so... in between writing for an NRP, we thought of a nice contest of sorts that could in theory work well on this forum...



Basic premise of it is that someone provides a CS template, and then whomever desires to participate writes a CS based on it. Then the people who feel like it, can judge the sheets based on a variety of parameters (lingual quality, level of detail, Mary sue testing, feeling of the character being "alive", etc...)

each round could have different templates (and maybe setting, if applicable?). A useful effect we imagine of such a contest is that prospective GMs can use to figure out how they want their CS templates to be, how to avoid pit traps and such in it.

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Another concept:

CS design contest - design the "best" template.

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Thoughts about these concepts?

I do like the concept of it, @Ellri, though it seems that it would perhaps grow tedious after a while, if it was ongoing. Perhaps we could do a three to six month round of biweekly contests, depending on interest? And it would have to run alongside the two contests we already have in the schedule, because for scheduling purposes I think it would throw us all out of whack. But I do like the idea - it is very much in keeping with the theme of the guild, perhaps even more relevant than our usual writing contests. I'll definitely keep it in mind and mention the idea to the team. Assuming the idea comes to fruition, would you like to be on the crew that manages it?

In regards to the second concept I do like it, but I feel it would quickly dissolve into a contest of who's best at bb coding and aesthetics. Perhaps a one-time contest of this sort could be used, as a special relating to the CS contests in general?

(Also, I'm terribly sorry for any random nonsensical words that might have made it into the above post. I think I caught them all but, well... my autocorrect has been known to take perfectly logical words and change them to something that does not work in that context at all.)

exact frequency and such of the contest is naturally something that needs both consideration and thought. fitting it into the schedule is certainly also something the contest staff is far better suited at. Even if it is just deciding that it is put in parallel.

we could at least help with such a contest. designing a good CS template is hard, as is judging them. @RomanAria

Something I realized myself is that "less is more" when it comes to a CS. The more special coding and pretty shit you add, the harder it is to read. My favorite sheets on the forum use coding effectively and never in excess. That is not to say those of us gifted with bbc coding or GFX wizardry don't have an advantage. Just as a longer story isn't always a better story, a more complex character sheet isn't always better.

I mostly like the idea of this contest because it can expose you to all kinds of ideas.

Indeed, @BrokenPromise. While you can use hundreds of formatting tags to get the "right" feel to a sheet, you can get much the same effect with a few carefully placed ones. Like weapons, CS template design is an art.

Though I guess it could be a category in and of itself, for judging - how effectively the bb code is used and how well it's stacked (like how many of the same tag you find within the code, if there are any errors, how easily a hapless sheet maker could break it). Good thought.