Here Be Monsters: One more week to go!

Today I'll be publishing not one, not two but three blog posts! Here's the first one: more statistics and musings about the contest.

It's been a week since my previous Here Be Monsters update, and the number of entries we've received has more than doubled since then! Keep 'em coming, there's still room in our monster pens! The deadline's September 13!

A few observations:

• Monster myths from certain parts of the world seem to be very popular. However, we haven't received any duplicates yet, and I think all the monsters are distinct enough to stand out. Personally, I won't hold it against you if you if you happened to pick a popular theme. It's the overall design that matters.
• After I've written my own comments on the entries, I read the other judges' comments (I don't want to read them before so they won't influence my judging.) What I've noticed is that we agree on most things, and some of our comments are eerily similar. I guess that's what all the practice for RPG Superstar has done to us! :-) Yet there are many details that I've missed and they've noticed, or the other way around, and there are also many things we don't agree on. I'm confident this is a very good way to judge the entries.
• While no entry is 100% perfect, none of them are totally hopeless either! There are definitely good ideas in each. I'll probably compile a big list of both the good stuff and the most common mistakes once the contest is over.