Excelsior

DEADLINE AT BOTTOM OF FINAL POST!!

Ever wonder why Town Center was built where it was? How the one lone villager escaped the abysmal horde to let the heroes know of the others? Or what history lies behind the world known as Excelsior? Well, stop waiting for someone else to answer and do it yourself!

Brotherhood of Thunder Library is now taking entries for it's Bring Books to Excelsior contest. This contest will sport some of the largest player event rewards ever offered and for good reason. Let us bring some depth into the world we all love and make it available for all the new and old players. This contest is quite simple, write a book (in game), turn it into Oromis, and wait for the results. As always, rules before rewards (make sure to read the former so you can get the latter ^_-).

1. Books need to be Ultima Online related fiction. You can make them about specific characters, non-existent characters, monsters, whatever. The books do not have to specifically be of occurrences on the Excelsior shard, but making it such would be great. Also, avoid writing on pending things (like +Veritas event storyline) the owners of the story may not take kindly to it (I know I would not :p).

2. Read the Codex, follow it. Public library guys, no exceptions.

3. No 133t 5p34k!! If I see it in the book I will have to just trash it right away, sorry, hated the stuff during Quake and I still hate it ><. Also, try to avoid cut down words (i.e. ltr, cya, lol, etc.) as it will affect the judging of the book.

How it will work
There is no entry fee for this contest (I have put aside funds specifically for it) outside of buying the book yourself. You can send the book(s) to me one of two ways, either PM me and set up a meeting or (if you are familiar with the mailing system) head to the Brotherhood of Thunder Library and check the steps, my Address Card is there (directions to the library are already posted, link to said post will be provided at the bottom). There is no limit on the amount of books you can turn in! Not only do I accept multiple entries from the same person, I encourage it. Do keep in mind though, if you have a book that wins you can't win a lower place (so if you win 2nd you can't also win 3rd, or if you hit 1st you can't hit 2nd or 3rd), this is just to keep it fair to everyone. Once you have turned the book(s) in you just sit back and wait, the contest will have a deadline set only after the point I receive the 30th book. If I do not receive 30 books it may take awhile, so bear with it, or you can request to have your book returned and remove yourself from the contest.

How you win
Once the deadline has passed all of the entries will be read by the judges, myself and Arila (not accepting any other player judges since there is too much of a chance of integrity loss, though interested Staff members can PM me to join in the judging). Books will be judged based on the overall quality of the book. If you write two sentences, don't expect to be in the top 3 :p. Now, I know not everyone is capable of writing Shakespeare, which is why punctuation and spelling will be a very small part of the contest (leaving that one to Arila since she is a bit more sharp on the two :p). The main judging will be from the content itself. Moving story, interesting characters, general "pull you in" factor will all be taken into account. Basically, put some effort into it and win ^_^.

Now...for the juicy part ^_^...

REWARDS

All books entered within the parameters of the rules will have a permanent home in the Brotherhood of Thunder Public Library (though some books may be edited with the authors permission if they are too hard to read).

1st Place Prize
2 Mithril Ingots*
1 Item Bless Deed
5000 Organics
10 ED
150 Elven Notes
50 Ointments

2nd Place Prize
1 Mithril Ingot*
1000 Organics
50 Elven Notes
5 ED

3rd Place Prize
500,000 Gold Check
Bag of 3 Power Scrolls (no 120's)
Full set - Plate of Honor (donated by Voot)

* = For those not aware, Mithril Ingots are used the same as checks, put them in your bank box and double click. Each ingot will deliver 1 million gold.

Also, the items prizes included may increase over time as I am able to keep them evenly distributed (gold will stay the same).

If you have any questions, either post on this thread or PM me (Oromis) in game and I will answer them. Also, let me know in game or on the thread if you wish to participate, since I need 30 books before making an official deadline this is important!

Good luck all and Happy Writing.

Edit - Doh ><. Forgot the directions . http://www.uoex.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2411

Reward Edit - Voot has donated Plate of Honor set which I have added to the third place winnings.

Bumpdate (someone call Webster, we have a new word )

Currently the count is 10 out of 30 entries required for the initial deadline.

Couple of extra bits for questions I have received. If your story can't fit in one book by all means use more than one, however keep the title to reflect it. So if you made a book called "Excelsior" and needed more than one book you could call the first one "Excelsior v.1" or "Excelsior pt.1" or any other thing you can think up (then of course number the other books in the same fashion). Also, you don't have to message me before you finish the book, but it would be beneficial in getting the deadline to appear sooner, also I will give time for people that let me know before the deadline is announced to get their books in (think of it as being grandfathered in). Of course if you tell me after the deadline has been announced I will need you to just be on time, this is especially true since we already have the first books ready to be read (don't want to keep the person from the results for too long ^_^). To those already in the contest, good luck. To those thinking about it, come on in . You don't need to be an English major to win, just have an entertaining book ^_^.

Bumpdate!

Just finished reading some of the initial entries and I have no other word than...Wow. From comedy to tragedy, these books are spanning the gap and giving some colorful light on situation most overlook. One of them might even give you pause before you slay your next orc. So far so good guys, keep them coming, I really can't wait to share these with the shard ^_^.

A couple more answers for questions I have been receiving as well. You do not need to follow established lore for the most part (though listing Mondain as still living may raise some eyebrows :p) but the BoT Library does have a hosting of books from UO lore that may aid you in your writings. These are located in the central building bottom floor (same room as the contest box). Expand on stories written, use them as a base for your story, or disregard them completely, they are there to help with whatever you need ^_^. Also, I will not be releasing any of the books that have been turned in until after the contest is complete. I would love to share these right now, but to cease possible drama before it begins (accusations of stealing ideas and the like) only myself, the other judge, and the staff will be allowed access for the time being.

As always, you can PM me any questions at all. Even if you need a booster idea on what to write about I have plenty of ideas that I will share to get you started (of course I am non-biased even to my own ideas, so it is not a guarantee to win if you ask ^_-). Keep it coming Excelsior, so far you are all doing great!

Bumpdate!

No questions this time, but I do have something better, Reward updates! Added the following to the existing rewards (the list on the first post reflect the changes).

1st Place - Added 2500 organics (bringing it to 5000), 50 Elven Notes (bringing it to 150), and 20 ointments (bringing it to 50)

2nd Place - Added 1 ED (bringing it to 5), 500 organics (bringing it to 1000), and 10 Elven Notes (bringing it to 50)

3rd Place - Added 1 assorted bag of powerscrolls.

Almost to the deadline announcement, 20 books and counting .

Goal has been met and now it is time to call the end date to this contest. This is the official deadline, to which no books will be accepted after the time listed. There is an exception to this rule for a few select people that have contacted me before the announcement of this deadline (you will know who you are because I will send a message to you personally telling you to check this post). To those people you will have an extra 48 hours to turn in your books after which point no more books will be entered into the contest. To the people that have asked about the deadline, there has been a change. The deadline will no longer be for two weeks but instead one. This is due to the ratio of new people asking to submit versus already entered contestants asking about the results (being weighed heavily towards the latter). Without further ado, the deadline is April 7 at 0500 shard time.

For those that have already turned in books and are simply awaiting results, keep an eye on this post, I will be posting the winners here as soon as the grading is finished (at most 3 days after the deadline). Thanks again for everyone that has taken part so far, and keep the entries coming, the door is quickly closing.

Oromis here, just wanted to give an update. Started a new job, hours are being delivered on a daily basis so I have no way of making plans right now. I hope to be able to get the books graded as soon as humanly possible but it will be on my first day off, which may not be for a few days. I really don't have alot of time to go into detail, since I need to go to bed, but I have not forgotten about you. And thanks to the 41 that have entered. Grading and winner announcement will occur on my first day off, thanks for your patience guys.

Believe it or not, I am still alive and have most certainly not forgotten about anyone. Things are a little bit hectic in the real world right now however, the job I was looking for finally called me back and I am getting emergency training (which consists of working about 11 days straight on 12 hour shifts) so, needless to say time is a precious commodity (only have time to fire this off because I made time for it albeit not much ><). Anyway, bring up to speed, I have simply not been on at the same time as the other judge to read and discuss the books together and it does not seem that I will be able to anytime in the near future so I will be leaving the books for her to read. Then I will go in and read them on Monday the 26th (the first day I will have off), at which point we will discuss when we can catch each other again and I pray that I will have a definite winner at a quick time afterward (this being determined by how quickly we can get together for a quick few IM's). I would love to tell you guys that I will give a bigger prize to thank you for your patience, but I simply can't due to the same reason I have not graded the books. No time = no UO time = no extra gold. But the original prizes are both still in my possession and will be delivered upon grading.

Again guys, bear with me and thanks so much for doing so to this point. Barring me falling over dead (from 12 hour shifts shoveling coal into a steam engine @_@) I will have this contest complete soon. Much love to you all for your submissions and patience, total book count ended up being 44 for those curious.

Yay! Off work and coal dust finally came off o.o. Anyway, as promised I have completed the grading with the other judge and this is what we came up with. I will list the top three here as well as brief reasons for why they were chosen. If you did not make the top three and want to know why, send me a message via the forum Private Message system to get details. WARNING! Do not message me asking why if you can't take constructive criticism. I plan on hosting another similar contest in the future and will give you tips on how you could have fixed a few things to up your rating, it is not degradation, simply advice. Without further ado:

First Place (clap your hands before continuing, give it that Oscar feel )
Zug'ug's Plan by Granos
Actually the very first book received for the contest, I kind of wonder given the quality if this gent has some clairvoyance to see the contest coming . Really though, this book from the very first page made me and Arila laugh out loud (which for me is an accomplishment if your name is not Denis Leary or Hugh Laurie :p). This book, even with the short length managed all the criteria plus succeeding in it's own set goal. The introduction written by a human author under the...'suggestion' of an orc was well written and gave a real feeling of what he may have been thinking after the fact. The story itself was written from an orc's point of view and done fantastically, portraying orcish thoughts without the need for "Ug-ug" speak to help set atmosphere. The orc 'writing' the book set out to cease conflicts with humans and from the child like mannerism of him, to the air of enlightenment that a growing civilization might show, he succeeded. After reading this I may stick away from the Orc camps for a bit ^_-

Second Place
Tamers of Yore by Tectum
Let me start by saying someone stayed awake during English class. I will quote Arila's words and my thoughts with "Tamers was beautifully written." The author's ability to weave you into the story with his words was truly a sight to behold and a strongly recommended read for those interested. Now, of course being a class A writer is only a small piece of the overall grade. What Tamers had that really made it stand out was the character, there was something (I hate to use this word, but oh well) magical about Cale. The back story is lightly touched upon, which worked well for this story, but the main focus is on the character himself which is not an easy feat to pull off. My only regret for this book (though it did not affect grading) is that it stops on the climax. Arila has told me that other stories have done it for effect, but I say "Rabble rabble" ><. *throws small pebbles at Tectum* Write more, or at least write more books, you now have a fan .

Third Place
Betrayal of Cove (volumes 1-3) by Melkor
An entertaining tale of a mostly forgotten town (as far as UO lore goes) written in the format of a Grandpa reading to his grandchildren. I have to say this story definitely has some of the best pacing of the majority I read. Introduction of characters, establishment of storyline, and conflict resolution. I only wish there was a second and a half place ><....stupid contest creator....errr....-_-

Well, to the winners Congratulations! As you have seen in the previous posts my times online have been severely reduced and I will be sporadically online to tend to my bees and the like, but send me a PM telling me when you come online (shard time) and I will do my best to see your prize delivered in a timely fashion.

To everyone, thank you so much for participating, I only hope it was as much fun letting your imaginations have reign for a bit as it was for me to read the results of it ^_^.

I hope to have the library up and functional in the very near future, but as everyone is (should be) aware, real life comes first. When I do finish construction I will be hosting all of the entries on the second floor of the new library, so keep an eye on the "Library Doors are Open" post (in the Help section of the forum) to see the rest of the competition. And everyone who did not participate actively, show your support on these writers by coming by and reading their books ^_^. There will be another contest at some point in the future, but I want to get some awesome goodies to go with it first.

The friendly neighborhood librarian,
Oromis

You may already be considering this, but I also suggest putting a blank book next to each entry for readers to leave comments and their reaction to the pieces.

It's too bad I joined UOEX after this competition had ended, I think I would have enjoyed it. Congrats to all the winners, I look forward to reading your wonderous written works!

I also regret not finding UOEX in time to participate in this competition. Hopefully we'll have more opportunities in the future Congratulations to all of the winners!

Well i congratz all who won, and hope that maybe next time i could be a part of the winners good job all, and it was fun. Ty so much for doing this. let me know if there is another...i will hope to win that one but if i dont then atleast i tried.

Half-on-topic question:

Do books still auto-populate on UO servers like in old school UO? I remember that if you wrote a book in old school UO and it got copied a lot, the book would start to spawn on bookshelves throughout the game.

@ Tah'ris Nayloc
Good idea bud and not one I have not considered, however there is a small problem with it due to the limitation of lock down items on UO. Basically when a book is locked down you can't edit it. The obvious jump would be to put a secure container down with access set to everyone in order to allow people to write their comments there, but there is always the bad seed that would take the book or erase everything to be mean (or by accident since hitting a certain key combination deletes everything on the open pages). I am contemplating another scenario but have not been able to put enough thought into it to state it yet. If you would like to get word to one of the authors for the time being, simply PM me on UO or shoot me a message via my forum name and I will get it to them ^_^.

@Kaiana
Heh, I asked myself the same question and scoured the forums until I found a rather short and obscure post. Essentially the answer is no, it is possible to code it to do that (obviously since OSI did), but does not come in the base Run UO programming. So, until someone gets the will to put together a code for it (or the capability, since I lack it ><) it will lay dormant as an OSI thing. Funny story though, it was exactly the lack of that coding that prompted me to open the library with my base set of OSI literature (all the old books that were easily available) and continue on to everything the library is hosting now. No boring with details though ^_-.

To everyone, since it is obvious that there is some wish for some more people to take part. Bear with me, I not only want to but indeed shall host another event similar, if not an exact copy, to this one. However I need to get my work schedule sorted out so I do not have an incident like this one (where the deadline was hit, the books were in, but I was unable to read and deliver prizes ><). Keep an eye on the forum though because a few things are definite: I like hosting events, I like stories, I have money to burn, and I like ice cream....*hint hint*

*Disclaimer* Judges can't be bought with ice cream, unless it is the good stuff

Finally, we are back in the saddle again ^_^.

The Library (named changed from BoT Library to Excelsior Library) doors have been reopened! All of the previous books are being hosted once again, but the thing you are all no doubt interested in are the contest entries which are also up for viewing. The contest entries are located on the second floor of the building, just east of the UO lore section. The books are currently being sorted by author (and then by book title if more than one book written by said author), but may be changed in the future as more books are added. And for those who do not know how to get to the library, head to the "Library Doors are Open" post in the Help section, it has picture directions.

Also, while I have you attention I have already started planning the next competition though I may be handling it different this time, giving control of the judging to the shard itself. I still need to work out some possible kinks before they arrive so I can make sure no cheating occurs (no offense to anyone, but the prizes are rather large so the temptation is enough to warrant trepidation). Also, to those who support this contest I am also accepting donations to go towards the contest, gold is fine but cool items that will really get people going "O.O" will be good to help pull in an even bigger crowd this time ^_^. A few things on donations. First, making a donation does NOT disqualify you from competing. Second, making a donation will not change the outcome of the contest in your favor (since I will be keeping the donations hidden this time until afterward and since I won't be judging it won't help you ^_-). Now, the donations are not required in any shape, form, or fashion; but if they are given it will make the contest happen faster (since my ability to amass fortunes has been reduced due to work).

Anyway, this will be my final post on this thread. Keep an eye out for the next contest thread which will be the aptly named "Writing for Millions Again".

One final thanks to the participants and the ones who support them. How to support? Go read their books!

Peace,
Oromis

For a future event, what would you think about another writing contest, but this time the contestants submit their stories which go on display and players get to vote for their favorite? Of course this would have to be done so that the authors' identities were kept secret (with a warning against revealing any of the identities).
Perhaps the stories would have to be about a specific theme that ties into a concurrent or upcoming event? Some ideas:

-Why are all the slimes in UO suddenly talking to each other? (an event could be quest to find a randomly spawning intelligent slime who, though a series of subsequent mini quests, reveals the winner's story.)
-Life on the High Seas! (with a related sea-based quest, maybe based on pirate lore?)
-The Haunted Library
-The Joys and Sorrows of the Britain Baker
and on and on