Author Games: The Absent Empress

The Hero's Code

Welcome to Author Games: The Absent Empress! Let's get right down to the rules by which you'll be expected to abide.

The Competitor Bill of Rights

By joining these Games, you have the right to:

1. A fairly scored entry, regardless of your identity. This is a promise, and one I take very seriously. If I don't think I can score it fairly because of emotional complications, I'll give it to my lovely guest judge, or just tell you off the bat before you join.

2. A minimum of five days to write an entry, and voting rounds will be a minimum of twenty hours apiece. This may be longer depending on my schedule, but it will never be shorter.

3. One 24-hour no-questions-asked extension. Don't tell me why you need it. Just use it, and use the time well. After you use it, I become significantly harder to impress when you want an extension. Choose wisely. If you're looking for the password, it's between scoring and ballots.

4. No word limits, unless I specifically spell it out as part of a ballot challenge. Write as much as you need to get a good entry.

5. Notes for the first task and first task only, to be submitted via PM upon request. This only applies if you put the password in the Other section of the form.

The Gamemaker Bill of Rights

As your Gamemaker, you can expect me to have these following rights:

1. I am the Gamemaker. In this tiny little corner of the Internet, I am judge, jury, executioner, and press secretary for less dire times. My scores are final. The ballot challenges are final. If you ask me for a specific decision, those are final. The same applies to my co-judge, RappyTheDinosaur.

2. If you cheat or manipulate voting in any way, I will permanently ban you from my Games and put the word out to any other Gamemakers I know. 

3. If you are considering being a dick to your fellow competitors, don't. If you are considering being a dick to me, really, really don't. I will take it poorly, and disciplinary action will ensue.

4. If you want to use an extension, tell me at least an hour before the due date. It's just polite.

5. All entries must be submitted to joe@vaccarofamily.org. You will get a zero for the task if I don't see your entry because you sent it to the wrong place.

6. Please keep in mind that I have a life, and that life includes Microbial Physiology. I will try to be prompt with posting entries and scores. If for some reason I am not, please be assured that I am trying, and will get it done as soon as I can.

Scoring

Using a system shamelessly appropriated from PanemEtCircuses, your entries will be scored out of 10 in 6 different categories. This score (maximum of 60) will be divided by 4 to give a score (maximum 15) which will be displayed on scoring pages. These categories are:

Task Completion: Did you do what I told you to do? I'll be honest, guys: this should be easy points. Just check the requirements before you write.

GUMP: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Punctuation. Pretty standard stuff.

Creativity: Did you take the task and give it your own spin? Have I read ten other entries exactly like yours?

Style: Do you have a distinctive voice in your writing? Is it understandable? Does it flow from one idea to the next, or one event to the next?

Characterization: What is your tribute like? How have they developed? Do you communicate their story and motivations clearly and effectively?

Description: Is there any evidence that your entry does not take place in a perfectly featureless room?

Scores in each category will be discussed between me and Rappy. They will determine who goes up for votes each round.

Eliminations and Rankings

SCORES WILL NOT BE CUMULATIVE THESE GAMES. Well, they will be, just not in the way you're thinking. Instead, I will be creating a system designed to suit this Game's unique elimination needs. The password is your favorite pie flavor. You see, while we have nine tasks in these Games, competitors will only be eliminated during four of them: Tasks 2, 4, 6, and the Semifinals. Thematically, these will be more action-centric tasks, during which you can expect to do some thrilling heroics against a dastardly villain. 

For you the competitor, however, this means that every elimination will depend on not only your performance on that task, but on the one before it. Rankings will reset after every elimination task, giving everyone a fresh start after their terrible trial. It is my hope that the will strike the desired balance between lack of security against a single screwup, and lack of mobility within the rankings.

Kills and Ballots

As was the case in Author Games: The Hero You Deserve, ballots and kills will work a bit differently these Games. In essence, your kills/ballots will do different things depending on whether it is an odd or even numbered task.

-On odd numbered tasks, the individual (or individuals, in case of a tie) with the highest number of ballot kills will be assigned a challenge for the next entry. These challenges will get worse as the Games proceed, and they will never be pleasant for the one who receives it. I recommend not being the person who gets them.

-On even numbered tasks, ballots will function as negative points. Not to worry, though-- rankings will still reset afterwords, so they'll only endanger you for that task and no future ones.

Here's an example worked out so you have a better idea of what I described in the previous two sections:

Competitor Mary Sue Fantastic gets a 12.5 in Task 3 for her touching moments with her family. Since no one is to be eliminated this task, she proceeds to Task Four with her head held high. Alas, Mary's not so strong in the action-oriented task about the fight against the Maniacal Memelord, and her entry fetches only 9.5 points.

Combining her scores from Task Three and Four, Mary finds herself with a 22, but three ballot kills bring her down to a 19. This isn't quite enough to squeak by- Mary goes up for votes this round, but manages to survive while her comrades Incredible Edgelord and Bob are eliminated. Having survived, however, her scores reset and she has a clean slate along with her fellow heroes for the next two tasks. 

Miscellaneous Rules

-Sponsorships will be awarded based on performance in the first entry. You should want these. They're very helpful.

-I will not give notes unless it is for a sponsorship, or the situation is as stated in Competitor Bill of Rights, article 5. I am, however, willing to provide your score breakdown in each of the six categories as often as you wish. 

Questions? Concerns? Send myself and/or Rappy a PM, and I'll do what I can to resolve the issue. Glowing praise? Leave a comment so the world can see your excellent taste in Gamemakers. Considering naming your firstborn child after me? While thoughtful, I would prefer you named them Mictlantecuhtli (or Mictlancacíhuatl in case of a female child) and therefore let my legacy be one of aesthetic and torment for substitute teachers.