As the preceding post shows, there are six major categories to which players may compete for.

The first, ROLEPLAYING FINESSE is the essence of staying in character, of course. However,

those who think they are good roleplayers are not necessarily. For example, when you post

on the bulletin board (excluding the Meets bb) is everything that you write in the context of

Avalon? Everytime you mention \"I know this may be OOC... \" do you realize you have already

broken Avalon's fantasy? Everytime you swear in game, everytime you call your enemy a name

that has real world meaning, you have destroyed the land's ambience entirely. That being said,

it takes a certain 'finesse' to roleplay well and to take a frustrating or satisfying situation

and using it as a means to further your roleplaying skills.

The second category, MOST ORIGINALITY IN TEAM BATTLES, brings with it the ability for group

battle leaders to think creatively, using the environment as well as their skills to best

the other team. Fighting in staves is NOT an original idea. Ordering someone to chant

equilibrium is NOT an original idea. The point is to think of new things and try them, even if

it is met with disaster.

The third category, BEST IN REFRAINING FROM TEAMING, has been called into place for what

should be obvious reasons. It has become fairly disgusting. All this will do is encourage

players to find safe spots to hide in until their friends come along to outnumber the other

team, at which point they will find hiding spots until stick a hot coal on my tongue you get

the idea. One on one battles ONLY. Even if it means a bunch of hooligans have come into

Wait, I take that back. Even numbers and SKILL only. Threap and Kodiak versus Valek and

Mephisia does NOT count as balanced fighting. I will still consider it teaming for technical

purposes. Some may argue, than how can gem holders remain fair? I'm quite sure a gem holder

can handle two lesser skilled enemies or an enemy of higher skill. It is of this same logic

that gem holders will be judged.

The fourth category, MOST CONTRIBUTING SHOUTS, deals with the players ability to shout both

constructively and efficiently to the game's environment. Shouting 10 things that have no

real roleplay meaning will be judged a lot more negatively than one shout that carries with it

a lot of roleplay.

Category number five, MOST IMPROVED IN FIGHTING, is for those who have recently switched to a

new profession, or even for those that are young and adjusting to fighting. Seconds are

quite easy to spot aren't they? Well then they are just as easy to exclude from this contest's

category.

As may be implied, the 'amount' of improvement will be judged. Somebody who has procured

600 lessons to gain an ultimate skill means nothing about actual fighting improvement. All will

be taken into consideration.

Finally, MOST SELFLESS FIGHTER, is for those that lend aide to those in need. This could

mean contributing hundreds of free herbs or poisons to a city, or sacrificing themselves so

another may live, or even returning items stolen during a battle to the enemy you stole it from.

There are many avenues for a player to prove themselves truly selfless. Creativity, like

in all the categories, is strongly encouraged.

Now onto how The Influential will be run. I will be one of the judges that reviews the logs

of the players that send me them. Logs of team battles, one on one battles, shouts, tells,

and anything that would be relevant to the categories for which you wish to compete in (or

even for a person you are supporting in these categories). When you send me the log, someone

must be mentioned in your email that can be used as a witness, or alibi. EACH situation/log

you send me must have with it a different witness. The same witness may not be used more than

once. Deities are certainly welcome to act as witnesses for you (though I would imagine you

should ask for their divine permission first). Now despite the chance of log forgery, I will

also be playing a lot for the next Avalon year and will be logging from the time I log in to the

time I log out. Therefore, as a non-participant in this contest, I will also be able to

serve as a witness. You may still be skeptical at this point however...

To convince you of why this contest will work, consider the material reward: NOTHING.

The reward is a post on the public bulletin board showing the top winners of the contest in

each of the categories, eternally emblazoned on parchment. Avalon is a dynamic universe, yet

we still are able to give credit where credit is due, even to our most foul of enemies. Keep

that VERY close to your heart as you compete. I have not decided how many people I will be

mentioning as the top competitors in each category (I am thinking five though that may change

based on feedback). The contest will begin sometime at the end of this week (again, feedback

will dictate its actual starting time). Additional category suggestions are welcome.

Once the contest begins, I will post about it on the public bb along with further details.

Yours in battle,

Abydos, Mystic of War

Written by my hand on the 22nd of Mournsend, in the year 1144.