Base Off: Lofty Ambitions Competition!

Hello, everyone, I'm Achikah and I adore base decorating.

For me, besides my friends, base decorating has kept me engaged with DCUO throughout the years. It's been an outlet of creativity and enjoyment, and one I am immensely passionate about, both for my own creations and seeing the creations of others. So, in light of this, I have started a contest to help encourage fellow community members to find their passion in building/decorating while hopefully inspiring others in the process. Welcome to

Base Off!

For those new to Base Off, it's a bi-monthly base contest, meaning every 2 months, a new contest will start with its own set of rules. The participants are given 6 weeks to create a base for the contest under specific themes/restrictions. The next week will be for touring, judging, and announcing the winner, and the last will be downtime for me to set up the next contest.

So, now that you know what Base Off is about, let's get into the current contest!

Contest Guidelines

For the next installment of Base Off, your theme will be...

Lofty Ambitions

For this Base Off, I want you to create a detailed living space for you or your character that not only functions as a base/home but showcases the personality, interests, and joys of that individual. I'm not looking for an elaborate origin story or sequenced narrative, but more a place of solace and reflection that encompasses you or your character's interests. This could be a craft, a hobby, a quirk, or setting- any and everything that can reflect the passions, wants, and enjoyment for them. Specifically, what I'm looking for is visual storytelling through interior design- show me the aspirations and inspirations that define you or your DCUO character by creating a cherished, cozy loft/apartment/home.

I won't limit which theme to use, but I'd highly encourage a smaller theme since details and item usage will be the main focus of this competition.

Rules

There aren't many rules to Base Off, but there are a few:

• Follow the theming to the best of your abilities.
• One base entry per decorator.
• Bases that have already competed in prior Base Offs cannot be re-entered.
• Try your best!

Judging Parameters

Base Off is intended to stoke the flames of creativity. So, above everything, I want you to tell the story you've envisioned with your base. However, this is also a competition, and as the sole judge of such, I’ve designed a set of criteria I’ll be focusing on to choose a winner:

• Creativity- How inventive is your base: How the layout works, what story is told, how furniture is used; pretty much any and everything dealing with unique experiences and creations when viewing your base.
• Craftsmanship- The layout and flow of the base, as well as how it's put together: are the dividers lined up accordingly, are clipped items cleanly clipped, can rooms/halls be accessed as they should, etc.
• Logic- How believable is your base: do items work together constructively, does it make sense for them to be there in relating to the base's theme, do the rooms sync up in a logical progression, are items that are meant to serve the theme/room able to do so believably in the context given.
• Storytelling- How immersive and enthralling is the base's narrative: is there a story being told, if so how engaging is it, how does the layout/pacing progress, etc.
• Aesthetics- The overall visual presences of the base: how is furniture being used to create an atmospheric or cinematic experience.

On top of these points, your use of descriptive and visual details to tell the story of yourself or your character will be weighted into the judging parameters.

Like all forms of art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and like anyone else, I have my own personal tastes and opinions when it comes to décor. Because of this, you may gravely disagree with the outcome of the contest, which is understandable. However, I am the final say in deciding the winner and wanted to offer as much transparency to the judging process as possible. So, below are past Base-Off winners, as well as a link to my base tour playlist to help you gauge what my sensibility and tastes are when it comes to decorating.

||Base Off: Diving In Playlist| |Base Off: Days of Summer Playlist| |Base Off: NotLD Playlist| |Base Off: ADID Playlist||

Prizes

What would a contest be without fabulous prizes! Each Base Off will offer different prize pools and include rarer items for avid builders such as out-of-season base items and elite furniture drops, as well as some stylish accruement for your characters. For the current contest, the grand prize winners will receive:

US Prizes

1st Place Prize

Neon Lexobyte Chroma Pack

Pillar of Eternity x2

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

Halloween Masses x5 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

And Winner's Choice of either:

Boo Family Pet: Cat Boo

Boo Family Pet: Dog Boo

or Undead Trick or Treater

2nd Place Prize

Pillar of Eternity

Halloween Masses x4 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

Aquarium Window- Large x3

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

3rd Place Prize

Halloween Masses x4 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

Aquarium Window- Large x3

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

*This will be a trickle down availability, First place gets first pick of which masses, etc.

Base Off is also for our EU friends here on the game! If an EU contestant wins one of the three prize pools, the following items will be allotted instead:

EU Prizes

1st Place Prize

Neon Lexobyte Chroma Pack

Pillar of Eternity x1

Aquarium Windows Large x3

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

Halloween Masses x4 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

2nd Place Prize

Crime Bible Replica x1

Aquarium Window Large x2

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

Halloween Masses x4 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

3rd Place Prize

Aquarium Window Large x2

Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

Halloween Masses x4 (Rocky, Charred, Calcified Bone, Grass and Stone/Spread Dirt)*

*This will be a trickle down availability, First place gets first pick of which masses, etc.

For clarification, there is only one loot pool for Base Off currently, meaning US/EU are competing against one another.

Deadline

May 12th is the deadline for entries to be in, meaning you'll have roughly 6 weeks to plan, prepare, and finalize your entry. After that, the next week will be used for my own personal touring for judgement. The first initial tours are expected to be streamed from my Twitch Channel the following Sunday, May 14thth, with the winner’s announcement the Friday after, May 19th, on my YouTube Channel.

Entry

To enter, add "Achikah" your base generator permission once your base is completed and post a comment on the provided Youtube video announcement above (or you can also find it HERE), message here in this thread, on the Base Off entry thread in the Base Crafter's Discord, or you can reach out to me in game at “Achikah” through the mail. After you’ve done so, I will message you back in confirmation.

Note: If I have not replied to you, I have not seen your entry! So please, if the deadline is looming, reach out again and contact me!

The comment should contain which server you’re on (EU/US), character name (spelled as it would be in game in its entirety), and the name of your base. Subscription to the channel isn't required but would be greatly appreciated.

Again, only EU/US PS/PC will be consider for this judging pool, but any Xbox/Switch users wanting to participate are more than welcome to post their entries here for everyone else to see.

Any further questions or comments are welcome here, as are Works In Progress for anyone willing to share.

With that, a new Base Off has commenced!

Happy decorating all, and may the best builder win!

-Achikah

For all my tl;dr friends, or just for clarity's sake, here's a more concise blurb of the contest and its guidelines.

Base Off is a reoccurring bi-monthly base competition to foster a community of creativity and discussion amongst DCUO base builders. Every 2 months, a new contest will start with its own set of rules. The participants are given 6 weeks to create a base for the contest under specific themes/restrictions. The next week will be for touring, judging, and announcing the winner, with the last used for downtime to set up the next contest.

Base Off- Lofty Ambitions

Contest Parameters: Create a loft/living space that celebrates you or your character's interests, passions, and ambitions.
Starting Date: March 31st, 2023
Deadline for Entries: May 12th, 2023
Initial Livestream of Entries on Twitch: May 14th, 2023
Winner Announcement Video on Youtube: May 19th, 2023

US Prize Package includes:

1st Prize: Neon Lexobyte Chroma Pack, Pillar of Eternity x2, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1, Halloween Masses x5, and Winner's Choice of either Cat Boo, Dog Boo, or Undead Trick or Treater
2nd Prize: Pillar of Eternity, Halloween Masses x4, Aquarium Window- Large x3, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1
3rd Prize: Halloween Masses x4, Aquarium Window- Large x3, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1

EU Prize Package includes:

1st Place Prize: Neon Lexobyte Chroma Pack, Pillar of Eternity x1, Aquarium Windows Large x3, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1, Halloween Masses x4
2nd Place Prize: Crime Bible Replica x1, Aquarium Window Large x2, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1, Halloween Masses x4
3rd Place Prize: Aquarium Window Large x2, Otherworldly Demon Skull x1, Halloween Masses x4

Entry: To enter, add "Achikah" your base generator permission once your base is completed and post a comment on the provided YouTube video, this thread, the designated Base Off thread in the Base Crafters Discord, or message "Achikah" on the game. The comment should contain both your server (EU/US), character name on game (spelt accurately), as well as the name of your base.

Note: Only EU/US PS/PC users will be eligible for this current contest.

Here's my entry!!! Goodluck everyone
Character: ·Flame
Base name: Amazoonian Retreat
Server: EUPC\PS

Always the early bird ; ) Haha!
Got you marked down! Can't wait to check it out; it's been awhile since I visited and I think you've done some renovations too which is exciting!

I'm not a big housing person in DC Universe but I love housing so I love this thread and wholeheartedly support it

You can find my housing projects in my signature

Hey, I understand completely. Base decorating on DCUO is not only time consuming, but also very expensive at times. That and if you're used to latest gen Deco mechanics (those that run on later installments of Unity, have z-axises, character interaction, etc.) it can be a bit a bit bothersome. However, DCUO is my MMO of choice and the first I ever played, so despite it being a bit outdated, I've really come to enjoy it a lot, hiccups and all.

Any support is always welcome, from decorators and those who enjoy just lookin' at what's been decorated. =D

Also, I've always loved your signature gif! Is that from FFIV?

Oh yes, its from XIV (i enjoy using the character to come up with ideas for spaces.

This site is for my character (Roll) home

This one is for a character reboot since my last attempt at animating (WiP)

(last attempt at animating)

Oh dont worry im still collecting all base items i come across, i just have no idea what to make out of it. xD

Character: Jaden Law
Base name: Secluded Garden
Server: EU PC\PS

Ooo, sounds pretty! Got you all marked down for a tour =D Thank you for your entry- looking forward to seeing it!

Ooooo, ya! That's awesome, and epic! I just love all FF aesthetic too so much.

Ya, the way FFXIV crafting works is on another level. I only played for a brief time upon release, but a leaguemate of mine told me how the crafting system works, about how 'elite' furniture is gotten too through material collecting, and another friend intro'd me into watching YouTube videos of the build. It's insane what some people make on there, also the fact that there are actual neighborhoods and you can decorate the exterior too. However, the fact that you can lose your plot of land too is scary- I couldn't imagine putting a ton of time into a base and then potentially losing it if finances or life things came up. I mean, granted, that'd probably be the last thing on my mind in the situation, but with my anxiety, knowing that fact in the mean time would make me antsy. XD

Is it still insanely difficult or expensive in-game to get a plot?

Even harder xD people asked for a lottery system...And they got it... Well now its fair for everyone, but the pool has now been widened since its more easily accessible to bid on plots. That investment is how they keep you, But im also a FC owner. Drop sub for 14 days you lose leadership (by extension ownership of the house, that i paid for on my own) and if my sub drops for 41 days/ dont enter the plot. It gets demolished.(So somebody else can get a chance at the house you didnt use)

So ive been subscribed 8 years straight mostly to keep the houses, S.E playing 4D chess. lol


Apartments Exist, they are smaller, but arnt demolishable. But you can still get creative with them.

I recognize that place!

Ya, I can see that working as a major subscription incentive- I couldn't even fathom losing a base, especially one that had prime real estate on top of that. It seems like a much more complex building system with more community accessibility given the neighborhood/exterior feature, but also given the strict log-in/sub guidelines and potential plot availability, it has it's own double edged swords. x-x

Either way, your builds are INCREDIBLE! Keep me posted on any new projects, both FF or DCUO. ;D

Oh ya! Forgot to show this here.
This is the base that inspired this Base Off's theme actually.

I wasn't quite sure how this project would turn out when I started it since it was definitely the most unorthodox base I've ever decorated. It's a base meant for another community member, Pandavil from Elite Sixteen, and not only am I really happy with the results, it ended up being a super fun, enjoyable build that I hope gives you more insight as to what the theming is all about!

Tour itself starts around the 3:00 mark!

Exactly 1 month left to complete your projects! =D

Character: Miss Hyperspeed
Base Name: The Tower
Server: US PC/PS

i have some lore: my character is an amazon who left themyscira inspired by diana and now lives in
gotham city where she learned to love modern technology and coding, she couldn't forget her roots
though so she's growing a garden that reminds her of home where she draws and paints like she did
in paradise island with her sisters. the base itself has the garden mentioned above, a room for all her
technology associated endeavors, her private apartment and a room to coordinate all her heroic efforts.
so yeah, this is my fully functional base for my hacker, plant-loving, artist amazon xD

here are the styles that accompany the story:
her 1. amazonian clothes,
2. day to day clothes,
3. dps costume thats made for agility and freedom of movement and
4. tank costume made for durability

i imagine that oracle and cyborg helped her learn about technology and programming
(cyborg helped her make her tank suit with tenth metal)
and diana and nubia train and hang out with her in her garden

Oooo, very nice on all fronts! I think I've actually seen your base on my teleporter before too.Really excited to finally check it out on the stream =D

Got you all penciled in for an entry, thank you for entering!

And here I was worried the Theming was too esoteric/lofty- there's already 7 entries and there's still a month away, haha! Keep um coming!