Hanako Games

Back To School - Magical Diary Contest (Discussion)

#1 by hanako - Aug 2 2011

For many of you August is the last gasp of freedom before returning to your school year - that's certainly how it is for the students in Magical Diary! So to celebrate the season we're running a small contest to win a free copy of the game. If you're too busy saving up for your schoolbooks, this is your chance to play.

To enter:

If you've played the demo, you should know that young wildseed students tend to manifest their magic at the age of thirteen, and that being magical can come as a huge surprise.

Write us a story about a character of your own invention, boy or girl, turning thirteen and having something strangely magical happen on eir birthday. It can be something good or bad... maybe you turn your birthday cake into a fountain of chocolate, maybe you turn your dog into a lion, who knows?

Or maybe it isn't something 'you' did at all... Maybe a very strange visitor turns up for your birthday party, that only you can see. Maybe you wake up and find that you're sleeping on the ceiling and you have NO IDEA WHY and you need to get down!

It doesn't need to resemble things that would happen in the game. Just tell us an amusing story of a magical thirteenth birthday.


Write your story, then post it or a link to it in the Back To School - Magical Diary Contest (Entries). Not this topic, as this topic is now for discussion so we can keep that separate from the actual stories.


One entry per person. Choose your best story and go with that.

Bonus Points Available!! While you can only enter once, you can make that one entry count extra by doing the following:

Posting the story somewhere outside of this forum that people will see, like on your own blog or a fanfiction site. To get this bonus point, make sure we can see where you've shared the story!

Including a reference picture for your character - this includes having a yearbook page from the demo. Or you can LINK to pictures that you find anywhere on the internet that you think match your character.

Even more bonus points if you draw a picture of your character yourself.

This contest will run until August 30th.

#2 by Foreversh - Aug 2 2011

By copy of a game, do you mean a physical copy, or just a download copy?

#3 by hanako - Aug 2 2011

Just a download, unless there's a huge outpouring of entries. How much I give away tends to depend on how many people enter. If HUGE numbers of people entered I'd happily give away a CD or two But mostly this is for some kids who can't buy things online but really want to play the game, so that they have a chance.

Doubts..

#4 by ElCantardelaLunaOscura - Aug 2 2011

Do you want us to post it here? Send it to some E-mail adress? I'm new at this.

#5 by hanako - Aug 2 2011

yeah, sorry, I'm sick at the moment which is making it hard for me to post clear instructions.

when i can think straight enough to lay out the rules in good clear terms it'll probably go something like:

post your story somewhere, possibly in this forum, possibly elsewhere. bonus points if you post it on your blog or a fanfiction site.
bonus points if you include a picture of your character (including using the demo yearbook pictures)
even more bonus points if you draw said pictures yourself

then post in this topic to link to your story

but I haven't quite got all the rules ironed out because i'm not feeling well, I just wanted to give people time to start working on it. Willrun until at least aug 20, possibly the end of august, so you have time.

#6 by ElCantardelaLunaOscura - Aug 2 2011

Thanks for your answer. I hope you get better. I can write it in english or Spanish.

#7 by unforgetableme - Aug 3 2011

Cool! I can't wait!

Questions

#8 by hopeandhaley - Aug 4 2011

We have a couple of weird questions about the contest.

We're twin sisters that, up to this point, have been playing the free demo of Magical Diary. We always play the game at the same time and decide which choices to pick together.

So, would it be okay if we did a collaboration to enter the contest? (That is, both of us work on one story and submit it together as one entry representing us both.) Or would that be "unfair" to others, so no? o_0;;

[The reason is, is that we had the same character and it would be "weird" if both of us were competing for a prize we'd share anyways, no matter which one of us (theoretically) won it?]

Second question: You said people can draw their character, so would it be okay to draw a short comic instead of just writing a story?

#9 by hanako - Aug 4 2011

That sounds fine to me

Question reply

#10 by hopeandhaley - Aug 4 2011

Okay, thanks! ^-^

Oh, one last question. Does the accidental magic the character creates in the story *have* to be:
1. Closely related to the ones in the game (as in an actual/real spell used in the game)? [Example: Spirit Sight]

2. Or a made-up accidental spell that's related to one of the types of magic (green, red, white, etc.)? [Example: They used "blue magic" to transform their mom's head to be a lizard's.]

3. Or can it be something completely made up and probably not related to the game at all? [Example: The character made cats rain down from the sky or grew flaming seagull wings.]

#11 by hanako - Aug 4 2011

Can be totally made up. You can try to make it sound like something that might happen in-game if you want to, but it doesn't matter if it completely doesn't fit into the world. Being entertaining is more important.

I should rephrase the first post so it doesn't sound so picky.

#12 by Jinroh - Aug 4 2011

Sounds like a fun contest. I'll have to take some time and write up an entry. ^^

You're so generous, hope you feel better. ^^

#13 by MusicDreams - Aug 8 2011

Am so joining!

#14 by MusicDreams - Aug 8 2011

can the fanfiction start a week before the birthday? I mean just small magic, nothing major

#15 by redpanda - Aug 8 2011

This sounds fun! I'd love to write something if I find some time.

Is there a word count limit? I'm sorry if that seems like a silly question o.o
I'm just too used to my teachers giving me limits XD

#16 by hanako - Aug 9 2011

Whatever you think makes a good story. I'd rather not set hard limits. Even very short stories can be entertaining if the words are chosen well.

#17 by mermaid - Aug 9 2011

I got so excited over the weekend that I ended up writing 3 stories not just one, each with it's own drawing

#18 by hanako - Aug 9 2011

I did say one entry per so to be fair you should pick your favorite and enter that...

You could post all three of them to the fan forum NOT in this thread and try to get other people to help you pick which one you should enter, then post a link here to the one you picked.

Otherwise just pick the one you like best and then post the others afterwards?

#19 by mermaid - Aug 10 2011

I was wondering about posting them on the forum but decided to get my family to help instead. they all choose the (purple is MY colour) one. I'm guessing because that one has the nicest drawing

can we start posting the stories now or wait for an official announcement? I mean it's around 800 words so I was worried it might be too long.

#20 by hanako - Aug 11 2011

I've set up a separate thread to post stories in so they don't get confused with the contest rules discussion. You can go ahead and post there if you want.


As for the earlier question abotu starting before hte birthday - Well, you can if you want to, it really doesn't have to be accurate, you're not expected to be experts in my setting. For my own setting rules though, there is no magic until the wildseed character is actually thirteen. Might not have the PARTY yet, but they have to reach that age before they have any magic at all.

#21 by mermaid - Aug 11 2011

thanks Hanako. was the first to post. hope it wasn't too long. so glad the picture could fit! I was worried about that!

I already have the game...

#22 by Damien's~ - Aug 12 2011

I already own the game, but can I still enter just for the fun of it? And if i can, are we allowed to post multiple pictures with the story?

#23 by hanako - Aug 12 2011

Well, people who don't have the game and are trying to win it would probably be sad if someone won who doesn't need it at all, so it's probably better to just post your story as normal fanfiction and not part of the contest.

In which case you can post all the pictures you want!

However, if you have a friend that you know would like a copy of the game, you could enter to win a copy to give to someone else.

But if you're just doing it for fun it's probably better to just post it as a story. As you can see there are a couple of normal magical diary fanfics in here already. (I have no idea how one goes about getting a fanfiction.net category opened for the game...)

#24 by Damien's~ - Aug 12 2011

Alrighty, just thought I'd ask~ As for getting one on fanfiction.net I happen to know how one go about getting a category on there, if you'd like me to try. I can't promise they'll accept it, but it's worth a shot.

#25 by perch - Aug 12 2011

To get on ff.net it is as simple as write your story and keep it in pending to upload. Then contact an admin and let them know that you want to open a category under Video Games for Magical Diary and that you have a fanfic written and waiting to be categorized.

They should get back to you within a couple of days and post your story under the new category, which will then be open.


Note: This is how it was a few years ago when I got a couple of fandoms opened up. I'm pretty sure it's still the same, but I haven't written fanfic in about three years so I'm not 100% sure.

#26 by Yumeshojo - Aug 12 2011

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it's done. I have my entry ready, too, and am gonna upload it to fanfiction.net, so whenever the category gets opened, we are gonna flood it lol. Any, my entry is about 5 or so pages long in openoffice, so shud I just post the story or post a link to it when I get it up on ff.net to save room? Same with the pic - I'm gonna post it on deviantart, shud I just link or post it in the thread?

Edit: Sent a request for a FF.net category. Waiting for a reply.

Edit again: FF.net hasn't replied to me yet, so I'm just gonna go ahead and post all my stuff on deviantart and link to it so as not to take up a lot of room. Let me know if there's any problems with that.

The Edit to end all Edits: The FF.net category has been approved! I'm the first to post a fic there, mwahahahahaha! Swarm it my fanfic friends, swarm it and post your beautiful stories (I know you have them, they're posted here, don't think I haven't looked!)~!

Language

#27 by ElCantardelaLunaOscura - Aug 21 2011

Hi, well mi story is ready, but I want to ask you, it has to be in English?
I'm mexican so it would be easier for me to write it in Spanish. But if you say English its ok.

#28 by hanako - Aug 21 2011

Sorry; I can't read Spanish. It does need to be English. However, there are probably some other forum members who DO, so you could post it both ways if you want them to be able to appreciate your original.

#29 by Muse - Aug 22 2011

So it's not considered rude if we enter to try to win a copy for a friend, if we already have the game for ourselves?

#30 by hanako - Aug 22 2011

If you legitimately have a use for another copy it's okay.

edit: Especially now that gifting support is enabled on the order forms!

#31 by mermaid - Aug 24 2011

I'm really excited about this, mind if I ask when it ends? I keep checking daily to see

#32 by hanako - Aug 24 2011

August 30th.

#33 by mermaid - Aug 24 2011

thank you for the fast response Hanako even though you're traveling.

#34 by hanako - Aug 31 2011

I'm back now.


Just to let you guys know how I'm doing this:

I've built up a list of entries, with some entries listed multiple times based on the 'bonus points' structure I mentioned in the rules. For one free copy I'm going to roll the random number generator across that list and pick somebody based totally on chance. So all those extra posts and pictures and things really will boost your chances for that call, without you having to worry about whether your story was the best ever or not.

After that I'm going to hand-pick a few awards based on my own reactions to the stories.

You'll be hearing from me soon!

#35 by hanako - Sep 1 2011

So....



The randomly chosen result...



is ....




... man, it would take too many spaces in here to really build up suspense properly, wouldn't it?


...

#36 by hanako - Sep 1 2011

Okay, for real this time.

Please don't feel that your story or art is 'worse' than the winners if you weren't picked; I really do these contests more for fun than any kind of artistic judgment. (And really it's always a pain picking between people because people have different kinds of talents.) I hope you enjoyed writing your entries, and maybe will be inclined to write more later!

Although probably with different characters, since once you've played the real game you'll have more idea of what's "normal" in the game universe... that's why it didn't matter if it matched the game at all or not, since most people entering HAVEN'T played it yet.


Anyway, on with the announcements.


'Luck Of The Dice' award goes to:

MusicDreams!




'Drama' award goes to:

Yumeshojo!




'Patience' award goes to:

SabbyCchuu!



Thank you all so much for participating!

#37 by Yumeshojo - Sep 1 2011

I won something~! WHOOT! Yay, thanks so much!

#38 by mermaid - Sep 1 2011

congrats to all the winners!

CONGRATS

#39 by MusicDreams - Sep 1 2011

Hope everyone has fun with the game. I have. Just kinda hurt that I didn't win by words

#40 by hanako - Sep 1 2011

Sheesh, if people are going to complain even when they win, maybe I should stop running contests...

#41 by Yumeshojo - Sep 1 2011

I'm not complaining I had a lot of fun! I hope you do more of these contests Hanako! Thanks for the chance to compete~!

#42 by MusicDreams - Sep 2 2011

SORRRY. To make it up, I'll tell all my friends to buy one of your games

#43 by SabbyCchuu - Sep 18 2011

Honestly, I did not think I'd win
Oh well, glad I submitted the story ^_^