very nice will try to think about a good spell

its just bad that only 5 spells will make it in the game

lets hope so

Oooh, shinies and contests! And the fame!

Figured I'd throw in my name with the least imaginative entry possible...I think?

No kidding.  It seems like a complete waste otherwise.

Although someone could simply pack them all together as a mod.

I like the idea that one is guaranteed to get in, and the others might get in.  I think Stardock has heard how much the community wants a wide selection of unique spells to choose from.

A high end video card for a few sentences about a spell concept can't really be "diluted". It's a great payoff, for *one* person, in exchange for relatively minimal effort. So a handful of people will be very happy, regardless.

Getting the kinds of spells the community wants in the game, benefits *everyone*, and makes the entire community happy.  The more good spell ideas make it in, the more *everybody* wins.

Kudos to Stardock though, for doing stuff like this to keep community spirits high, in lieu of having 1.1 beta to play with.

I just hope SD is careful with their choices...

I mean, disappearing diplomatic influence? Costly double-crossing mercenaries? Complete and externally undisplellable magic immunity?

I can only quote Otis on this mater. "HOLY JUMPING MOTHER OF GOD .. NO!" (just a quote, no religious stuff meant)

*Sigh*... some people don't even bother to imagine themselves on the other side of their spells, let alone stopping to consider how uncommon is their viewpoint on the matter.

Also, may I recommend keeping the voting progress hidden once it commences and up until it's done? It's better not to let the voters know current distribution of votes neither before nor after their vote while the process is open, lest you want to deal with "votes against" or votes for "next favorite" and the like.

*shrug* Just look around the ideas forum. Lots of "contributions" consist of like one line of desription for a feature with considerable scope.
That people consider the pros and cons of their ideas and how it will interact with the rest of the game (or consider anything at all) is not that common.

And I can just imagine who'll submit the spell that prevents any and all forms of teleportation in the game. =P

+1 for Teleblock

Just some tips that I think comprise some of the things the "Winning Spell" should have. I'm giving these tips because I most likely won't be in good enough health to submit an entry myself so these tips will do two things:

These tips will name the steps to making a "Complete Spell"...

&

As an ex dev myself, having run many community contests on UO, these are some of the things I would look for when choosing a Contest Winner (which I've done in the past) for a creativity contest...  (keep in mind not being on the internal team I can't name specifically what they'll be looking for in a winner, but I have a few general idea).

1. Make a "Complete Spell" . This means... write your own code (XML) , make your own Graphics using the Particle Cauldron (If you suck at using it like I do start practicing now, you have Half a Month to figure it out). Granted many people out there don't have the technical knowledge to write their own code for a spell and Stardock knows this. I can't say for certain that it will be a coding genius that ends up winning, but....I'm sure it will help and asking someone else to do the code for you would mean they'll want a cut of your prize and I'm also not sure on what rules Stardock may have on having multiple people work on the same entry.

2. Do more than just a few lines of a new spell description. I.E. make a Complete Spell. Here's an example of what NOT to do to expect to win:

Ice Blast:

Ice Blast showers your foes with shards of sharp ice.

Done!!! Canz I haz prizezez nowz?

...lol. That won't cut it people

3. Try to come up with something Unique, don't make a spell based on a existing spell. Be Creative and Imaginative. Don't be afraid to do something Different. If it's something no-one has seen before that will be a big plus.

4. Make Sure the spell is Balanced, Unless.... it's supposed to be Un-Balanced. If it's a world ending/game breaking spell that does something super massive it should be limited to the end game (like the Spell of Mastery) or it should be Super Rare &/OR Expensive.

5. Add some Custom Content if you can. If you're handy at adding things like skins or new weapons or textures, now might be a good time to use them in the new spell if you can and Stardock doesn't say not to. It doesn't say anywhere in the rules the entry can't require a download. Keep in mind that could change though, since I don't see any "Rules" posted (might want to post some rules Island Dog ).

Edit: I found the rules Island Dog, how come there aren't any rules about people working together?

I hope that helps a few people out. I'm sure we're going to see a TON of cool spells getting entered in the next few weeks. I only wish I felt good enough to be able to take part my-self. Attention Dragonlance Team Members, just because your leader is sick doesn't mean you get to sit around. I expect one of you to step up and "bring home the gold" for the team hehe j/k guys.

Good Luck Everyone!!!!!

~Raven

Note to Scott and Brad (and Derek?) , if you guys want a "Impartial Judge" from within the community to help out just drop me a line. Even being sick I manage to check my forum PM's and my Yahoo and Skype Messages (Boogie and Frogboy have my Skype contact) every couple of days. Also, as some other posts have mentioned above, what are the chances some of the non-winning spells might make it into the game as well? Even if a spell doesn't "Win", it could be considered a "Consolation Prize" (not to mention a great honor) by the other entrants just to see their spell in game .

@RavenX I went through about 150 of the spells, and I didn't find a single one that was possible with the current limitations to spells in the game. Whoever wins, it is likely they'll need to create a custom function just for that spell.

"Moonlit Dance – if full moon, target unit has a chance of doing a special dance that causes adjacent units to mimic dance draining them of their will to live if they have an intelligence less than 8 but greater than 4)." <-- Anybody remember this example of something that was too convoluted to make it into the game?