Should Bethesda host a writers contest?

Bluedog164

I think that Bethesda has really talented writers and I think the community of roleplayers are just as talented at writing as the writers themselves, so in the next expansion, which I think should be in Bruma. There should be a writers contest for helping in writing the next expansion of the Elder Scrolls Online which I would like to call The Elder Sctolls Online: Treachery in Bruma

Ratzkifal

Maybe, just be careful with that

I mean, as long as the prize for the writers contest isn't that your story definitely becomes the next chapter story there is no harm in it. If it's really good it can become the chapter story but if it's not then we can still go with whatever ZOS came up with.

One positive is that we'd probably get some Kirkbridean fever-dreams as submissions which I feel we could use a little more of.

Gaeliannas

Maybe, just be careful with that

Bluedog164 wrote: »

I think that Bethesda has really talented writers and I think the community of roleplayers are just as talented at writing as the writers themselves, so in the next expansion, which I think should be in Bruma. There should be a writers contest for helping in writing the next expansion of the Elder Scrolls Online which I would like to call The Elder Sctolls Online: Treachery in Bruma

Hmmm.. RPers in Bruma getting a feel for the place. I bet I know what it will feel like.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Bluedog164

Yes, there should be a writers contest

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

Bluedog164 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Well, this is just my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. But, a lot of the fan stories tend to center their own characters as like the most important person in Tamriel, or make all of the most popular characters in love with them, that sort of thing. You can plainly see that they are engaging in a bit of wish fulfillment. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little cringe for people who aren't them.

Then you have the people who do try really hard not to go that route and try to adhere really strongly to the established lore. They purposefully avoid a lot of the tropes that the aforementioned group does, like Mary Sues, because they want to tell a story that feels more believable to the environment. But a lot of those stories, for me at least, tend to be read like pale imitations of the real thing. They just are trying so hard to use the original work's voice, they end up losing their own. And since they aren't actually trained to use the original voice, it comes off lower quality than the original work.

Then you have the stories that are usually really good, because they avoid being silly wish fulfillment but also try to have authenticity to their own narrative voice. These tend to be pretty compelling, but also often will break established canon for the sake of their story. While this makes for really compelling stories that could stand on their own with simple name changes and minor tweaks, they also are the least appropriate for official release, because they make decisions that actively ignore established canon. It's fine for fan stuff to ignore canon, but it's not as fun when official stuff retcons or ignores the established rules of it's world.

So that's why I think that.

Gaeliannas

Maybe, just be careful with that

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Bluedog164 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Well, this is just my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. But, a lot of the fan stories tend to center their own characters as like the most important person in Tamriel, or make all of the most popular characters in love with them, that sort of thing. You can plainly see that they are engaging in a bit of wish fulfillment. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little cringe for people who aren't them.

Then you have the people who do try really hard not to go that route and try to adhere really strongly to the established lore. They purposefully avoid a lot of the tropes that the aforementioned group does, like Mary Sues, because they want to tell a story that feels more believable to the environment. But a lot of those stories, for me at least, tend to be read like pale imitations of the real thing. They just are trying so hard to use the original work's voice, they end up losing their own. And since they aren't actually trained to use the original voice, it comes off lower quality than the original work.

Then you have the stories that are usually really good, because they avoid being silly wish fulfillment but also try to have authenticity to their own narrative voice. These tend to be pretty compelling, but also often will break established canon for the sake of their story. While this makes for really compelling stories that could stand on their own with simple name changes and minor tweaks, they also are the least appropriate for official release, because they make decisions that actively ignore established canon. It's fine for fan stuff to ignore canon, but it's not as fun when official stuff retcons or ignores the established rules of it's world.

So that's why I think that.

But it would be a contest, possibly even decided upon by ZOS, who would only choose things that fit. All contests have bad entries, ever watch American Idol? So why no to a contest in general, just because some entries wouldn't be up to snuff? I would put money down that some would be incredible, and fit the lore/canon. That is what contests are for, never mind being a great community builder, and showing love to a part of the playerbase that is almost as ignored as PVPers.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Bluedog164 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Well, this is just my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. But, a lot of the fan stories tend to center their own characters as like the most important person in Tamriel, or make all of the most popular characters in love with them, that sort of thing. You can plainly see that they are engaging in a bit of wish fulfillment. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little cringe for people who aren't them.

Then you have the people who do try really hard not to go that route and try to adhere really strongly to the established lore. They purposefully avoid a lot of the tropes that the aforementioned group does, like Mary Sues, because they want to tell a story that feels more believable to the environment. But a lot of those stories, for me at least, tend to be read like pale imitations of the real thing. They just are trying so hard to use the original work's voice, they end up losing their own. And since they aren't actually trained to use the original voice, it comes off lower quality than the original work.

Then you have the stories that are usually really good, because they avoid being silly wish fulfillment but also try to have authenticity to their own narrative voice. These tend to be pretty compelling, but also often will break established canon for the sake of their story. While this makes for really compelling stories that could stand on their own with simple name changes and minor tweaks, they also are the least appropriate for official release, because they make decisions that actively ignore established canon. It's fine for fan stuff to ignore canon, but it's not as fun when official stuff retcons or ignores the established rules of it's world.

So that's why I think that.

But it would be a contest, possibly even decided upon by ZOS, who would only choose things that fit. All contests have bad entries, ever watch American Idol? So why no to a contest in general, just because some entries wouldn't be up to snuff? I would put money down that some would be incredible, and fit the lore/canon. That is what contests are for, never mind being a great community builder, and showing love to a part of the playerbase that is almost as ignored as PVPers.

If they're the only ones that are reading them, I don't see much community building happening. If we're supposed to be wading through a lot of bad stories to find the diamonds, then we'll have already read the story before it gets turned into a chapter. Not to mention how time consuming it is to read all of that. I just don't think writing contests work as well as art ones. And also , as I stated before I think the highest quality writing also tends to be the least suited to being official work. So I don't even think the best writers would win.

Bluedog164

Yes, there should be a writers contest

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Bluedog164 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Well, this is just my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. But, a lot of the fan stories tend to center their own characters as like the most important person in Tamriel, or make all of the most popular characters in love with them, that sort of thing. You can plainly see that they are engaging in a bit of wish fulfillment. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little cringe for people who aren't them.

Then you have the people who do try really hard not to go that route and try to adhere really strongly to the established lore. They purposefully avoid a lot of the tropes that the aforementioned group does, like Mary Sues, because they want to tell a story that feels more believable to the environment. But a lot of those stories, for me at least, tend to be read like pale imitations of the real thing. They just are trying so hard to use the original work's voice, they end up losing their own. And since they aren't actually trained to use the original voice, it comes off lower quality than the original work.

Then you have the stories that are usually really good, because they avoid being silly wish fulfillment but also try to have authenticity to their own narrative voice. These tend to be pretty compelling, but also often will break established canon for the sake of their story. While this makes for really compelling stories that could stand on their own with simple name changes and minor tweaks, they also are the least appropriate for official release, because they make decisions that actively ignore established canon. It's fine for fan stuff to ignore canon, but it's not as fun when official stuff retcons or ignores the established rules of it's world.

So that's why I think that.

But it would be a contest, possibly even decided upon by ZOS, who would only choose things that fit. All contests have bad entries, ever watch American Idol? So why no to a contest in general, just because some entries wouldn't be up to snuff? I would put money down that some would be incredible, and fit the lore/canon. That is what contests are for, never mind being a great community builder, and showing love to a part of the playerbase that is almost as ignored as PVPers.

Exactly my point, it would be a great way to have something for players can do.

Amottica

No, keep it the way it is.

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Gaeliannas

Maybe, just be careful with that

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Bluedog164 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

A lot of that kind of stuff ends up pretty cringe, and the stuff that doesn't often does so because it's not trying to adhere strictly to the lore, which is great for a fan story but not great for official release.

Why's that.

Well, this is just my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. But, a lot of the fan stories tend to center their own characters as like the most important person in Tamriel, or make all of the most popular characters in love with them, that sort of thing. You can plainly see that they are engaging in a bit of wish fulfillment. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little cringe for people who aren't them.

Then you have the people who do try really hard not to go that route and try to adhere really strongly to the established lore. They purposefully avoid a lot of the tropes that the aforementioned group does, like Mary Sues, because they want to tell a story that feels more believable to the environment. But a lot of those stories, for me at least, tend to be read like pale imitations of the real thing. They just are trying so hard to use the original work's voice, they end up losing their own. And since they aren't actually trained to use the original voice, it comes off lower quality than the original work.

Then you have the stories that are usually really good, because they avoid being silly wish fulfillment but also try to have authenticity to their own narrative voice. These tend to be pretty compelling, but also often will break established canon for the sake of their story. While this makes for really compelling stories that could stand on their own with simple name changes and minor tweaks, they also are the least appropriate for official release, because they make decisions that actively ignore established canon. It's fine for fan stuff to ignore canon, but it's not as fun when official stuff retcons or ignores the established rules of it's world.

So that's why I think that.

But it would be a contest, possibly even decided upon by ZOS, who would only choose things that fit. All contests have bad entries, ever watch American Idol? So why no to a contest in general, just because some entries wouldn't be up to snuff? I would put money down that some would be incredible, and fit the lore/canon. That is what contests are for, never mind being a great community builder, and showing love to a part of the playerbase that is almost as ignored as PVPers.

If they're the only ones that are reading them, I don't see much community building happening. If we're supposed to be wading through a lot of bad stories to find the diamonds, then we'll have already read the story before it gets turned into a chapter. Not to mention how time consuming it is to read all of that. I just don't think writing contests work as well as art ones. And also , as I stated before I think the highest quality writing also tends to be the least suited to being official work. So I don't even think the best writers would win.

Well obviously everyone would get to read them, and the fact we read them doesn't mean we wouldn't want to experience them. Just because ZOS likes keeping secrets, doesn't mean that is the best or most effective thing. I played a lot of games I knew the story for up front, and still thoroughly enjoyed them, much like someone playing ESO for the first time today with breakdowns, guides and spoiler abounding. They still enjoy the game. Not to mention you can always log into PTS and see if you like a chapter/DLC before buying, which in itself is a huge spoiler.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

kargen27

No, keep it the way it is.

The next Chapter is probably well on its way to being written. That aside the writers need to consider lore and several other things when bringing a story to ESO. The story arc has to be considered beyond the chapter currently being worked on.

Same thing I said in the other thread applies here. If a player has the talents and the desire they can submit a resume just like anyone else.

Gaeliannas

Maybe, just be careful with that

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

Yes, and their loremaster has been on the job for what, a week now, maybe two? Yes, he probably has access to materials not publicly available, but UESP has a pretty huge wealth of info as well, from all TES games and their associated lore. ZOS also makes stuff up on the fly that doesn't fit the lore from what I have read. New lore/canon can come from anyone, it doesn't have to be ZOS, who BTW had no involvement at all with all previous versions of TES as far as I can see.

wenchmore420b14_ESO

No, keep it the way it is.

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

Yes, and their loremaster has been on the job for what, a week now, maybe two? Yes, he probably has access to materials not publicly available, but UESP has a pretty huge wealth of info as well, from all TES games and their associated lore. ZOS also makes stuff up on the fly that doesn't fit the lore from what I have read. New lore/canon can come from anyone, it doesn't have to be ZOS, who BTW had no involvement at all with all previous versions of TES as far as I can see.

Just FYI, ZoS writers are in constant contact with BGS (Bethesda Game Studios) on areas of lore and what can and can't be added, so yes, ZoS creates a lot of new things, but they do not have "full rein" on what they add.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

wenchmore420b14_ESO wrote: »

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

Yes, and their loremaster has been on the job for what, a week now, maybe two? Yes, he probably has access to materials not publicly available, but UESP has a pretty huge wealth of info as well, from all TES games and their associated lore. ZOS also makes stuff up on the fly that doesn't fit the lore from what I have read. New lore/canon can come from anyone, it doesn't have to be ZOS, who BTW had no involvement at all with all previous versions of TES as far as I can see.

Just FYI, ZoS writers are in constant contact with BGS (Bethesda Game Studios) on areas of lore and what can and can't be added, so yes, ZoS creates a lot of new things, but they do not have "full rein" on what they add.

This. Also IDK who the current person they consult is, but they have had someone they are supposed to actively discuss things with since before launch. New lore is a collaborative effort to try to ensure consistency and when they miss the mark it's jarring and immersion breaking.

FeedbackOnly

They already have done so

Bluedog164

Yes, there should be a writers contest

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

They already have done so

They did? How? Will they do so again?

Gaeliannas

Maybe, just be careful with that

wenchmore420b14_ESO wrote: »

Gaeliannas wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

Yes, and their loremaster has been on the job for what, a week now, maybe two? Yes, he probably has access to materials not publicly available, but UESP has a pretty huge wealth of info as well, from all TES games and their associated lore. ZOS also makes stuff up on the fly that doesn't fit the lore from what I have read. New lore/canon can come from anyone, it doesn't have to be ZOS, who BTW had no involvement at all with all previous versions of TES as far as I can see.

Just FYI, ZoS writers are in constant contact with BGS (Bethesda Game Studios) on areas of lore and what can and can't be added, so yes, ZoS creates a lot of new things, but they do not have "full rein" on what they add.

Thank you, that is exactly my point! Who can say that maybe a fan couldn't write something the powers that be find so amazing, they incorporate it into the lore?

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

They already have done so

Citation needed

wolfie1.0.

No, keep it the way it is.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

They already have done so

Citation needed

Author of falskaar mod for skrym
Author if Fallout: London mod
Both of which had story, setting, design, and quest elements

That said as a whole you have to remember that the media in which you tell a story matters. This is why movies, books, and video games that cover the exact same story differ. Just because you can write a good book format story doesn't mean you can write a good video game one.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

They already have done so

Citation needed

Author of falskaar mod for skrym
Author if Fallout: London mod
Both of which had story, setting, design, and quest elements

That said as a whole you have to remember that the media in which you tell a story matters. This is why movies, books, and video games that cover the exact same story differ. Just because you can write a good book format story doesn't mean you can write a good video game one.

A mod isn't an official part of the game nor a writing contest? I remember them being impressed by the mod and wanting to hire people involved, but did they actually make that mod canon and make it an official part of the game?

LadyLethalla

While I like the idea, I don't agree with there being a fixed setting. I wrote a fanfic on how Fennorian became a vampire a couple of years ago that I'm quite proud of (it's somewhere in the Fiction & Roleplaying subforum) snd I would want to submit that.

On the other hand, my country is just one of many that is automatically excluded from contests, so...

Amottica

No, keep it the way it is.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

As I said, Zenimax could find a gem in the works submitted though the risk of not finding one and having to tell everyone who participated that their work does not meet the standards for Zenimax is far to great and bad business. That is why it is extremely unlikely Zenimax would host such a contest.

Also, the loremaster has a job to do and it is not coaching a host of players. Zenimax would have to add additional staff, at least one person if they were interested in coaching and teaching players how to write well. That is not what the are in business for.

One thing any players can do, if they truly thought they had a good story, is put it together and submit it to Zenimax as a suggestion. I would suggest that it would need to catch their attention from the start since any presentation needs to be captivating from the beginning if one expects the audience to continue through the entire presentation.

Zenimax has even hired players after they demonstrated they knew what they were doing but did not run a contest for this; Gilliam, a member of the combat team who often submits the combat preview for the upcoming update, used to be a player and content creator who demonstrated over and over their knowledge of how the game and combat actually works. I would not be surprised if there were others but I expect it is very rare.

spartaxoxo

No, keep it the way it is.

Amottica wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

The people who create and write the stories in ESO are professionals with a lot of experience and likely related education or are working for the leaders who have that experience/education. My background with content from players was that it is lackluster and very dull. That was with material that the game approved.

One could suggest Zenimax might find a gem in the pile of stories players that submit stories, but if they did not, they would have to tell the entire group that presented stories that their work did not provide the quality wanted in this game. They would spin it a certain way, but that is essentially the message they would be delivering.

It does not seem suitable for a game of this quality and does not make good business sense.

Well, it's not just having an educational background in writing. A lot of people who make fanworks may be perfectly adept at creative writing, but fail when trying to copy the voice of someone else. This is because when you do that for a company, you get training on how to write stuff in their voice. The Elder Scrolls for example has a whole lore master that can help people adjust tone and dialogue, or tell them when they're trying to do something that conflicts with lore. Sometimes he helps them figure out alternative pathways to what they want to accomplish with their writing because even though they are trained in that voice, their original idea doesn't quite work. It's a collaborative effort to ensure that product has that Elder Scrolls voice.

This is true of all sorts of works, which is why so much of the fan works that strive to be lore friendly miss the mark in making something that is indistinguishable from the original product.

And anything that became a real quest would need to feel like it's actually part of the lore and not just a fan creation.

As I said, Zenimax could find a gem in the works submitted though the risk of not finding one and having to tell everyone who participated that their work does not meet the standards for Zenimax is far to great and bad business. That is why it is extremely unlikely Zenimax would host such a contest.

Also, the loremaster has a job to do and it is not coaching a host of players. Zenimax would have to add additional staff, at least one person if they were interested in coaching and teaching players how to write well. That is not what the are in business for.

One thing any players can do, if they truly thought they had a good story, is put it together and submit it to Zenimax as a suggestion. I would suggest that it would need to catch their attention from the start since any presentation needs to be captivating from the beginning if one expects the audience to continue through the entire presentation.

Zenimax has even hired players after they demonstrated they knew what they were doing but did not run a contest for this; Gilliam, a member of the combat team who often submits the combat preview for the upcoming update, used to be a player and content creator who demonstrated over and over their knowledge of how the game and combat actually works. I would not be surprised if there were others but I expect it is very rare.

Yes. I was agreeing with you and adding further information.

I think it's plausible someday someone could write such a good story they get hired as a writer. Even in that event, that story would be unlikely to make it to the game. Rather, they'd be trained on how to write ES stories in the ES voice and work alongside the lore master to craft something more appropriate to the franchise.

FeedbackOnly

Bluedog164 wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

They already have done so

They did? How? Will they do so again?

Unlikely

DreamyLu

Yes, there should be a writers contest

Personally, I'm not interested, but why not? It would do no harm in any way and I'm sure some people would love it.

The only "worry" I could have is that if the stories go public, at time of implementing the selected ones, it would be known already and would kill the "new" side that it should have had... Now on second thought, the new generation of players want spoilers and mostly already know everything before the download, so it would probably not change much...

I_killed_Vivec

No, keep it the way it is.

There's a reason why amateurs are amateurs.

SantieClaws

Maybe, just be careful with that

What is this very forum itself if not a writing contest no?

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Northwold

Isn't that what a job application is for?

Kiralyn2000

No, keep it the way it is.

Having read various universes of fanfiction over the years, I can tell you that actually skilled amateur writers are few & far between.