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Felix_Arabia Li'l Buckaroo 12715 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (04:44 PM)

The point of Brevity or Bust IV is to write a review that is short. You can’t go above 500 words. To defy this edict would mean death. For three years Brevity or Bust has been a crowning achievement in the HG contributor contest archives. It has spawned many great short pieces of literature. Yet it has also served as the foundation for no small heap of almost-theres and wannabes. Word economy is the name of the game. Tangents, dilly-dallying, and verbosity will not be tolerated. Will you write something short and sweet, or will you run out of words? You can review any game you desire. The review, tagline not withstanding, cannot total more than 500 words in length. For each word over 500, one point will be deducted from your total accrued judging score. With that in mind, some material will be easier to work with, but risk-takers will be rewarded . . . if it can be pulled off. And! Because we love risk, this year’s Brevity or Bust comes with a judging score gimmick!! For every 100 words below 500 your review is in length, you will receive an extra 5 bonus points!! If you truly believe that you are a master wordsmith, and you can adequately describe Final Fantasy 7 in 100 words (and the review gets posted), you will receive 20 extra points to your score.* Reviews will be audited for their word length using Microsoft Word. Here is a brief run-down on bonus points, for added ease: 401-500 words in length . . . . 0 bonus points 301 to 400 words in length. . . 5 bonus points 201 to 300 words in length . . . 10 bonus points 101 to 200 words in length . . . 15 bonus points 1 to 100 words in length . . . 20 bonus points 0 words in length . . . Scott I will judge. I would like one or two others to judge alongside me. The contest will culminate on Friday, November 13th at midnight HG time. Why this date? Because it is the first available weekend I will be able to judge. Interested participants may sign up now or whenever. *I strongly suggest you don’t attempt to gain bonus points. Your review will likely suffer if it goes far below 500 words. If you review Final Fantasy 7 in 100 words or less, your score will likely be 20. 20 bonus points. 0 regular points. The Judges: -Felix -Suskie -Wolfqueen The Participants: -Genjuro -Sir Gary of Hartley - Big Bang Mini -Janus -Jerec - Crisis Core -Lewis - Stalin vs. Martians -Melaisis, the Player -Sho - The King of Chicago -Sportsmeister -Jason -Roberto - Revelations -Zipp - Final Fantasy VII -Zig - Brutal Legend -Masters - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2: The Blog Edition -Randxian - Tales of the World -ASchultz

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jerec Stirrer of Shit 17995 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (05:32 PM)	Is there a minimum word count to get a review accepted here?
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wolfqueen001 Canis Lupus 98096 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (05:34 PM)	I don't think so, but really, a review needs to be a certain length in order to get all its points across effectively. Like, a one sentence "review" isn't a review.
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honestgamer (Mod) Editor-in-Cheese 1310727 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (06:23 PM)

Reviews that are going for those bonus points should be posted on your blogs and linked from there. Even 500-word reviews can often have trouble crossing Ts and dotting Is, and going down significantly from there isn't really in line with the sort of content (namely, well-supported) that we're trying to encourage from contributors. Brevity or Bust is a neat contest and a good challenge for all of us, an exercise that can lead to better reviews from those who aren't in the habit of finding ways to say things more efficiently. I know that I enjoyed participating during one of the previous ones, and I'd be delighted to do it again if there weren't so many time-consuming conflicts on my plate right now. It's just a contest that is likely to generate some material that is more appropriate for blogs. Especially for the savvy writers who shoot for those risky bonus points!

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zippdementia Vulgar Chicken 28170 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (06:44 PM)	I really like short writing, however I'm very much looking to post reviews and not blog posts, so I would like to offer my services as judge for this one.
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wolfqueen001 Canis Lupus 98096 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (06:53 PM)

Zipp, you very much can write reviews and not blog posts for this tourney. Everyone last year who did this got their review accepted. Jason's just stating business as usual. Most people writing here can write within the word limit and still have a quality review. I mean, Lordy. Belisarios reviewed Final Fantasy X in 500 words and won the whole tournament last time! But if you want to judge, that's cool. I'll probably end up judging, too, depending on who turns out for this. If there isn't going to be a whole lot of competition, I probably won't bother writing for this since I can't really afford the time.

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overdrive (Mod) In Devils Arms 61528 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (07:06 PM)	My review of Final Fantasy X: Snuh. That's 20 bonus points for what I anticipate to be a total score of 120, 220 or 320 (depending on how many judges we have). Where's my trophy?
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Suskie Überspy 44540 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (07:54 PM)	I don't like writing short reviews but I'm available to judge if you need another.
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zippdementia Vulgar Chicken 28170 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (09:43 PM)	Zipp, you very much can write reviews and not blog posts for this tourney. Hm. That's tempting, then. It's really tempting to try and do Final Fantasy 7 in 500 words. Okay, count me in, for that exact game.
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Suskie Überspy 44540 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (09:46 PM)	I did Final Fantasy VII in something like 100,000 words.
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sportsman Gnome Chompski 57435 HGP [?] October 16, 2009 (10:15 PM)	Was there a brevity or bust 3? It appears that I only have the first two archived. If so does anyone know who might have the results? As far as entering goes if I can think of anything to write I'll do it and if not then I won't.
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JANUS2 has an iPhone 7008 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (12:14 AM)	I'll enter. Well, I'll try and enter.
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Suskie Überspy 44540 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (12:44 AM)	Sportsman: Yes there was, but I'm pretty sure the results got purged.
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zippdementia Vulgar Chicken 28170 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (01:08 AM)	If there's one thing I don't like about HG, it's that damn purging.
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JANUS2 has an iPhone 7008 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (01:34 AM)	What is the link to your contest archive, Sportsman?
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Felix_Arabia Li'l Buckaroo 12715 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (04:35 AM)

Suskie will be judging alongside me. We will determine shortly whether or not Zipp or WQ will be the third judge for this competition. I know you asked first in this topic, Zipp, but I did tell WQ before I announced this event that I would like her to judge and Suskie is a lock-in since he helped me out with last year's Brevity or Bust event. I think Jason makes a fair point. We both would prefer to see legitimate reviews entered for this rather than goofy little blurbs. For a review to actually be used in this contest, it has to be posted as a review on this site. So, uh, no blog-only reviews. :-@ Jason, you shall review "Tennis." It will take you 15 minutes. Brevity or Bust III went rather well last year. I believe that Belisarios came in first, with Masters coming in 2nd. I don't recall third (perhaps it was OD?). I think fourth went to Drella. The event also featured good reviews from WQ (Rainbow Islands) and EmP (R-Type). I was pleased.

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wolfqueen001 Canis Lupus 98096 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (07:10 AM)	Yeah, I was fifth! =D ....which is why I found it quite upsetting when the topic purged because that was one of maybe 4 tourneys I actually did really welly in.
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zigfried (Mod) GABOOOOON 170804 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (08:08 AM)	It's safe to say no one will be scoring any bonus points. //Zig
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zippdementia Vulgar Chicken 28170 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (10:49 AM)	Give it to WQ, Felix. I've decided I'd like to try my hand at a 500 word FF7 review.
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zigfried (Mod) GABOOOOON 170804 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (11:35 AM)	Question: If we include a picture, does that count as zero words, or does it count as a thousand? //Zig
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Felix_Arabia Li'l Buckaroo 12715 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (02:07 PM)	A picture is worth 1000 words, but it counts as zero.
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zippdementia Vulgar Chicken 28170 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (05:21 PM)	I do think, to avoid blog-posts, you should change the bonus points somewhat. Maybe make the bonus line between 400-500, not 0-500 (which is silly).
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Felix_Arabia Li'l Buckaroo 12715 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (05:30 PM)	No.
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genj socialist taco 4765 HGP [?] October 17, 2009 (08:25 PM)	I'm going to review a game and somehow work in Lady Gaga's phantom penis.
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EmP (Mod) E = mP² 621609 HGP [?] October 19, 2009 (11:21 AM)	This I can do.
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