My Thoughts on the Competition.

[Gerry Kevin Wilson]

Personally, I thought the competition was very fun and interesting until
it was over. I'd like to thank those of you who made considerate,
insightful comments on the games. I'd also like to thank the rest of you,
for different reasons. I want to thank Colin Turnbull for his excellent and
rapid vote counting. I want to thank ALL of the entrants for their time and
effort in not putting out free games for us to play with, but often learning new
programming languages especially for the contest. I also want to thank
all of those folks who donated the prizes for this year's contest.

I am very, very proud of the excellent works of I-F that the contest has
helped to bring about. While I enjoy every single game I've played from
the competition, the unpolished games are my favorite, because they
represent someone new entering the field. Given a few years, they will
be turning out their own 'Curses' and 'Zorks'. It's nice to see someone
jump in and show immediate talent, but as anyone who works with writers
knows, very few people are born with that talent. Most of us work very
hard to reach a level of skill we and our readers/players are comfortable
with. I deeply encourage those of you who received particularly harsh
reviews this year to tighten up your belts, and get back on the horse.

I realize how hurtful some of the things that have been said are. Ignore
them and move on. Let us hope that everyone learns that "This game
sucks." reviews help nobody, least of all the game's author.

A particularly hurtful remark can rob us all of a Leon Lin or Andrew Plotkin.
Criticize, but speak constructively and kindly. The contest is for beginning
authors, and they are often uncertain and easily hurt. If you cannot do these
things, then I care very little what your opinions on the entries were.

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G. Kevin Wilson: Freelance Writer and Game Designer. Resumes on demand.