Hello, everyone, I'm Achikah and I adore base decorating.For me, besides my friends, base decorating has kept me engaged with DCUO throughout its presence on the game. 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. I've decided to entitled this contest 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 GuidelinesFor the next installment of Base Off, your theme will be...Wildest Themes!With 2024 coming to a close, it's time for the last Base Off of the year, so you know what that means... It's time for the yearly Free-For-All, season ending extravaganza! That’s right, the theming of this Base Off is simply- show me your best base!You can choose any theme, any story, any design- it is a free-for-all celebration of all things décor here on DCUO. You can have the most elaborate base you've been working on for years, or it could be your very first time decorating a base at all. All I ask is it's a base that's complete and you're happy with!However, that's not all! Wildest Themes also features the return of Best In Themes, meaning 18 extra prize pools for each Base Theme is also up for grabs!RulesThere aren't many rules to Base Off, but there are a few: One base entry per decorator. Bases that have already competed in prior Base Offs cannot be re-entered. Try your best! Judging ParametersBase 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. Regarding Best In Theme considerations, unlike the previous contests, the Best In Theme entries will go not only by the usual Base Off criteria but will also be heavily weighted by how well you utilized, or incorporated, the theme of the base. Be it immersion, pairing aesthetics, or utilizing the theme's unique space, all these aspects will impact the judgement process.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.||Diving In| |Days of Summer| |NotLD| |ADID| |Lofty Ambitions| |Seaso-NO| Lights Camera Craftion| |DotD||||Places Wild| |Iconi-Clash| |Danny the Base| |Bon Appetit| |DayOTD||PrizesUnlike other Base Offs, Wildest Themes prize package works a bit differently. On top of the usual Best In Show winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd Prize), the competition will also have its own Best In Theme prize package, meaning the best of each specific base theme will get a goodie bag of various rare pieces found throughout the game.Because there are SO. MANY. PRIZES. I’m going to have them in their own separate post below!I still am only able to tour and give out prizes on the US/EU PS/PC servers currently, so Base Off will still be limited to those platforms, both of which will be competing against one another for the prize pools.DeadlineJanuary 22nd, 2025 is the deadline for entries to be in, meaning you'll have roughly 9 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 Friday, January 24th, around 8pm PST. There might even be a second or third stream the following few days depending on the amount of entries received.Since the Free For Alls tend to have more entries than other Base Offs, I’m going to grant myself an extra week for judging and will be expecting the Winners Announcement to be posted February 7th!EntryTo enter, add "Achikah" your base generator permission once your base is completed. You can then contact me in a few different ways: either post a comment on the provided Youtube video announcement above (or you can also find it HERE), you can post here in the forum thread or a DM/Conversation, you can sign up in he designated Thread in the Base Crafters Discord Server, 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!When you do 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 either my Twitch or YouTube 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
Wildest Themes Prize List!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: Best In Show: US Server Grand Prize Survival Mode Bundle Mysterious Ways Set Fourth/Third World Omni Set Treeline x4 Housing Fence x4 Babbling Brook Set Second Place Mysterious Ways Set Fourth/Third World Omni Set Treeline x4 Housing Fence x4 Babbling Brook Set Third Place Fourth/Third World Omni Set Treeline x4 Housing Fence x4 Babbling Brook Set Best In Theme Gothic: Clocktower Window- Large, Gothic Window x3, Art Deco Column x3, Olympian Archway- Wide x3 Deco: Nectar of the Gods, Municipal Elevator Door x2, Mansion Sofa x2, Olympian Freestanding Wall x4 Sewer: Lexcorp Hazmat Suit, Rain (Small or Large) x5, Fresh Grass Patch x5, Fiber/Synthium Cable Pack Eastern: Crime Bible Replica, Wayne Manor Etched Pillar x2, Mysterious Arch (Regular or Half) x4, Wooden Floormats x4 Penthouse: Metropolis Union Station Arch x2, Gold Bullion x3, Table and Champagne x2, Ceiling Sculpture x2 Bunker: ARGUS Ceiling Cannon, Automated Gun Turret x2, Apokoliptian Cannon, Workshop Rubber Floormat x3 Industrial: Amazo Terminal x2, Robotic Blade Arm x2, Robotic Ceiling Blade x2, Legion Voting Kiosk x2 Ancient: Pillar of Eternity, Shed Entrance x4, Themysciran Balcony Pack, Minotaur Gate x2 Tech: Coolant Beam, Titan Closed Door x3, Legion Wall Monitor x2, Enclosed Hall Lights x2 Cave: Mossasarus Skeleton, ORCL Server Tower, Windows to Gotham (Riddler or Batman) x2, Icy Windows- Trees x3 Space: Lunar Lander (STAR Labs or Lexcorp), Starfield Window x5, Moonscape Portal x2, Kryptonian Crystal Console x3 Volcano: Demon Worm, Molten Metal Display, Themysciran Weapon Rack (Heavy or Light) x3, Elemental Shrine- Red x2 Dive: ORCL Holo Display- Large, Pub Wall x4, Pub Standing Bar x2, Titans Barstool x2 Atlantean: Atlantean Weapons Table, Atlantean Spear Rack, Aquarium Window Large x3, Atlantean Bookcase x2 Brainiac: Apokoliptian Induction Fan, Apokolips Status Monitor, Lexcorp Robots x2, Panopticon Wire Pillar x4 Manor: Shakespeare Bust, Wayne Manor Double Doors x2, Library (Doorway or Wall) x5, Theater Chair Row x3 House of Legends: Oan Gateway, Phoenix Cannon Hologram, Smart City Window x3, Spectrum Mist Container Pack Sunstone Fortress: Fortress Door Replica, Kryptonian Wall Frame x2, Sunstone Ceiling Light x2, Sunstone Crystal Plates x2 Best In Show: EU Server Grand Prize Investibriefion Pack Mysterious Ways Pack Elite Furniture Pack Grass Patch- Large x4 Cobblestone Flooring x4 Cobblestone Barrier x4 Water Puddle x4 Second Prize Mysterious Ways Pack Elite Furniture Pack Grass Patch- Large x4 Cobblestone Flooring x4 Cobblestone Barrier x4 Water Puddle x4 Third Prize Elite Furniture Pack Grass Patch- Large x4 Cobblestone Flooring x4 Cobblestone Barrier x4 Water Puddle x4 Best In Theme Gothic: Cathedral Bell, Art Deco Column x3, Mysterious Bookshelves x4, Olympian Freestanding Wall x4 Deco: Municipal Blgd Elevator Door x2, Olympian Archway x3, Library Wall x3, Standard Room Dividers x4 Sewer: Lexcorp Hazmat Suit, Rain- Small x4, Elemental Shrine- Yellow x2, Full Oak Tree x3 Eastern: Dilapidated Bridge x3, Mysterious Arch x6, Decorative Wall Planters x4, Wooden Floormat x4 Penthouse: Golden Harp, Gold Bullion x3, Table and Champagne x2, Ceiling Sculpture x2 Bunker: HIVE Vehicle Set, Automated Gun Turret x2, Military Gun Locker x3, Closed Missile Crate x3 Industrial: Lexcorp Stasis Tube, Laboratory Flux Conduit Panel x3, Voting Kiosk x2, Workshop Rubber Floormats x4 Ancient: Shrine to Isis, Themysciran Balcony Set, Shed Entrance x4, Minotaur Gate x2 Tech: Coolant Beam- Vertical, Titan Closed Door, Legion Wall Monitor x2, Enclosed Hall Light x2 Cave: ORCL Holographic Display- Large, ORCL Server Tower, Welcome to Gotham Window x2, Flash Sign- Ice x3 Space: Lunar Lander (STAR Labs or Lexcorp), Oan System Interface, Starfield Window x5, Titan Small Monitor x3 Volcano: Otherwordly Demon Skull, Elemental Shrine- Red, Pool of Lava x4, Brazier-Lit x3 Dive: Pub Bar Pack, Pub Ceiling x4, Art Deco Round Bar Table x3, Titan Barstool x2 Atlantean: Atlantean Crossbow Rack, Atlantean Head Relief, Aquarium Window x2, Babbling Brook Set Brainiac: Apokoliptian Energy Monitor x3, Apokoliptian Exam Device, Panopticon Wire Pillar (Large)x2. HIVE Barrier x3 Manor: Shakespeare Bust, Mansion Sofa x2, Wayne Manor Double Doors x2, Theater Chairs x3 House of Legends: Oan Gateway, Smart City Window x2, Mobile Turbine x2, Futuristic Planter Pack Sunstone Fortress: Fortress Door Replica, Kryptonian Floor Seal, Kryptonian Support Beam x4, Kryptonian Wall Frame x2 For clarification, there is only one loot pool for Base Off currently, meaning US/EU are competing against one another. Bundle/Pack Info Below are the contents of each Best In Show's Bundle/Packs for each server. US Server Survival Mode Bundle Oan Interface Console, Electromagnetic Dynamo, Oa Charging Console, Wall of the Damned x2, Otherworldly Demon Skull, Altar of Isis, Sunstone Windows x2, Kryptonian Floor Seal, Happiness Home Night Light, Apokoliptian Exam Device Mysterious Ways Bundle Mysterious Cosmic Doorway, Mysterious Moon Window- Round, Mysterious Moon Window- Rectangle Fourth/Third World Omni Bundle Fourth World Monitor, Forth World Wall Monitor, Third World Server, Third World Portal Panel, Third World Pipe, Third World Fluid Tanks, Third World Ventilation, Third World Hyper Conductor EU Server Investibreiftion Pack Owl Signal- Interactive, Green Lantern Memorial Statue, Apokoliptian Cannon, Nectar of the Gods, White Lantern Banner, Savage, Stronghold Cannon, Lavish Bed, Bottle City of Kandor Pedestal, Blight Corruption (Wall) Mysterious Ways Bundle Mysterious Cosmic Doorway, Mysterious Moon Window- Round, Mysterious Moon Window- Rectangle Elite Furniture Pack Coolant Beam, Crown of Thorns Portal, Pillar of Eternity, ARGUS Ceiling Cannon, Atlantean Spear Rack, Spindrift Suit, Amazo Terminal, Clocktower Window- Large, Aroin's Gate- Active
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: Wildest Themes! Contest Parameters: Show me your best base! Starting Date: November 22nd, 2024 Deadline for Entries: January 22nd, 2025 Initial Livestream of Entries on Twitch: January 24th-26th, 2025 Winner Announcement Video on Youtube: February 7th, 2025 Entry: To enter, add "Achikah" to your base generator permission once your base is completed and post a comment on the provided YouTube video, on the official forums (in the Base Off thread or a DM), in the Base Crafter's Discord entry thread, or on the game itself. The comment should contain both your server (EU/US), character name on game (spelt accurately), as well as the name of your base. Note: if I have not confirmed your entry with a reply I HAVE NOT SEEN IT, so please resend or contact me again. Note: Only EU/US PS/PC users will be eligible for this current contest.
Weekend bump! Hope you all are having a nice start to your winter festivities, or summer for my southern hemispherians!
Hello! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'd like to talk about the Base-off for a moment. If you have a base that you made that you are proud of, this is a great place for it to be! The live event is super supportive and really inspirational!! This particular event doesn't have a theme, so ANY one base that you made that you love is able to enter! It is much less of a competition and more of a showcase, so don't feel stressed or worry that your base isn't 'good enough'. I've entered some great bases and not so great bases, but they all get a lot of love! Also, if you have been thinking of trying to have Achikah tour your base, this is like an additional live tour! Plus, if you happen to get lucky and place in the top 3, your base gets an additional showcase the week after the live event!! And if you don't place in the top 3, you are still added to the tour list for a future tour! And finally, selfishly, I just love to see new bases! I am always so impressed with everyone. There always is something new or something stylish that I see in every base and I want to see that in yours! haha! I will be entering and watching the live event for sure! Hope to see you there!
Aw man... This was really a delight to read and how I always wanted Base Off to be for contestants. Thank you for sharing, truly.
Now that the seasonal hazy and fog has cleared, I figured I'd dust this off with a bump, haha! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year's!
Today I thought for a long time whether to submit an application or not... in the end, I only started building the base today (and it would have never worked out before, I need a ton of base items from the anniversary event for it (and I'm not even talking about statues, I had them)) and I just might not have time to finish it... but then I looked at the name of the base itself... and it's perfect for such a case of "SomethingWentWrong", the name is connected with the story that the base tells... but if something doesn't work out for me, something isn't built... then I can always say that it was planned that way muhahaha... so I'm still submitting applications Character: OptimusFrank Base: SomethingWentWrong
Excellent!! And it sounds like you really did choose the perfect name for the project/entry. I'm always a fan of when things fall into place unexpectedly, or even the chaos that forms from attempting to harness them, so I'm I'm very much looking forward to seeing what this speedbuild entails! Needless to say, I have you added to my tour list! Looking forward to seeing the chaos! As for everyone else, there's still a day or two to get your entries in if you'd like to participate!
Ok everyone, announcement time! Entries are officially closed! We have 18 wonderful bases this time around, so we should have a good chunk of streams ahead of us! That being said, however, I'm going to go ahead and delay them for another week. Today was busy and I didn't get the scheduling or base permission checks I like to do finished in a timely manner, so I'd rather take the time and make sure everything's prepared to the best of my abilities. Expect the Twitch streams to start next week on Friday, January 31st and the schedule to be up sometime early next week. I'll post it here as well as my community tab on Youtube and the Base Crafters Discord thread. My apologies for the delay and thank you all for your understanding. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Here's the upcoming Base Off stream schedule for this weekend over on my Twitch (twitch.tv/achikah) Hope to see you guys there, and if not, VODs will be available next day on the channel! Note: Sunday's stream will be a bit later than usual due to it being an EU server stream (the first ever, excitement!) and I'm working around daily reset.
After a few hiccups, some unfortunate timing, and a long long stint of judging, it's finally time to announce the winners of Base Off: Wildest Themes! A HUGE thank you to all the contestants, livestream participants, supporters, and donors who make this whole thing possible. Thank you all for making Base Off as spectacular as it is and I cannot wait to share with you the Base Off themes to come, as well as seeing your continual creations throughout this year! I'll be reaching out to each of the winners about their prizes this week and shipping everything off ASAP. Stay tuned for Season 4 of Base Off coming later this year, as well as other participatory events in the near future on the channel!
