Homes of New Britannia – Decorating Contest

UPDATE: Congrats to these winners!

Get those creative house decorating ideas ready, Avatars! Show the community the curb appeal you can bring to a town as folk walk down the street, and the wonder in the eyes of those who step in to visit your cozy abode. Throw it all up on the walls for this contest and see what sticks!

As the contest progresses, each week on either Monday or Tuesday, we will announce on social media the latest submissions in a Facebook screenshot gallery. Peruse the screenshots there, or go to the forum submission thread to find coordinates to the homes so you can tour them in-game!

TAKING SCREENSHOTS

Use the following guidelines to ensure the best and most impactful screenshots:

• Image count: Minimum of 3, Maximum of 8 total screenshots. (less can be more, don't take 8 if you don't have to!)
• Image views: Must include a minimum of 1 outdoor screenshot, and if applicable, 2 indoor.
• Resolution: Minimum of 1920×1080, and always in 16:9 aspect ratio (you can trim if necessary).
• Quality: Use in-game settings to their maximum, no post-screenshot alterations allowed.
• Set the stage! Other players and staged items in the shot are great resources. Even waiting for the right day/night time can help.
• Stand your ground! Must be of your own house and plot as the main focus of the scene.
• Protip! Be mindful of the game time for the best lighting angles you want on the home, if any.
• Remember! UI must be off (Key: F9), no post-alterations to the screenshot.

Submit all screenshots in a single post response to this forum thread. Deadline to submit is 11:59pm CDT on Sunday, November 6th.

Include in your submission the following items:

• All screenshots with the requirements above.
• A 200 words or less introduction of you and your home.
• Coordinates and general location information.
• A description below each screenshot of no more than 50 words per screenshot. (descriptions not required)

THEMES

The exciting part about decorating is coming up with a unique and amazing theme! While we want you to be as creative as possible, here are the actual categories for which we will be awarding prizes. If you want to decorate for fun and the themes here are too restrictive, go for it! You’ll notice some of the themes are more open-ended for general house decorating in mind:

Best…

• Shop/service theme
• Rustic theme
• Elegant theme
• Naturalistic theme
• Steampunk theme
• Spooky theme
• All-around well decorated

For those who do not yet own a house to decorate, we are announcing the following character based theme (you can only win in one category, but you can submit for this one as well if you wish, using the same forum post):

• Best spooky costume (only 2 screenshots maximum allowed for this entry)

WINNERS & PRIZES

We will be awarding prizes on a theme basis. All house theme winners will receive $100 in store credit. The costume theme winner will receive a $50~ store credit. Winners will be announced on the R35 postmortem livestream, which is not yet scheduled but will be in early November.

Have fun decorating!

RULES & GUIDELINES

Since this is a value based contest, a committee of judges will be formed at Portalarium, and any tie breakers will be resolved by the committee. Any disputes or disagreements in the community on who ultimately won will NOT be tolerated as an open discussion in the forums, but sent a private e-mail to community@portalarium.com. Anyone attempting to subvert the contest in any way is subject to an immediate suspension and/or disqualification from the contest.

Inappropriate/Vulgar submissions are prohibited and will also result in immediate disqualification.

Submissions containing any of the following are considered inappropriate:

• Sexual content or references
• Disparaging race/gender/group of people
• Drug/alcohol abuse
• Death/suicide of persons real or fake
• Graphical bugs
• Depicting the state of the game in a negative manner

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON, PLEASE SEE COMPLETE RULES FOR OTHER RESTRICTIONS. THIS IS A SKILL-BASED CONTEST. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. AFFIDAVIT OF ELIGIBILITY / RELEASE OF LIABILITY / PRIZE ACCEPTANCE AGREEMENT MAY BE REQUIRED.

 

Reposting my original concerns when this idea was floated a while back....


I like this idea.

However, I do think that any officially sponsored decoration contest on our own lots should forbid the use of decorations only available in the addon store.

Especially since this is a "skill-based contest".

Otherwise, the contest stops being "who has the most creative and original decoration" and starts being "who spends the most money on the addon store wins".

There is no way someone who knows what they are doing that is only using crafted items can compete with someone who knows what they are doing and spent a couple hundred bucks on trees, fancy signs, and ornate light fixtures.

 

Considering this is going to be showcasing the game I think telling people to remove all their pledge decorations or add-on items from their lots before they submit is going to both have people not wanting to enter and also exclude a lot of ideas.

Someone making an alchemy/magic/crafting/bookshop etc. does not need any add-on purchases. There are many many items in-game to use. I don't deny that some of the add-on items are pretty, but you don't win by virtue of owning them.

Perhaps a prize for "Best House using only in-game obtainable item, not counting items purchased off player vendors" isn't an awful thing as well but in past player decoration contests I saw the winners were the best theme, not the most money.

Most players who are entering the contest already have a lot of course, which cost money. You can obtain with in-game gold, but then you can obtain add-ons and pledge items with in-game gold as well. Or borrow.

 

EDIT: whoops, found the corresponding paragraph in OP, one entry per person, gotcha.

 

Nonetheless, if add-on store items are allowed, then anyone who has not spent money in the add-on store is pretty much already out of the running. Should we queue up the cries of P2W now, or later?

All the more reason that add-on store items should not be allowed.

 

Will row houses be eligible for this contest? And does the alcove on the kobold three story allow for decoration in front of the house?

 

If anyone wants some help with screen shots, hit me up - I have a 21:9 setup so I'll be able to capture and trim down to the 16:9 entry size.

 

We're not going to make this a debate that spoils the contest. It's a simple house decorating contest, please don't inject P2W or anything like that in this thread. Take it to PM or elsewhere. This isn't a political contest. I understand these fringe concerns, but let's keep it simple, thanks.

 

I have to disagree here since you can also buy add-on-store items with gold, people are offering exchange services for that.

 

Yes! Any house you own is fine. I'm not sure if that can be decorated in front... but even if it's not, spruce up the inside all the more then . We'll understand the limits there.

 

I am not trying to spread negativity or insert politics here.

My request is a simple one, please make this in-game items only, not addon store items.

 

I would like to PM you to further discuss your ideas. I have a few thoughts and I don't want to derail this thread.

 

I think this is a general issue, not just related to contests. The add-on store gets some really nice things. Crafters get leftover crap that is harder to sell because it isn't the newest thing around. Makes it harder to compete.

 

Time to roll up those sleeves and grab the broom. Don't forget, a few well placed dust bunnies add ambiance.

 

What if you did a deco on a home in game that's fantastic, but you were a hired decorator on someone else's lot? How would that work?

 

That's fine! If you want to get help decorating, it would be the same as any decorating contest in real life where you ask your friends to come help spruce up the place.

 

It is nice to get creative and a have some fun every once and a while!

 

Will there be a walkthru of the homes themselves, or merely going off the screenshots?

 

Yes, we will be personally walking through each submission, so it's important they are available and easy to access! Note though that the screenshots will count heavily, the walkthrough is more of a formal confirmation. Screenshots need to be the best!!

 

So you're suggesting that only homes that can be crafted can be used? Wow, that doesn't give us a lot of variety of homes. Almost every home was bought in the add-on store as a stand-alone item, a pledge or a bundle. This is gonna be one boring contest ;p