Spring Deco Contest

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+Nyx
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Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

I am hosting a deco contest beginning today. All players are welcome to participate, within the stated rules below.

The theme for this deco contest is:
Glorious Gardens

Houses should be decorated to a theme of the player's choice within the overall stated theme of the event.

For example, you might choose to select a theme of "Gardens of Versailles" and then build and decorate your plots accordingly. Your theme should be obvious to the judges simply by viewing the space, however it is allowed for a participant to add further information into a book that is locked down in plain sight at the entrance. You may opt to decorate any way you desire, but your deco should have some directed theme beyond just "visually pleasing". Clever and elegant decoration will be rated much more highly than a house that has simply slapped down some addons or put deco willy-nilly around their plots.

You will be able to choose which judging bracket to participate in. The brackets will be judged separately and have different rules & expectations. Choose wisely! You cannot change your bracket selection after you've placed a rune - even if it was an accident. Pay close attention to which box you've chosen before dropping your rune!


Bracket 1
This bracket is meant for players of modest to moderate means, newer players, or those with less time to dedicate to decorating.
Example: You have less than 10 million gold and/or no relayers/bonus houses/etc.
Bracket 1 Rules:
- Participants may decorate a maximum of 2 house plots to be considered for the contest.
- Participants who are of the wealth & time investment for Bracket 2 who submit to Bracket 1 will have 20 points deducted from their score.

Bracket 2
This bracket is meant for players of wealth, older players, and/or those with lots of time to dedicate to the contest.
Example: You have more than 10 million gold, and/or a few relayers/extra house slots/etc.
Bracket 2 Rules:
- Participants may decorate a maximum of 4 house plots to be considered for the contest.
- Participants who opted for this bracket but were not of the proper means will still be judged against the bracket 2 participants.

Overall Rules:
These rules are subject to change at any time.
- If your rune is marked further than 10 tiles from the entrance of the entered plots, you will be disqualified. If your entry plots are combined with more than the allowed entry plots for your bracket, you must put up barriers (this means actual walls, half-height walls, hedges, or fences. Nothing else will be accepted) to delineate which plots are not part of the contest entry. Failure to properly define the space entered for the contest (when that space is directly connected to other plots not entered) will result in disqualification.
- If submitting more than one plot, they must be combined plots. You cannot submit 2 castles or a home in one area and another placed elsewhere. You also cannot submit a plot on the west side of a 10-house compound, and the other plot on the east side. They must be connected directly to each other.
- The submitted property must be owned by the person who signed up by dropping the rune.
- One entry per account. Any attempt to circumvent this rule will result in disqualification. You cannot re-submit a different rune once you have dropped one into the entry box.
- Deco must be shard-appropriate, and to a clear theme. Be creative!
- Pre-made addons may be used, but may detract from the overall score if used in lieu of actual decorating skill.
- The administrators (+Veritas, +Colibri, and myself) will judge the plots. If available during the judging period, +Mocha, +Requiem and +Arden will also be invited to vote.
- House location will not be taken into account when scoring the properties. This is decoration only, so those with plots in the stars or other 'special' places will not receive any special consideration for environmental perks they did not design, just as houses in less attractive locations will not be marked down due to their placement.
- Any infractions resulting in jail during the course of the contest will disqualify that player. NOTE: This means infractions above 'warning' and/or jail tasks above 10. If you have any such infraction(s) in the last 60 days, you may not participate without my permission.
- Houses must be "open to the public" from May 1st - 5th, as all participating houses will be displayed for everyone to visit during the judging period.
- There must be at least 15 valid entries in each bracket for the full prize array to be given. If there are fewer than 15 valid entries in a bracket, then only 1st place will receive a bonus prize. If there are less than 5 entries in a bracket, both brackets will be combined.
- If you enter the contest you must actually participate - if you submit a rune and then all you have is a couple of misc deco items on an otherwise not-to-theme house, you will be disqualified. The same goes for if you submit a rune but your plot(s) are their usual everyday deco. Further, you should do your own deco. This contest is meant to be a representation of each entrant's own creativity.
- If you are disqualified for any reason you will not receive a participation reward.


To enter the contest:
- Mark a rune close to the house you will be decorating for the contest.
- Drop the rune into the sign-up chest in the Skara Brae ranger's guild building for the bracket you have chosen. You may submit your rune any time before April 8th. On the 8th, the entry box will be removed and no additional entries will be accepted. The houses will not be judged until the end of the contest.
- Be careful, you cannot change the bracket choice after you've dropped your rune!
- Decorate your house, complete it and make it open to the public before the end of the month.

At Contest's End:
On May 1st, gates to the houses will be made available for the public to visit the participants' submissions. The staff will visit the submitted houses and score them according to the criteria outlined in the rules. The winners will be announced on or before May 5th.

Special terms for this contest:
- Any player whose decorating skills strike me as outstanding will be considered for building their own structure in Elysium. I am keeping a running list of these players, and when I'm ready to begin this part of the project I will contact these players directly. Structures built by invitees will become part of the permanent landscape in Elysium and the player(s) will be credited on the buildings themselves.

Prizes:
- First, Second, and Third in each bracket will receive a prize.
- Prizes will include (but are not necessarily limited to) ED & a banner for each winner.
- Exact prizes to be announced at a later date (closer to the end of the contest).


Happy decorating!

- +N
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Octavius Thorn
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Octavius Thorn »

I have been waiting since I came to this shard for the spring deco contest was really looking forward to this but after reading the rules was quite disheartened now not thinking I can actually participate. The only 4 plots and walls to distinguish from non entered plots isn't something that could be done. (mine is 4 18x18s and 2 smaller plots at each end) The Garden of Everthorn has been center piece of our guild since 2006 was a different approach to the typical "tavern sitting" that takes place in uo rp communities but that is unrelated side point and irrelevant BUT it just makes this contest for "new just for the contest structures" its completely out of the realm of what my character to do set up "out of character walls" ect. to the storied ages old structure of the garden. Perhaps a tweak to the amount of plots be eliminated or perhaps a different way to distinguish which plots are entered would be helpful? Just because someone has 8 giant plots merged together doesn't mean its auto glorious garden so i don't understand why there needs to be limit on size. Also this isn't about the countless hours i have put into the structure and not wanting to rebuild as i am in constant state of working on it as I would gladly gut it in a heartbeat for artistic reasons. Just would like to see if a tweak or 2 +Nyx to this to be more friendly to existing structures :)
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

No, I won't tweak it to allow more structures. That would then require a third and probably a fourth bracket, which wouldn't get enough entries to be worth it. An enormous plot that someone has been decorating for years is automatically going to be more impressive than someone who only has 4 plots and decorated specifically for this event. That just gives unspoken favor to the players with more, and it wouldn't be in good spirit. The way it is structured now keeps it as fair as possible for all players who want to participate, whether they've got dozens of plots or not. It is also intended that players decorate specifically for this event, rather than enter plots they made years ago. Otherwise we end up seeing the same stuff every time.

You could use fences to isolate the plots that are part of the contest.

If you don't wish to participate, that's perfectly fine.
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Octavius Thorn
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Octavius Thorn »

Would it be possible to just specify which plots to be considered? For instance i would be happy with submitting 3 right next to each other and everything to the west not be considered and closing off the doorway to the structures to the west would that be ok? Perhaps on the rune "name of building and to the east or something along those lines?
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

No, since it is not just me who goes to judge the entries, it needs to be blocked off from other plots so that it is obvious to everyone visiting on first glance where the contest entry plots begin and end. Coli and the other staff usually have only a few minutes to view all the entry plots, it's too much hassle if someone doesn't have a clear division between what's part of the contest and not, or wants to have special terms for their entry. That's why the rule is in place.
Miranda Ventrata
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Miranda Ventrata »

I have a suggestion to future deco contest enterers. Being as the deco contest is for fresh deco, not something that been around for month/years, it is a good idea to have a plot or set of plots for this purpose. I have an empty plot, that i deco for the contests then tear down to the ground when it finished. This way its fresh everytime, and its always available, and never have to mess with my main houses designs.
Annachie
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Annachie »

A line of power crystals to mark the demarcation should work fine, and wont actually block movement either.

Actually, +Nyx, an idea.

A differently coloured temporary power crystals to act as demarcation lines for deco contests, available from a stone or vendor somewhere.
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

Power crystals would not suffice, and won't be offered for that purpose.


I've updated the original post to specify what I meant by walls, since this seems to be confusing to some
Deadwerd
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Deadwerd »

Curious if the entry for the spring contest will also close at a later date than April 8th, or if the judging days will be pushed back due to the revert? I lost a day of hauling items to my second house to clear that plot, and it's difficult to play for extended periods of time besides on weekends for me due to work.
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

Due to my own schedule, no. The dates will remain the same for the deco contest
Deadwerd
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Deadwerd »

Understandable, just figured I'd ask, thanks!
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TeslaElectra
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by TeslaElectra »

When will we hear more info about the contest? Such as amount of people in each bracket and the rewards?
Deadwerd
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by Deadwerd »

May 2nd and still haven't heard word on the public gates, judging, rewards, or how many entered in each bracket. When will this information be released? Thanks in advance.
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

Deadwerd wrote:May 2nd and still haven't heard word on the public gates, judging, rewards, or how many entered in each bracket. When will this information be released? Thanks in advance.
May 2nd and I'm still so sick I've barely been able to get out of bed for sustenance, but yes let me drop everything to reply to your snotty missive.

- Deco contests, historically, always run late.
- You don't need to know the number of entrants in each bracket in advance. You can count the gates when they're up. I have no idea why this is something you felt the need to complain about.
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+Nyx
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Re: Spring Deco Contest

Post by +Nyx »

Gates should be open on Friday (barring any unexpected nonsense), and judging would then be completed by the end of the weekend.
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