To quote my news announcement:

Messaging on spells is in dire straits. We need to rewrite messages for most
spells in the game. Contact me for rules and rewards.

Total points earned:

6.8	Sora (call of hearthfires, 10 cantrips, bonus for first cantrip of
	each element, teleport, shield, 1 spell idea)
4.9	Zaecus (30 good cantrips, 2 spell ideas, 1 good spell idea)
1.5	Garvin (3 good spell ideas)

Pending points:

Spent points:
none

Here follows a conversation I had with Sora on the subject wherein I outline
the 'contest' rules:

(12:40:22) Sora: oh, and I'm to talk to you about the new contest.
(12:40:43) Ammon: grin, not a contest
(12:40:50) Ammon: is first-come first-served
(12:40:58) Ammon: you give me something appropriate, i give you reward
(12:41:02) Sora: so what are the rewards.
(12:41:16) Ammon: depending on how much work you do
(12:41:16) Sora: so do I get a "reward" for call of hearthfires. I did that
           one right right?
(12:41:26) Ammon: let me look at that again, but i think so
(12:41:53) Ammon: the messages are a touch long
(12:41:59) Sora: and if you want stuff in a different format, lmk
(12:42:02) Sora: so stuff shorter huh?
(12:42:07) Ammon: i want sentences that can be parsed in under 2 seconds
(12:42:13) Sora: less detailed?
(12:42:18) Ammon: nod, or break it up
(12:42:40) Ammon: the big problem with the wind spells you've already
           written is that most people's eyes glaze over during casting
(12:42:42) Sora: well, you gave a list of what had to be done in 3 steps so
           I kinda had to shove it all together for that one ;)
(12:42:51) Ammon: heh
(12:43:12) Ammon: i will write the messages for the hearth spell
(12:43:19) Ammon: you needn't worry about it then ;)
(12:43:20) Sora: so do I get a prize for that one then?
(12:43:35) Ammon: we'll add it to your credits since you did submit it
(12:43:48) Ammon: first tier of prizes is skill
(12:43:48) Sora: so what are the rules then?
(12:44:14) Ammon: rules - one step message for every 250 points of readiness
           cost in a spell
(12:44:20) Ammon: see my pdf for those numbers
(12:44:33) Ammon: each step has success and failure options
(12:44:49) Sora: where's the pdf?
(12:44:52) Ammon: morpork
(12:44:56) Ammon: on my idea page
(12:45:34) Ammon: ideally, messages are no longer than 120 characters, with
           80 or less being ideal
(12:46:02) Ammon: if possible, tying a message to the skill used in that
           spell step is preferred
(12:46:14) Ammon: i can give the list of skill per step of a spell on
           request
(12:46:33) Ammon: if you have a good reason to change the skills used
           slightly, this can also be arranged
(12:46:54) Sora: so I'm at http://morpork.simud.org/~ammon/mud-spells.pdf
(12:46:56) Ammon: second tier of prizes would be priority on new spell
           creation
(12:46:58) Ammon: yes
(12:47:19) Ammon: that is the list of all spells planned for the game so far
           with the exception of spell crystal and hearth
(12:47:27) Ammon: i haven't regenerated the pdf since they were conceived
(12:48:19) Sora: can't you do that as a txt file?
(12:49:08) Ammon: hmm?
(12:49:14) Ammon: i want the hiliting
(12:49:35) Ammon: makes for nice printout
(12:50:12) Sora: use ansi codes then ;)
(12:50:18) Ammon: egad no
(12:50:20) Sora: or rtf
(12:50:28) Sora: heck, why not HTML?
(12:50:47) Ammon: blah, pdf is more useful than rtf
(12:50:57) Sora: what about html?
(12:51:21) Sora: chathist
(12:51:23) Ammon: i don't like magical generated html, and i don't want to
           have to edit raw html entries for this
(12:51:27) Sora: mt
(12:51:29) Ammon: :P
(12:51:40) Sora: what are you using as your source?
(12:51:59) Ammon: hmm? oo
(12:56:04) Sora: can't you export to a simple HTML rather than pdf?
(12:56:24) Ammon: nope, i like the guaranteed formatting
(12:57:23) Sora: one step message for ever 250 points and a success?
(12:57:50) Ammon: is actually one 'step' per 250 points plus the final
           success/failure message, yes
(12:58:12) Sora: and have any of them been claimed?
(12:58:30) Ammon: with most violent spells, there should be three types of
           failures at the end - fizzle, miss, resist
(12:59:08) Ammon: so a firebolt vs a stone golem might succeed in the
           casting, but it needs a special message for the fact that it
           struck the thing and did no damage
(12:59:17) Ammon: no, nothing has been claimed yet
(12:59:19) Sora: yeah
(12:59:41) Sora: so are there only 2 reward tiers?
(13:00:02) Ammon: hmm? no
(13:00:21) Sora: you mentioned 2 of them.
(13:00:28) Ammon: tier three is item crafting recipe
(13:01:24) Sora: for item of users choice?
(13:01:57) Ammon: for an item that has not yet been written that is within
           the player's skills to craft
(13:04:53) Sora: "and for those of us who don't have crafting skills to
           speak of?"
(13:05:07) Ammon: heh
(13:05:12) Sora: woah, some spells require 500 man, how is anyone supposed
           to get that much?
(13:05:24) Sora: s/man/mana
(13:05:26) Ammon: there are abilities planned that will charge you to
           overmax
(13:06:40) Sora: and other tiers?
(13:07:06) Ammon: that is it, you can cash in for any combination
(13:07:24) Ammon: so for those who don't have crafting skill but want items,
           i suggest cashing in points for skill levels with which to craft
(13:07:31) Sora: IC so the order on spell creation how does that work?
(13:08:03) Ammon: either you prod me and i hurry completion of a planned
           spell
(13:08:04) Sora: and one skill level for how many points? how is the
           recieved points calculated?
(13:08:18) Ammon: points is calculated by my nasty undisclosed algorithm
(13:08:26) Ammon: or
(13:08:42) Ammon: you give me a reasonable spell idea and we work to add it
           to the top of the queue
(13:08:59) Ammon: recursive points there for giving me messaging for the
           spell
(13:09:04) Sora: IC
(13:09:32) Sora: and approximately how many spells does it take to get a
           skill level.
(13:09:49) Sora: ?
(13:10:00) Ammon: skill levels are cheap
(13:11:32) Sora: and are you counting them on your 100 point scale or our 14
           point scale
(13:12:04) Sora: er 12
(13:12:07) Ammon: ;)
(13:12:33) Ammon: i am counting them on my scale, but the changes will be
           significant enough to impact yours
(13:13:01) Sora: so writing a spell text would convert to how many skill
           levels
(13:13:25) Ammon: depends on the spell, how high your skill already is, and
           my mood
(13:13:35) Sora: hehe
(13:13:50) Ammon: oh
(13:14:01) Ammon: one other bit, don't know if i mentioned this or not
(13:14:03) Ammon: cantrips
(13:14:11) Ammon: i want a million cantrips
(13:15:34) Ammon: so many successive submissions of cantrip messages will be
           accepted
(13:16:03) Ammon: tho i'd give more points for the first cantrip of an
           element for each player, and more points for the first of an
           element overall

(13:22:45) Sora: how can I make submissions?
(13:23:14) Ammon: for anything other than cantrips, we do a checkout system
(13:23:24) Ammon: you let me know what spell you're interested in rewriting
(13:23:32) Ammon: and i give you the extra information you need to get that
           done
(13:23:46) Sora: and how can I replu?
(13:23:56) Ammon: email is best
(13:24:06) Sora: ammon@simud.org
(13:24:07) Sora: ?
(13:24:10) Ammon: always
(13:24:56) Sora: and correct me if I'm wrong, but water and elec ones would
           be very small?
(13:25:03) Sora: would you allow cantrips for them...?
(13:25:08) Ammon: oh, definately
(13:25:32) Sora: I've been describing water ones as about the size of a drop
           of water, and elec ones as basically static elec discharges.
(13:25:54) Ammon: nod, probably
(13:26:11) Ammon: can be slightly more material than that, though
(13:26:46) Sora: and cantrips are one liners right?
(13:27:01) Ammon: probably, yeah
(13:27:20) Sora: probably?
(13:27:29) Ammon: ;)
(13:27:54) Ammon: am torn between requiring steps plus the final message or
           just the final message
(13:28:07) Ammon: if i require steps, it makes them take longer
(13:28:13) Ammon: and i don't get as many submissions
(13:28:18) Sora: now I'm thinking that chaos and order would have to be
           manipulating something else
(13:28:34) Sora: I think I like cantrips all being the same except for the
           final message.
(13:28:41) Ammon: nod, am leaning toward it
(13:28:45) Ammon: so let's go with that
(13:29:07) Ammon: and i will write step messages for it up to that point
(13:29:13) Sora: so what about the other 3 steps?
(13:29:15) Sora: okay then.
(13:29:16) Ammon: ;)
(13:29:30) Sora: and it would be based on the type?
(13:29:35) Ammon: yes
(13:29:37) Ammon: nothing else
(13:29:40) Sora: or just a variable replacement.
(13:29:47) Ammon: just submit the one liner as a fire mana cantrip or
           whatever
(13:30:19) Ammon: text length restriction is a bit looser on final messages
(13:30:39) Ammon: since the spell isn't progressing any more
(13:30:43) Sora: so how much water are we talking?
(13:30:49) Ammon: hmm? 3 mana worth ;)
(13:30:58) Sora: which is about how much?
(13:30:59) Ammon: figure about half a liter
(13:31:16) Ammon: enough to have fun with
(13:31:21) Sora: that's a little more than I was expecting.
(13:31:30) Ammon: nod, well, is same quantity for all planes
(13:32:06) Sora: can I assume that a caster will have hair? or wearing
           clothes of some sort?
(13:32:16) Ammon: i would prefer not
(13:32:24) Ammon: since we will allow people to be bald and naked
(13:32:40) Ammon: but you can assume basic humanoid shape
(13:32:51) Ammon: and general mobility
(13:32:55) Sora: cuz I was going to get the caster's hair wet.
(13:33:02) Ammon: head can get wet
(13:33:25) Sora: yeah, I did that instead.
(13:33:36) Ammon: nod, ok, any other questions? i'm going to post this
(13:34:05) Sora: so with chaos and other related types, it basically has to
           interact with other elements, is that okay?
(13:34:19) Ammon: not really
(13:34:34) Ammon: chaos and order mana are elemental as well, they have
           substance
(13:34:42) Sora: so what kinds of things can be done with chaos then?
(13:34:51) Ammon: you're a programmer, you figure it out ;)
(13:35:07) Sora: so I decide what chaos looks like?
(13:35:21) Ammon: figure chaos mana is octarine ;)
(13:35:27) Sora: malap
(13:35:31) Sora: *malap*
(13:35:40) Sora: then what is order?
(13:35:48) Ammon: the opposite of chaos
(13:35:57) Sora: what color is the opposite of octarine?
(13:36:23) Ammon: bright, clear colours
(13:36:25) Ammon: geometric shapes
(13:37:33) Sora: are you saying that octarine isn't bright?
(13:38:04) Ammon: it can be
(13:38:07) Ammon: but not necessarily
(13:40:24) Ammon: http://search.cpan.org/~nwclark/Acme-Octarine-0.01/Octarine.pm
(13:41:23) Sora: heh