SG Giveaway/Contest - Take part in the rewrite of RPG history!

[lvk]

The contest is officially over! While there's no official announcement yet, there's a thread in GD now, so it's hard to avoid. Please stand by while some messages are being sent around to take care of things!

The first prelude alpha is drawing near! However, as it doesn't accurately represent the final state of the game, it will (probably) be under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). While this keeps gaming news websites from writing hasty or poorly informed articles, it also gates unhealthy levels of hype for the people who have faith in the project.

Sound familiar? I bet it does! We had a giveaway before, but it was more of a lottery drawing. This one's different!

The Prize Pool
(If you're interested in contributing one or more prizes, drop a message, either private or in the thread! You will be credited for your unbounded generosity.)

• Alpha pledge tier (£40 GBP) x2 - "Receive two digital copies of the prelude, full game and soundtrack on release; access to our insider forum and early access to alpha and beta versions."

Important note: the two digital copies of the prelude are for the full release of the prelude and game. The alpha/beta rewards are intended for one person.

How to join in
This is the part where it becomes a contest! The goal is to write, in 1590 characters or less, about any part of the game that has you most excited and why. That's less than it sounds like, so you'll have to be concise and effective!

While spaces are included in the character count, line breaks are not, so do format into paragraphs where you deem it necessary. If you wish to write anything else in regards to the thread, make sure it's clear which part of the post is your entry and which parts are not.

Most important guideline: the writing, whether it be opinions, collections of confirmed fact or speculation about the future should be kept as close to Bare Mettle's design and development philosophies as possible.

The contest will end with the release of the prelude alpha, and at that time the post(s) most liked by community members will be declared the winner!

Rules
As with any contest, there's a set of rules. These may be revised at a later point in time if it's absolutely necessary.

• Likes from contest entrants will not be counted as votes

This is to allow entrants to approve of one another's insights without adversely affecting their own chances in the contest.

• Votes from members registered after the start of this contest will not be counted

While highly unlikely, this is a measure to prevent someone from creating new accounts to vote on their own entry. It also prevents suspicious voting patterns, and increases the likeliness that votes are from longer-term community members with a better understanding of the game and its development team.

• Entrants must not currently be on any reward tier

While I realize some people are currently on lower reward tiers who'd like to join, this giveaway/contest is to introduce new members to the forums who haven't been posting much. By being on a reward tier, there's at least confirmation you have a means of funding Bare Mettle, be it in the near or distant future.

• Try to be insightful in your entry

It's entirely possible to write "I'm looking forward to EVERYTHING!" as it is well within the 1590 character limit. As much as I am too, it's simply not possible to judge understanding of the game's core concepts from a post this short, which would ruin the point of the contest. Entries of a similar nature will not be recorded.

• One entry per person

Hopefully self-explanatory. It's possible to write about many things, but restrict yourself to what really gets you going.

Voting
You can vote on your favourite posts by pressing 'Like' in the lower right corner. You're free to vote on as many posts as you'd like! As mentioned before, contest entrants can like other entrants' posts, but those will not be counted as votes. Try to vote on posts that you feel are best at capturing what Sui Generis is (or will be) all about. The post(s) with the most likes will be declared the winner by the end of the contest.

Entrants
This section will feature a list of entrants with links to their posts as they are accepted. All you have to do to be accepted is follow the rules!

FAQ
- So it basically sounds like a huge circlejerking contest. What gives?
In regard to the important guideline to stay in check with ongoing design and development philosophies, the prize pool is fairly limited and the prelude alpha will be mostly played by a select few backers. By demonstrating a good understanding of the game's intent, both in game design and development philosophy, the contest winner's feedback on points of the Prelude's alpha will hopefully be aimed more at truly improving the game itself, rather than being personal points of disagreement.

- 1590 characters? Why the odd number?
The 59 kind of looks like a lowercase SG. Also, 1000 characters feels like too little, and 2000 is a bit too much to exercise restraint on. It was actually going to be around 1500 characters. To get an idea on the post length, Brendan's 'Backer Accounts and Tier Upgrades' post in the Announcements board counts approximately 1550 characters.

- What if the prelude alpha gets released, like, tomorrow?
The contest date will probably move forward to a fixed date. Gotta have enough entrants!

- What if there's a tiebreaker?
If it comes to this, there'll be a poll for a few days where community members can vote on who they feel should win. Votes from entrants will be valid during this time if they are not part of the tiebreaker. For everything else, the standard voting guidelines apply.

- You mention the alpha and beta tiers are intended for one person, but what stops me from illegally redistributing copies?
The contest itself! If you were thinking of redistributing before urging your friends to support the game and you hadn't even finished reading the post yet, chances are someone else is going to emerge victorious.

Best of luck to all participants!

 

[turtleman155]

cool too bad im already there

 

[Komuflage]

Great to see another give-away, always nice when the community helps each other out
May the best writer win

 

[Fawz]

This is a fantastic idea and your effort and maintaining a healthy community around Sui Generis is very commendable. Hopefully enough people see this great opportunity and we end up with a couple of entrants

Btw very good job with the well outlined, detailed and thorough contest explanation and rules. Feels very well thought out.

 

[Marc]

First of all thank you and the generous Sui Generis community for organizing another giveaway, I think these initiatives are great for promoting discussion on the public forums. I participated in the first giveaway but I didn't win, I'm hoping to get second time lucky I probably would've found a way to already pledge to my dream game if I didn't live in one of the handful of countries that doesn't support PayPal payments, but enough about that. From here on my entry to this competition will be in between the dotted lines.

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It's difficult to pick only one feature of Sui Generis that excites me the most and limit discussion thereof, but I'll try keep it to the physics system behind the game and its combat as I feel this feature really pushes the game beyond the concepts that existing open world games and RPGs are based upon.

Were this just an open world RPG, that would be cause enough for excitement as such games of any appreciable quality are few and far between. Add in a physics engine that drives the interaction on all the objects in the game world as well as the combat, and you have the recipe for a revolutionary game. A crux in many RPGs has often been the combat system, whether it was based on D&D rule-sets playing out in the background or simply an exercise in repetitive mouse clicking, there was little agency on the player's part. It's said an RPG's focus is on narrative and storytelling with other aspects of gameplay taking a back seat, but I think pure rule-sets and RSI inducing mouse clicking aren't true alternatives to physics-based combat; they are compromised attempts at emulating the real thing. Combat in SG takes things a step further, enhancing interactivity and providing a more accurate simulation than the simulacrum offered by other games.

I've always felt basing anything on solid foundations is what allows for great results to be achieved. The technology and engine behind SG are not simply pushing in-game realism; physics-based gameplay is a game changer that can take this game, the genre and perhaps even the entire video game industry further than it's ever been.

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I had initially planned on talking about the game's dynamic AI as well as the combat system, but as soon as I was wrapping up the latter I realized I was already running out of space 1590 characters is definitely less than it sounds like. There was so much more to say but that's an essay for another day!

 

[lvk]

I had initially planned on talking about the game's dynamic AI as well as the combat system, but as soon as I was wrapping up the latter I realized I was already running out of space 1590 characters is definitely less than it sounds like. There was so much more to say but that's an essay for another day!

It sure is! Imagine that the original character count limit was actually 1000. I considered 2000, but this limit forces entrants to trim excess fat from the post, which feels more interesting.

Great entry, and best of luck this time around! I won't be voting on posts myself as I am an extremely biased individual, but it definitely sounds like a very solid contender.

 

[cnileoleman]

I've been meaning to bump my status up to Alpha backer for a while, so I'll be content just to vote for other people. Cool event.

 

[Brent]

Way back in late 2012, a very small company by the name of Bare Mettle Entertainment started a crowd funding campaign for the game called Sui Generis. Many people, including myself, got the first glimpse of both gameplay and the ambitious concepts of the game through the Kickstarter Pitch Video. The concept that caught my eye the most would unequivocally be the idea of a non-linear story.


Almost every game these days has you following a confined path, go to this location, kill this guy, and help this damsel in distress. Now of course some people feel comfortable with these kinds of games; it’s what they’re used to. Bare Mettle wants to break these boundaries and allow you the player to create your own path with Sui Generis. You might be asking yourself how this will work, well it’s fairly simple. There is no preset main storyline or events. You’re not forced to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, so to speak. Your life will unfold before you randomly. This is a game where all of your actions have consequences and everything you do is permanent.


Why does this excite me? For years I have waited for an RPG that actually fleshed out the “Role-Playing” and I know I am not alone. I feel as though Sui Generis will be a video game that sets the standard and will undoubtedly be a part of the foundation in the True-RPG genre.

 

[lvk]

Great entry @Brent, and welcome to the forums! I hope you'll stick around.

 

[Brent]

Great entry @Brent, and welcome to the forums! I hope you'll stick around.

Thanks man! I've been living a busy life since I signed up on the forums but now it's starting to stabilize. I've been following the game off and on since then though. I plan on staying!

 

[Marc]

It sure is! Imagine that the original character count limit was actually 1000. I considered 2000, but this limit forces entrants to trim excess fat from the post, which feels more interesting. Great entry, and best of luck this time around! I won't be voting on posts myself as I am an extremely biased individual, but it definitely sounds like a very solid contender.

Indeed, I had to to trim quite a bit and barely got it lean enough! Thank you for encouragement and best of luck to the other entrants as well!

 

[FunkmasterFestus]

This is a fantastic idea and your effort and maintaining a healthy community around Sui Generis is very commendable. Hopefully enough people see this great opportunity and we end up with a couple of entrants

Btw very good job with the well outlined, detailed and thorough contest explanation and rules. Feels very well thought out.

It´s nice that some people here always kinda describe my thougths, so i can be lazy and don´t have to do so

 

[Komuflage]

It´s nice that some people here always kinda describe my thougths, so i can be lazy and don´t have to do so

Haha I know how you feel, I rarely post anything any more since I know some1 else can always describe, in better English as well

 

[Holy.Death]

Many people were led to believe that the limitations of cRPGs force the current course of the genre in which you're compelled to make a choice - a pre-determined option - out of an already provided, pre-determined set. Your influence on what happens in game is limited by writers and designers to what they planned for. You are little more than an actor. A main actor, a star of the show perhaps, but an actor nonetheless. The script, and your role in it, is already written.

If I like Sui Generis the one reason for this would be because it stands against the preconceived notions and offers a possibility to create a new paradigme. One where the player is not the only one who can act and whose actions cause ripples through the world of the game. Because Sui Generis won't wait for you to get on the stage before something happens. The possibilities for such content are endless and because of it each player can potentially experience unique scenarios.

Another thing drawing me to Sui Generis is the AI itself. It's going to react to whatever happens and do whatever it needs or wants to do in order to fulfill its own motivation. It will make the world feel alive and constantly in motion. Bere Mettle is intending to level the playing field, so neither side is not going to get unfair advantage to compensate. AI is going to provide challenge not because it's made stronger artificially, but because it's smart enough and will be able evaluate what's happening.

I crave seeing intelligent, learning enemies who can adapt to situation.

 

[Parco]

If i could enter the competition i would have written only this: "drunk people fighting lol." and it would be a sure win
quite good entries here, too bad everyone cant win.

 

[Komuflage]

If i could enter the competition i would have written only this: "drunk people fighting lol." and it would be a sure win
quite good entries here, too bad everyone cant win.

You would have gotten my vote!

 

[lvk]

@Holy.Death As with Brent, great entry and welcome to the forums! It's pretty hard to fit two points into a limited amount of characters, but it looks like it worked out.

I do wonder if the current voting system is ideal, though - the prelude is very close to being released, which would leave less of a window to vote on the latest entry. I also wonder if everyone does actually consider all entries. This is probably why most people just use traditional polls, but it seems unfair to change the voting method a week or less before the contest ends.

If you're a logged in forum member, please re-read and consider all entries equally! You're allowed to cast multiple votes (unless you're an entrant yourself). I'd like every post to get an equal chance if possible.

To make things more interesting at the last moment, I've increased the prize pool! I can't actually afford to triple it, though. If anyone else can, feel free! All entries are great and I'd love to see everyone win, even if it goes against the point of a contest. I feel everyone has a good idea of their own on what makes SG special to them, and that all entrants capable of providing great feedback on the points that interest them. That, and shoveling money over to BM is always a welcome endeavor.

If i could enter the competition i would have written only this: "drunk people fighting lol." and it would be a sure win
quite good entries here, too bad everyone cant win.

Since this is a contest-winning entry, I'd like to introduce a new rule where you can't copy this post word for word to be pretty much guaranteed a victory. Actually, are you an alpha tier backer yourself? You've found a lot of bugs which is really valuable before SG's release.

 

[Parco]

@lvk im a collection tier backer, the 60£ thingie. I can contribute 20£ to the contest, so the winner gets the collection tier or give it as a third place prize (beta tier), that will be up to you @lvk as the contest owner.

 

[Holy.Death]

@Holy.Death As with Brent, great entry and welcome to the forums! It's pretty hard to fit two points into a limited amount of characters, but it looks like it worked out.

I do wonder if the current voting system is ideal, though - the prelude is very close to being released, which would leave less of a window to vote on the latest entry. I also wonder if everyone does actually consider all entries. This is probably why most people just use traditional polls, but it seems unfair to change the voting method a week or less before the contest ends.

I had to make concessions. I wanted to put my thoughts in a proper context, using valuable characters in the process. There is more in Sui Generis that caused me to take great interest in it (i.a. combat system, physics...), but there is only so much you can do with hard limit on characters.

What I've learned - especially from the announcements, which are very well written as they clearly convey the makers' intents what the game is about - inspired me to put my thoughts into words as I do believe Sui Generis has everything to shatter the customs of both hack'n'slash games like Diablo (with unique combat system) as well as RPG genre itself (due to emergent gameplay, far different from regular linear/branching storylines we're presented by the big titles).

As for the voting system - I guess it'd be for the best to throw in votes after the contest is over, so all the contestants are accounted for. However, I doubt there will be much more people as there is NDA affecting potential press and media coverage. I found this thread by accident after searching the forum for more information on the game I was told about by an acquaintance of mine two days ago.

I do hope Bare Mettle will consider gifting Sui Generis to popular YouTubers who'll generate interest in this game closer to the release by simply playing it (and some of them being reviewers). Otherwise great game it might be can be easily overlooked by other like-minded individuals (like we all who had gathered here) in the vastness of Internet. I'd also advise looking into how Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor made promotional videos. They showed gameplay of the game, instead of teasers that usually have little to do with gameplay and give no idea what to expect and build hype with little substance behind it.

 

[lvk]

Greetings, contest entrants! If you've checked the GD threads recently, you'll know something's up. As a result, the contest is officially over and it's time to announce the winners!

And the winners of the contest are... all entrants!

Thanks to @Parco Folgore pitching in some additional funds, basically all contest entrants have won! While this may feel redundant given it's a contest, consider all of the following points;

• The current voting system favoured people entering earlier and was somewhat based on how and when forumgoers were reading the thread, which is slightly unfair
  
• Changing it to a poll would also be unfair to the current winner(s)
• There are only three entrants and there were two prizes already
  
• All entries were great in their own right, as they had their own distinct point of interest (physics and combat, open world and choices, effects of the player on the game)
• All entrants are more than likely capable of giving good feedback on these individual points (based on the entries)

I hope this is understandable. Thanks to everyone who participated, and thanks again to Parco for bringing it to a cool ending! The reward distribution has been communicated with Brendan and should be arranged when he gets around to it. Be sure to provide feedback on the game!