(I say this, hoping someone will also run one in February.)

It's that time again!

If you think you've got yourself a particularly cool or inspired role, send a note to Rayihn and myself (Daevryn). As usual, only entries written prior to the timestamp of this note will be considered. Entries are due by the end of Friday (midnight, system time).

As a new twist we're trying this time around, we reserve the right to consider submitted roles as they live, breathe, and add to the game in play as well as how they read in text. The role as written will continue to be the primary judging criteria, but characters that actually play and RP the hell out of their roles may be given additional consideration.

We had just about 40 entries, and ended up picking 4 for the winners and 4 honorable mentions:

Winners (in no particular order):

Vhloughvang - unique story, well written. Backed up with a cool desc and solid RP. It explains your cabal choice perfectly, and a lot of people struggle with reasons to really 'BE' Battle.

Mendecirith - Woo, your role had me fanning myself a bit after reading the first chapter. Just kidding, mostly, but really well written, I love the updates, and I love how well you RP it all out. Keep at it.

Zesam - If Vhloughvang's role is unique...I'm not sure what word to describe your role as. Different. Shooloo'ish! I really liked it, though, and I love that your RP draws people in and makes them want to RP with you. I'd really like to see some updates with it.

Thrakazhaar - Always good to see roles full of CF history. Nicely done, solid for fire giant battle, really good ideas on fire giant RP rather than just "I'm evil and I bash".

Runners Up:

Nanorab - Yay for fiery felars. I like the balance of good and evil in the role, the lessons learned, the religion found. Backed up with some really excellent RP.

Siladhiele - Really nice background and a really easily read role bringing you up to date on her life. Everything about this role makes sense as something elf Herald bard would be. Good job.

Palmer - It's good to know you're straight afterall, man. Just kidding! The role was vrey necromancery (as it should be) and I like the crazy destructive reasoning behind it. I especially liked the way you described your relationship with your god.

Anildor - I thought this was a great start to a paladin story of your sphere. I thought the writing flowed really well, was very easy to read.

Winners will be getting larger prizes, honorable mentions will be given smaller prizes. Individuals will receive a note in the next day or two on what they received.

A few people have asked for comments on the rest of the roles, so I'm
going to put together what Daevryn and I thought of everyone else.

First, though, I would like to apologize for what happened the last
time I ran a role contest. There was a pretty serious
misunderstanding between Dalteric and I, and I never meant to insult
or hurt anyone with what I said. If this apology is not enough,
please feel free to email me at rayihn@carrionfields.com and I will
attempt to personally make amends.

Now! Much better edited comments than last time. In most cases,
Daevryn and I agreed on stuff so I'm not going to really separate what he said from what I said. Now you don't get to know which one of us is the bitch! When I do separate them out - consider me to be Simon Cowell and Daevryn to be Paula Abdul (I know he always wanted to be Paula).

Also - if you only wrote your note to me, Daevryn didn't read your
role. If you only wrote your note to him, I did not read your role.

Aquar: I don't know why your storm giant parents would sell you to
this slavery kelp farm full of evil people that torture you for some
stale cake. I'm sorry, it doesn't jive well. (This character has
deleted since entering, so I'm not ruining anything here I don't
think.)

Zel: I loved the way you made fun of the lucky edge. Your role gives
a good voice to the character, and we liked that you named your
servitors.

Gharral: I do understand you jump on most things that look like
they're about to move - try and incorporate more of this role into
your RP, though. It's cool, you could do a lot with it.

Dahltu: That's a solid paladin role for the religion you follow. You obviously know all the right answers to all the paladin questions.

Flarkon: I don't think that RP and role have to be dedicated or
revolved around your sphere, but I would have liked to have seen at
least something about why you picked the sphere you picked -
especially since it's one near and dear to my heart!

Aldran: We conflicted a little bit on this role. It's interesting to try and write the role from the perspective of someone who would have a 25 int, big words and all that. We did both say it was pretty solid that you play this role under pressure.

Gnashgaar: Yup, you sure are what your role says you are! I enjoyed
the philosophical orcish aspect of it.

Hunsobo: I can't think of you without thinking "HAN SOLO!" but maybe
that's just me. I dig the role a lot but I've never seen you do the
thing you said in the first chapter that you do all the darn time.
That's cryptic, but you know what I mean I'm sure. Great idea, but
you gotta play it!

Teladar: Dwarf sha all the way. Nice balance of dwarf beginning
history then branching on to applying it to the rest of the character
in the rest of the world. Hope you keep updating.

Chiji: You didn't send this to me, but Daevryn liked that it was
written in the characters voice. Well, he liked the idea of it but
couldn't actually bear reading the whole thing.

Zaphoedine: I couldn't help but compare this role to VC Andrew's
Flowers in the Attic. Just a really ####ed up character – though I'm
pretty sure I mean that in the good way! Updates are good, even if
they get stranger as they go!

Annaeia: PS: I love WolverOrcas! I have to say I wasn't sure what
you were trying to do with this role and this character. (I'm sorry
that was disappointing, I was just sort of bewildered because I had no idea what you wanted from me – maybe it was just quest form, but I
wouldn't be the one to just hand it to you) Don't be afraid to be
more clear. I like the idea of finding beauty in water but I didn't
know what was supposed to happen next.

Groh: I don't dig the cabal thing you were doing and I thought the
chapter to justify it was a little flat. The background parts
outside of that were solid.

Kuhlceros: A role well-rooted in the CF world. Solid all around but
didn't stand out as a winner with so many other great roles entered.

Dhason: This was an interesting read for me, but again not a huge
stand out. I put it better than the middle of the pack, though.

Kiril: Standard paladin role – sorry to see you didn't stick it out.

Hrok: This was another role that had a hard time keeping my
attention. Would have liked more depth on religion choice rather than
hammering on the fact that you'd made the decision.

Nastagio: We could only judge the newer bits of it and those paled
compared to the first, super awesome and unique chapters. I also view
god hopping much the same as cabal hopping.

Karanok: I like the war aspect, and that you're trying to play the
hell out of it even at a pretty low level.

Iia: So! You're super creepy little girl. Now what?? Come on,
girl, gimme the dish!

Rusylael: That sure is wood elf ranger role. Not terribly much stood out on this for me. There's nothing wrong with being wood elf ranger with a wood elf ranger role, but for role contest winners we look for things that really rise up from the crowd.

Maethron: I wouldn't mind seeing more in this role on why you picked
your thief path. I liked seeing some conflict being good Tribunal, it stands out well in your RP, and I would have liked to have seen it better detailed in your role.

Nkrumah: I dug that you picked a different type of way to view your
sphere than most people do. I liked this role and I hope you continue on with it and update it often. Would like to see more chapters about how you're going to RP it rather than just basics of info that don't have a lot to do with the character.

Hrudgir: I would have put this right under the honorable mentions.
It's not super exciting, but I really like characters who start off
not knowing their path and exactly how to play it and do everything
and grow into it from there. Keep updating, especially when you're
playing this type of character.

Theroc: I had a hard time reading through this. I'm sorry I have
such a short attention span. It didn't hold my interest very well.

Eulinda: I expected a better role from you, actually. I hadn't read
your role before the contest but we've all seen your RP and I guess I
just expected the role to be as rich. Add some stuff! It's been a long time since an update.

Desila: Short, good, explains what you are and why you are what you
are. Not a stand out, but solid enough that anyone reading it knows
what you're about.

Rosbanin: Disqualified! Sorry! Gotta get those chapters in before
role contest is announced!

Sensel: Hm. I see what you're trying to do with this role, but it
doesn't explain enough to me why you'd change like that. Technically
solid but it just didn't grab us the way the winning roles did.
Also, what has happened since? You've done a lot cabal wise, I would have expected another chapter on that.

Thunzath: gotta write that note to both people running the contest.
Good, solid fire AP start for me, though.

I posted here as I couldn't log on before the deadline, but I worked hard at my role so found it a little disappointing to see it didn't get read after all that.

I did read it and consider it for the contest, but it didn't get onto the file where I was keeping track of my bitchy comments about peoples' roles.

It's a good role. Keep adding to it!

Just as long as someone actually did look! )

Are they really that important? You both keep saying updates updates on things, but how much does it matter?

In mine, it depends.

If your character never really grows or changes in response to anything that happens in their life, probably you don't need any. But, how interesting is that?

Ultimately I'd rather see someone write a basic role and play the hell out of it in a way that makes the game fun for other people and raises the level of RP around them, than see someone write a basic role, not really play it, and provide updates... but that doesn't mean updates aren't potentially valuable.

A lot of the time when we're like "updates?" it's because the character as currently played seems to have meandered a fair bit from the character as described in the role and we're wondering how we got from point A to point B.

Some of the best updates in roles that won this time around involved talking about pretty big turning points in those characters' lives -- how and why they happened, how the character reacted to them. That's a good kind of update -- it tells me about something important that affects your RP. A play by play of every insignificant thing in your life I don't need to read.

What did you think about the role, regardless that I hadn't created the character until after it was announced? I've deleted already so feel free to say what you wish. Feedback is always good.

As was, going through all the entries, reading all the roles, deciding on winners, deciding on prizes, awarding the prizes and informing the winners of the details of their prizes took us each about eight hours. At that point I wasn't prepared to make that into 8+ for someone with poor contest rules reading comprehension, sorry.

Running a role contest is fun, and I think it's good for the game, but it's a ton of work, too.

Would it be possible to enter my role anyway please?

I'm a drow ap, around level 27.

Thanks!

If we enter now, are the current entries barred from placing in future ones, or is each role judged in its entirety each time it enters?

Typically, only entries that were part of a previous winning entry are barred.

I should've mentioned, but we're sticking with that... if you won before, only something new since the win can be considered.