For the first time ever.. a winner of MadPea writing contest would have
their creation come alive in the hands of MadPea Crew.
All excited about this idea, we launched a contest and hoped
that we would find a story that we could make into a hunt.
To our pleasant surprise, we got several truly
amazing stories from very talented writers.
However, there was one story that stood above the rest
of them and this story was written by
Telestoi Weissmann
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| The Winner of Halloween Writing Contest - Telestoi Weissmann |
Instead of publishing Telestoi's story now, you will get to live the story starting from today
at 12pm SLT on
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): So, congratulations Mr. Weissmann! You have won our big Halloween hunt writing contest and for the first time ever we're bringing out a hunt that is not written by MadPea Crew. How does that make you feel? ;)
Telestoi Weissmann: Well, I have been cursing in amazement a lot the last hour or so. I am fascinated, excited, a little nervous, and also, since I have been studying your team's work for a while, I am honored and just have this sense of deep pleasure and satisfaction.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): We do enjoy making you feel that way ;)
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Have you been reading the other stories that have been published?
Telestoi Weissmann: Of course, some in detail, because I saw that they were either well written, or had also tried to build a sense of a game spirit. Some I saw were well crafted stories, but, I also saw that the writer had slipped away from the core idea of a game - on those I relaxed, altho I always like seeing how other writers do the craft. Near the end the stories got more and more tight, and they also started working on a gameplay model - they made me nervous lol.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Did you figure out at any point that you had won?
Telestoi Weissmann: It was actually a bit of a confusing contest challenge at first. It could have gone in so many directions. I made a few false stats, then, the story I wrote just wrote itself.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): We changed the name of your story "The Lost and the Damned" to the Dark Dimension hoping to distract you with that. Did it work?
Telestoi Weissmann: A few days ago, as I was studying the other stories, I started to get this feeling. I understood what the writer were doing, and saw that many went down the same "false starts" that first distracted me. I kept comparing them to what I had written, and it's underlying structure, and thinking - wow, I really have a chance, I might have done it.
Telestoi Weissmann: Well, I have been cursing in amazement a lot the last hour or so. I am fascinated, excited, a little nervous, and also, since I have been studying your team's work for a while, I am honored and just have this sense of deep pleasure and satisfaction.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): We do enjoy making you feel that way ;)
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Have you been reading the other stories that have been published?
Telestoi Weissmann: Of course, some in detail, because I saw that they were either well written, or had also tried to build a sense of a game spirit. Some I saw were well crafted stories, but, I also saw that the writer had slipped away from the core idea of a game - on those I relaxed, altho I always like seeing how other writers do the craft. Near the end the stories got more and more tight, and they also started working on a gameplay model - they made me nervous lol.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Did you figure out at any point that you had won?
Telestoi Weissmann: It was actually a bit of a confusing contest challenge at first. It could have gone in so many directions. I made a few false stats, then, the story I wrote just wrote itself.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): We changed the name of your story "The Lost and the Damned" to the Dark Dimension hoping to distract you with that. Did it work?
Telestoi Weissmann: A few days ago, as I was studying the other stories, I started to get this feeling. I understood what the writer were doing, and saw that many went down the same "false starts" that first distracted me. I kept comparing them to what I had written, and it's underlying structure, and thinking - wow, I really have a chance, I might have done it.
Telestoi Weissmann: Then you published the picture of a certain building which I recognized. I saw the builiding in the image - and some thought process in the back of my mind said - You did it, this means you won. But I kept silent about that voice, and just said to friends, "maybe, maybe".
Telestoi Weissmann: As for the name - yes, when you released that, my heart sunk a bit - but - I thought - "Kiana has said it's to be a surprise - she cant reveal the title and keep the surprise - does her new game name still reflect what you were saying was the peril inthe story - and of course it did.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): You do know that we're going to be very evil.. and not actually show you the gameplay now... you will truly get to experience it yourself as well.
Telestoi Weissmann: I am really excited to see how you constructed the gameplay - I was going to sneak onto the sim if I could and try to peek, but, I know you folks must have been going crazy building here, so - I decided to just wait and see with everyone else - smiles.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): We have never done this before and I have to say that I was so pleasantly surprised to get so many entries, with such amazing stories. They were well written, captured the MadPea spirit and the feeling of the island.. but I knew it immediately when I started reading yours - "This is the one" I told Kyle and he agreed. We were not sure ourselves what we were truly looking for, but we knew it there and then.. Your story allowed us to make a little twist to the way the hunt is played too... as you shall see later. :D
Telestoi Weissmann: Punches the air in a restrained act of victory.
Telestoi Weissmann: Oh fantastic. yes, I feel like I can guess. I did try to suggest a kind of deeper peril for the players, so that they couldn't relax, and had a kind of compulsion to play the whole way thru.Thats the risk of puzzle games and hunts, I thought, as I was playing them and trying to figure out how they worked and how they made people playing them feel.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): I hope we're able to surprise you as well..
Telestoi Weissmann: You have to have a way increase the tension, to make the person playing get an adrenaline buzz.
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| Kiana & Tel chatting away at Death Row Island |
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): People will want to know who you are.. so please do tell us a bit about yourself?
Telestoi Weissmann: Lets see, I am an older East Coast American, who is self employed as a web developer, works at night, and first got interested in SL because of its potential for business and education.
But then I fell in love with the kink, and the imagination, and the art.
Telestoi Weissmann: And I have consdiered myself a writer all my life. Oddly, just as this contest came up, I was working on a series of strange short stories, pretty compelling. then ping - the next day, after I finished one, I get The MadPea notice about the contest and some part of me said -Tel - this one is a test for you, kind of a magic puzzle.
Telestoi Weissmann: It called me, lol. In part beause I had been earlier kind of studying your MadPea projects and thinking - what a brilliant concept - these folks have made traffic flow a game.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Is there anything you'd like to say to the Peas that will start the hunt today?
Telestoi Weissmann: Ow - now that is interesting, a question that I did not guess you might ask, and really I should have, it is obvious in retrospect.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer) smiles
Telestoi Weissmann: Players, all you folks who know the MadPeas will make sure you are entertained - listen.This one is dark. Dangerous. Writing it burned a hole in my head for days. Be strong. You are needed, in more ways than you know. This is for pleasure. but this is also Halloween, the day we greet death and remember that we are not dead yet. The world is crazy, but we are sane - and you must hunt.
Telestoi Weissmann: That's what I want to say. You must hunt. Save them and save each other and save yourselves.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Well said. Thank you Tel! It's been a pleasure chatting with you!
Telestoi Weissmann: Lets see, I am an older East Coast American, who is self employed as a web developer, works at night, and first got interested in SL because of its potential for business and education.
But then I fell in love with the kink, and the imagination, and the art.
Telestoi Weissmann: And I have consdiered myself a writer all my life. Oddly, just as this contest came up, I was working on a series of strange short stories, pretty compelling. then ping - the next day, after I finished one, I get The MadPea notice about the contest and some part of me said -Tel - this one is a test for you, kind of a magic puzzle.
Telestoi Weissmann: It called me, lol. In part beause I had been earlier kind of studying your MadPea projects and thinking - what a brilliant concept - these folks have made traffic flow a game.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Is there anything you'd like to say to the Peas that will start the hunt today?
Telestoi Weissmann: Ow - now that is interesting, a question that I did not guess you might ask, and really I should have, it is obvious in retrospect.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer) smiles
Telestoi Weissmann: Players, all you folks who know the MadPeas will make sure you are entertained - listen.This one is dark. Dangerous. Writing it burned a hole in my head for days. Be strong. You are needed, in more ways than you know. This is for pleasure. but this is also Halloween, the day we greet death and remember that we are not dead yet. The world is crazy, but we are sane - and you must hunt.
Telestoi Weissmann: That's what I want to say. You must hunt. Save them and save each other and save yourselves.
Her Evil Highness (kiana.writer): Well said. Thank you Tel! It's been a pleasure chatting with you!
Then Kiana kicked Tel out of the island, not letting him see anything! Even the writer himself will be surprised today!
Written by Mr. Weissmann, modified for a game by Kyle Beckett and brought to life by the MadPea Crew - We're bringing you Dark Dimension!
See you all at 12pm SLT!
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