposed the idea still stand.
I don't think I recall anyone actually lambasting Death Jester. He presented us with an idea - someone else's idea - and we criticised it, not him, because we thought it was somewhat preposterous. That is our prerogative. After all, we don't just nod our heads when the flat-earthers start preaching their nonsense. It's bad form to attack and insult them, but as always, their ideas are fair game.
And I think we were pretty damn civil too. The worst anyone said was that the idea was "bullocks", and I'm pretty sure we can all agree that no-one went out of their way to deride the idea, only to indicate their disagreement with its parameters and their subsequent unwillingness to participate.
Like Meepo, I agree that "if people at other sites are so exited about our community that they come here to ask us to create content for them, unless their selling something, I say let them come." But I will not accept that it follows that we cannot disagree. We may invite them for debate, for instance. If I think an idea is stupid, nonsensical, pointless or otherwise of limited value, I'll be civil in my response but I won't necessarily be all smiles and kisses.
And it's an unfair assumption to suggest that this occasion is indicative of "cliquishness". We didn't see much merit in what Harping Monkey had to offer, but once again, our statements were expressions of personal opinion and were not indicative of any real antipathy towards the idea. When we see something useful or relevant, that's all well and good, but it is our right, as individuals, to refuse an idea we disagree with as individauls.
It is in no way indicative of a flaw in the CBG's character.
On another note:
Hell yes it's different if Monte Cook was asking for submissions! It sure as hell ain't something for nothing, and as we all know it's all about the benjamins...
Moneymoneymoneymoney...
NOTE: Once again, let me be perfectly clear that Death Jester's initiative is commendable. It's always great to know there are folks who have such an interest in the community.
i agree wholeheartedly. if death jester enjoys writing 50,000 words a month with little to no regard for quality, then its not my place to tell him not to. like i said in my last post, this is, ultimately, for
fun. personally, i dont find it fun to do word-crams; id prefer to work at my own pace, and try whatever quality i can achieve. his word-cram style isnt something that resonates with me.
I don't really understand the disdain for the idea.
If I were to write 50,000 words in a month, a lot of the result would be eyeball-searingly awful. But a lot would also be pretty good ideas that I could later adapt and use for the Jade Stage, after I sort through it all. The way I do things already anyway, I write vast amounts of horrible garbage that never get used, because they're horrible garbage. I sort through my stuff, cherrypicking and revising, before I commit to it. 50,000 words is a lot of raw material to sift through later, and there will certainly be gems amidst it.
Maybe my IntWoCreMo project would take on a life of its own, and become a viable, independant project in its own right. Either way, the project certainly wouldn't be a waste of time.
I see the word count requirement as an accountability safeguard, the equivalent of me telling my friend I'm going to work out at the gym three times a week. I'm more likely to get the exercise done if I've made that promise to someone else, because I know that if I wuss out with a lame excuse, I have to admit it to my friend when he asks me later if I've been keeping up.
Will I be doing this project this December? Probably not, but that has more to do with end-of-the-semester workload than anything else. I still think it's a good idea, in the same way that eating five servings of vegetables every day is a good idea: you probably won't like it at first, but it's good for you, and establishes some very healthy habits that you may grow to love.
Hello All,
I would like to thank everyone for the welcome to the site and taking the time to explain their position on the world creation month. I can see all of the points of view being valid for the individual that posted them. If you aren't interested in taking part in it, that is cool. Believe me I understand. I was very dubious about posting my 50k setting to the site too. I'm taking it as a personal challenge to get my butt in the seat and write till it is done. If it takes 31 days or 6 months it will be done, damn it. :soap:
I have had an idea for a setting in my head ever since I started playing Role-Playing games. As a matter of fact that is one of things that drew me to the games in the first place. While I have grown so has the world idea and now it needs to either come out or something. Gaming and Writing are the only places where building a world from starch is cool.
So, I will be spending January working on the world but before I do that I would like to be able to come to this community to kick around ideas and the like. With that in mind let me clear some things up. I was not offended at the responses that I got, but I was surprised that not many others felt the way I did. Of course that is because I can only see things from my perspective. It wasn't until I got the feedback that I started to understand that unlike me others may not need an external motivator to get started. Let me apologize for the assumption here. I understand that this entire forum is for the express purpose of creating, critiquing and refining topics related to world building. I would like to join and help with this and in the process tighten up my own concepts at the same time. So when January comes around I have some ideas and a better fleshed out concept of what is going to go into that "First Draft".
Ok, I need to clear something up real quick before I go explore other topics on the boards here. I do NOT work for or am in anyway affiliated with the harping monkey crew. Much like this board I just happen to be a guy that posts there and that is it. They didn't request me to do this; I did it on my own accord for the reasons stated before. If you think they are asking anything of this board, let me clearify, they are not. Also I don't even think they know I have posted anything on this board so if you go over there don't expect them to know what you are talking about. I do post over there under the same screen name though so it is easy enough to track me down.
Ok everyone, nice meeting you all, even the ones that disagreed with the idea. I hope we can agree to disagree and take it from there to make better worlds for all. :D
Thanks for your time in advance.
Jester
"Let's agree to disagree" is practically our motto here at CBG. ;)
Glad you found our little community. Welcome aboard and all that stuff. Talk to ElDo for your complimentary welcome-aboard coconut drink with little paper umbrella.
Quote from: Luminous CrayonGlad you found our little community. Welcome aboard and all that stuff. Talk to ElDo for your complimentary welcome-aboard coconut drink with little paper umbrella.
That's Isaac, get it right. :P
Anyway, all's well that ends well, and I'm sure the community looks forward to helping you hammer out some ideas.
For completeness' sake, allow me to apologize for my earlier reaction. I didn't realize fully that you were new here and might take my reaction the wrong way. So I'll say now what I should have said at first:
Hello and welcome, Death_Jester. [insert joke about Isaac and coconut drinks with paper umbrellas] Glad to see you found your way here and expressed your interest in worldbuilding and specifically the worldbuilding of our members here.
That said, you should have laid out the idea of the contest more clearly in this post, and/or provided a link, because I had a hard time finding it on the Harping Monkey website. Now, instead of letting you explain it, I tried to save everyone some time by explaining it myself, but I couldn't help having some irony filtered in with my description, because I personally think the idea of writing 50,000 words in a month is ridiculous. Then again, my opinion is personal and quite possibly wrong: NaNoWriMo seems to be a great success, so why couldn't this be? Therefore, I advise everyone to take a look at the link I provided earlier rather than looking at my biased description of the event. I won't be partaking, but anyone who wants to, certainly should, most specifically you, Death_Jester. Feel free to ask questions or post material for reviewing on this site, just make sure not to post in the Homebrews forum until you've got at least a paragraph of your own material down on paper (but I think you already noticed this; feel free to repost your question in one of the other boards).
Enjoy,
Túrin
So as not to belittle anyone's opinions, please allow me to clarify: I in no way meant to imply that it was wrong for people to be critical of an idea, and apologize for sounding as though I did. I just meant to emphasize that the best thing about the CBG is our ability to offer not just criticism, but constructive criticism. I was just a bit surprised that there were so many objections to World Creation Month with so few suggestions about about how to improve upon the idea. (For example, it could be framed differently when presented to people who rely less on external motivations, and it would make more sense if it were called a challenge instead of contest.)
Oh, and welcome to the CBG, Death_Jester. My apologies for making the assumption that you were affiliated with the folks at Harping Monkey.
I think the issue with that is that when one complains but does not complain to the individuals with whom one has issue, the criticism is pointless and there is therefore little point in adding anything constructive to the mix.
If, on the other hand, we actually presented our criticisms to the Harping Monkeys, there would be some point in being constructive, but that isn't the case. Which is not to say that bitching for the sake of bitching is good, only that constructive criticism is rarely spoken when those who should hear it cannot.
Having said that, you are right in that if we do have issue with it, mayhaps we should be good chaps and advise them on how the competition might be improved.
On another note:
I might enter if I can just add 50'000 to my existing setting, but I won't make another one from scratch. That'll depend on an entirely original vision, and there's damn well enough originality going into Dystopia without doubling it up for another setting.
Snoog.