Hello, and welcome to Forum 7’s very own Factbook Contest! That is right! ^^ Much like the Factbook Contest hosted by The Cosmic Mainframe (Asked with permission and special thanks and credit for the two flag brackets), I decided that I want to run the Factbook contest as well. There will be prizes, though I do have to preface that I have not prepared the cards I want to give away just yet. I will indeed be farming them in the meantime, and if I cannot reach the deadline, rest assured that I will gift the cards out of my own collections.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Rules and Regulations
How the contest will go is like this: There will be a few categories that you as a player (not puppets) can enter. The categories are as follows:
- Overview Factbooks – 2 entries per contestant.
- History Factbooks – 2 entries per contestant.
- Geography / Cartography Factbooks – 2 entries per contestant.
- Military Factbooks – 2 entries per contestant.
- Leader / Character Factbooks – 2 entries per contestant.
- Misc. Category – 2 entries per contestant. This is for those factbooks that does not fit into the five categories above. Only one exception: Please, no OOC factbooks about yourself as a player. That is, factbooks written in an OOC manner are fine, just not “About me” ones.
Maximum of 32 entries for each category. The number of max entries might change on my own discretion – I am willing to increase the limit, but there will be a problem when the bracket gets too big. I might have to run simultaneous rounds where two categories are voted on.
I said Factbooks as a general term. You can totally submit Dispatches or Forum Factbooks for any of the categories, so long as you make it clear that you are entering for that particular entry.
Since a flag bracket and a factbook bracket are entirely different breeds, after some feedback, I will let you guys edit if your factbook got outvoted (i.e. out of the contest) OR 3 brackets before yours OR you won the current bracket and you don't know when the next bracket is for your factbook. So for instance, you are allowed to do some changes here and there (but not completely radical changes to the point of beyond recognition) three brackets (~ 3 days) before that particular factbook is up for voting, or if you have won.
Editing allowed is grammatical changes, small formatting fixes, here and there. You can add small bits if you want. But again, to keep up with the fairness of the game, please do NOT radically change them (e.g. if you have an Misc. factbook, do not change it so hard so as to one-up the bracket). E.g. You can add an army division, or more info about WMDs, in your military factbook; however, no big changes to the point of the factbooks not looking like what you submitted for the contest beforehand. If you are making changes, please do TG me so that we can keep track in the name of fairness.
I'm sorry if this further complicates the rules, but just a little leeway for those that wants to do some edits, because Factbooks can have errors and final touches that needs tending unlike a flag.
Submit each of your factbook entries in this particular format:
- Code: Select all
Category:
Factbook Title:
Factbook URL: [url]Your URL here[/url]
The number of brackets for each categories will depend on how many entries there are. For example, if there are 32 entries for Overview and 16 entries for History, there will be (Top 16 / 8 / 4 / 2 / 1) for Overview, then (Top 8 / 4 / 2 / 1) for History, so on and so forth. The top contestant of each category will win a prize, then these six top entries will go onto the final round to determine who has the best factbook of them all!
As always, the OSRS always comes first when it comes to the content of the factbooks. As for thread-specific rules, please do not vote more than once, or submit more than the specified number of entries per category. That is, one vote per user, 2 entries per category per user.
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There are already rules about the contest itself, but as for how it might be voted, you ask. What should be the deciding factors for voting on a factbook? That is ultimately up to you guys. However, a few notes that I feel that should count:
- Always, always look for the content! Visuals don't always make it nice; it's a matter of how you use it, and the amount of content you have!
- When you are looking at a factbook purely from aesthetics, I believe that you should look for readability and formatting. Some factbooks can be flashy but poorly designed, or not as flashy but well-designed and formatted. I am not pointing fingers at anyone here our outside of here, of course.
- The backstory and lore can definitely be a factor, but I personally won't scrutinize someone's factbook for historical accuracy, no matter how unlikely their scenario or their nations can be. Remember that this is a fictional worldbuilding factbook entries for fictional worlds! The practicality and accuracy of lore should not be paramount, but rather, a bonus point. A well-designed factbook should not lose out or railed on too hard when it got a detail of a war wrong, for instance.
- Some exceptions for entries other than Misc. If you are looking at Military, you can definitely judge by how detailed it is, what is their weapons like, or just for the formatting alone. Again, up to you! Misc. Categories have their own theme too, like some of them on Economy, or on country's other tiny but important details. Be mindful of what is the category for that factbook for better judgement!
Again, these are not guidelines that you absolutely must follow. Who you vote for what reason is ultimately your decision, but I figured that I can provide some help on who you should choose when you are voting. Every factbook is born different and unique, and they have a lot more than they are mostly going for. ♥