VICKIE’s Origin Story: and the Finalists are…
by Terra_Cide, HSM Managing Editor
When you are a part of a community, when you put countless hours of thankless sweat-equity into a project, you never stop thinking, “How can I make this experience better? What can I do to get people to see the potential I see?”
These questions apply to both real and virtual communities. The United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the YMCA – though different in nuance, all are programs dedicated to making their local communities a better pace. The same can be said for the HCV program, and countless other non-Sony sanctioned sub-communities in Home who commit time into making Home a better place to be.
This includes Home media projects, and Home developers.
Lockwood has been a prominent third-party developer for the majority of Home’s open beta existence, and the constant stream of dialogue they have had over the years with users demonstrates clearly their dedication to making the Home community a positive experience for everyone. This is the livelihood of many creative and talented men and women we’re talking about, after all.
HomeStation hasn’t been around as long, but we have the same commitment. No, we don’t get paid, but for an all-volunteer operation, we put in crazy quantity of hours – sometimes staying up until the faintest streaks of dawn can be seen – and still have to work jobs and raise families. Why? Because like Lockwood and any of the other third-party developers dedicated to Home, we’re committed to giving the community the best experience we can provide. One they have never experienced before.
We at HSM have been proud to serve the community with writing contests over the past year, and when we broached the topic of a Sodium-based writing contest with Lockwood a few months ago, what they came back to us with was more than we dared to hope for. A writing contest in which the community gets to have a hand in creating a backstory for one of Home’s biggest mainstays – VICKIE – and sketching out a picture of the Sodium Universe. The winner will be published in Home itself, via the Gift Machine.
Sodium One is a bona-fide hit, as it offered an experience at the time of its debut that hadn’t yet been seen in Home. A world within a world, with its own objectives, its own currency, and its own rewards. Its success cemented Lockwood’s name into the mind of the community, not just because of the experience it provided, which was phenomenal in its own right, but because of the developer-to-consumer relationship Lockwood maintained.
The Gift Machine has been one of the most significant developments in Home, right up there with total game-integration, multiplayer games and EOD. The longevity of its token sales are practically legendary. And to have something that is user-generated in Home is nothing short of extraordinary. So you can imagine how excited we were to offer our readers a chance a writing something that stood the chance of being published in Home.
And now it’s time to announce the finalists. It wasn’t an easy choice to make, and in the end, it was a very close call, as all of the entries were very creative. These three people will be receiving a new VICKIE bodysuit, the new Sijed and Bijel companions, and a Sodium2 starter pack. They are:
Burbie52
Gideon
tdarb
So what’s next? Their selected stories have been passed onto the Lockwood team by the HSM editors, and the winner will be announced August 8th.
We at HSM would like to thank everyone who participated, and to be on the lookout for more writing contests. Good luck to the finalists!
August 6th, 2012 by Terra_Cide | 10 comments
Terra _Cide is the former Community Manager for Lockwood Publishing and Editor Emeritus for HomeStation Magazine.
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Nice congrats guys. Awesome stories all around.
Burbie52, Gideon, tdarb, congratulations and good luck in the final selection.
Wow I am genuinely surprised I am in the running, there were so many great entries done. Thanks for the show of confidence, I appreciate all of the efforts everyone has made in this contest. I also appreciated the chance to write a fiction for a change as that is what I have done for many years before coming here.
Congrats to the other two, Gideon and tdarb as well and good luck to you.
Holy [expletive deleted]! I seriously did not expect that. I was just telling some people last night that I probably didn’t stand a chance against some of these entries. There was some seriously good stuff posted.
Congrats to my fellow finalists!
O.O
Awesome! I’m honored to be amongst the three submitted to Lockwood! There were so many entries that I was just in awe of. So many great ideas. Good luck to my pair of fellow writers! I loved the take you both took on the back-story. Thanks for the prizes HSM and Lockwood… I don’t about that Sijed companion… I just don’t trust that thing….
*eyes the robo-snake suspiciously*
Congratulations and best wishes to you all!
I am with Kass on this one -I think they made the right choices… good work editors! And best of luck to you all my friends.
Hm, oh well. I wrote more of a fic that a life story. I already own most of the prize stuff anyway xD
Congrats to you 3 finalists
WOO-HOO!
Well done blokes and blokesses!
Sadly I’ve not had time to catch up on my reading of them all in the last few days but, I’m sure I’ll find some time to read the ones in the running soon. Also, does this mean there will be a place we can read all the entries from everywhere now?
I think they are all here http://www.hsmagazine.net/forum/general-discussion-group2/main-forum-forum2/vickie-origin-stories-competition-submissions-thread-thread231/