Blizzard announces 2010 Global Writing Contest winners
by Anne Stickney 
Oct 19th 2010 at 7:00PM
The long wait is over for those waiting somewhat impatiently for the results of the 2010 Global Writing Contest! The winners' names were announced by Zarhym this evening. The full winning story, as well as excerpts from each of the finalists, will be posted at a later date. Congratulations to all the winners!
ZarhymThough the loss of life and limb was great, the ocular fortitude of our judges allowed them to see the job through: the winners of the 2010 Global Writing Contest have been chosen. Many judges were felled by the 18 million words that made up this year's competition, but whilst their souls are now forfeit to the contest's patron deity, C'Thun, their sacrifices were not in vain. Behold, the victors!
Winner:
Winner:
- "Silver Hand, Ebon Blade" by Raphael Ahad
Take a look after the break for the rest of the finalists, honorable mentions and the prizes!
ZarhymFinalists (In Alphabetical Order):
Honorable Mentions:
The winner of the 2010 Global Writing Contest will be invited to visit Blizzard Entertainment's headquarters to meet and eat with Chris Metzen and the rest of the creative development team. He will also receive his choice of a Frostmourne sword or Diablo III barbarian statue. The seven finalists will each receive signed copies of the Diablo Archive, StarCraft Archive, Warcraft Archive, and Warcraft: War of the Ancients Archive books.
The winning entry, along with excerpts from the finalists, will be posted Soon™!
See you next year, fellow vision enthusiasts! Keep those quills a-penning!
- "Defiant" by Corwin D. Riddle
- "Entombed" by Saif Ansari
- "Fresh" by Meghan O'Hara
- "In the Blood" by Celine Taillefer
- "Loose Ends" by Pedram Javidpour
- "Memories of the Future" by Michael D. O'Reilly
- "The Wicked and the Righteous" by Marika Kermode
Honorable Mentions:
- "ATLAS Rising: Shootout on the Supercarriers" by David Tsai
- "Jackson's Farewell" by Roderick Leeuwenhart
- "The Maker's Burden" by Walter Handloser
- "Returning Gnome" by Richard Powell
- "Spectre of the Past" by Craig E. Stalbaum
- "The Case of the Scrivener's Seal" by Michelle Millar
The winner of the 2010 Global Writing Contest will be invited to visit Blizzard Entertainment's headquarters to meet and eat with Chris Metzen and the rest of the creative development team. He will also receive his choice of a Frostmourne sword or Diablo III barbarian statue. The seven finalists will each receive signed copies of the Diablo Archive, StarCraft Archive, Warcraft Archive, and Warcraft: War of the Ancients Archive books.
The winning entry, along with excerpts from the finalists, will be posted Soon™!
See you next year, fellow vision enthusiasts! Keep those quills a-penning!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Contests
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dragonrose Oct 19th 2010 7:14PM
Is there going to be an update with the links?
Samutz Oct 19th 2010 10:15PM
"The winning entry, along with excerpts from the finalists, will be posted Soon™!"
Dragonrose Oct 20th 2010 10:51AM
I meant a WoWInsider update.
Jonsi Oct 19th 2010 7:53PM
I guess there's no place in the Blizzard writing contest for stories about a blood elf getting kicked out of his house by his mom's new boyfriend. Lame.
Siorra Oct 19th 2010 8:24PM
The winner gets to dine with Chris Metzen? /jealous...
Tri Oct 19th 2010 9:20PM
.. AND a Frostmourne? :O
RetPallyJil Oct 19th 2010 10:14PM
That's why I'm so cranky that I heard nothing about this contest until it was over :(
Matt Oct 20th 2010 8:45AM
Seriously, Ret, I dunno how I missed it. Maybe I'll start working on something for next year.
Dril Oct 20th 2010 2:42PM
I was considering giving it a go but in the end I figured there's no way I can write a short story. Either it'd be too short with no plot or a novel with long descriptions.
I also have way too many fully planned...plans...for stories that I never got around to writing that I like far more than WoW's universe.
Oh, and one more thing. I adore high elves but can't think up a good plot that makes them work as a storytelling device.
Netstorm Oct 20th 2010 5:32AM
Sorry for asking this but i don't know much about the contest... Is there a place where we can read the winners stories? or was it submited to Blizzard directly?
Battleweep Oct 20th 2010 6:46AM
"The winning entry, along with excerpts from the finalists, will be posted Soon™! " From the blue post itself in the article.
mark_butler Oct 20th 2010 5:49AM
its a real shame I listened to the video that had Zephos' short story in it and that was very good (from the yogpod/cast) its a shame that it was not an honourable mention but what can you do?
Netstorm Oct 20th 2010 6:48AM
right... missed the excerpts part :) thanks!
Rioriel-TheShatarEU Oct 20th 2010 7:48AM
Huge congratulations to everyone, and especially to our Cat *hug*
Cat Oct 21st 2010 7:18AM
Aw, thanks!!!! SHA'TAR EU REPRESENT
vanillabean Oct 20th 2010 8:42AM
Maybe next year :(
NathanTB Oct 20th 2010 9:14AM
Last year when they did this contest they actually drummed up the ire of the story-writing community with a few things:
-Some very draconian rules about "rights" to the story that essentially said that authors could not re-post them elsewhere despite if they won the contest or not.
-Only posting the full extent of the winning entry, and only putting up excerpts of all the runner-ups/honorable mentions.
-Excluding a number of very large areas from competing by default - for example, I could not submit because I live in Maryland.
They ended up conceding under the pressure and saying that writers were free to post their full stories anywhere, but it is a funny reminder - Blizzard owns everything you write that's vaguely set in the Blizzard-verse. I guess it doesn't matter if you just write for fun, but it really seemed to upset some people at the time.
Naze Oct 20th 2010 3:52PM
I'm not familiar with contractual jargon, but I was under the impression that the same rules were in effect for this contest period as the last and that we still couldn't post our stories elsewhere. At least that's what I thought "Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may not sell, sublicense or distribute the Entry Materials or any derivative of the Entry Materials without the express, written permission of Sponsor" meant.
Is there a blue-post or some other such documentation that says otherwise? I'd really like to post mine on the Internet, but I'd rather not breach a contract because I read a comment to a post on WoWInsider (no offense).
Swifteye Oct 20th 2010 11:10AM
Neat! Mike O'Reilly is my boyfriend's best friend... of course he would've like to win, but being one of the finalists is still super-cool!
I am totally going to have to bug him for a full copy of his story when he and his wife come over to our house to play games this Friday... :D
Cat Oct 20th 2010 2:14PM
I never thought I'd see the day when my actual name would be on the WoW forums OR WoWInsider.
Crazy week is crazy, let me tell you internet.