Applications??

[Balmafula]

Matra Hammer! I just have to say I love your signature, although now I want to play FFT. Curses. Also Redscape was kind of a tough environment; I know a lot of good writers had their apps slammed.

Hey, Ember. Redwall is still there doing it's thing, just further away.

And, Aleisou, I would say not to worry about your writing ability. I wasn't really around for RV4 but I liked Dirano's app. I think I voted for him to get in. 

[Sycamore]

I've been doing some advertising, so hopefully we'll see some more people filter in.

[Opal]

Yey! I've been doing a bit of advertising too. Finally just remembered that the forums have a mass email feature. Derrrp. It's been a while. And apparently they just go straight to everyone's spam folder, too. Woohoo!

Also, I am half tempted to dig up my terrible, terrible Questors Bold III apps and show you all (QBIII being the first contest I ever applied to). They were so boring, cookie-cutter, and cringe-worthy that it was really no wonder they got rejected. But hey, we've all got to start somewhere. :P

Seriously, where did I put those? I have to find them now. They're so bad, you guys. You will love them.

[Matra Hammer]

Matra Hammer! I just have to say I love your signature, although now I want to play FFT. Curses. Also Redscape was kind of a tough environment; I know a lot of good writers had their apps slammed.

Thanks! That's really cool that someone else recognized the lines. I wouldn't consider myself a Final Fantasy fan in general, but FFT really hit home. Fifteen years after its release and I still play on a regular basis.

I don't remember much of my Redscape experience but that's fine. Time for better memories here.

Ahhh, being rejected sucks, but best of luck this time! I don't really blame you for disappearing once the contest started, it is kind of annoying to just sit back and read it when there seems to be so much fun going on backstage.

Best of luck to you too. It stinks not being part of the main story, but I think I'll write on the side if I don't make it along. I like my app so far and I'd miss Redwall too much if I skipped off.

[Ember Nickel]

Cool, I hadn't figured out the geographic thing.

Now that I think about it, I had this character idea from a long time ago...based on this play or something I saw, but now I can't remember what it was so I guess I'll be starting fresh, heh.

[Aleisou]

And, Aleisou, I would say not to worry about your writing ability. I wasn't really around for RV4 but I liked Dirano's app. I think I voted for him to get in.

*blush* Well thank you! Hopefully my apps won't disappoint this time. :) I actually have one written already, which is insanely early for me, but I'm going to come back to it in a few days just to edit and things.

Tara, I'm pretty intruiged to see your first apps were like considering how many contests you've run/been in now. We should get a thread for embarrassing apps going! I know for a fact that my failed stoat for QBIV was hideous. I think I'd just about understood the concept that the best apps were original and quirky, so I just made mine completely bizarre. I think it was a stoat that hunted rabbits (on all fours, like a real stoat...) and then ended up in a tree playing an instrument and generally angsting. :S All of that in 500 words. I cringe to think what the judges must have said.

And I am also so up for character smileys. I did some for RV4, but I can't remember if they were ever used? I have the templates saved on my computer, so they can easily be spruced up for new characters.

[Rousseau]

I think I'd just about understood the concept that the best apps were original and quirky, so I just made mine completely bizarre. I think it was a stoat that hunted rabbits (on all fours, like a real stoat...) and then ended up in a tree playing an instrument and generally angsting. :S All of that in 500 words. I cringe to think what the judges must have said.

I had no idea really how to even write a decent sentence when I applied to Redscape, I had just read MM on Fanfiction.net, found the link to the forums, and decided that the idea was cool, so I applied. Nallmian didn't have any limit to word count for applications, or how many you could send in, so I sent in as many as I could of my terrible, bland, mary-sueish ideas (Hell, some of them didn't even have any characterization really) to him to the point where I'm pretty sure he thought I was just trolling him. I try to erase these memories out of my head, for good reason. They were awful. I'm talking about... I can barely read one sentence of them without wanting to kill my younger self for thinking them up.

[Opal]

This site needs more articles, so I am currently writing an article about my worst apps, and how it gets better. :P

If anybody else wants to write articles, let me know! I need to get that set up.

[Aleisou]

Hahahah! They sound pretty hilarious. That was only a few years ago though, so you must have improved a lot in a very short space of time!

The worst thing about writing is that you believe everything you write is brilliant, until you come across people who will actually give you honest reviews. Or is that just me? :P I can remember being absolutely furious that anyone would criticize my writing when I was rejected from QBIV and RV2, even though I was only eleven and had barely any writing experience.

[Chokk Wulgar]

The last contest was my first and it totally took some time to get used to critiquing. Especially since it took me a while to get used to how to write for that type of contest in general.   :)

[Nallmian 2.0]

Redscape...ah, the memories. Some of you who are talking about failed apps really must send me PMs refreshing my memory as to which ones were yours. I still have a lot of those, actually. I have mixed feelings about my not setting limits on app length. I think if I had it to do over again, I would put on limits but just have the limit be larger -- 900 words, or something like that. And I have to echo those people who have said that you absolutely must not under any circumstances allow inexperience to stop you from applying. There is exactly one way to get better at this, and that is to be in contests and learn from experience. Also, a lot of first time RPers do much better than they expect.

For my own part, I certainly have some awful apps in my past -- although, the first app that I ever wrote was the one for Nallmian that got into Midnight Mossflower, albeit by a slim margin. My worst app was actually submitted sometime later -- don't remember which contest. Basically, some stoat who tries to get his younger brother to kill a squirrel thief because he (the older brother) is going to be going away for a while, and wants to make sure that his younger brother is "tough enough." Not a horrible concept, but horrible execution on my part.

And yes, thank you to everyone who talks about advertising! The more the merrier here.

[Ember Nickel]

All right, well, I guess I'm doing this thing. :D Look for my applications soon!

Another question, when it asks for character ages, is that just the human equivalent? Do we have some convention on seasons, or...?

[Opal]

Usually it's just the human equivalent. That tends to be the easiest way to do it. Also, hooray!! :D

[Ember Nickel]

Woo, thanks! :D

[Chokk Wulgar]

Oh and sorry if I missed this but how many apps are we allowed to turn in?

Man some of my apps have been bad in the past... so lame I don't want to talk about them... :D