Best Space-Themed Mission

Hey citizens, it's Johnny Wilde. Remember I said a few weeks back that we'd be running a mission competition soon? Well it's here! The Best 'Outer Space'-Themed (sci-fi or futuristic) Mission Competition is on.

Woohoo! I am so excited about this one! You'll get 5000 Gold if you win one of our three prize categories, and there's also 3 runner up prizes of 2000 Gold each.

The best prize of all is this: one mission will be chosen from the three category winners as "Best Space-Themed Mission", and this one will will become a Featured Mission - Awesome!

The Mission Commission

Some more really exciting news in SmallWorlds-Mission-land is that a special team called "The Mission Commission" has beamed into existence! The identities of commission members are of course shrouded in deepest secrecy. 

I met a few of them yesterday in a secret location. As you can see they all disguised themselves so that I was unable to identify them. I had heard rumors of a (virtual) blood oath being sworn, so I was expecting a really serious bunch. But you know what? They were all really friendly, and really fun! 

There's 7 members on the team. Here's me with a few of 'em. The other 2 were too busy shootin' each other to get in the picture.

All Mission Commission members share two things: 1) Great skill in mission making and mission evaluation, and 2) Huge enthusiasm for missions here on SmallWorlds - it's a great combination!  

The Mission Commission will be in charge of evaluating missions for inclusion in featured missions from now on, so you'll see new missions being added to Featured more often. 

They're also responsible for judging any future mission competitions, which we'll run more regularly. The Mission Commission Rocks!

Best Space-Themed Mission Competition

Have you mission makers got over your excitement yet? Well let's get into the details of the competition itself. How 'bout I hit you straight off with the awesome prizes! We've got three prize categories...

1 - Best Storyline: Wins 5000 Gold

In this category the Mission Commission will be looking at just how you tell the story of your mission. How well it flows, how creative it is. Does the story have a well executed beginning, middle and ending. Can you tell a great space-themed story within your mission!

There will be one runner-up prize awarded of 2000 Gold

2 - Best Use of Interactions: Wins 5000 Gold

Love using interactions? This is the category for you! Go wild with your interaction ideas and see what surprises you can create for the Mission Commission team! The interaction world is your oyster - oh and don't forget to space-theme them!

There will be one runner-up prize awarded of 2000 Gold

3 - Most Unusual: Wins 5000 Gold

This category is the one which will really get your creative juices going!  It's the category in which you want to surprise the judges with something, well, unusual. Of course you still need to make it 'space-themed'. To win this category you'll be wanting the Mission Commission team to be saying things like "whoa!" and "wow, that's really unique and unusual" or "we never expected that!".

There will be one runner-up prize awarded of 2000 Gold

Time to Complete & Number of Plays

Minimum of 10 plays needed. You need to make sure that your mission has had a minimum of 10 plays to eligible for entry. Get all your friends to test your mission out for you!

Between 10 and 30 mins to complete. The Mission Commission team also requested some boundaries on length of time your mission takes to complete. They are looking for missions that take an average minimum of 10 mins and maximum of 30 mins to complete. Thanks for making sure your mission fits generally within these guidelines.

Which Category?

When you enter your space-themed mission on the official forum thread, please also specify which category you are entering your mission into. If the Mission Commission feels that your entry would be better suited for another category, they'll judge it in there instead - they want to give all mission makers the best chance to win! 

Old Missions, new missions... all space-themed missions are eligible. If you made a space-themed mission a year ago? Great! Perhaps you'd like to create something totally new? Awesome!

How To Enter your Mission / Competition Guidelines

• 1 - Make sure that the mission you intend to submit has a "Space" Theme (ie: Sci-Fi / Futuristic). This is the overarching theme of the competition, and missions which are clearly outside of this theme will not be considered. Your mission needs a minimum of 10 plays, and needs to take between 10 and 30 minutes to complete, on average.
  
• 2- Go to the Official Best Space-Theme Mission forum thread. Enter these details:a) Space name (and Space URL if you can) b) Mission name, and c) Location of 'start mission' button.
• 3 - State the category you're entering
  
• 4 - Only one entry per SmallWorlds account. You can only enter missions that you yourself have created. If you've come across a great space-themed mission, contact the mission creator and suggest they enter!
  

Competition Closes 6th April

Make sure you submit your entries before Tues April 6th, when the competition entry thread will be closed. We'll need to give the Mission Commission a couple of weeks to play 'em all and then submit their well-considered decision. I'll then do a follow-up report complete with interviews with our lucky winners!

Imagine: Your Mission as a Featured Mission!

I wonder who is going to be lucky enough to win the overall prize of "Best Space Mission"? Hey, maybe that person will be you! Just imagine your mission as a Featured Mission - awesome! So - what are you waiting for...go and start creating a space-themed mission!

A few handy tips from the Mission Commission Team

MCT Member 1: "What makes a great mission? Clear tasks, good atmosphere, great story."

MCT Member 2: "I believe that a great mission has a good story, unique use of items, and a playability that doesn't cause you to tear your hair out *completely*. That's not to say it can't be challenging, but I like to figure out what to do eventually! I personally love a sense of humor, but have done some awesome missions that are serious."

MCT Member 3:"This thread has links to a few mission related tutorials - go check em out, they're really useful."

MCT Member 4: "Your mission should have a story line, even a simple one, instead of just emotes and hunting for things. People will be more likely to play it, and come back to play it again! Don't forget to use spell check, and get somebody to test your mission for you to find any bugs, interaction problems, and item security."

Thanks Mission Commission - some really great tips. Get to it SmallWorlds citizens - looking forward to your cool & futuristic entries!

~ Johnny Wilde

The Legal Stuff

The Competition is open to SmallWorlds standard and VIP Club members 13 years of age or older. Employees of Outsmart 2005 Limited and its helpers, moderators, officers, directors, parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, advertising agencies, promotional suppliers, or production agencies, and their respective dependents, immediate family members (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) and individuals residing in the same household, are not eligible to participate. Void where prohibited by law.

The 3 category winners and 3 runners up will be selected based upon the sole and exclusive discretion of the SmallWorlds Competition Judges. Each category winner will be awarded 5000 Gold, each runner up will be awarded 2000 Gold. One mission chosen from the three category winners as Best Space-Themed Mission will be made into a Featured Mission. All submissions are carefully reviewed before determining the prize winners. The judge's decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The finalists will be chosen and notified on or about April 17th, 2010