Winter Deco Contest

[+Nyx]

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

The theme for this deco contest is:
Winter Wonderland


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 "Santa's day off" 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". I will be eliminating under-decorated entries more aggressively from now on. 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.
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.
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 walls 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.
- 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 +Jade 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. If you are under an event ban, you may not participate.
- Houses must be "open to the public" from January 1st - 5th, as all participating houses will be displayed for everyone to visit during the judging period.
- 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. You may submit the rune at any time, even before your decoration is completed. The houses will not be judged until the end of the contest.
- Drop the rune into the Sign-up chest in the Ranger's Guild in Skara Brae for the bracket you have chosen. 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 January 1st.

At Contest's End:
On January 1st, the rune box will be removed and 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 January 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

[+Nyx]

Sorry for the long delay on this, with all the weird map issues I wasn't able to visit several entries until yesterday. I've got the winners, and I'll send out prizes and remove the gates hopefully tomorrow.

Winners:

Bracket 1:
1st Place- Nura
2nd Place - Keth'laa
3rd Place - Raven Starr

Bracket 2:
1st Place: Golden Temptress
2nd Place - Melkor
3rd Place - Sethra Lavode
Honorable Mention: Iago Venport

[Sethra Lavode]

I am honored to have placed: many of the entries I viewed were just outstanding!

That said....WOW, at the prizes!!! Thank you +'S so very much!

[Golden Temptress]

Omw wow I've never won a contest not even in rl and thanks

I would like to put a shout out to zalia who helped think up the idea

I thought all the entries were awesome this year and loved seeing them all

[Adrycks]

Congrats all: )....

[Iago Venport]

Sweet another honourable mention! Thanks all!

[Nura]

Wow awesome! Thanks for hosting the contest and I love the prize as well! Congratulations to everyone who participated! Looking forward to the next

Nura

[Zuri]

Congrats!

[Melkor]

Thanks so much for the fun and the prizes. Congrats to everyone. I had a fun time checking out all the houses!

[Opopanax]

Are these houses still up to view? I'd love to come and have a look at what people have done How do I find them?

[moonsongtx]

Congrats all! There were some awesome entries!

[Davemustache]

Are these houses still up to view? I'd love to come and have a look at what people have done How do I find them?

The gates have been remove for the next contest, it's in excelsior hall / west but maybe you can ask players that dont demolish their house... For my part i already demolish to be ready for the next one

Congrats to all very good deco again

[Iago Venport]

Are these houses still up to view? I'd love to come and have a look at what people have done How do I find them?

Mine is still in luna proper, SE corner...can't miss it

[Davemustache]

I really enjoy your deco Iago, i do the ride a couple of time

[Kethlaa]

Many thanks to +Nyx for hosting house-deco events with the seasons.
Congratulations for every participants and on your wonderlands!
I love the happy reward.