The Contest
This contest is meant to be opened for all ages and has no bias to age of account or player, there is no 'edge' that is given to anyone with more experience than another. That being said, all you need to enter is enough gold to buy a book(s) and the imagination to come up with a good engaging story. UO has always had a very rich history that was originally written by OSI and expanded by players (so much so that if a book was copied enough by players it would begin being sold by vendors). For this contest it is your chance to add to the myths here at our shard. There are only two limitations: first the story must be somewhere in the Ultima universe (no references to cars, spaceships, laser guns etc ((yes I know they were in a few games, hush :p))) and second is simply your own imagination. The books will be 'graded' almost exclusively by their content, this means that you will not need to be an English major in order to win, simply have engaging characters and story. There is no limit to number of books you can enter, if you want to turn in a short story that takes only one book you have every right to do so or if you want to turn in a virtual novel spanning 15+ books you also have that right. You may also turn in several different stories, but once one of them has entered the "prize tier" all others will not be capable of winning (this is to prevent someone running away with all the prizes). For single stories spanning several books, I ask that you give them some characteristic to note when they are in the overall story (like "Doom 1, Doom 2, Doom 3" in the title). I think that covers about everything for the basis of the contest but PLEASE feel free to PM me in game or post here to ask questions, I am always checking my messages and the board so I will get back to you (the only stupid question is the one not asked).
The Rewards
Everybody's favorite section :p. Before listing the prize amounts let me also say that win or lose every book entered in the contest will be hosted at the Excelsior Library fiction section (unless the player does not wish it, but where is the fun in that?). Now, for those that attended last time you will notice a severe drop in the variety of prizes. I have streamlined this a bit to open it up to more players, instead of giving several items that may or may not be of use to a player of xxx age I will simply be giving pure currency so one may sell it/trade it/whatever to get what they want. Also, as always, I reserve the right to increase the prizes as I wish so this list may not be complete and there may be more to come.
First Place - 300 ED
Second Place - 100 ED
Third Place - 1,500,000 Gold Pieces
You may notice the severe staggering of prizes this time, I have decided to put the bulk up for first place so everyone is shooting for it ^_-.
DEADLINE
As with last time, there is no official deadline for the contest as of this announcement. Since I will be making a section in the library for these books I will need a fairly decent number, however if the contest drags for an extremely long time I may have to call it before the mark. Remember! PM me if you are going to be putting books together, this helps me keep track of how many are coming in and will allow you a short extension past the deadline! (Once the deadline is announced no extensions will be given)
Tips from a judge
With the knowledge gained from the last contest I will be offering a few tips for this contest to help you with your chances of winning. First and foremost, evoking emotions makes a story! I do not have the best sentence structure in the world and do not believe that should be a block for potentially great moving stories. So while you are writing put the bulk of your effort in making believable characters, moving story, and infuse it with as much of ANY emotion as possible. Now, I will also say you must put a little thought into how it reads ^_-. Nothing can kill the mood faster than having to stop midway through a death scene because the sentence did not read well. Solution? Get someone to read it! Your girl/boyfriend, wife/husband/, mother/father, brother/sister, guildmate, it does not matter. If they stop and have to ask a question about the story, rewrite that part, do not explain it to them because you will not be afforded that opportunity to the judges. This is not a requirement, just a recommendation.
Now, this caused some confusion last time so it is a 'hot tip', if you will. Being placed in the Ultima universe does not mean you have to specifically state things to point out that is where it is, in fact it reads better if you do not. For example: "Jon the grandmaster swordsmen draws his Darkened Sky and slashes it across the orcish lord's chest" will, without a doubt point to the fact that you are playing UO, but it is not engaging. Instead you could go with "Jon draws his sharpened tachi with all the ease an grace of a man that has seen many battles. Seeing the armored orc move towards him he deftly lifts the large blade bringing it down in a hard slash across the feeble ringmail armor donning it's chest, energy crackling with every split link of the armor." The second one makes the mind work a little more to paint the picture and an engaged mind is what we the judges are specifically looking for. Again, a recommendation to propel yourself, not a requirement :p.
Finally, this is an important one, using established characters is like playing catch with an active frag grenade. I have been following this series since Aklabeth and am very versed with the universe. Why mention this? Because my ears will immediately perk up when I see a famous character enter into the book and will turn a bit scrutinizing on it. This does not mean don't do it, it just means be careful, because doing it poorly can cost you the vote of one judge immediately :p.
...why are you still reading this? Go! Write! Win! ^_^
- Oromis, Head Librarian
Edit - Posted in the wrong section, fixed now
Edit 2 - Increased individual prize amounts and adjusted total prize amount to reflect new ED prices.
