Alien Identification Contest Announced!

[nhamlett]

Congratulations to Thehybrid who won the Alien Identification contest. You can find his entry on the Contest Winners page (http://www.startrekonline.com/contest_winners). Also, honorable mention goes out to our runner up Coldsteel6d for his entry. Both will get special forum titles and Thehybrid will get a slot in Star Trek Online's closed beta.

Look for our upcoming contest within the next few weeks!

Talk about it!

[indelible]

Congratulations to the winner here. Fairly interesting story at times. One criticism of mines is focused around the apparently poor spelling and grammar, which is of utmost importance when writing :-)

Grats though.

[ParkerHayden]

Good story, bad grammar.

[Punch_Lion]

Just a quick question - I was under the impression that contest entries were to be limited to 300 words maximum? The winning entry clocks in at over twice that. :) Just wondering why the limit was listed on the contest rules if that was not going to be part of the judging process? I have to say I'm a little disappointed, as I found myself struggling to submit an entry that I was happy with given the very limited size that was mandated... Only to find out that apparently I needn't have cut so much out of my submission.


If you're going to have rules for contest submissions, you should adhere to them. I have to say this really leaves a bad taste in my mouth about these contests and the validity of the judging process.

[TreffnonX]

congratulations. Reads well. Now it also is clear what Awen was waiting for, Alivet seems to have streched the entry a bit in order to make it readable. (i base this assumption on the fact that we were limited to 300 words and the entry obviously exceeds that limitation...)

[BreachAndClear]

His entry is 609 words (copied and pasted it into Word and did a word count).

...Just wondering why the limit was listed on the contest rules if that was not going to be part of the judging process? I have to say I'm a little disappointed, as I found myself struggling to submit an entry that I was happy with given the very limited size that was mandated....

I agree. I had to cut mine down a lot to get want I wanted to say in, while at the same time maintaining coherent sentences. Granted, I would have been disqualified anyway given that I didn't realize that the story needed to take place in a bar setting until after the fact. But it's got to suck for those that did everything right.

[MoppyCGDaniels]

Either way congrats to the winner of this contest!

[Time-Lord]

Congratulations. Real good story.

But, is anyone else abit niffed that they wrote a story under 300 words and this one is twice the size?

[Captain-Picard]

That was amazing, very well thought out. Awen I don't suppose you'll tell us when beta starts LOL! *Sighs*.

[Voyager24]

Congrats amazing entry! :)

[Azurian]

I admit, it was really good, minus the poor grammar. :p

However, like others pointed out, the contest rules said 300 words. While the winner's is 609.

[StraboV2]

Congrats for winning! :D

...but yes I thought 300 words was the maximum....I cut mine down by half to fit what was needed in there :( Thats quite a bit more...

[Varrangian]

Congratulations!!

[phifur]

Congratulations nice read :)

[Silverspar]

Yea, the word count has been puzzling me to, since I know mine I had to signficantly cut down and that clocked in at 300 words exactly, and I lost a lot of stuff I wnated to put in there to :-/

Oh well, grats to the winner.

Edit: Yep double checked the archive since I copy and paste these things exactly from the website, says 300 words or less :(

[KirksOtherSon]

Interesting tale -- you got more out of that screenshot than I did! Congrats, hybrid!

KOS

[TrekGeek]

Not to be a complainer and I am happy for the winner but...

It was really tough for me to fit my story in 300 words and it took me longer to cut and rewrite it to get it under that amount.

If I would have known I could have made it any length I wanted it would have been so much easier and maybe better. I did think I got in a good story under 300 words...I think it was 298 LOL...but it just upsets me a little that the one that did win was over 600 (609 to be exact).

If I am reading rule number 5 incorrectly then I goofed...but I would really like to know what the rules are so I kill myself in cramming info in when I don't have to...

From the contest rules:
5. Entries shall be no longer than three hundred (300) words in length.

Anyone else read it like I did?

Thanks!

[krot]

I would like to congratulate the winner since I believe that's the right thing to do and I love to give praise where it's due. What I'm about to say is not sour grapes because I didn't win. I'm above that sort of foolishness. However, the contest clearly stated that 300 words was the maximum, and that grammar was to be one of the decision criteria. Both these conditions were violated here.
I'm not suggesting that the story wasn't good, for it was. However, many of us who held to the contest criteria could have written more involved scenarios had we broken the 300 word rule as the winner did. Be clear here that I'm not striking out at the winner at all. My focus is directed at the contest management. It is not only inept to lie about the rules, but is a clear signal to that huge pool of creative writers who love Star Trek, to ignore all future Star Trek Online contests, and to connect with others in a viral way to not waste their time with them either. I for one have zero tolerance for poor management, and I sense that the current game development may be run by such inept management.
The previous contest exemplified the same thinking, where we were told that the runners-up would be presented online. However, they never were. A lie. See my point? Personally, I won't be wasting my time with these contests. Instead, I'll invest my time in contests that are run by honest management where they respect a level playing field. I don't expect management to respond to this, since they are probably going to hide behind the anonymity that goes along with their post, a reaction that Picard would not tolerate. Of that I'm sure. If you think that this response is powered by sour grapes, then you've totally missed the point.

[haplo8]

Ok so I didn't enter this contest, and I did enjoy the winning entry. But I am hoping for an officlal reply on the max 300 word rule.

[Nelson]

congrats good job it was an interesting story........ congrats

[Cormoran]

Congrats to the winners!

Whatever happens I sincerely hope they keep their winning positions, I think it'd be unfair to the winners to take it away from them after they've been told they've won.

An explanation as to the whole 300 words or less thing would also be nice though. Is it a rule we can flagrantly disregard in the next contest? can we write novellas next time? I'd much prefer to be able to stretch my fingers and give you several thousand words for the next one.

300 words or less is like trying to write haiku for me. :p

[Rekkert]

Congratilations! A really good story!

[Wyx]

Like most here, I would like an explanation on the number of words!

Maybe I'm just a sore looser!

[Sullen]

That story was amazing compared to mine. He probably spent a lot more time on it than I did.

I didn't notice the grammar, too... probably because the story was actually really interesting, and now it's got me wondering. :P

Kudos to Thehybrid for writing an awesome story.

[Trekkie]

I definitely took a slightly different approach with my entry, but the winning submission was great nonetheless! I, too, would like some kind of official clarification on the contest rules just as reference for future entries, though. Still, congratulations to the winner as well as the honorable mention!

[Lennon]

Very good story. I regret making mine read like a wikipedia entry, instead of a compeling story.

[Dext]

That is so way more then 300 words 610 to be right.


Like last time, you will email you entry of 300 words or less to contest@crypticstudios.com

[STO]

Congratulations to Thehybrid who won the Alien Identification contest. You can find his entry on the Contest Winners page (http://www.startrekonline.com/contest_winners). Also, honorable mention goes out to our runner up Coldsteel6d for his entry. Both will get special forum titles and Thehybrid will get a slot in Star Trek Online's closed beta.

Look for our upcoming contest within the next few weeks!

Talk about it!

ummm awen what is going on here? The rules asked for 300 words or less... that is like 700 words?

[Dext]

ummm awen what is going on here? The rules asked for 300 words or less... that is like 700 words?

it was 610 words but yes they dropped the ball big time an F*#% all the people that did go by the rules.

[EremiticWolf]

Grtaz to the winners....

Not saying my entry was better, but I had to cut alot out when I read the 300 word limit. LOL

Oh well, more contests to come. :)

[Dext]

Grtaz to the winners....

Not saying my entry was better, but I had to cut alot out when I read the 300 word limit. LOL

Oh well, more contests to come. :)

The people that follow the rules will not win so make sheer you brake them so you have a shot to.

[TrekGeek]

How about for fairness they keep the current winner and then take all the entries that were under 300 and find a winner in that category...maybe the runner up was under 300 so they should get a beta slot also? If not then someone from the pool that was under 300... :)

[Dext]

How about for fairness they keep the current winner and then take all the entries that were under 300 and find a winner in that category...maybe the runner up was under 300 so they should get a beta slot also? If not then someone from the pool that was under 300... :)

I do not see why thy should give something to some one that did not go by the rules but yes they need to give a 300 word winner like they should have did in the first place.

But they way I see it is if they can not even run a contest right how are they going to do with the game.

[semmo]

The rules stated the entries were supposed to be 300 words or less. The winning entry breaches the rules and therefore should be deemed null and void.

[Indigo87]

I have to agree as well too, rules are there to be enforced. You wouldn't give the Super Bowl Title to a team with the winning score if they had 400 players on the field, right? So why should any contest be any different. I myself joined these forums only to participate in the contest because they seemed like fun. At first I was a little irked at the runner-up announcements in the first contest. So I decided to hang back and see how they handled this one before I participated again, only to once again be sorely disappointed in how the contest was run. I do hope that there is an improvement in future contests or I myself will simply stop participating in these sham-fests. I would also hope that these "errors" are not an indication of how Cryptic plans on running STO, or I may find myself wasting time playing EVE (oh I shutter at the thought).

[masoniclight]

If the rules are not to be followed then why enter any more contests? What would be the incentive to enter? The rules state 300 words or less.. the entry is null and void. I believe a protest or maybe all of us not entering any more contests until this is resolved. If the devs can't follow the rules, maybe they shouldn't have us a players or contributors.

[Grox]

I didn't participate the contest, but I clearly understand the frustrations here. I would be upset too, especially cause I know writing a story less than 300 words is more work than 600. You really have to be creative with the words you do choose because of the limits.

I could understand going over a few words, but double plus one! No offense to the winner, but the essay should have been disqualified based on the rules.

[Lennon]

I think the only solution is to let everyone who entered into closed beta. I think we can all agree on that...wait this is the internet.

[Majicman182]

(Generic good job comment)


oh wait I got one, congrats on getting into beta! :eek:

[Dext]

Maybe it is just me but If someone did that is kind of squire up that worked for me I will be saying something like your Fired. But maybe that is just me.

[Sjet]

Yeah that sorta sets a dangerous precedent. 300 words per entry makes it easier for them to judge all the entries, but if they're just going to disregard it then everyone is going to think they can do it as well.

Prepare for 1000 word (or more) entries in all the following contests.

[LunaticFringer]

Congrats! An interesting read.

[KirksOtherSon]

Thehybrid pulled a `Kobayashi Maru' and won by changing the scenario ... and good on him or her for taking a risk of disqualification in order to fully tell his or her tale!

As someone with editorial experience, I'm guessing that Thehybrid won because his/her first three hundred words, as written, had already sold the reviewers on the entry.

It's also worth noting that in the publishing world, a "word count" will often skip over any word of less than three characters. It depends on the editorial policy in place at the publishing house.

Yes, the contest rules needed to be more clear, as to what flexibility might be afforded entrants -- but Awen has been ill of late, so it can't hurt to let her get well before demanding explanations written in blood. This will all be sorted before the next contest, without a doubt.

Lastly, I'm embarrassed by those of you who are calling for the revocation of Thehybrid's prize. Taking away Thehybrid's award will not automatically make your story any better, nor diminish what was so obviously good about his/hers.

What's done is done, as the saying goes. There will be more contests, and more beta slot prizes. Move forward, and show a little of the human grace your capable of, friends, please.

Spitefulness does no one any good, and only makes the spiteful look petty.

My opinions anyway, and I doubt they will be well-received, but I stand by them,

And again -- congrats to the winner!

KOS

[Shuichii]

His entry is 609 words (copied and pasted it into Word and did a word count).



I agree. I had to cut mine down a lot to get want I wanted to say in, while at the same time maintaining coherent sentences. Granted, I would have been disqualified anyway given that I didn't realize that the story needed to take place in a bar setting until after the fact. But it's got to suck for those that did everything right.

Well what can we say? Make your next entry 10 pages if you want. Seems the rules are more of a guildeline. No matter what they say next time about length, just make it as long as you need to convey what you want to say. Well, that is if you want to enter next time at all. Seems to me this was a big FU to everyone who put in time on this. I for one won't be entering another one of their rigged contests.

It's as if one person used a bicycle in a foot race. He crossed the line first and the judges just said "ah screw it he got there first, he won." Then anyone who ran the foot race and said it wasn't fair is just sucking on sour grapes.

I think this might give us a hint at the in-game "fairness" as well. Prolly be able to get away with cheating and a slap on the wrist if anything at all. I mean frankly if they won't even follow the rules they set up, why should any of us?

[Dext]

Thehybrid pulled a `Kobayashi Maru' and won by changing the scenario ... and good on him or her for taking a risk of disqualification in order to fully tell his or her tale!

As someone with editorial experience, I'm guessing that Thehybrid won because his/her first three hundred words, as written, had already sold the reviewers on the entry.

It's also worth noting that in the publishing world, a "word count" will often skip over any word of less than three characters. It depends on the editorial policy in place at the publishing house.

Yes, the contest rules needed to be more clear, as to what flexibility might be afforded entrants -- but Awen has been ill of late, so it can't hurt to let her get well before demanding explanations written in blood. This will all be sorted before the next contest, without a doubt.

Lastly, I'm embarrassed by those of you who are calling for the revocation of Thehybrid's prize. Taking away Thehybrid's award will not automatically make your story any better, nor diminish what was so obviously good about his/hers.

What's done is done, as the saying goes. There will be more contests, and more beta slot prizes. Move forward, and show a little of the human grace your capable of, friends, please.

Spitefulness does no one any good, and only makes the spiteful look petty.

My opinions anyway, and I doubt they will be well-received, but I stand by them,

And again -- congrats to the winner!

KOS

They even got to the runener up i nthe first contest so I do not see thing geting fixed.

[KirksOtherSon]

I think this might give us a hint at the in-game "fairness" as well. Prolly be able to get away with cheating and a slap on the wrist if anything at all. I mean frankly if they won't even follow the rules they set up, why should any of us?

I played Cryptic's previous MMORPG game the entire time they ran it. Did you? I saw time and again that they played fair. It's why I stayed.

You're entitled to your opinions, you're entitled to be disappointed; you're entitled to be angry -- but this, this is just rumor-mongering based on conjecture.

One thing does not prove the other -- you're drawing false correlations, and then suggesting that your correlations are the same as proof or objective truth. They're not.

You want to be angry, be angry, but have the courage to stand up and say so. Don't insinuate things, and then claim they're true just because your anger makes you _want_ to see a connection.

KOS

[TwAgIssmuDe]

I like the story, it got me hooked from the get go. I felt like I was watching an episode of ds9 or something, congrats to the winner, nice read.

[Shuichii]

I played Cryptic's previous MMORPG game the entire time they ran it. Did you? I saw time and again that they played fair. It's why I stayed.

You're entitled to your opinions, you're entitled to be disappointed; you're entitled to be angry -- but this, this is just rumor-mongering based on conjecture.

One thing does not prove the other -- you're drawing false correlations, and then suggesting that your correlations are the same as proof or objective truth. They're not.

You want to be angry, be angry, but have the courage to stand up and say so. Don't insinuate things, and then claim they're true just because your anger makes you _want_ to see a connection.

KOS

“If you wish to judge a man, see not how he treats his date but how he treats his waiter.”

Now I haven’t lived with him his whole life, seen everything he has ever done, heard every thought he has ever had. However I am in entitled too, and more over, should make a judgment on him. That is just how people are.

If the Dev’s making the game are not going to follow their own rule here, reason suggests that they may not follow them in the future. I haven’t played any of their games but what I am doing in drawing on what I have just seen them do (mind you it was stated that many Dev’s would vote on the winning entry).

So I say to you my adolescent counterpart (as I will not have the willpower to lower myself to address you again) who here is the angry one stomping his fists? The tone of your comments seem drawn from anger while you project the feeling onto other people through a pseudo condescending attempt to call everyone who followed the rules wrong for being upset.

[Varlician]

The story was indeed a good entry and interesting read, well done to the winner, however, i'm sure there could have been many other good entries had people not had to cut masses of content in order to submit work.
As with any competition, a breach of the rules is automatic failure.

All people are asking for is an explanation from those in power. Who knows, maybe they contacted the winner and asked him/her to add content to it, as 300 words was not good enough for it? And maybe that was why we had the long wait?

I'm not coming down on either side, but a definite explanation is needed, even if it's just to appease the masses.

[TreffnonX]

People, I wrote a comment on the first page that answered all this in advance... the entry most likely wasn't longer than 300 words in it's original version but quite hard to understand. That might suggest why CrypticAlivet had to "crack CrypticAwens back" just minutes before she released the winning entry. I think they wanted to wait for permission from the original writer to allow them to strech the original text. (They probably didn't want to change what he wrote himself and did not correct the grammar, out of writers directives, never change what someone else published...)

Anyone who has followed either Awen or Alivet on Twitter could have come to this conclusion reading their yesterday's entries and they pretty much suggest the same thing.

My entry failed the expectations of this contest because i wrote mine like the last person who won a contest. Like an enzyclopedia about the species... that is the reason I lost.
You should probably ask yourselves what mistake you made in writing your entries. Maybe your grammar was as bad as the grammar of his entry or you failed to be creative or something else.

All in all i think the winner pretty much deserves victory due to a good story.

[Lennon]

Treff I made the same mistake with mine.
Another mistake I made was try to use aspect of the screenshot in my submission. The winner's, while very good, could have been for any other picture of an alien race. I will live and learn from these lessons.

[johnsage]

Guesses and assumptions are nice, but clear answers are better. Now the question for me isnt should the winner stay the winner, because my opinon is, of course he should. However if he did submit and entry that was over the 300 word limit I would like to know, because next time I will as well, I like so many others here was forced to butcher what I orginally wrote in order to get it to fit the three hundred word limit. But if creative writing is rewarded above all I might not worry about it so much next time. That is why I would like a clear answer from Awen. So I can change my future posts accordingly. I bear no ill will toward her or the winner of the contest. Congragulations it was a great post.

[IanD967]

congratulations to the winner but...in the rules it stated no more than 300 words so why was it allowed to win?

5. Entries shall be no longer than three hundred (300) words in length.

now because of that i had to severly reduce my story to pretty much a rubbish version, had i known that it didnt really matter to follow the rules i would of been able to create a much better story :(

[Dext]

People, I wrote a comment on the first page that answered all this in advance... the entry most likely wasn't longer than 300 words in it's original version but quite hard to understand. That might suggest why CrypticAlivet had to "crack CrypticAwens back" just minutes before she released the winning entry. I think they wanted to wait for permission from the original writer to allow them to strech the original text. (They probably didn't want to change what he wrote himself and did not correct the grammar, out of writers directives, never change what someone else published...)

Anyone who has followed either Awen or Alivet on Twitter could have come to this conclusion reading their yesterday's entries and they pretty much suggest the same thing.

My entry failed the expectations of this contest because i wrote mine like the last person who won a contest. Like an enzyclopedia about the species... that is the reason I lost.
You should probably ask yourselves what mistake you made in writing your entries. Maybe your grammar was as bad as the grammar of his entry or you failed to be creative or something else.

All in all i think the winner pretty much deserves victory due to a good story.

Then it should have not been touched an added to.

[Shrqansh]

I approached the contest from the point of view of perhaps being able to jump-start an entirely new species in the Star Trek universe, which is kind of a big deal. I didn't see it as about getting into beta (but cool) or fundamentally about being entertaining (though one would try). What was important was the concept, the creation of something new -- something Star Trek.

There are precious few opportunities for outsiders, especially at this early stage, to inform the new (and old) universe that is being created. I would only ask that the people at STO treat, if not our babies with respect, at least the cribs that they are directed to lie down in.

Am I now being petty? It's an odd charge, if made, as I never approached the contest as something petty to begin with (Star Trek! A new species!), but which, apparently, we are being invited to see it as. The end-result is to feel like a fool, or worse, a fan.

UPDATE: Well, as I was about to post this, I see that a new post has made to suggest that the original entry was perhaps 300 words or less and possibly quite hard to understand. This deserves a NO COMMENT, but I'll make one anyway: Beauty contests are not judged based on the potential for plastic surgery.

And, yes, the winner should stay the winner, the rules should be clarified or minted in bold, and... and... I do feel better now, actually. :)

[jbarker82]

Congrats to the winner! :)

[willriker09]

Just a quick question - I was under the impression that contest entries were to be limited to 300 words maximum? The winning entry clocks in at over twice that. :) Just wondering why the limit was listed on the contest rules if that was not going to be part of the judging process? I have to say I'm a little disappointed, as I found myself struggling to submit an entry that I was happy with given the very limited size that was mandated... Only to find out that apparently I needn't have cut so much out of my submission.


If you're going to have rules for contest submissions, you should adhere to them. I have to say this really leaves a bad taste in my mouth about these contests and the validity of the judging process.

The winner was a whopping 609, I too adhered to the 300 words only.

[Doug3575]

Congrats to the winner! Good job.

[Coldsteel6d]

Nice story. Next time I think I will take the story telling route instead of trying to pack in to much information in 300 words. Focusing on one element is better then trying to write a history of a species.

[SelorKiith]

Winning by using the Kirk-Maneuver...
Congrats for the Beta Seat...

[Traveller]

didnt bother reading it all.more than 300 words broke the rules bit unfair on on the otheres who only wrote 300

[Shatterhand]

It's not as if I really expected to win, but I am seriously unhappy about this. The rules were clearly stated, and the winning entry was over twice the limit set by those rules. It was damn fine writing; don't get me wrong, and I congratulate the winner based on his talent, but many of us had to butcher what could've been something as captivating a read as the winner's entry because we were given a limit.

I'm not going to pretend here. I want a beta position. I crave it, I COVET it. If I don't get one, so be it; I won't cry a river over it. But to lose my chance because Cryptic decided to break its own rules...well, I can't help but feel cheated.

Call those of us remarking about this sore losers if you wish; I don't much care. At least we care enough about the situation to say something. I think it's Cryptic's turn to step up to the plate and explain themselves, and seriously consider retooling their rules for the next "contest".

[MagnusTyrel]

I wasnt going to reply in here considering how very upset I am regarding that the winning entery breached the 300 word limmit, My story was massivly trimmed to fit the 300 word limmit, although I have no illusions that it probably wasnt good enough to win I do however feel somewat betrayed seeing as the rules were simply ignored in choosing a winner....

I'm not being bitter and congratz to the winner, but I would like to hear some form of response to the crys of others that are understandably unhappy with the breach of rules like myself...

Now i'm going to stop here no dought i've vented too mutch and I dislike upsetting anyone...

[fablis310]

Ditto. Everything that I was going to say has already been said. I consider myself a writer but I was forced to make tough decisions when cutting down my entry. :( Sigh

[BreachAndClear]

I figure - though I'm just guessing - that it was an unintentional mistake on Cryptic's part. What's done is done. I had mentioned that my story didn't adhere to the bar setting. If I had won, then I'd imagine there would be similar complaints about my failure to follow the rules, but even though I violated the rules and still won (in that hypothetical situation), I'd hate to have my reward stripped from me.

I figure TheHybrid won, not to any fault of his own, but because of a mistake made by Cryptic. I imagine they're aware of the concerns brought forth in this thread, but can't imagine they'll respond to the issue because it may then lend justification to the demand that The Hybrid be stripped of his beta slot, which I just don't see happening. All that can really be hoped for is that the mistake - if there was one - be realized and that contest rules be looked at more strictly when determining a winner for future contests.

[StraboV2]

True, I'm not being a sore loser or anything. I congratulate the winner, and I don't think he should have his/her prize taken away. My only issue is...well the word limit. If 300 words was a suggestion then that would change everything. I had PLENTY of stuff I wanted to write but left it out because I didn't want to break 300 words and be disqualified. Thus my entry didn't have all that I wanted it too.

I think most folks here are not crying about not winning, they all (myself included) feel a little cheated since their creative writing was slashed down when it apparently didn't have to be. I don't really care too much about the grammar either since...well not everyone has English as a first language, so it wouldn't be overly fair to exclude them because of that. But if a rule isn't concrete then it should be stated as such.

[BreachAndClear]

Well, I heavily implied that Cryptic was at fault in my last post, but that too is just a guess. For all I know, TheHybrid won legitimately. In a school setting for instance, there are times when you might be forced to take an exam where you are given 5 questions but only need to write responses to 2 of them, anything beyond that is ungraded and only the first two are actually considered. Perhaps the first 300 words were captivating enough alone that TheHybrid won and the latter 309 were not considered. I find that hard to believe, but it's possible.

EDIT: I find it hard to believe since the first 300 words only go up through the part "Now I remember their species, the Vanterians. " (that's the last complete sentence)

Given that the bulk of the interesting and creative points in the story come after this point, I figure Cryptic read the whole thing and judged it as an entirety.

[Capn_Danger]

300 words was very limiting, I feel a bit annoyed at having followed the rules now :confused:

bah

[EbonyBlade]

Congratz to the winner.

It looks to me like the Judges assigned points to each comtest entry. Thehydrids story was good enough to win even with the penalties added to his over all score.

I wish I had known this earlier. My first draft was 1025 words but after a few days of editing I condensed it to 299 words.

[Stormnet]

Just a quick question - I was under the impression that contest entries were to be limited to 300 words maximum? The winning entry clocks in at over twice that. :) Just wondering why the limit was listed on the contest rules if that was not going to be part of the judging process? I have to say I'm a little disappointed, as I found myself struggling to submit an entry that I was happy with given the very limited size that was mandated... Only to find out that apparently I needn't have cut so much out of my submission.


If you're going to have rules for contest submissions, you should adhere to them. I have to say this really leaves a bad taste in my mouth about these contests and the validity of the judging process.

I'm with you. I kept mine under 300 words. You can tell a much better story with double that.

Grats to the winner anyways it was a good story, but if it really doesn't matter how many words, then say it. I worked for hours to get my story down to the 300 word limit and thought I had a real shot for a change.

[knightofhyrule730]

in addition to the whole 300 word thing, I was under the impression that Romulan Ale was illegal. I am very disappointed in Cryptic for letting something so basic, and so known, slip by. That's Trek 101, imo.

To quote Worf:

"Romulan Ale should be illegal..."

"It is."

[Shatterhand]

I'm not asking Cryptic to strip TheHybrid of his award. His writing was excellent, and that's what this contest was about. But if Cryptic had followed their own conditions, he wouldn't have won. It's as simple as that. As good as his writing was, it was over the limit, and that alone would have disqualified him, per the rules they set forth for this contest.

All I want is this: for the next contest, set a higher limit. Maybe not 600 or 700, but at least 500. Give us a little room to breathe and to prove our skills.

[Dext]

what they should do is for all the people that was 300 or under but us in a drawing for a beta key so it is fair. they can let him keep his but give the people that did go by the rule a shout.

[Varlician]

to me, it looks very much like more was added to the story, after it was chosen to win, as i stated earlier.

Now I remember their species, the Vanterians.

at this point in the story, the word count is 283 and very much seems like an ideal place to end if you are sticking to a 300 word count limit.
It's only a thought, but i'm still sticking to my assumption that the writer was asked to add more after it was chosen.

[Dext]

IF they did add on to it they should have side something but no. An even if they did they should not have.

[Silverspar]

in addition to the whole 300 word thing, I was under the impression that Romulan Ale was illegal. I am very disappointed in Cryptic for letting something so basic, and so known, slip by. That's Trek 101, imo.

To quote Worf:

"Romulan Ale should be illegal..."

"It is."

Romulan ale was made legal during the Dominion War, the statement from Geordi was yet another Trek blunder.

But anyways, I don't feel the winner should lose their spot, but I do believe their is some clarification in order. The person trying to say they are an editor, is fine, but let's be realistic here, there has been no definition and they didn't say anything about having it lengthened. I doubt I would of won, but it is a slap in the face to everyone who stayed within the rules to edit down their entries.

[Powerhelm]

Let's just go ahead and end the discussion with: Congratulate, you broke the rules and still won. Give thehybrid our James T. Kirk Kobayashi Maru Award and move on :)

Unfortunately since it's their contest they can break their own judging rules at any time...maybe if we were nicer posters we'd get the same leniency. Or maybe the judges are members of Shadow Fleet ;)

I know, lets just give everyone that entered a beta slot! That'll clear everything up...

[JDiesel17]

Very dissapointing...

The way I see it, the winning entry was on steroids. It broke the rules and bulked up from 300 to 609 words...

It should receive an asterisk and forever be kept out of the hall of fame.

And if it is the case of "they went back and asked him to flesh it out" then it wasn't good enough on its own and it should not have won.

[KirksOtherSon]

in addition to the whole 300 word thing, I was under the impression that Romulan Ale was illegal. I am very disappointed in Cryptic for letting something so basic, and so known, slip by. That's Trek 101, imo.

To quote Worf:

"Romulan Ale should be illegal..."

"It is."

Respectfully, perhaps not in 2409.

In the Star Trek Countdown comic book series, produced as an "official prequel" (so it says on the cover) to the upcoming JJ Abrams Trek film -- wherein all the older, modern Federation characters conspicuously wear Star Trek Online -style uniforms -- there's a line in the second issue about furnishing Romulan Ale for a party aboard Captain Data's USS Enterprise.

I'm not trying to be contrary here, merely pointing out that since the series was and is sanctioned by Paramount as an "official prequel" to the movie, it does raise the question why would a Federation vessel sanction an illegal beverage?

Parts of the" Path To ..." stuff we've already seen suggest or mirror elements in the comic series (Worf as a Klingon repatriate; Picard as an Ambassador; LaForge as a starship designer; Data's "resurrected consciousness" inside the B-4 body -- not to mention the pointed use of STO -style Starfleet uniforms), and it all suggests that Paramount, Cryptic, and the folks who sanctioned the prequel comic have all been sharing notes in some way. ;)

Only trying to shed some light. Times change, and maybe the prohibition (pun intended) on Romulan Ale has been lifted by 2409, and hence, Thehybrid's story could not be officially faulted.

Cheers,

KOS

[NeoWolf]

Not best pleased to be honest.

Why put a word count limit on it if you are blatantly going to ignore it?

We all missed heaps of content out because of sticking to the word count and here you are giving the contest to an entry that is over twice the set limit..

The entry wasn't bad but it was in breach of your own contest rules which makes the situation unfair on the rest of us.

You have to realise if you put guidelines down most people are going to follow them because those are the rules as you state them. then turning around and rewarding entries that do not abide by those rules, is as I said unfair and fairly disrespectful to the rest of us, however good the entry may have been.

[krot]

Thehybrid pulled a `Kobayashi Maru' and won by changing the scenario ... and good on him or her for taking a risk of disqualification in order to fully tell his or her tale!

As someone with editorial experience, I'm guessing that Thehybrid won because his/her first three hundred words, as written, had already sold the reviewers on the entry.

It's also worth noting that in the publishing world, a "word count" will often skip over any word of less than three characters. It depends on the editorial policy in place at the publishing house.

Yes, the contest rules needed to be more clear, as to what flexibility might be afforded entrants -- but Awen has been ill of late, so it can't hurt to let her get well before demanding explanations written in blood. This will all be sorted before the next contest, without a doubt.

Lastly, I'm embarrassed by those of you who are calling for the revocation of Thehybrid's prize. Taking away Thehybrid's award will not automatically make your story any better, nor diminish what was so obviously good about his/hers.

What's done is done, as the saying goes. There will be more contests, and more beta slot prizes. Move forward, and show a little of the human grace your capable of, friends, please.

Spitefulness does no one any good, and only makes the spiteful look petty.

My opinions anyway, and I doubt they will be well-received, but I stand by them,

And again -- congrats to the winner!

KOS
It's people like you who maintain the status quo and inhibit change, giving the rule-ignorers (both corporate and contestants) the perfect rationale to continue as before, preventing any constructive progress or improvement. You try to sound mature and above the criticism, even to be a peacemaker. It's all very well to try to be a peacemaker, however, there comes a time when issues need resolved, head on. This is such a time as the plethora of posts prove. Will management respond, or hide in the corner pretending it isn't happening? More likely, they'll retort that we're all just sour for not winning. That is clearly not true and would indicate very poor judgement. Come to think of it, you sound like a manager ..

[47Wasps]

All of a sudden,I'm glad I didn't enter the contest.
Because if I had,I'd probably be upset right now over the misunderstanding with the rules.

But the way I see it,the winning entry was good.
Far different than what I was expecting.
and far better.
The quality of the story doesn't give it the right be above the rules,but it was a descent read.

(The only problem I had with it was that bit about the Borg.)

[Dext]

If I would have lost to a person that did do the 300 words I would be cool with that but I lost to someone that did not go by the rules set so that is why I am Peed off a bout it. An a lot of other people.

An if they can run a contest this bad what are they doing with the game.

It is True that the Dev's on the game have nothing to do with this but if someone on the team looks bad then the team it self looks bad.

[Dext]

All of a sudden,I'm glad I didn't enter the contest.
Because if I had,I'd probably be upset right now over the misunderstanding with the rules.

But the way I see it,the winning entry was good.
Far different than what I was expecting.
and far better.
The quality of the story doesn't give it the right be above the rules,but it was a descent read.

(The only problem I had with it was that bit about the Borg.)

There would have been better story if we did not follow the 300 word max. it may not have been my story but someone would have had one.

[Deanwormer]

Although I share everybody's concern about the flagrant flaunting of the word limiit rules. A couple of words here or there and nobody would've said anything.

[Silverspar]

Although I share everybody's concern about the flagrant flaunting of the word limiit rules. A couple of words here or there and nobody would've said anything.

I wouldn't of been really that bothered if it was 305 or even 320, as I know telling a decent story in 300 words is very difficult to do.

[Counselor_Zexx]

Congratulations...

But the winning story is six hundred and nine words? Over double the limit we were given?

This is highly frustrating. Especially when so many of us worked very hard to conform to the established rules of the contest to create an entertaining read.

AND let me stress - 300 words is PLENTY of space to tap out a great story. Especially when you regard it as a challenge, not a limitation my fellow writers.

In these forums, I've defended the apparent "growing pains" of the first contest. And even again as this contest's deadline trickled by, I gave the process the benefit of the doubt. But this is super weird and very, very discouraging.

It's a good read but the story's winning status is greatly upstaged by it's outrageous length. What a shame - two contests in a row with bizarre results... I hope the devs will give these contests a more thorough looking at going forward.

[fablis310]

to me, it looks very much like more was added to the story, after it was chosen to win, as i stated earlier.

Now I remember their species, the Vanterians.

at this point in the story, the word count is 283 and very much seems like an ideal place to end if you are sticking to a 300 word count limit.
It's only a thought, but i'm still sticking to my assumption that the writer was asked to add more after it was chosen.

I hadn't even thought of that. Good point!

[DarthWarth]

Just a quick question - I was under the impression that contest entries were to be limited to 300 words maximum? The winning entry clocks in at over twice that. :)

Hmm, yeah I noticed that too. Perhaps it was amended by Cryptic. If I'd have known I could have made mine much better rather than squeezing it into 300 words. I wouldn't have been able to win though even if mine had have been as good as the winners, I noticed afterwards it was open to US residents only. Damn beta contractual rules.

[indelible]

I waited a while before posting my ideas on this entry and the contests that have been ran by Awen so far. I'm going to assume it was Awen as he is the Lead CM for STO, so he obviously has the call when it comes to competitions.

Firstly, the grammar in the entry was really, really, really poor. Some here claim that the story is good enough to overlook the rubbish English but I disagree with that. The story was OK. If it had been written with correct English, it would have been awesome. It wasn't and as such, it doesn't surpass that level of just being OK. It shouldn't have won on that fact alone.

Secondly, it is 300 words over the word count limit of 300. The writer should have been disqualified for this oversight on his behalf. If it had been a fairly run contest, I guess that would have happened.

The poor management of competitions is only damaging Cryptic's image. I hope it is sorted for the ext contest.

[ethanADAMS]

Congradulations Thehybrid!!! Nice job. "Humor", who would have thunk it???? Just had a thought!!!

Why not publish all the entries...that would be a good read and I know I'd enjoy it...Is that possible? Don't have any idea how many there were..
eA

[matt4tay]

Hmm, yeah I noticed that too. Perhaps it was amended by Cryptic. If I'd have known I could have made mine much better rather than squeezing it into 300 words. I wouldn't have been able to win though even if mine had have been as good as the winners, I noticed afterwards it was open to US residents only. Damn beta contractual rules.

You could have entered. It was worldwide.

[DarthWarth]

An if they can run a contest this bad what are they doing with the game.



The poor management of competitions is only damaging Cryptic's image. I hope it is sorted for the ext contest.

The point here is a good one though I'm not going to dwell too much on a competition which for the most part is just a bit of fun. Granted there is a beta slot but the competitions do not get as much devotion by the team as the game does so I'm hoping the number of discrepancies don't translate over to the game. I'm sure they won't.

[DarthWarth]

You could have entered. It was worldwide.

I did enter, but the rules said 'open to US residents only' or something. It'll be to do with the beta only being available to US residents due to contracts. I'm hoping you're right though and I read it wrong.

[matt4tay]

I did enter, but the rules said 'open to US residents only' or something. It'll be to do with the beta only being available to US residents due to contracts. I'm hoping you're right though and I read it wrong.

Well Awen stated that all the Trivia Contests from now are open worldwide, i assume that the writing contests are aswel otherwise it makes no sense.

[Dorkybob]

Foremost Congrats to the winner!

Second, yes his entry was 2x ours counting in at 609 words (mine was 298 words, so yeah I feel a bit kicked in the twig and giggle berries at the moment)

However I believe that this brings up a very important detail that Cryptic needs to address, and to me its a mater of trust. How can a perspective customer expect to trust a salesman if they break their own rules? There are a ton of questions that can be taken from this slip up, but the one that is coming to mind now is "buyer be ware". Can I trust that once the game goes live that your patch notes are telling me the truth when you update the game? As you can see this is a giant can of worms, and a number of readers and participants would like nothing more than an honest straight forward answer.

~Dork

[TreffnonX]

Well Awen stated that all the Trivia Contests from now are open worldwide, i assume that the writing contests are aswel otherwise it makes no sense.

The rules never said it is only open to US only. If you check closely it said that any contest with a money prize of greater than 0$ US.Dollars will be limited to US only. but since this trivia does not include a prize above 0$ that is no problem. It says explicitly that it has a prize of 0$ value. therefore you can enter and you wree considered.

[BreachAndClear]

I guess it depends on how they graded each submission. For instance, I got the impression that if players exceeded the word limit they would be disqualified because it failed to meet the required format for the entry.

I mean, even if the winner exceeded the limit with 320 words instead of 300, it would be easier to be lenient, since if you're just looking at a body of text, without using a word count, one could reasonably think "yeah that looks like it's about 300 words." But the very first thing that struck me when looking at TheHybrid's entry is "That's way more than 300 words..."

[Usagi7]

Congratulations to the winner. It's unfortunate that the word limit thing has become the focal point of the discussion here but I think it's fair for people to at least question "what's going on here" when no 'official' explanation has been given. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt and assume the original entry was just embellished upon AFTER the winner was chosen, so I'm not all that offended personally. But the bottom line is: I don't know. A simple "This is the winning entry with some extra description we asked him to write after winning" disclaimer would've quelled all doubt. If it really is just a matter of an entry of 609 words in its original form winning this contest then that would be entirely uncool. Without any explanation, I can't blame other people for assuming the worst here. People wanted to win and it's frustrating to feel like you've been cheated.

[Vorador]

I didn't enter the contest. His story is nice, but it should not count. Rules are rules, there should not be exceptions made cause he had a nice story. Winning with double the word limit is an insult to those who did try to get in 300 words or less.

[TreffnonX]

Let me put it this way. Had my entry won, then I would have been surprised if they had not tried to strech it in order to make it more understandable and useful.
But people, let's just be fair, if you take a look on twitter you will notice that Alivet was litteraly begging for approval on this, so i personaly have zero doubt that they did in fact strech it.

Ask yourself if your entry would have made it in it's original form (because you hada to cut yours and all)

Maybe I take it all too easiely because i to me this would only be about prestige which i don't care about, but i can understand the people who feel betrayed. However I see no chance that this was the original entry and therefore i have no doubt that it was changed.
So long...

[NeoWolf]

Man I hate this and I hate being negative, but this situation irks me greatly.

If you read the clearly define rules on the actual contest page http://startrekonline.com/contest/alien you will note the following.

5. Entries shall be no longer than three hundred (300) words in length.

Not an issue of misinterpretation, it CLEARLY states, entries shall be NO LONGER than 300 words in length.

Lots of us cut our entries down considerably to meet that requirement, and the prize being rewarded to an entry that break that rule with a word count of over twice that amount, however good it may have been is CLEARLY in breach of the contest rules.

Cryptic have inadvertantly put TheHybrid in an awful and uncomfortable position here by dropping the ball in this way.

The competition was clearly not judged with much fairness or attention to detail regarding their own rules because someone has BLATANTLY dropped the ball by not paying attention, mistake undoubtedly but nevertheless its a bad one.

[Dext]

Let me put it this way. Had my entry won, then I would have been surprised if they had not tried to strech it in order to make it more understandable and useful.
But people, let's just be fair, if you take a look on twitter you will notice that Alivet was litteraly begging for approval on this, so i personaly have zero doubt that they did in fact strech it.

Ask yourself if your entry would have made it in it's original form (because you hada to cut yours and all)

Maybe I take it all too easiely because i to me this would only be about prestige which i don't care about, but i can understand the people who feel betrayed. However I see no chance that this was the original entry and therefore i have no doubt that it was changed.
So long...

I do not think they would have it would be hard for them to add on to some other persons idea with out knowing what they was thinking.

[TreffnonX]

Man I hate this and I hate being negative, but this situation irks me greatly.

If you read the clearly define rules on the actual contest page http://startrekonline.com/contest/alien you will note the following.

5. Entries shall be no longer than three hundred (300) words in length.

Not an issue of misinterpretation, it CLEARLY states, entries shall be NO LONGER than 300 words in length.

Lots of us cut our entries down considerably to meet that requirement, and the prize being rewarded to an entry that break that rule with a word count of over twice that amount, however good it may have been is CLEARLY in breach of the contest rules.

Cryptic have inadvertantly put TheHybrid in an awful and uncomfortable position here by dropping the ball in this way.

The competition was clearly not judged with much fairness or attention to detail regarding their own rules because someone has BLATANTLY dropped the ball by not paying attention, mistake undoubtedly but nevertheless its a bad one.

-Read the M***** f****** Thread before you M***** f****** post!!!!!!!-:mad:

It is highly likely that the original entry was within the 300 word limit and has been streched in order to make a better text to read.

[Cualtemuac]

I won't complain about the length or grammer. I like the story and I have to admit that I'm extremely jealous of the closed beta spot.

[Dext]

I got this in a PM with Awen:
The reason this person was chosen as the winner is because it went above and beyond in originality and quality. The entire team liked it. In our rules, it states that we reserve the right to change any rule as we choose when we want. I would hope that you would show better sportsmanship in the future.

It would be one thing if they told us that they did this so we could do another one but no so I do not see how I can pay for something that Cryptic is making if there going to change an add thing as they wish with out the community.

I can see them doing thing like SOE did with Star wars galaxies changing the game in a big way an not leting us have a say in it. An I am talking about the CU an the NGE.

[Stormnet]

-Read the M***** f****** Thread before you M***** f****** post!!!!!!!-:mad:

It is highly likely that the original entry was within the 300 word limit and has been streched in order to make a better text to read.

How do you know that? Sheer speculation on your part...

[TreffnonX]

I do not think they would have it would be hard for them to add on to some other persons idea with out knowing what they was thinking.

Yes it is possible to strech a text without further knowledge. Also they have seeked the writers approval as anybody TRULY interested could easiely check on twitter!!!!!!:rolleyes:

go to twitter, check on CrypticAlivet 's latest entries and you will find that she was about to go mad on not getting approval for the changes she made...
Now stop this and give them a chance to put things straigt. In a few hours Awen will find this bunch of comments and set it straight. Until then give them the benefit of the doubt...

gash, the nest person blaming the orgas will make me seriously angry :mad:

[Silverspar]

-Read the M***** f****** Thread before you M***** f****** post!!!!!!!-:mad:

It is highly likely that the original entry was within the 300 word limit and has been streched in order to make a better text to read.

TreffnonX, you maybe trying to make sense of this in a logical method, but there is no logical answer here to why this has happened. An explanation is needed, and you aren't going to make people happy with your statements of "as an editor" because the rules are stated straight up, and right now, everyone is seeing a violation of said rules.

[BreachAndClear]

The response Dext got from Awen implies that nothing was changed, but that Cryptic bent the rules for TheHybrid because they liked his entry.

That still seems a bit "unfair" and encourages people to break all the rules in the future in the hopes that theirs will be so good that they'll have the rules bent for them and win anyway. The same problem still persists. A lot had to be cut out to fit it into 300 words. Compliance with the rules and "going above and beyond" seem mutually exclusive. For most, getting the story they created across means breaking the 300 word limit.

[TreffnonX]

How do you know that? Sheer speculation on your part...

Go to twitter, read Alivets statements, then check on the synchronous comments from Awen who complains that "ooooone last piece of information" is still missing.
It is SO obvious, and has nothing to do with speculation but with deduction and the skill to read between the lines that most people here either don' want or can't...

[NeoWolf]

-Read the M***** f****** Thread before you M***** f****** post!!!!!!!-:mad:

It is highly likely that the original entry was within the 300 word limit and has been streched in order to make a better text to read.

FirstlyI have followed the thread since this morning, where I posted long before you even knew it was here..

secondly if it takes another 306 words to give clarity to a piece than the first and all important 300 words that the rest of us abided by then obviously it does not meet the contest requirements.

What you are essentially arguing is a situation where you would award say a prize in a short story contest to an entry based on one page, but only after giving readers the rest of the book to give the first page short story clarity... and that is stupidity at its best.

If 300 words is the stated rule and it says entries must be no longer.. the no longer should they be. You can say read between the lines etc.. but that is rubbish if the rules were open to interpretation by the very definition of "open to interpretation" their would be no necessity for rules FULL stop.

Noone is saying anything underhand has gone off, but clearly whoeever judged the entries failed to pa attention to the rules he/she was supposed to be judging them by.

So follow the thread yourself, muppet.

[Deanwormer]

Let me put it this way. Had my entry won, then I would have been surprised if they had not tried to strech it in order to make it more understandable and useful.
But people, let's just be fair, if you take a look on twitter you will notice that Alivet was litteraly begging for approval on this, so i personaly have zero doubt that they did in fact strech it.

You know if a DEV had stepped in at the beginning of this uproar and admitted that Cryptic padded the winning entry this wouldn't be an issue, right?

Sometimes silence speaks a lot.

[Dext]

I got this in a PM with Awen:


It would be one thing if they told us that they did this so we could do another one but no so I do not see how I can pay for something that Cryptic is making if there going to change an add thing as they wish with out the community.

I can see them doing thing like SOE did with Star wars galaxies changing the game in a big way an not leting us have a say in it. An I am talking about the CU an the NGE.

An I was right by what Awen told me

[Dext]

This is From Awen in a PM

The reason this person was chosen as the winner is because it went above and beyond in originality and quality. The entire team liked it. In our rules, it states that we reserve the right to change any rule as we choose when we want. I would hope that you would show better sportsmanship in the future.

[masoniclight]

I have already sent a grievance about breaking their own rules with this entry. If they want to suddenly change the rules and don't let us know about it, then how is that fairness? With 619 words, I could have made a much better story too. If they are going to stick by their guns then fine, but in the spirit of having rules and fairness, I wish they would abide their own rules so we HAVE fairness.

If they don't overturn this, I will be very saddened and deeply disappointed. So in the next contest, maybe we should ALL submit stories over 300 words.. after all, the devs are not going to abide by their rules, so why should we?

[Bezurn]

First of all, and most importunately, congratulations to the winner!!!

I too submitted an entry that conformed to the rules (300 words exactly in fact). If in fact the original entry ended with ... "Now I remember their species, the Vanterians." then there is no issue here as that entry conforms to the rules. Now, if you submitted his 609 entry first, then edited everything after the quoted line above and submitted the -300 word entry, but the judges used, refered, or referenced the 609 entry for judging then that would be a lot of fudge factor and a flagrant disregard of the contest rules.

I do not think my entry would have won, as I had just checked the webpage after a weeks vacation and the deadline was in four hours. Given the four hours of cram time to come up with a story and then convey that story into a limiting 300 words gave me a bit of pride in my story. I'm sure that many of you are proud of the stories you entered within the 300 word limit but would have loved a few hundred more words to really flesh out what you wanted to convey. Then, a week after the winner was to be announced, we see that the winning entry contains exactly that, a few hundred more words than what we were allowed by the contest rules to submit, I am with the majority of you in feeling cheated and disgusted in how this contest ended.

Again, congratulations to the winner, a good read, even up to first 300 words.

[Deanwormer]

This is From Awen in a PM

Oh, dude. That is SO the wrong answer. Not sure Awen wanted that shared but I'm glad you did.

"Sportsmanship" usually takes place within the rules of the competion not outside of them.

[Shuichii]

I did enter, but the rules said 'open to US residents only' or something. It'll be to do with the beta only being available to US residents due to contracts. I'm hoping you're right though and I read it wrong.

Just to be clear on this, Awen stated in the contest thread :

AS I stated previously, this contest is open to everyone. There are not geographical restrictions.

Also, the planet contest winners will be contacted privately since we're in a new contest. Like I said before, we had technical issues and I'd rather not clutter up this contest with the previous ones.


So there you go.

[Azurian]

So basically Awen and the Cryptic staff more or less gave everyone who followed the rules, a big middle finger. :mad:

Well, news is quickly spreading to other MMOs. People are saying Cryptics decision was very wrong and their reputation is now tarnished because of this.


Frankly, I'm debating weither if I want to participate in anymore contests, because there has been so many questionable moments regarding their decisions.

[NeoWolf]

This is From Awen in a PM
Quote:
The reason this person was chosen as the winner is because it went above and beyond in originality and quality. The entire team liked it. In our rules, it states that we reserve the right to change any rule as we choose when we want. I would hope that you would show better sportsmanship in the future.

__________________


They change the rules to suit themselves, people who abided by the rules are annoyed, and it is us they try to turn it around on and paint as bad sportsmanship.. now that does annoy.

A simple sorry, yeah we blundered from them would have garnered them far more respect and put the issue to bed.

[TreffnonX]

FirstlyI have followed the thread since this morning, where I posted long before you even knew it was here..

secondly if it takes another 306 words to give clarity to a piece than the first and all important 300 words that the rest of us abided by then obviously it does not meet the contest requirements.

What you are essentially arguing is a situation where you would award say a prize in a short story contest to an entry based on one page, but only after giving readers the rest of the book to give the first page short story clarity... and that is stupidity at its best.

If 300 words is the stated rule and it says entries must be no longer.. the no longer should they be. You can say read between the lines etc.. but that is rubbish if the rules were open to interpretation by the very definition of "open to interpretation" their would be no necessity for rules FULL stop.

Noone is saying anything underhand has gone off, but clearly whoeever judged the entries failed to pa attention to the rules he/she was supposed to be judging them by.

So follow the thread yourself, muppet.

Are you retarded or what??? I wrote in this thread on the first page last night, please check yourself!
And I have to say I won't argue any longer about this because in fact I wan't there and have only circumstantial evidence, but i am convinced that there has been a modification to this entry or it would not have taken them so long do release it in the first place.
I can't prove it so let's wait for them to respond here...

to all the people who asked wha cryptic has not yet responden, it is pretty clear to me. This thread was generated yesterday only minutes before Awen left the page (I know because i checked her status when I saw that there would be trouble) and she left after posting it (maybe a few minutes later. Noone else is responding because obviously this falls under the juristiction of Awen and Alivet and neither was online so far today... (until now, i just saw Awen came online a few minutes ago...)

now you'll probably get your answer...

[StraboV2]

Well....let's calm down the cursing there folks....and the jabs at one another.

If the PM statement is true it is basically giving a green light to everyone to ignore future rules in hopes that judges will like it and change their original rules to match. There are plenty of problems with this line of thinking and it really doesn't have anything to do with folks being sore losers. Congrats I say...but....

..... changing rules after the fact because you can is a bad practice in any case. Not only is it inviting chaos since rules wouldn't really apply if your entry is good enough, but it also leads people to be unsure if they should believe what they are reading or not.

People are unhappy not because they lost...but because the rules were changed after final submission. If the rules were changed to accommodate 1, the rest should have been given a chance to expand as well. While someone might say "well then you should have written a bigger entry in the first place" well that goes back to the point about all future submissions ignoring rules....which could become problematic for the dev team that is judging these.

I would think it best to call it lesson learned and move on before it degenerates any more. :)

[Dext]

Oh, dude. That is SO the wrong answer. Not sure Awen wanted that shared but I'm glad you did.

"Sportsmanship" usually takes place within the rules of the competion not outside of them.

What they going to do ban me at this point I am having a hard time seeing my self get a game from them.

[nhamlett]

I am quite ashamed that instead of congratulating the winner on his awesome story, there is quite a few of you who are complaining that his story went over the 300 words. That indicates poor sportsmanship to me and also takes away the joy of our contest winner.

He won, because the story was the best out of the hundreds that we received. The entire team enjoyed it immensely.

I will be talking to Zinc today. Further contests will most likely be a random lottery due to this bent in the conversation. - Makes me sad.

[TreffnonX]

Well....let's calm down the cursing there folks....and the jabs at one another.

If the PM statement is true it is basically giving a green light to everyone to ignore future rules in hopes that judges will like it and change their original rules to match. There are plenty of problems with this line of thinking and it really doesn't have anything to do with folks being sore losers. Congrats I say...but....

..... changing rules after the fact because you can is a bad practice in any case. Not only is it inviting chaos since rules wouldn't really apply if your entry is good enough, but it also leads people to be unsure if they should believe what they are reading or not.

People are unhappy not because they lost...but because the rules were changed after final submission. If the rules were changed to accommodate 1, the rest should have been given a chance to expand as well. While someone might say "well then you should have written a bigger entry in the first place" well that goes back to the point about all future submissions ignoring rules....which could become problematic for the dev team that is judging these.

I would think it best to call it lesson learned and move on before it degenerates any more. :)

agreed, keeping to rules seems like playing by the book, which is what gets redshirts killed....
Kirk cheated on his Kobayashi maru as well... let's do the same.

[Dext]

I am quite ashamed that instead of congratulating the winner on his awesome story, there is quite a few of you who are complaining that his story went over the 300 words. That indicates poor sportsmanship to me and also takes away the joy of our contest winner.

He won, because the story was the best out of the hundreds that we received. The entire team enjoyed it immensely.

I will be talking to Zinc today. Further contests will most likely be a random lottery due to this bent in the conversation. - Makes me sad.

Then why did you all just take a BIG CRAP on the people that did go by the rules that was set at the time.

[NeoWolf]

Are you retarded or what??? I wrote in this thread on the first page last night, please check yourself!

My apologies for the oversigth, it does not change the fact youa re wrong on the issue though and calling me a retard and a m****** f****er only shows yourself to be one for stopping to such sad and childish levels... so toddle on kid, the grown up's are speaking.

[nhamlett]

You know if a DEV had stepped in at the beginning of this uproar and admitted that Cryptic padded the winning entry this wouldn't be an issue, right?

Sometimes silence speaks a lot.

Nothing was padded. I didn't announce the winner yesterday because I was waiting for the runner up's forum name.

Seriously people!

[Shuichii]

The point here is a good one though I'm not going to dwell too much on a competition which for the most part is just a bit of fun. Granted there is a beta slot but the competitions do not get as much devotion by the team as the game does so I'm hoping the number of discrepancies don't translate over to the game. I'm sure they won't.

If you look at the contest thread Awen said:

Guys, if you didn't get an auto confirmation for the contest don't worry. I realized after the first day or so that our system wasn't sending out emails so I asked for it to be corrected. From here on out, if you submit something to that address, you'll get a confirmation. :)

I'm reading through them this week and then the finalists will go forward to our team and the winner will be chosen by next week. :)

I can guarantee that it's much more organized this time. We're in a bit of a growing pains stage with our web tech so sometimes it gets all randy and doesn't want to work the way I want it to. So I take a big fat wrench and I knock it around a little and we move forward.

It wasn't just her, it was a TEAM. This is what makes me and other people wonder if it will transfer to the game. More than one decided to just screw the rules..

As for the whole "we can change the rules if we want, we reserve it, you should be a better sportsman" that's BS. It was a foot race, he used a bicycle and after he beat everyone they say "well its ok, it's not cheating we're gonna change the rules retroactively to allow bicycles. Too bad for all of you who didn't win on foot."

The sheer arrogance of saying we should be better sportsman is something to behold in wonder.

BTW, if it had been stretched after the fact which it is looking like it wasn’t, then it wasn’t good enough to win on its own merit. But again this point seems moot now.