Feedback on Contests
 

Hi everyone

This thread is for feedback on the new farm contests, there is a help thread available in the contest forum for those that need help with posting and photos.

Feedback:

Thank you for reinstating the best farm contests. I was pleasantly surprised to see this happen. I've learned a great deal about perspective and farm design from the previous competitions.

Regarding this next "back to basics" contest ... this is really much more difficult than I had anticipated. I've become so accustomed to using items for things that they are not that I actually have to focus on what I should not be doing in the design. I never thought I would say this, but I wish my farm items would sink into the paths again ... it would make everything so much more authentic. ;)

Good luck and Happy Farming everyone!

God Love you guys ... (Mods & Helpers) .... although the rules & directions are CLEARLY stated, what a cluster ! lol! One farm has a name spelled out in flowers, not sure if that is considered a picture, and another farm entered has facilities/sheds overhanging the borders (I visited each farm via the links, at least the ones that included links) ....

I feel bad for you all, it's gonna be alot of work for you ! But the contest seems like a very fun idea, and I am anxious to see all of the designs!

Once you have entered your farm in to the competition, you may not EDIT your entry in any way shape or form. Your farm MUST look exactly the same as when the competition closes as it did when you entered it. However, you will be able to harvest any crops, trees etc so long as they are back to fully grown and has to be the exact same crop at the close of the competition. If there is a release after you enter you are not allowed to make additions to your entry, so please be sure you are done. If any farm or entry has been modified, you will be disqualified.

This rule for the contest is going to be very hard to stick to - unless I only plant a 4 day crop and use my sprinkler to keep it for a few more days. In the past we were allowed to plough and replant but the crops didnt have to be fully grown when the comp ended.

Would you consider at least relaxing this rule to allow partially grown crops - after all an authentic farm wouldnt have fully grown crops all the time anyway

Otherwise a great contest idea and yes more difficult than it seems.

Hi maggiel29

In interest of fairness, we do see that it would be near impossible to maintain the same crops as fully grown through out the competition. Therefor we have decided to slacken off that rule to this.... We will allow any crop to be growing or fully grown, so long as there is a crop there.

just to clarify and make sure i'm not misunderstanding:

A) i must have a crop growing all through the contest period BUT it doesn't need to be the same crop as in the screenshot?

or

B) i must have the same crop growing all through the contest period BUT it doesn't need to be fully grown at all times (which is clearly impossible)

i think you said A

Correct, it can be any crop at any stage of growing. so long as there is a crop there. Just not wasted

Thank-you so much Rob :D:D - I am quite enjoying doing this - Ive found its much easier if I just forget I have the Green hand tho LOL

You're so welcome maggiel29 :)

Yes Seajay your signature link will still be there. The signature shows on any post you make. However, if that is not the farm you are entering in the contest we will need a link to the farm you are entering , so we can go directly to it.

HA! Taz..you were to quick for me. I just deleted my post. I need to go figure out how to do this.
Thanks bud.

So Glad to see the "Best Farms" contest reinstated. I enjoy seeing all the hard work everyone has put into their farms. There's some talented farmers out there. Sure Miss
seeing Farmer Dork" farms.

does yoru farm have to have crops?

Hello bluehair,

No, your farm doesn't have to have crops, it can have anything from the store as long as what you purchase from the store is used as it is meant to, for example a bench, it needs to be used as a bench and not for stairs.

I just want to say THANK YOU!! I've never done any contest before so this is (and has been) trial and error for me. It is challenging and exciting, as well as somewhat confusing (to one who has never done a contest anyway). I've enjoyed it immensely!! All of you are wonderful!! Thank you again for bringing the contests to life again!!

Are we aloud to freeze flowers in this contest?

Okay is flowers classified as a crop or do I need them to be in the same stage as when I post a picture.

Question about staggering/layering.
 

Before I get too involved with my design I wanted to clarify something. I do not have any of the design tools, so all this is being simply done by hand. It says we can stagger and layer crops. I am working on a winter theme and I want to use the snow hill and other mountains and hills found in the winter section. When I go to put them down it allows me to overlap them (on top of the snow hills that are HUGE) automatically. It also allows me to place trees, houses, etc. on them. So my question is, can I set up my farm this way or is that considered a trick and 'cheating'?

Hi CSLewis. If items can be placed, without the use of the green or orange hand (design tools), then it is perfectly fine. Some items can be placed on top of other items, and this is allowed. Any items, such as this , are checked out at the time of verification. The only thing that I would say, is to be careful when using hills and mountains that you do not stagger them and give a 3D illusion. Good luck and have a wonderful evening. :)

Hi docmm6. No, they do not need to be in the same stage of growth, but you might want to keep in mind, that harvested flowers, are not as attractive as flowers that are in full bloom, and as the judges will be visiting all farms, at the close of the competition, you might want to try and get them, as close to your photo, as you can. But like I said, it isn't a necessity, just a little advice. Good luck and have a lovely evening. :)

3D illusion????
 

Okay maybe I am a little slow Seraphina, but what exactly do you mean staggering them so it makes a 3D illusion? My goal is to have it look like a mountain range with some trees and stuff in the mountains. Maybe there are some examples that can be pointed out to me that explain better?

(Also I think I started this post in the wrong thread, sorry)

Hi CSLewis, I'll try to explain, as best I can for you. If you were to place mountains, side by side on your farm, it would look like a row of mountains and no doubt a mountain range. But if you placed mountains that were staggered, so that it gave the illusion of a mountain range, gradually getting higher and higher, then this would not be allowed. Basically, as long as your mountains did not give any illusion of mountains sitting on top of each other and getting higher, then you should be fine. I appreciate that its hard to understand, but hopefully this has clarified things a little more for you. :)

In my not so humble opinion, I'm thinking the use of the green farm design tool should have been totally eliminated. It would leave no questions as to whether or not something was allowed.

I see farms entered that are using trees to create elevation. Even though it is not a design trick, it goes against the rules of 3 D affect.

I was called on using land paths incorrectly when it created no such affect and have, from the beginning, been able to be placed wherever we wanted without the use of a design hand.

I think the rules are skewed!

Still confused about 3 D effect
 

I looked at all the entries so far and some of them look to go from small to big based on how they laid things out. I visited a neighbor who has a wonderful winter farm design and she gave me permission to post her farm here to use that as a basis of explanation. I know she has a few snow hills overhanging and uses fences to create stairs and that is not allowed. My question is the way she has her hills and trees placed, is that acceptable?

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/...ps66440ee9.jpg

The mountains placed as they are in that photo would be fine CSLewis, as they are basically all placed next to each other. If you look closely at that picture, it is the steps more than anything, that give it the illusion of height and 3D and as you said, steps etc are not allowed. :)

My entry was deleted and I saw a few that had some of the same things as mine and I think it should be the decision of all the judges and not just one! Very disappointed!

Hi Jmdoda, Your entry was only temporarily deleted as there was much confusion surrounding it, as you may know. I hope to have now, put your mind at rest somewhat. Have a lovely day :)

I think i want to feedback on contest . i think we should give an example picture
like what should or should not be in like the one shown by Lewis .

i think the rules, especially in this confusing case, need to be laid out more specifically. i thought the point of this contest was not making a 3d farm but a flat one. my entry was disallowed (and i was given the opportunity to fix it) for having grasses in my ponds because that involved the use of the green hand and/or dirt paths for overlapping. i'm not complaining about the rule, just about how the rule was originally stated. i know making rules for contests can be difficult but they really need to be more clear. and i hope my pretending a row of asparagus crops can grow up to be a hedge isn't disallowed because i'm not using a crop as intended because an asparagus hedge tastes sooo good in the spring :)

Seraphina, the picture of my farm disappeared, but not the post. Do I have to re-submit it?

Hi SeaJay,
Seraphrina is not available right now. I don't know why the picture disappeared. You will need to edit your post and re-add the picture back into it.

I just did...twice. It's just showing a hyperlink but not the photo???!!! Any suggestions? I did have the audience set wrong, so I changed it to public and then tried again, but its still just a hyperlink.

click on the mountain icon to add the pic. it's 5th from the right

Oh dude!!! You rock. You should be a moderator. :D

Thanks. That was it. Not sure why it disappeared the first time. I think I deleted the wrong one out of photo album when I was told to re-do it.

And...are you a dude? lol. I was assuming.

assuming dude is a non-sexual term by now - ya, i'm a dude, lol

I previously gave some feedback on the B2B contest but would like to add a couple of things to my prior thoughts.
First, I would like to wish all of those who entered Good Luck. I have gone in and viewed the farms and there is so much talent out there -- WHEW!!
Second, Good Luck to the judges -- you have your work laying out there in front of you. It will not be an easy decision for this. Again, the talent is awesome!!
Third -- I can't wait until the next one comes out -- LOL!! The trip down memory lane has passed; the nail biting is over (at least for me); and, it has now come down to a "waiting game".
Again, GOOD LUCK Everyone!!

Mountains overlap farm boundaries
 

I fail to see how, if the rules are applied equally to all, these mountains are allowed to extend past the farm boundary. I had a similar situation with tall green hills. The footprint of each hill (green box visible when moving) was inside the farm boundary but edges of hills extended just past outside edge when placed. I was told this was NOT acceptable and my post was removed with advice to correct the "problem" and repost. There is another farm with snow patches extending past the edge of the farm....clearly a violation if the rules that were used to judge my farm were used on that farm.

Just edited this post to say that I realize the farm picture shown by CSLewis is not of a contest farm. The problem is that CSLewis was told the snow mountain placement was within contest rules.

When we first brought back the competitions, we decided to err a little on the side of leniency, rather than be more "heavy handed". We did not instantly disqualify those entries which did not meet the rules, but gave them a "second chance" by sending a private message, listing the faults within their entry and inviting those people to re-post, once they had made the relevant changes. However, during the course of this competition and the second chances that we have given, there have been numerous replies received, of a less than favourable nature.

Offering this "second chance" did not mean that entries were open for negotiation, dispute or to be argued against. The decision was final, and a choice was given. Therefore, unfortunately, due to the responses and unfavourable messages that were received, during the course of this competition, we now find ourselves in the position of no longer being able to offer this opportunity. All future competitions, will now have no "second chances" and if an entry does not fall "within" the strict guidelines of the competition, it will be instantly disqualified.

This is something that we were hoping to avoid, but it has sadly turned out to not be the case. Please keep in mind, that this is an Official Slashkey Competition , and as such, we really should not have offered these second chances at all, but we chose to try and be as fair as we could to entrants. You would not get a second chance, within any other Official Competition and I'm very much afraid, that this now applies to the Slashkey Forum Best Farm Contests.

This was a very tough first contest, Rob. I have a feeling following the rules on later competitions won't be so difficult. I appreciate your tolerance and patience and leniency. The prize is generous. It should definitely go to someone who played within all the boundaries. Good luck judging....and good luck to all the contestants.

Sounds like a good plan.