Challenge #3 Results & Challenge #4

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

22nd February 2010

The judges must once again suffer the unhappy responsibility of eliminating two intelligent and creative people from Make it So. Even though we say goodbye to two more players, we continue to hope that they've learned something from this contest, will continue to participate, and return again next season.

The Bajoran Team
George Meadows III (theECH) and Bassim El-Wakil (Bass) were nominated for elimination by the Bajoran Team.

George has been beset by a number of personal issues that has limited his participation in the challenges. However, he has been helpful when he has participated and some of his ideas have been the team's best cards.

Bass has displayed amazing intelligence and passion, as well as a strong commitment to his beliefs. Some of his cards show glimmers of his brilliance, but his agenda and his dislike of some of 2E's core principles are obvious.

With a vote of 2-1, the judges have decided to "cut" Bass from the competition. This cut is not a slight on his ability, but rather his need to make changes evolutionary instead of revolutionary.

From Brad: "Bassim, the designers universally enjoy your spirited debate and passion for the game - don't lose those qualities! But please take some time to study the benefits of 2E and don't focus so much on your perceived flaws. You may find more success with less drastic thinking, and we sincerely hope you'll return in the future."

The Klingon Team
Benjamin Wynn (EL1TE) and Blake Mandalis (Devoras) were nominated for elimination by the Klingon Team.

Benjamin Wynn has generated some good ideas, but seems resistant to cooperating with his teammates and rarely offers feedback on his teammate's submissions, instead focusing on his own.

Blake has generated a lot of good ideas, but an equal number of untenable ideas and has not participated in discussions to the same level as his teammates.

It is with great regret. and with a vote of 3-0, the judges have "cut" EL1TE because, while he has had some strong ideas, he has displayed a negative attitude towards working with his team and needs to work on his ability to offer feedback.

Brad says, "Benjamin, you were part of a team that has been in three, tough, hard-fought battles. You definitely show a lot of creativity and insight, and we hope that you will reapply to this competition in the future."

Bassim and Benjamin will be moved out of the team forums and into a different group, where they can still see the general goings on of the competition, but not the inner workings of their former teams.

And so now that Challenge #3 is in the books, we invite the teams to explore their favorite episodes in this week's challenge, the first to focus on the story side of things. We call this challenge "Choose Your Own Adventure."

Entries for this challenge are due before 8 AM Eastern Time on Monday, March 1st, 2010. Eastern Time is GMT - 5:00. This gives teams a week to work on their entries.

Create a thematic cycle of six (6) cards (1 Dilemma, 1 Equipment/Event/Interrupt, 1 Personnel, 1 Ship, and 2 more of any types) that are drawn from the same Star Trek story (an episode, multi-episode arc or movie).

Feel free to visit the Official MiS Forum to ask questions and view the results of the previous challenge.

Episode VI of the Make It So Podcast is also available for all to download, and includes discussions about play testing, favorite stories and more details on the challenge.