Dreamwidth's Newest Idol!

Time to get your entries in!

And time for me to start some dinner.

Go back to the previous post to submit your links. :)

That is all.

Or not. I like these one-sentence paragraphs.

Only three contestants submitted entries by the deadline. Therefore, there will not be a poll this week, and all of them will advance to a Cabal.

Remember that you must continue posting entries each week to remain eligible to enter your Cabal. Otherwise it counts as having missed a deadline, and you will have to regain entry into a Cabal to continue.

Our writers for this week are:

viklikesfic - http://v-angelique.dreamwidth.org/135037.html
dmsj - http://dmsj.dreamwidth.org/868992.html
passerine - http://passerine.dreamwidth.org/21159.html

Don't worry if you missed this one, there's next week! Other than this, please enjoy reading these entries from our first contestants, and a new prompt will go up Monday morning!

Thanks for all that you do.

I'm glad that you're here! And further thanks to denise for putting out the good word about us!

I realize that for those of you who just showed up, tomorrow's deadline might be a little close. So, for this round, I am going to move the closing date to Friday, March 26, at the same time, 9 PM Eastern USA. Voting will go up promptly at that time and still closing on Sunday evening.

Please link your entries back to the comments thread of this post: http://dreamwidth-idol.dreamwidth.org/549.html . Also, for your idle chatter, or anything on or off-topic to the competition, there is dreamwidth_idle.

New Beginnings - let's hear about them!

I've been told the rules may be a little too complex as I presented them. I tried to cover a lot of situations, it's the lawyer in me. Let me try to simplify this a little. Here's how it works.

1. Post an entry to the prompt (and link it back to the prompt). We vote on it, if you win the poll (top 4) you join a group, a la Survivor or Weakest Link.
2. You keep posting entries to the prompt each week. Each group gets its own poll, and the two bottom players get eliminated.
3. The last person standing goes on to a final of group winners. Win that, and you've won DW Idol.

Please, please, please, if things aren't clear, tell me, and I'll gladly answer any questions you have. I want you to enjoy it, and I get if you can't understand it you can't enjoy it.

ETA: This thread in dingsi's journal has some more rules clarifications. So we don't overload their journal, and to better share wisdom and ideas, please comment back to this community post.

(This may be the last time I call it Dreamwidth Idol, DW Idol is so much easier to type!)

Welcome to DW Idol! Before you make your first entry, please go over how the contest works and the rules to play by. You'll thank yourself later!

Here's how it works. You're here, starting from outside the competition. When you join dreamwidth_idol you have entered the Pool. It is from the Pool that players are selected to enter a Cabal. A Cabal is a group of players who have done well in the general Pool and have been sent off to determine amongst themselves who is the best Idol among them. The Cabal Winner goes on to play in a Grand Cabal, the winner of which becomes the new DW Idol!

Every week there is a prompt. Your entry should be somehow related to this prompt, but you don't have to convince me that it is - just the voters! Once you've posted your entry (please, public entries only) leave a comment to the topic post, saying that your entry is for the Pool. We'll post your name and a link to your entry to a poll with all of the other pool entrants for the week. Anyone can vote in this poll, so bring your friends if you like! The top four vote-getters (and anyone tied with the fourth-place contestant) are entered into the next Cabal.

A Cabal begins play once there are 16 members. Once in a Cabal (you get to name your cabal the first week!), you make entries on the same topics as everyone else, however the voting is different. Voting takes place between other members of the Cabal, but may be done any number of different ways, to be announced with the weekly prompt. All Cabals follow the same rules and answer the same topics regardless of how many people remain in each. Two members are voted out of each Cabal each week, plus anyone who didn't get an entry in on time.

A Final Round will be declared when a Cabal has four or fewer members left. The final vote is always closed ballot, where the players rank the entries 1, 2, and 3 (not including themselves), open to all players currently in a Cabal. The winner (lowest number total) becomes the Cabal Winner, and will go on to the Grand Cabal.

A Grand Cabal is declared when there are eight Cabal Winners, to determine who will become the next DW Idol. Different topics than the rest of Idol will go up for the Grand Cabal. Each week one person will be voted off in a public vote, until down to three remaining contestants, when the top vote-getter is crowned champion!

Now, for some other rules:

Byes: In the Cabal round, the top weekly vote-getter in each Cabal receives a Bye which can be used so long as there are more than 8 remaining players in their Cabal. Only one Bye can be won by any given player in a single Cabal. To use the Bye you must post a comment stating that you are using your Bye under the topic. Byes are not transferable between Cabals, nor can they be used in a Grand Cabal.

Runoff Voting: In the event of a tie in an elimination vote there will be a runoff. Regardless of the format of the original vote, a run-off vote is open to the public. The runoff topic will also be the same every time: The road less travelled.

Content Restrictions: Any work which can be posted to Dreamwidth (both technically and in compliance with the Dreamwidth ToS) is permissible, however no NC-17 work of any format is permitted in the competition, so that all members of Dreamwidth may play.

Joining a New Cabal: Once you've been eliminated from a Cabal you re-enter the Pool once you've taken one week off. You can keep right on playing after that, and if you're a top vote-getter you join the next Cabal!

Playing after Winning: Once you have won your Cabal you may not join another Cabal until there has been a Grand Cabal to participate in (you may of course post entries from the prompts to stay fresh, and you probably should!). You can only participate in one Cabal at a time. Past DW Idol winners are welcome to play again, however they may not play in another Grand Cabal. Should you (as a past winner) win a Cabal, the second-place player will go on to the Grand Cabal.

No Asshattery: This covers everything I can and can't possibly think of in regards to bad behavior. Don't be a jerk. This is a game for fun, I don't get paid a cent to do this or anything else I do on DW. If you sockpuppet votes, campaign against other contestants (rooting for and reccing others is fine), or otherwise interfere with the competition you will be banned from participating. If you misbehave in dreamwidth_idle you'll be banned from there. Idol is a busy contest to keep running; I don't have time to deal with BS.