ORIGINAL CHARACTER TOURNAMENT (OOC)

[SuperCommando]

NEW YEAR, NEW EVENT!

I've been thinking of a fun new community event to kick off 2015 with, so if the following sounds interesting please leave a reply down below. If enough people want to do it I'll post more details in an official thread, but for now I'll keep it pretty short and simple.

I think it would be really cool if we can try holding an OCT.


WHAT'S AN OCT?

OCT stands for Original Character Tournament. The basic idea is you design a completely original character (COMPLETELY original - no RP characters, no previous existing characters from any work of any kind) to engage in elimination battles against other peoples' original characters. You will be assigned an opponent, and the two of you each have to write a short story depicting the fight. The stories will be judged, and whoever wrote the better story moves on to the next round. In short, this is a writing contest, but it is completely different from our annual Halloween one.

(For more info on the concept of OCTs, feel free to check out the spoiler box below, but you can skip it if you just want to know more about this particular event).

SPOILER: Click to show

The concept of OCTs originated on deviantart.com as a competition for comic artists. I learned about the idea a long time ago when Monkey the Final Mix introduced me to a series of videos on youtube called "The Law of Talos". Turns out that the videos were made by an artist competing in an OCT. At the time I thought it was a really cool idea, but never thought to do something like that here on Yappa's until recently.

Although originally used in art competitions, the concept can easily be applied to a writing contest, which is what I propose we do.

For your own referance, below are some good links for even more additional information. the first one is an OCT guide that could give you an upper hand in this contest, and the second link contains those Law of Talos videos (click on the thumbnails that say "Flash", starting with the ones on the bottom and work your way up).

yamiredpen.deviantart.com/art/A-Guide-to-OCTs-132017087

unknown-person.deviantart.com/gallery/

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONTEST

The focus of this contest is on character building, an essential writing skill in general and one particularly suited to RPs since the whole point of that is getting into character. One of the things that gave me the idea to do something like this is that I noticed members of this site tend to be very good at character building and seem to enjoy it. We even have members that create tons of characters for the Main Mission. Thus, I figure a contest based on character creation would be right up our alley so to speak.

Another big difference is that although this is styled as a tournament, there is no PvP involved. You do not exchange posts with your opponent, you write the entire fight yourself. This means you have to carefully study your opponents character and get into their head as well, testing your character-writing and improv abilities by giving you something different to work with each round.

Finally, not only is this a contest and a creative writing exercise in one, but the end result will be a unique over-arching story created by the sum of everybody's posts (or the winners' posts at least).


SO WHO WANTS IN?

If you've read this far, chances are you must at least be kind of interested, so go ahead and sign up by posting your thoughts. Or questions. Or whatever. Just don't post characters yet, let's see how much interest we get first. I have it all planned out, all we need is competitors in order to get started (I'm thinking each competitor can create up to two characters if they really want). Oh, and judges too. I could do all the judging myself for this one, but just for the sake of fairness I think we should have two other judges. (You cannot judge and compete at the same time.)

I think this can be really cool, hopefully you guys do too.

[MrKill]

I'm in, I enjoy writing so this would be nice.

I'd like to see an example on how we'd PvP, in a sense, without actually PvP'ing against each other. I know you said we have to get into the minds of the other players character, pretend we're that character best we can, but how would it actually turn out? I also think this would be a positive step for people who tend to make NPCs mindless targets to kill in the missions we have.

[SuperCommando]

Hmm, I can see how the battle system can be confusing. I was going to go into it in more detail in the main rules thread that I would make after gathering enough interest, but I'll break it down here as well.


You start with creating a unique character. Your character can literally be anything, with whatever special powers, skills, or weaponry you want. Try to be creative and out-of-the-box.

You will then create a profile post for your character, including as much info about them as you can. This will be the reference that other members look at.

During each round of the tournament, you will be matched against another member's character. For example Kill, let's say you and me are opponents. You have to look at my reference profile, then write and post a short story about your character fighting (and defeating) my character in some kind of battle.

I will be doing the same thing too. I'll need to check your profile to see who I'm up against, and then post my own story.

Then the judges will decide which version was better. They'll check for how well you used both characters' personalities and abilities, who wrote the most entertaining and creative confrontation, and stuff like that. Ideally we'll have three judges, so let's say two out of three of them picked your story as the winner. That story becomes the "canon" version of events. Since mine lost it won't count toward the main story of the tournament and will be discarded. I am eliminated, and you move on to the next round and do all that again.

Make sense?

[Spartan 999]

*appears* ...So I smelled the familiar intoxicating scent of interesting RP developments and came to check it out. I think it's a fascinating idea, and I already have a few ideas floating around in my head that would work out reeeaaaalll nice.

Two questions, though. First, you said "main story of the tournament". Does that mean that all of these OC battles will be interconnected somehow, like by way of a League of Legends-esque explanation for why all the characters are fighting? (I think that's a good comparison, but I only know a little bit about LoL lore and such)

Second, how are you going to manage power levels when you say we can be anything with any powers and gear? To give an example of what I'm thinking about: I'm facing Huka and he's playing something like Supreme Commander Huka with Forerunner gear, while I go all High Tier and play a character who has enough power to bitch-slap Morgoth to death. Obviously Huka has no chance of realistically beating me if we go at it in an “even” fight, so how would you balance it to where everyone has a realistic chance at beating their opponent? (Nothing against Huka btw, just an example)

[Samuel Murray]

Guardian brings up some great points, but I would love to join in on this.

[SuperCommando]

Those are indeed excellent points 999.

With regards to the first... yes. Something like that. While we're on the topic of plot and setting, my plan is to have the story take place in a sort of interdimensional nexus that the characters are drawn into, allowing people the freedom to make their characters come from all kinds of different worlds or backgrounds. We could have a talking cat with necromatic powers, an android bounty hunter, and a high school student all in the same room. Again, my intent is for maximum flexibility of character options you guys can choose from.

Then again, that leads to your second point about overpowered characters. For that, I'm thinking of having people PM me their character concepts before posting them, just so I can tell them if any details are too much or clash with anything. But honestly, unless you're trying to make some sort of god character (obviously that would be frowned upon), I'm really not going to be too picky.

The thing to remember is you won't win by having the most badass design, but rather by having the richest and deepest characterization. Repeat, the better fighter won't win, the better character will. A weaker character might win over the judges by having to be more creative rather than simply overpowering the opponent.

Lastly, in the (unlikely) event that a Supreme Commander Huka finds himself up against Morgoth-slapper, keep in mind that Huka can write whatever story he wants. The "battle" doesn't have to be direct combat - maybe in his story he evades the Slapper's notice and sneaks into an ancient temple where he finds a spell that weakens or negates the Slapper's ungodly powers. Maybe he challenges the Slapper to a Hobbit-style battle of wits and stumps Slapper with a mind-bending riddle. Creativity is key.

[rickrtickr]

I would love to be a part of this. and i have some thoughts about how you could make the rounds work.

The rounds could be tiered incremental allowing character choices to start basic and as the tournament advances each character could become more complex (or would allow for a completely new character each round)

this could allow a character to advance from an experienced character to a full fledged fighter (lie a spartan)

this could even be done to allow for space combat as well.

just some thoughts

[Samuel Murray]

Already working up some character designs.

[Spartan 999]

I just watched the entirety of UnknownPerson's LoT storyline, and now I really want to do this.

[Samuel Murray]

So when do we start?

[SuperCommando]

Soon.

It's awesome to see so much interest already! I'll get to work writing an official Tournament thread, so this will now become the OOC thread and I'll post future announcements here. Stay tuned!

Thanks guys! Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

[Samuel Murray]

I suppose as long as it isn't from a different story universe.

[SuperCommando]

Jan 7, 2015 18:22:16 GMT -6 @tracker said:

Soooo... I can use Tracker?

I'll have to see a character profile of course, but I'm pretty sure it'll be fine. The point is to create an original character, and that is exactly what Tracker is, yes? So no problem.

What wouldn't work is if somebody asked if they could use an RP character or one the wrote for a fanfic of some kind. For example, I couldn't use Silas if I was a competitor. He might be my intillectual property because I created his character, but he exists as part of the Yappa's Halo universe, which is derived from the Halo franchise.

[LaxKnight]

I'm interested but how long do we have to turn in a character and how long to turn in our stories for every match?

[SuperCommando]

No worries bro, there's plenty of time to make a character. I've just spent all freaking day working on the banner image for the main thread (it might be simple, but I've never drawn anything like this in photoshop before. It was a learning experience), so I haven't even gotten around to writing anything just yet. It will definitely be up by this weekend though, and there will be time after that for people to take notice and enter characters too. So you're good.

To anyone who wants to get a head start on making characters before I post the actual rules, feel free to start a rough draft with these points in mind:


- The key word to remember is "original". It must be a character you invented yourself that is not based on any existing source that you do not own, such as a favorite video game, book, movie, ect. To be clear, this means your RP characters are NOT allowed. If there is any doubt in your mind if it will count as original or not, you'd be better off making a new character from scratch. You probably want to start from scratch anyway, as that will be most in keeping with the spirit of this event.

- A member is allowed to create up to two separate characters to use in the Tournament.

- Characters can be anything and can have (almost) any special powers, abilities, or equipment you like.

- I say "almost" above because I'll need to check the profile first to approve it for competition (PM those please, I'll let you know when you can post. It would spoil the surprise if your profiles are on display for the competition to plot against too early before the Tournament).

- When writing your character reference profile, there is no specific template to follow. It is up to you to organize your own profile and include as much information you can to help other people understand your character(s).

- There is no minimum or maximum length/word count requirement for either reference profiles OR tournament fight stories. 

- Pro Tip: Details about a character's personality is more valuable than their biography. Some backstory is nice, but don't spend most of your time and effort dragging out their life history. It's more important to understand how they act.

- DO NOT include an image of any kind in your profile. Grabbing something off of Google Images and saying "I'm this person" is NOT original. If your character is inspired by something, keep it to yourself. (The exception to this rule would be if you create some original artwork yourself).

- Be smart, be creative, and have fun with it.

As for your second question, I was thinking of setting the maximum deadline for each round to be one week. Since there will be multiple rounds it will be important to keep things moving so people don't get bored, but people do need time to put quality work into their stories too. I think a week offers a happy medium in that regard. I know you're busy and don't always have computer access, so if that doesn't work out for you let me know if you have any suggestions.

[Samuel Murray]

Hey SC what if we created our own images can we use them?

[SuperCommando]

You know what? Sure, why not.

At first I said no images of any kind not only to avoid being unoriginal, but also just to keep things simple. But if anyone does want to go the extra mile and create some original artwork too, more power to you.

[SuperCommando]

Jan 9, 2015 0:14:27 GMT -6 SuperCommando said:

It will definitely be up by this weekend though, 

So, obviously I didn't meet my own deadline. Sorry about that guys. I both overestimated the ammount of free time I had availible to work on stuff this past weekend, and also underestimated how much work there actually was. Blame the custom graphic. That's finally finished now though, and I've made good progress on writing the thread, so we're almost all set.

To make it up to you, here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on.

What the heck is that lovely piece of digital artistry you ask? Gotta wait for the OCT to find out!

[SuperCommando]

Triple-post, I know. Sorry. Just got more announcements:

- The official thread is live!

- If you expressed interest in participating, I put you on the contestant list. If you change your mind about the tournament (I hope you don't...) I will reluctantly remove you from the list.

- You can PM character profiles to me anytime.

- We will start when everybody on the list has their profile approved.

- I would also appreciate any good writers out there to volunteer as judges! I only need two one more.

To anyone who hasn't signed up yet, there's still time! Check out the rules in the main thread and reply back here in this thread to get on the list, or even just to post any questions or comments you might have!

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

>.> i feel like that latecomer that wants in but after rereading this post and reading the other post, I honestly do have a real interest now <.< if i can't participate i'll judge though.

[Llau]

Jan 12, 2015 21:24:41 GMT -6 Guardian Cat of Yappa's said:

>.> i feel like that latecomer that wants in but after rereading this post and reading the other post, I honestly do have a real interest now <.< if i can't participate i'll judge though.

I'm sure you can still participate, that way, it'll be 8 people and not seven (I think). So, it'll be even. Though, wait to see what SC says.   

[SuperCommando]

SC says dude, of course you can still join!

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sweet *Gets to work on original Character*

[Remnant]

Sign me up!

[rickrtickr]

*Reads post and is super excited. sits down to write original character - writers block

so into concepting I go

[SuperCommando]

Just a heads-up for those of you who PM'd profiles to me already, I'm not ignoring you guys, I've decided to wait for a few more people to show me what they're thinking of for characters before making judgement calls on what counts as overpowered or in need of editing.

[Samuel Murray]

ive been super super busy i'll pm mine shortly

[BasedGoody]

Well we don't have to have a contest. We already know the winner.


(It was me. I was referencing myself.)



((This means I am joining.))

[SuperCommando]

Heads up everybody, I am going to be out of town this weekend. I leave in the morning and plan to get back sometime on Sunday, but will probably use the rest of that evening for some R&R.

Keep PMing those profiles. Hopefully I should get one from everybody by the time I get back, and from there I can get approving those and we can get things started.

Be good. See you all next week.

[Huka]

Darn, now I want to join in for the heck of it!