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So you think you have what it takes to step into the ranks of EndMaster, BerkaZerka, and Sir William Smiley? Well, here's your chance to earn that glory. It's time to step out of the shadows of the gods. Enter the gauntlet, battle the site's rising star writers, and climb to new heights among the pantheon!

Theme: EPIC

Format: CYOA

Deadline: Monday, September 24th at 12:01am EST

Focus:

This contest has one goal and one goal only: to produce a TOP 10 caliber story for the site. Go big, go hard, or go shrivel in the graveyard at Infinite Story. The genre and guiding theme of the contest is largely open, but the story must be EPIC. Traditional EPIC genres are strongly encouraged. Fan Fiction and Parodies are not eligible for entry. Think grandeur, heroism, and because we are an inclusive people over here at CYS, villainy. Now is the time to bring your long awaited masterpiece to life.

Note, this is not a contest for everyone. There are strict length, quality, and update requirements for this contest. These requirements are in place for two reasons: (1) to keep out the riff-raff, and (2) to help you stay on track with your writing goals. But because of the high stakes and the perfection demanded - this will undoubtedly be the king contest of bragging rights.



Requirements:

- You must have at least one story rated 5.00 or higher on CYS to enter normally

- If you do not have at least one story rated 5.00 or higher on CYS, you may enter by PMing me a detailed plot synopsis and outline to show that you have put due effort and thought into your entry

- Your entry fee will be 300 points regardless of how you enter

- You will have to provide mandatory updates on your progress according to the schedule provided below. You will suffer an additional 50 point penalty for every mandated update you do not report or fail to make good faith progress.

- Your entry must be either 60,000 words or an 8/8 in length (latter can theoretically be achieved in less than 60,000 words in a script heavy story)

Timeline for Mandatory Updates: All dates are the last day possible to get credit for the update.

- Sunday, June 17: Update #1 on plot synopsis, genre, theme, setting, and main characters

- Sunday, July 1: Update #2 on story progress and any issues in the writing process

- Sunday, July 15: Update #3 on story progress and what you like most about your story so far

- Sunday, August 5: Update #4 on story progress and what part of the story has been most difficult to tackle

- Sunday, August 26: Update #5 on story progress and how you've managed to stay motivated

- Sunday, September 9: Update #6 on story progress and editing plans

Rewards and Prizes:

The winner will receive the ultimate bragging rights of CYS contests.

First place 250 points, Second place 150 points, Third place 50 points - For people who like points

Possibility of multiple featured stories, depending on quality and category. Plus the 100 point featured-story bonus, in addition to the placement prize, for people who like points.

For completing all updates, making good faith progress, and submitting a qualifying entry, 50 points.



Additional Notes:

The deadline is the deadline. There will be no extensions. Make your storygame in the editor well in advance, as the site requires the game be made 48 before it can be published. To be a qualifying entry, the story must be PUBLISHED by the deadline. In addition to point rewards, you'll get your entry fee back.

We're looking for strong characterization, solid imagery, well thought out and exciting plots, quality prose, and polished grammar in the final product.

Any stories that fail to meet minimum site guidelines are not deemed qualifying entries and subject to SHAME.

No co-authors, but beta-readers are strongly encouraged. If you would like to volunteer as a beta reader, please feel free to advertise your services here. Anyone who utilizes a beta reader should write a note of thanks in the storygame description. Beta readers may be eligible for bonus points.

We don't necessarily want a high number of entrants in this contest because we only want people who are committed to finishing a high quality product. But we will need 5 entries to give point bonuses for everyone in the top three.



Recruitment & Potential Interested Parties:

@Ogre11 ; @insanebutvain ; @Orange ; @mizal ; @ebonvasilis ; @steve24833 ; @Romulus ; @Azbaz ; @donteatpoop ; @ericyopy ; @ugilick ; @Will11 ; @chris113022

A note on planning: You have approximately 15 weeks. I strongly recommend using week one for planning, and the final week exclusively for editing. If you do this, you can easily surpass 60,000 words in 13 weeks by writing 1,000 words a day for five days a week.

Proper planning and setting/tracking goals will be important for your success.

While I am certainly interested in the contest and will be paying a lot of attention, I can't actually partake in it. Plus, as we can see, the list of potential enemies is now non-existant given my only possible foe, Ebon, lost to, and this is true, Wibbons and Coins, of all people. Plus, I'm already 50k into a sci-fi epic, and normally I'm pretty busy in the Summers and really wouldn't be able to find the time. 

Never the less, it seems like a very interesting contest, and I'll happily be paying attention and whatever else. Best of luck to the various writers, hopefully some have a few interesting topics.

That's an awful lot of rules...

There didn't appear to be an entry deadline. Can we assume the entry deadline coincides with the first update due date?

1. Don't officially join the contest.

2. Write an epic in secret.

3. Announce that you wish to join three days before the deadline.

4. Publish your story

5. ???

6. PROFIT!

Yeah.

And some other questions:

Last dates are listed for updates and credits. Is there a start date? Or can I provide all those updates today?

What about major changes? If I provide a few updates on a story, but then decide that story is crap, can I start over part-way through and provide new updates accordingly? Or will that disqualify the story?

No, you can't do all the updates at once. That would defeat the purpose. Do your update before the current deadline, but after the previous deadline.

If you need to gut the story, then you need to gut the story. Hopefully, if you run into issues, other members may be able to help you find a way to work around them so that you can avoid gutting the entire thing. I'm hoping the updates serve both to keep people motivated and provide insight and feedback from members of the community.

And can I withdraw at any time after declaring entrance due to CYS being dumb?

Well, if CYS legitimately dies, I guess that means the contest is cancelled and Infinite Story wins.

I'm not talking about the entire site disappearing, there's just days the damn site is so slow it just annoys me to no end.

WOOOOOO LETS GET IT ON.

Mark me down

First onto the field.

Joining just to kick @Digit 's ass.

We’ll see about it pussy

Good luck getting out of negative points when I bury your story.

I, the great and righteous Corgi will enter the EPIC Contest, with a story of EPIC proportions.

Fellow contestants, prepare to be obliterated by the might of my doggy chain and woof!

Corgi has sent a plot synopsis and outline, establishing his entry requirement.

Is there a deadline for intent to enter?

We'll go with the deadline for first update.

@BradinDvorak

Are mandatory updates in public motivation threads, PMs to Bucky, or whatever we want?

Public threads in Writing Workshop

Participants so far:

Chris113022

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

EbonVasilis

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

Mizal

SpartacustheGreat

TheNewIAP

I will easily crush those fools

I'll join. 

I do not meet entry requirements as my only published story has a 4.7.

I'll consider whether I want to enter via the pm back door.

I was otherwise absolutely stoked for this contest.

Well if you can't be bothered to write a description of a story you would like to write then you definitely can't be bothered to write an actual story either. (and you would also fail the first update requirement anyhow.)

Ugilick I thought you were cool, but no, actually I guess you might actually be just the sort of slovenly riff-raff the judges desire to keep out. Sad!

Excuses are for the weak (like Ebon and Steve) and this is a contest for the STRONG.

Well, at least you used to think I was cool Mizal.

I would have probably entered yesterday, but I couldn't. I've been trying to figure what I would want to write. I'll have to set my current project aside, which I don't want to do. I also don't want to whip up an outline and enter, then hate what I'm working on.

So we'll see what I do.

Yeah, that's where I am now -- I have an idea that could work, but I'm not super-excited about it, so I'm trying to decide if I should go that direction and force myself to actually flesh-out and finish the story, knowing I'm not that excited about it, or find another story that is more exciting and figure that one out... of course the newer idea might not be as exciting, either, and then I'm simply in ultra-perpetual procrastination mode (where I truly excel, mind you), and nothing ever gets written...

So I'm leaning towards taking the idea I've got working, knowing it isn't perfect, and knowing I'm not real excited about it, and hoping the contest with the deadlines will help me push through it (and my procrastination).

I've got two ideas. One is based on a campaign setting for when I host D&D.

One issue I'm hitting is its being an epic contest. I prefer smaller personal stories usually.

Does anyone know what category a western would fall into on this site?

Categories are really just for fun, so wherever you want. It could be sci-fi if you go with a steampunk-ish affair. It could be school-based if it was a western school. Maybe edutainment if there are attempts to use real historical characters, etc. I'd think if you went straight western, like a Boot Hill setting, you'd end up in Everything Else.

As for story ideas, I can see where a D&D campaign setting could really lend itself well to a CYOA story. Heck, you could end up with more of a interaction fiction exploration type storygame as well, or a storygame that follows the different characters and different character POVs through the adventure and story line. Good potential for an epic story, of course, if you ask me.

Depends on how you write the story, I guess. I think we're still lacking a category where historical stuff really fits in, so 'everything else' might eventually be the best fit. Unless you're adding sci-fi/fantasy, horror, or educational elements. 

Thanks Romulus, Ogre, that's what I figured. I don't know of any Westerns on here, so there isn't a precedent for it.
My intent was for a grounded dusty western, but where to setting was not the actual American Wild West, but a wholly fictional setting. My thoughts there wandered to what might replace the role of "Natives."

That's the only place anything fantastic might factory in, if the natives to that area were not strictly human.

Makes sense, I mean arguably the real life natives weren't either.

I did not expect the EPIC contest to arrive so soon and I am extremely stoked however I am pretty sure I cringed when I saw that I only had 291 points. Only 9 away from the entry fee. I will go rate a few storygames real quick and come back when I meet the minimum.

I bumped it up because BZ has a nice theme that would fit well in the fall.

Yep! ^v^

And this keeps the high quality stories coming, which has definitely been a boon for CYS in comparison to past years.

Wait, wait, wait! There was nothing in the rules about this story having to be high quality, too! It just has to be epic... ;)

One Warrior Cat Story to Rule Them All! I mean, theoretically, it has to be possible, right?

One epic warrior cat story, coming right up!

Ohhh, you caught me...actually...
Fanfic isn't qualified for Bucky's contest. He demands better.

The world is not ready.

Most fanfic can be easily altered into an original concept.

Alright, I caught up on points. Time to announce myself into the contest,

Put me in, time to write like today is the last day on earth.

Will contest "loans" be allowed? I'm short 130 points. However, I do have a story currently rated 5.69.

Sure I'm giving out loans! How much do you need?

If I get some credit I'd be -130 in the hole.

I don't see a significant difference between 170 points and -130, they're both about equally pathetic.

Hell, might as well take out a 500 loan right?

So how much did you want Flux?

130. Enough to participate in this contest.

Somehow I don’t think End is the sort of money shark to even have small print showing the 2000% APR rate and obligatory soul you’re signing away

Goodbye Flux.

He must be new here.

Did I just sell my soul?

Yes, you very much just did.

On the upside, there's a(n albeit very slim) chance that you'll get it back if you win this contest.

Isn't there like a forum Jesus I can pray to or something?

Only dark gods here, sorry, and Endmaster would be the main one.

That said, don't worry my child, you've guaranteed yourself an eternity with him. :)

There used to be better gods that occasionally roamed these forums, but the final one was let down by Ford during one of the previous contests.

Go through and rate a bunch of short storygames. I got 200 points in a night doing that.

Okay I was stumbling around in too much of a sleep deprived haze last night to really reply but yes obviously I want in on this. Going to have to switch gears from my other epic but I hadn't made as much progress on that as I liked anyhow and a contest would be just the motivation I need.

Although, holy shit, a contest designed in such a way that I can't just half ass my way into a win in the eleventh hour, I feel so attacked! He even put the deadline on my birthday, making it clear that this is personal.

Anyway I'm incredibly stoked about this, not just for my story but to see what other people produce, who succeeds and can't hack it and who is too timid to even try and so on. I've never managed to complete a story bigger than 30k. I've identified 25k or so as the place where I always start running out of enthusiasm for a project, so it will be a good challenge having to force myself over that hurdle. Writing at a steady pace will definitely be key so I'll have to get back into the habit of that instead of my usual thing of binge writing on the weekends to make up for doing fuck all the rest of the week.

Getting over the finish line with a quality 60k story will be an accomplishment to be proud of for anyone and regardless of who wins this really will separate the serious writers from the pretenders.

It might also be worth pointing out that in the fantasy category, the obvious targets that a feature-worthy contest entry will be taking out are the stories by that smug puritan Ebon and that obnoxious drunken degenerate Steve. That's surely got to be a motivator for someone.



@Bucky also I would like to sweeten the pot with the offer of a $50 Amazon card for the first place winner, assuming you're in a country where you can use Amazon and assuming it's not me.

Seth used to give out $25 cards to the winners before he needed to scrape every penny he had together to pay for expensive medical things. I'll leave that between you and the winner, but I'm sure whoever it is will be very grateful. The youth of the day really do like things.

Coins, this means you better hold off any plans on moving to North Korea.

Also, I think it's something relevant to note - anyone who aspires to write a novel someday, if you complete this contest, I would say that it's a very good showing that you can take the next step and attempt to successfully tackle that goal. The contest will certainly have you tuned in and well practiced in your writing.

It's due on your birthday? I smell a setup here...

But indeed, a story of that length with any sort of quality will be an accomplishment for anyone who manages to meet the all requirements and submit an entry for this contest. I am very curious to see how many actual complete entries will make it.

Thats the spirit Mizal!  Crack those fingers and get writing!

I might actually join this one, since I have an idea for a story that I've been meaning to write for ages. And I remembered I vomited 10k words on paper in one evening in one of the last contests I joined. Will probably decide somewhere next week whether I have time to also actually write a decent story.

If it makes any difference, there's a fair number of us who would really like to see you enter.

I want @ISentinelPenguinI to throwdown.

Saw @pugpup1 was on just a few days ago. Maybe this mysterious and silent individual has more than just really freaking good out of nowhere ballads in him.

I'd really like to see @Zake get involved in this in some capacity too, even if it's just offering people feedback.

I, too, would like to see myself get involved in this in some capacity. However, I first got to catch up with reading all(/most of) the threads first, since I haven't been online for a few days.

I will say tho, this contest does looks interesting, so good luck to all.

I'm assuming @Leora will also be entering, she said she wrote 110k for the last one in like barely over a month, and that was while in the middle of a bunch of other things so this should be a piece of cake.

Well @Leora ? We're waiting... you only have a week to decide...

And where's @Orange ? I think you could really pull one of these off if you wanted to.

My story is a 4.97... 0.3 away from meeting requirements.

I just checked, and it's a 5.01. Besides, even if it wasn't, you could still enter.

Oh, cool! The ratings have gone up since last night. I suppose I could PM in a synopsis anyway. I'll brainstorm ideas and see if it'll work out.

I'd also likely have to postpone the other story to focus on this one if I enter. I still need to format things and put them into the editor, and I've got at least 20 more pages before it's finished.

So how's it going @Leora ?

Are you jumping in this one?

I might. I have a 5 page synopsis for the first path, still on 1 page for the second. (I build my synopses by writing out the plot in a sentence, then a paragraph, then 1 page, then 5. It helps me build on events and details and keep everything cohesive). After that I'll make some character profiles and decide if it is a good enough idea for 60k+ words of work.

You guys that don't feel like you're up to submitting a complete plot synopsis yet also have the option of just cranking out a quick storygame this weekend don't forget.

We need to post complete (or at least well-developed) planning by the entry date anyway, right?

You need:

Sunday, June 17: Update #1 on plot synopsis, genre, theme, setting, and main characters

That's the last day to enter, and the last day you can post that update, so that's what you need to do by when to get fully committed and entered as I read it.

Yup ^_^ I came to the same conclusion.

How specific do we need to be? I don’t want to read a story when I know exactly what’s going to happen, so I don’t really want to spoil everything for mine either (since I’m sure at least one or two people will actually read all of these carefully). Nor do I want everyone else spoiling their stories for me. Just an opinion, of course, but knowing the whole story ruins the fun.

There are already a few threads up if you need examples.

Ah, good. I think one or two went into more detail than I will, but some just gave a general setting and synopsis, and character profiles. Enough information to show you’re working, but few spoilers.

I had the same concern. What I'm piddling with relies on mystery at points.

Think in terms of the back cover of a book: reveal the story without telling the ending.

I will enter as soon as Bucky okay's my plot idea.

Very cool! Good luck with the contest!

Thanks! Now I just have to write this behemoth. Well, unless I have to start over and redo the whole idea.

I knew you could do it IAP!

And locked! lol

Good boy, that wasn't so hard now was it? With your good writing and my great proofreading, you will surely win!

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I promise to do my very best.

Affirmed.

How detailed does the plot synopsis have to be? 

Enough to show you thought this through.

Happy to beta-read any and all entries (at whatever level of completion). I can assure you that my notes will be prompt and thorough. As to quality, check out my commended reviews and/or the recent feedback I got from donteatpoop. Good luck everyone!

Can affirm. DEP was very impressed with his feedback. I recommend cowbell to anyone looking for a beta.

i'm fuckin trippin on mushrooms rn, and having massive difficulties but ill ebter sounds good man 

....I think this counts as entering? Cool welcome aboard! I hope you remember this later.

I hope he believes that demon fairies snuck in and used his computer to sign him up for all sorts of crap like deviant porn, contests, spam, etc.

Welcome to the fray.

I mean, I guess this is also a way to get new story ideas. Would it be an idea to just write your whole story while on shrooms?

Honestly, a quarter of a gram could be interesting. But I was at a gram and a half with super low tolerance there, so I was Not OkTM to do much other than stare at the ceiling lol 

Sweet. I smell redemption. 

First things first: @Steve24833 Even if you did enter you’d get destroyed. 

Secondly: I’m entering and will put forth my utmost effort into this contest to make up for past failures. 

Thirdly: @WouldntItBeNice I challenge you to enter this contest, so I can once and for all prove that I’m the better writer. Since, for some reason, people are under the impression that lack of effort is equivalent to lack of skill or talent. 

Fourthly: I wish all contestants the best of luck. This contest is going to be a fun one.

Wibbons is too crushed by his defeat in the last contest, so he isn't joining.

However, coins is in this contest so you might want to redeem yourself against him.

Pretty sure we made ourselves clear on the fact that lack of effort is hundreds of time worse than lack of skill. But welcome aboard, the word count at least shouldn't be an issue for you.

Agreed that Steve needs to join, he ought to be able to write a 60k story in two weeks yet for some reason is afraid to.

I meant equivalent as in that people seem to think, or act, as if they are one and the same. Not that one was worse or better than the other.

If you enter a race and then when the whistle blows wander off to make a sandwich and never attempt to run it, you still lose the race even if it's the damn Special Olympics and every one who crossed the finish line no matter how badly they did still beat you, there no getting around that.

Oh, I know I lost. No argument there. 

I would still like Wibbons to come and try to prove that he can do it twice. This time, of course, without myself getting distracted by a sandwich. @WouldntItBeNice

I mean, I probably could, yeah, but I don't have time. I'm gone for most of the Summer, and don't see the need to take away from my other work to do so. I'll leave the petty squabbles and losing to Coins for you guys.

Dude, you lost to Coins. So you've lost all possible chances to gloat. As decided in the lair, with all the gloating you did only to lose to, and I can't stress this enough, fucking Coins, you have no leg to stand on.

Really this all wouldn't have been nearly as funny if not for all the preemptive smugness.

It'd also be way less funny if Coins wasn't in the contest. Losing to Wibbons or someone is so less pathetic.

As I said two months ago, two weeks ago and two days ago, I'm not entering this (exciting and very fun to watch) contest. I even told you that you'd better beat me when you have the chance. Heck, I've entered 8 contests during my time on the site, so I probably should start slowing down. Also, I can't enter because I asked EM to ban me if I enter this one (because I've often entered contests after saying I won't enter them too many times).

Anyway, I don't know if I could handle something of 60k length. NGE was shorter, and it was way too hard to manage. As for EM, I'm not crushed. I just do all of my bitching in the first ~48 hours to get it all out of my system. I'm cool now. :)

Lastly, I could do some beta reading for you if you'd want, @EbonVasilis . Just because I'm not in this one (btw, thanks Bucky for hosting another one, especially with all of these new rules to help encourage a higher quality), doesn't mean I won't try to help out with the output.

@Reverencia should join, I always like his stuff if I can ever get to in in the eight second window before he takes it down.

Updating the list

Participants so far:

AzBaz

BenCrucifix

Chris113022

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

EbonVasilis

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

insanebutvain

Malkalack

Mizal

Ogre11

Romulus

SpartacustheGreat

TheNewIAP

ugilick

I don't think @Romulus affirmatively joined. But he should.

He made a thread, I think that counts.

Yeah, I hoped that was clear enough that I wanted to join. But I guess I'm hereby confirming it!

My bad, hadn’t seen it yet.

I'll try to smash something out I guess. :)

Such a confident entry!

I'm actually really conflicted about whether to enter this contest. I really really want to because the theme is cracking and has potential for stories worth reading. At the same time, I'm currently working on creating a map for my current WIP, which I think will take at least a month.

However, most of my WIP will be set in a fantasy world (hence the map), and while it wouldn't be fair to use that story for a contest entry (and I couldn't finish it in 3 months anyway), I was thinking I might write a sequel set in the future, following the effects of one of my plotted epilogues. This would help me flesh out the world a little more and create questions that will be answered in my overarching project.

I don't know, I might try to see how writing a beginning goes and post it.

I realize I've been telling basically everyone to enter but I think you should go for it. You're one of the ones that have successfully finished a game of almost this length before, now imagine if you had twice the time and a full month to polish it.

I'm really interested in what the final turn out will be on this but also just see it as a great thing for the way it may push people beyond what they previously thought themselves capable of and teach a lot of planning/organizing/general stick-to-itivness that will be useful in other projects going forward. And Bucky was absolutely right about anyone who completes this being able to know for a fact they could go on to write a novel with ease.

Yeah, I reckon I can do 60,000 in 3 months pretty easily- and Frameshift was 100,000 in 2 months (I will republish that one day- it's basically finished but ugh). Got a bad habit of using more script that I intend. Not too sure how much of it I want to be game and whether that would clash with the predominantly narrative focus of the game.

Same, this is the most interesting contest I've been here for so far, props to Bucky for the theme!

Uh, didn’t actually enter, but looks like I’ve been forced to fork over 300 at scythe point. Tbh, fuck it, I officially enter

Good luck everyone!

Good luck!

After spending several hours playing through a hundred or so of the shorter games on here to get my point count to 300, and sweet talking Bucky to excuse my <5.00 score game, I can announce my entry into the competition.

Welcome aboard!

I never see you on the forum so you've probably got being much more effective at managing free time as an edge over us all.

A former contest winner no less! Good luck! :-)

That's probably less due to effective time management and more due to me forgetting about this site for months at a time before remembering the story I've been working on and returning to work on a page or two, but I'll remain optimistic.

Very cool! Good luck with the writing and the contest!

So @Leora how many thousands more words are you going to write in your story before you commit to entering the contest?

What's wrong with taking a detailed approach to outlining? I used to make much simpler outlines, or just get an idea and start writing, but I'd either get lost or stuck or lose interest. Besides, if I decide to take on something so big, I'd rather be sure I know what I'm doing.Last time I made the mistake of taking on more than I can handle, and I'd rather not repeat that.

Yes, certainly.

So....

Ya in? Ya out?

Most likely out. Tempting as it is, I don't think I'm prepared to take on something like this right now. I'm very excited to see the results though ^_^

Your last entry was really good. I wonder how much better you'd do if the stakes were that high!

I never said there was anything wrong with it. I'm the most vocally pro-outline person here.

Since you won't be entering, could we see a link to that 5 page synopsis you wrote of the first part? (And I assume you did more in the meantime?) I'm curious about what you had planned and why you thought it wouldn't work.

Sure ^_^

It's in word, but I'll copy it to a google doc once I get home from work.

Ok, count me in. I'm not going for the win, I'm just hoping the contest and the deadlines will help me complete a more epic-length story here. It's challenging with longer stories (IMO), but we'll see what I can do.

I will be submitting an official plot synopsis and outline of concepts tonight in my attempt to enter the contest.

 

Edit 6 hours later: That's it. Fingers Crossed.

He’s in.

Welcome to the contest!

How many contestants are we sitting at now?

Updating the list

Participants so far:

AzBaz

BenCrucifix

Chris113022

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

EbonVasilis (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Mizal's)

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

insanebutvain

Malkalack (Missed 1 update)

Mizal (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Ebon's)

Ogre11

Romulus

SpartacustheGreat

TheNewIAP

ugilick

Note for later:

Participants who failed Update #1

@Malkalack

"Bucky can eat my ass with his faggot updates." - Malk

(That's the message he wanted to relay)

Hey, he’s the one who signed up.

He's going to take you to court to try and prove he was not in a state of mind to give consent at the time he joined.

End likes to make deals. He should talk to him.

Honestly, I want to see if Malk can pull off a complete disrespect for the rules (And "The Man") by ignoring ALL the updates.

If he does that AND wins first place. He doesn't’t lose any points and unlocks a special Che Guevara achievement, on top of all the rewards he’ll get for winning the contest.

Obviously if he fails, then he doesn't get shit and loses everything. Might still get the Nat Turner achievement though.

I'm not quite sure how you can win a contest without following the rules. If there's a race and I take a shortcut and finish before everyone else, I don't win, I get disqualified...

There's nothing about missing updates that would disqualify anyone from winning though?

Except for the part that says "Requirements... You will have to provide mandatory updates on your progress."

If you can ignore that one, then you can literally write anything without any limits and still "win."

Interesting point.

Let's look at it: that rule does come with a built in measure for when and if an update is missed. As such, despite the word "mandatory" being in use it is clearly implied that missing an update does not disqualify a story's eligibility, but does incur a penalty. Other rules appear to be base requirements for the story itself, whereas the update rule appears to be an additional expectation, rather than mere suggestion, for the writer.

There were several "mandatory" school projects I never did. I was penalized, exactly as much as I was told I would be, but it didn't disqualify me from passing the class. As there was no stated additional repercussion for missing consecutive, or even all, updates, as a true stickler for the rules, I don't see a problem with it.

Right, not sure what the point would be of having penalties for every skipped update if missing just one has already disqualified him.

Or where would the line be drawn here? Skipping five out of six updates is OK but all of them is not? On an entry that otherwise is legitimately the best entry, even? That seems arbitrary and pointless compared to just taking away the penalties already listed.

Certainly it's Bucky's contest and he can interpret his own rules how he likes. I imagine he will eventually weigh in here with a ruling because indeed, this does seem a bit confusing. Then again, with all contests here "rules" are more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules...

Call me a word-lawyer or what you will, but obviously, uglick, whoever told you those projects were mandatory simply lied to you. They were not mandatory in any way, shape, or form. That's not what that word means.

If they were really "mandatory," in that sense, as I pointed out, there wouldn't be a specification "for each update missed." As missing one would disqualify the work, rather than just incur a penalty as specified. I prefer language to be used denotatively, but that doesn't appear to be what we have an example of here.

I actually find this kind of discourse very interesting, so I hope you aren't getting the wrong idea. I'm not here to fuss.

It’s up to Bucky (and Malk to some degree). He just mentioned Malk making a deal with me, that’s the deal.

Either that or Malk takes the penalty and falls in line for the next updates, or he doesn’t and just keeps losing points with no possible reward for his behavior.

For the sake of sanity, how is this even in the least bit confusing?

The updates are mandatory: adjective - (2) pertaining to, of the nature of, or containing a command

You cannot ignore the update requirement without incurring a penalty. The penalty is clearly identified. You lose points for every missed update. Missing one update disqualifies you from receiving the entry bonus that you can attain by making all updates and submitting a valid and timely entry. Regardless, you still continue to incur additional penalties for every update you miss.

Just because the penalty isn't a bar from entry does not make the updates any less "mandatory." There is a penalty for failure to comply.

---

I'd laugh regardless of the outcome if Malk takes that bargain.

Taking points isn't enough- I say we take his right hand.

Only a pound of flesh will do.

Uh, you're gonna want to make sure he washes it really, really good first.

We're over a half a month in and everyone is behind where they wanted to be! Time for an inspiring video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gwMSnESidE?

Truly, words to live by.

Lost my shit at “spending hours jerking off to a picture of yourself.” Also at Alexandre Dumbass.

Haha Thumbs up. 

Not sure if it was intentional, but I liked the NaNoREEEEMo slip.

I hope everyone takes her advice to heart, because we could use a few more really good stories. And if they're uh ... not so good like she suggests, then maybe mine will have a better shot at a higher ranking with the judges.

Sorry Ford, forgot you were logged into my laptop.

So this is extremely delayed, but I finally transferred that synopsis onto a word document. It's not very well-written, as it was simply a brainstorming expansion, but it does outline what would have been the first path of my story. I honestly completely forgot I was supposed to post this until @Mayana reminded me, so thanks to her! The Story that Never Was

This looks quite interesting so far, it's a pity you decided not to enter. The protagonist only being able to change one line of code per day could lead to some nice choices, where you'd have to decide to spend your powers now to avoid dying or save them for something much worse that could happen later. I really hope you change your mind and write this; with a story like this, it shouldn't be too hard to write an 8/8 length CYOA.

This sounds like it can be a damn good story.  

The plot is pretty cool, and there is some nice character development.  I can't wait to read it one day when it is finished.

Kind of reminds me of Sword Art Online. (I definitely don't watch anime or read the stuff it's usually based on, btw)

You sure? :P That sounds like something an anime fan would say...

Nah, I believe ya. Any true weeb would know that there were many far better animes set in a video game world long before SAO came around. (I haven't seen much of SAO to be fair, but I watch a lot of older shows and from what I've seen of SAO it doesn't measure up.)

I've seen a few, but I'm not a junkie. First one I saw (not counting Dragon Ball Z, of which I was admittedly late to the party on) was Crying Freeman (I think it was made in the 90s as well, but I was also way late to the party on that one).

Great story. :-)

Updating the list

Also Malk said he's agreeing to my deal. Also made a 500 point bet to beat Digit. He gets 100 if he does. He loses 500 if he fails.

Participants so far:

AzBaz

BenCrucifix

Chris113022

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

EbonVasilis (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Mizal's)

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

insanebutvain

Malkalack (Deal: Doesn't have to make an update thread, but must win first place to avoid point penalty. Bet 500 points: Must beat Digit. Wins 100 if he does. Loses 500 if he fails)

Mizal (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Ebon's)

Ogre11

Romulus

SpartacustheGreat

TheNewIAP

ugilick

Friendly reminder, update #2 is due today.

Wait, so how do we check our word count?(I’m not entering, just wondering).

Hover over the play length.

Ford, is that one of your stories?

Hahahahahahahaha... no. He could probably hit a 7/8 with heavy scripting though if he ever decided to finish something.

Or if you're writing offline, most programs will tell you.

I know this is old, but I'll answer anyways: if you're on mobile, click "publish" to open up the first step to publishing. Right above the "Cancel" and "Next" things is a message reading "Word Count" and it says how many words you have written. In one of my stories, I have reached exactly 2,061 words.

So far Corgi is the only one that's actually been updating for his contest story on a regular basis.

Looking forward to all the SHAMING.

inb4 "forgot there was even a contest going on" and the usual excuses like "I've been sick" or "with cancer" or "and I died"

Wait, this was for reals?

Pretty sure what you meant to say was "So far Corgi is the only one that's actually been updating for his contest story up to two weeks early which doesn't really show what his progress is at the time the mandatory update is actually due."

I've only been posting mine one day ahead of the due date since it's still hit or miss with being able to get the site to load.

There have been quite a few that don't get it in under that EST deadline, though. I'm still waiting to see if Bucky will cut 'em some slack or shorten their rope.

Honestly, I haven't been paying much attention, I just saw that Corgi's update was fairly recent and everyone else's seemed pretty long ago and given the last time I bothered to read the updates everyone kept saying they weren't doing shit/falling behind/giving up/starting over/etc., I figured he was the only one really doing anything and still on track.

Hey, just for the record EndMaster I've hit every deadline, and most of them far in advance. Of course I still may be subject to shame, but just as an offering to our resident God of Death, I've included a page from my necromancer character's point of view in my latest update.

Fluxion Update #4.

Get End's bony, spick cock out of your mouth, Flux.

The creepy way he insinuated that my soul belonged to him for borrowing points has convinced me that this sort of "indentured servitude" may be my only out.

It's okay, Fluxion. I mean, selling your soul to the Grand Master of the Dead isn't that bad. You have a chance to win, so long as you don't sell your CYS password on eBay.

Okay, sarcasm aside, me and some friends are betting on winners. Someone actually bet on you, Flux. He added $30 to the pot. He's counting on you!

Here's all of our bets.

POT: $70

If Corgi213 wins, I make a $20 profit

If Fluxion wins, my buddy Rob (nicknamed R.O.B.) makes a $40 profit

If Ogre11 wins, Chris makes a $55 profit

If mizal wins, Noah makes a $55 profit

If nobody we bet on wins, then we all roll dice to see who wins the $70 pot.

Tomorrow we'll be placing second bets, increasing the bets, and then wondering about who would win and why. This should help motivate you all to do better, but we can call off our bets if requested.

No keep these bets going. I’ll be interested in hearing about you all rolling dice to decide the winner of the pot. 

Here's the current update with our second bets, with names in blue and money in green:*

POT: $210 (This stuff is getting real! I never expected us to go that big!)

EatTheCake is betting the maximum of $50 on Corgi213 (Profit: $160) and $20 on EbonVasilis (Profit: $190)

R.O.B. is betting $30 on Fluxion (Profit: $180) and $20 on SpartacusTheGreat (Profit: $190)

Chris is betting the minimum of $15 on Ogre11 (Profit: $295) and the maximum of $50 on ugilick (Profit: $160)

Noah is betting the minimum of $15 on mizal (Profit: $295) and the maximum of  $50 on romulus (Profit: $160)

*U.S. currency used. Please use Google to veiw the translation from U.S. Dollars to, say, Chinese Yuan

We also had some rules to keep things from going crazy:

1. The minimum bet is $15.

2. The maximum bet is $50.

3. If you bet the minimum, you must bet the maximum next round.

4. You can't bet the minimum in the second round UNLESS you bet the maximum in the first round

5. If a user we bet on is SHAMED, the better does not get a refund. Instead, the money stays in the pot (we are actually using a pot to put the money in, too) until someone wins the EPIC contest.

6. There's one user who's name I forgot, but he doesn't need to post updates, but does need to get #1 in the contest to avoid penalty or something like that. We can't bet on him, because I imagine this is putting a small bit of pressure, knowing that people want you to do even better than you possibly can to win. So imagine that: You have to get #1 and having some one's wallet depend on you? None of that. Someone wanted to, but we decided to put in this rule.

That's all, folks. Tomorrow, we might raise the pot even more! Good luck to you all, and I hope this motivates you!

You all lose when I name Rogues the winner.

Who is Rogues? I don't see them in the list, unless you mean someone who we didn't bet on.

I was going to say I couldn't believe anyone would be retarded enough to bet real money on the outcome of a contest on an obscure site they're not invested I or involved with at all, but I take that back, I no longer think there's any limit to how retarded a person can be.

There really isn't. But we aren't that dumb. If the money actually keeps growing, then we'll probably cut most of the money we spent in half (The minimum bet is still effective, so you will at least have $15 in).

Should give the money to the winner IMO. Shame on you all trying to profit off the hard work of...all two of us who might complete an entry.

What happens btw if there's not enough entries for the contest to go ahead?

Then we get our money back.

So, mizal, are you saying to put off our bets? Cause "shame on you" seems borderline "stop this bullshit you fucking idiots" to me.

Are you kidding? No way. Instead, you need to up the bets. After all, no one has even bet on Ben or IAP, two very likely candidates to win this thing!

Bet that you'll cut off your dick if Ebon loses.

God damn, mizal, you are horrible. Don't you believe in actually friendly bets and some people who can't play our favorite RPG yet because I still have to set it back up?

Have you considered how bad your lack of faith in Ebon must be making him feel right now? You're a cruel person.

To be fair, I wanted to bet $20 on my first bet, but wrote down $50 instead in the archives. And once in the archives, it must be true. So I set the $20 in with Ebon because I didn't want to go broke. I would've set $20 on both bets otherwise.

He really should double down on his bet for me. I’ve beat everyone entered in this contest at least once before. I think the only people I haven’t beaten are our judges panel. 

Of course. I’ve also lost to pretty much everyone here, so make of that what you will. 

Rogues is a storygame. Go play it.

Holy shit you guys are insane. Also wow, no one has any faith in me? That hurts.

Well, we may have forgotten you were in. Otherwise, yeah, we might have faith. Besides, we all just picked random people.

That's a lot of money to give away blindly...

Okay, maybe it is. But, I'm going to just add that this is an EPIC contest, so we made EPIC(ly stupid) bets.

He gets it.

Jesus thanks for the pressure...

Dude, don't worry, we can change our bets if requested, or cancel the entire thing if needed.

No you can't. Definitely not.

I'd say that depends on who's running it. Bets for site points obviously can't be cancelled, but the money thing seems like a separate issue. Whoever's in charge of the money pool would decide wether a person can drop out.

Weak.

Heh, it ain't up to me. I'm not betting money on any of these people.

EatTheCake is a fucking liar that did no such thing anyway.

What he probably did was talk to a bunch of other incel degenerates on 4chan who he’s counting as “friends.” Then he jacked it to some sort of fucked up porn. Most likely scat or shota rape. Probably some combination of the two because he’s a fucking perverted asshole.

But because he’s fucking 300 hundred pounds he got winded midway through, got dizzy and fell out of his goddamn shart stained chair.

So while he tried to get up and failing utterly because even with all that jacking his muscle tone resembles that of a faggot pygmy marmoset.

He calls for his mom to help his fat ass off the basement floor, but she doesn’t hear him because she’s too busy getting kebobbed in the ass and mouth by two Mexican guys that she hired to lay some pipe from Home Depot.

Meanwhile his dad is watching his mom getting stuffed like a taco with a spatula up his ass because he’s a faggot cuck and this is the only way he can get off and like they say, like father like son.

Never mind the fact that even if his parents weren’t engaging in their own fucked up degeneracy, they wouldn’t help his shitty pathetic ass anyway except maybe to throw it out in the gutter because they’re sick of him living there and curse the day that they didn’t engage in oral the night he was conceived.

So the only creature that comes running to Cake’s cries is the fucking cat. And the cat doesn’t really give a shit, it just happened to wander over to Cake because there’s even more commotion going on upstairs what with the Mexicans railing Cake’s mom and the poor creature was trying to find a quiet place to hide.

The cat, like all living creatures looks at Cake with distain and does nothing to help him. Indeed if it could speak, it would call Cake a waste of skin and it would be entirely correct. Instead, it marks its territory and sprays Cake in the face with piss.

Of course like a retard Cake doesn’t even get angry about it, he starts fucking laughing like the mong he is. In fact he laughs so hard he starts wheezing again, but this time he also farts which of course has follow through because he’s loosened his asshole so much with his mom’s blacken decker 400 horsepower vibrator he’s got absolutely no goddamn control over his sphincter muscles.

Between the laughing, wheezing, farting and shitting, it’s all too much for him he passes out for several hours. Meanwhile the cat has gotten bored and decided to also take a shit on the several rotten pizza boxes laying on the floor. The roaches are pretty happy about it.

Eventually Cake wakes up again, covered in roaches, shit, cat piss and sweat. With this brief moment of rest he finally manages to get the fuck up and log on to CYS to raise his post count by making up some bullshit story about some dumb bet over Bucky’s dumb fucking contest which everyone is fucking failing spectacularly at because they’re barely competent in the first goddamn place and their only saving grace is they aren’t EatTheCake.

Some are failing more spectacularly than normal.

new headcanon

Well-ranted ^_^

Absolutely beautiful.  

First off, what the hell is 4chan?

Second off, how dare you. My mom doesn't even have sex with my father, as he constantly complains. And my mum would never take a mexican's 1-inch penis in her. That's disgraceful.

Third, I'll have you know that I am smarter than the average guy my age. Just because I'm a horrible person doesn't mean shit. When you all are burning in Hell, I'll be playing World of Warcraft and Ocarina of Time up in Heaven. God bless America, you dicks really fuck things up. And can someone explain why EndMaster here hates me so much? He doesn't seem to hate everyone. So, tell me, End, should I just take this rifle and shove down my throat before I pull the trigger or should I go and leave the site until you decide not to attack the one person that no one will ever understand? How long, End, shall it take, to burn the idea of me being more than just an insignificant peasant into everyone's mind? HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO REALIZE ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE!

 

 

How long shall it take for you to learn to accept who I am, so I can forgive you?

 

 

 

April is autism awareness month.

First off, what the hell is 4chan?

Second off, how dare you. My mom doesn't even have sex with my father, as he constantly complains. And my mum would never take a mexican's 1-inch penis in her. That's disgraceful.

Third, I'll have you know that I am smarter than the average guy my age. Just because I'm a horrible person doesn't mean shit. When you all are burning in Hell, I'll be playing World of Warcraft and Ocarina of Time up in Heaven. God bless America, you dicks really fuck things up. And can someone explain why EndMaster here hates me so much? He doesn't seem to hate everyone. So, tell me, End, should I just take this rifle and shove down my throat before I pull the trigger or should I go and leave the site until you decide not to attack the one person that no one will ever understand? How long, End, shall it take, to burn the idea of me being more than just an insignificant peasant into everyone's mind? HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO REALIZE ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE!

 

 

How long shall it take for you to learn to accept who I am, so I can forgive you?

 

 

 

April is autism awareness month.

Well, now that I'm not pissed at the world anymore, I'm just going to write my way into someone's mind with an annoyingly annoying post a perfectly good storygame.

This is the weirdest post I've read in awhile.

Good....job?

Updating the list

Participants so far:

BenCrucifix

Chris113022

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

EbonVasilis (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Mizal's)

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

Malkalack (Deal: Doesn't have to make an update thread, but must win first place to avoid point penalty. Bet 500 points: Must beat Digit. Wins 100 if he does. Loses 500 if he fails)

Mizal (Bet for 754 points: Story must do better than Ebon's)

Ogre11

Romulus

TheNewIAP

ugilick

 

SHAMED so far:

AzBaz

insanebutvain

SpartacustheGreat (coins)

Fucking contest is Bucky's Vietnam.

Stay away from the agent orange.

20 day mark, time to panic get serious.

Ben and Romulus just fell off the face of the Earth.

Charlie got them.

Why did you wait until now to start? I've avoided the rush by seriously panicking since that very first day.

Wait, that deadline was THIS September? Oh crap.

Well when you put it that way I should calm down.

20 whole days? Ha. haa. Where am I at again... Oh.

Crud.

 

Updating the list

Participants so far:

BenCrucifix

Corgi213

Digit (Took out 150 Loan)

ericyopy

Fluxion (Took out 130 Loan)

Malkalack (Deal: Doesn't have to make an update thread, but must win first place to avoid point penalty. Bet 500 points: Must beat Digit. Wins 100 if he does. Loses 500 if he fails)

Ogre11

Romulus

TheNewIAP

ugilick

 

SHAMED so far:

AzBaz

Chris113022

EbonVasilis

insanebutvain

Mizal

SpartacustheGreat (coins)

Romulus may be dead. This is the longest I can remember him being absent from the site.

I attempted to zoom in on his apartment window using the admin satellite, but couldn't detect motion inside. You may be right.

This was a terrible idea in the first place, should have just went with my one month long Fanfic contest. Would have been like a session with coins' mom, quick in-out, and everyone is happy when it's over.

But nope, Bucky had to go charging in pants on head drunk with this concept and now people are stuck in a quagmire, face down in the fucking mud, getting their asses shot off and watching their fellow CYSers getting strung up from trees with their cocks cut off and shoved in their mouths.

Quit crying. More souls for you.

so like when we getting that 3 month extension???

How about a one year extension, ehhhh? Ehhhhhhh Bucky? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?

Can I get a show of hands as to who is submitting something?

I know of only three who seem that way. One of them still needs 15k more though, but he's trying to make it. Other than that... no.

I just finished mine a few minutes ago. Still have to format it and upload to the site. Should be able to do that easy enough within the next four days.

*Performs odd hand wiggle*

If I had till the end of the month I'd be a happier man. But IAP finished on time. He deserves everything!

That's nice of you to say, but I still think it should be based on merit and not "first come, first served".

I do appreciated it, though.

I will be, I have the word count. Just slapping on a false ending

Updating the list

Participants so far:

Corgi213 (FINISHED)

Digit (FINISHED)

ericyopy (FINISHED)

TheNewIAP (FINISHED)

 

SHAMED so far:

AzBaz

BenCrucifix

Chris113022

EbonVasilis

Fluxion

insanebutvain

Malkalack

Mizal

Ogre11

Romulus

SpartacustheGreat (coins)

ugilick

@Bucky should we post the link here when we publish or nah?

Yeah, that'd be convenient.

http://chooseyourstory.com/story/the-last-chieftain

Here it is!

No sense in waiting for the last minute, I guess. Here ya go... Bestist Frend Jane Enjoy!

Edit: Even after going over this thing dozens of times, I'm still finding typos and jumbled up wording. Sorry about that, everyone. As soon as I'm allowed to, I'll fix everything I've found and put it right back up.

Not sure how much it means coming from a random lurker, but great job to everyone who completed their stories for this contest! I look forward to reading them.
 

@EndMaster can you dock another like three hundred points, I want to go into the negatives 

Done.

hell yeah dude 

Just you wait everyone. I'm not done yet...

I've still got 24 plus work hours to bring it home.

I'd actually be surprised if you didn't turn in something given your other contest output.

I was wondering if you'd pop up. I can't remember anything about what you were writing but you seem to consistently actually finish these so I figure your odds are good.

Well thank you both for the support and confidence boost.

Time to get this done then. See you guys when I'm done.

I've done this once in the Discord, but I'll announce my failure here.

:(

Like I said in the Discord, this is a real shame. I was really hoping you'd finish it on time. At least now you'll have the time to really focus on making it everything it can be instead of being forced to rush it due to a deadline. I'm still looking forward to reading it so I'll be anxiously awaiting it on the new games page.

At this point, with less then 4 hours left.

There is no humanly possible way for me to legitimately get 60,000 words. I barely made the 30,000 word count a couple hours ago because I was pushing it but at this point, I'm just formatting everything onto the website and trying to get as many words down as I can.

But good luck to those that did submit and I hope that your stories will go down in CYS history. Meanwhile, I'm just going to try to write as much as I possibly can... If I don't make it, then better luck next time. 

Well shit. Uh, yeah, you might as well have just given up yesterday, don't think you were going to get more than 30k written in 24 hours under any circumstance lol.

Are you still planning to publish it sometime after the contest?

Yeah, to be honest, I'm the very stubborn type so I was pushing my luck yesterday. I did eventually end up writing 15k words in less than 24 hours so that has to be some kind of achievement.

But yes, I do plan to publish it about in the next month or so. Since it's already halfway done and there's so much content that throwing it away would be a waste.

So wait, is this admitting defeat early or are you turning it in anyway?

If I did turn it anyway, it would be disqualified and I'd be shamed anyway right? Either way it's a lose lose situation.

Unless I wanna be a rebel.

I mean everyone is fucking up so badly at this point and dropping out, you might as well turn in what you have since it might at least result in avoiding SHAME even if you lose spectacularly.

Hmmm...

Ok I'll bite.

I'll be back.

http://chooseyourstory.com/story/ghosts

Hour left folks.

Oh boy, anxiety increases.

http://chooseyourstory.com/story/supers-engage

Boom

It doesn't meet 60,000 words but I'm still submitting it.

(And then I'll take it down and pretend this unfinished version didn't exist.)

That's what Mizal usually does for contests anyway.

Mizal's tradition continues.

Okay, this was meant to be a collection, but I done goofed and ran out of time. As a result, this is MUCH more story than game, and I actually had to cut out some branching paths that I really liked. They WILL be added back in, along with all the other unfinished points of view. In the mean time, I'd rather publish the shitty version of this point of view of the story instead of no story at all. So, I'd say wait to read it for a month, but judges don't have a choice. Anyway, I'll be back with the fixed version as soon as I can unpublish this and add the rest.

For now, the story is pretty darn linear, unfortunately. But that saves you time, right? It WILL be fixed.

If you want the truth: I probably could have finished this tonight, and done it right, but as a huge 49er fan, watching Jimmy Garoppolo probably tear his ACL broke my spirit. I was pretty much a walking corpse after that, and will be for the next month. *sad*

Ascendance

Hey! Don’t read this yet, judges. I’m thinking about taking it down and taking shame because ffs 60,000+ words or not this is an unfinished story. No reason to waste your time.

Time's up and the rest of you are SHAMED!

Okay, congratulations to IAP, Corgi, and - surprisingly - Digit, for submitting valid entries.

Eric, you still did better than most and probably would have just been DQ'd for failure to meet the entry requirements. But you already jumped into the SHAME pit willingly, so no one is going to offer you a rope out now.

EDIT: Or was this Fluxion? Either way, I guess it doesn't matter now. END EDIT:

@BerkaZerka ; @EndMaster ; @Killa_Robot ; @Will11

If you want to judge, send me your ballots when you get through them. BZ, if you want to start your contest before the results of this one are announced, I say go ahead, since your idea is pretty cool and also seasonal. Anyway, I'm very busy at the moment, so it will probably take me a bit to get through these stories.

End, I'll send you the damage sometime later this week.

Wait, Flux is the one that jumped in the SHAME pit. Eric submitted something to avoid SHAME, he's just DQed and not getting his points back.

Noted.

Yeah, I had to kill myself because I was forced to delete four branches of my story because they weren't completed to my satisfaction, and the OP specifically asked for quality. I think the writing of what I turned in was of decent quality, but this was a Choose Your Story contest, not a Read a Story contest. What I had was so whittled down that you basically were funneled into three endings, none of which were all that dissimilar.

So, just three? Well, that makes it a nice 1st, 2nd, 3rd then lol!

I'll open my contest as soon as the results for this one are posted.

I just have one more of the entries to read.

With a contest like this, it makes sense that there would be almost no turnout but at least the ones that made it are of good quality.

Also, since I DQed, can I just take my submission out? Or will I have to wait until the results are posted.

Just wait for the results.

Alright, will do.

How long were you planning to have the judging period last?

I am going to try my best to announce the winner by October 1st. (This means I'm almost certainly going to lose out on glorious sleep.)

Berka and I are done. Waiting on the robot and the dead man.

Berka and I are done. Waiting on the robot and the dead man.

Winner was obvious for me.

@Digit will be so happy you said that!

no u

Hey, to be fair the worst you can do is thrid place.

Was actually pretty torn between two for me, but that's just because they each handled different elements of their story better.

Just waiting on the last ballot.

That was quite quick. Well I guess that's what happens when you only have three qualified stories to grade.

Also I just realized that one of the links in my story game is broken and I feel dumb. Next time, I need to not rush. (Or actually show up with a finished product.)