(Contest, all servers) Retreats of the Rulers

Discussion in 'Norrathian Homeshow' started by Jazabelle, Apr 7, 2015.

  1. Jazabelle Well-Known Member

    IMPORTANT NOTICE

    The final day of decorating has been changed from May 1st to May 3rd.

    You have two extra days to decorate! Use them wisely.

    Homes must be published on or before May 3rd at 11:59 PM PST. So if you're finished right now, you may publish right now. However, if you don't finish and publish until May 4th at 12:01 AM PST, your home will be disqualified.



    Homes and Tomes proudly presents:

    Retreats of the Rulers 2015


    Over and over again, we hear the decorators of Everquest II bemoan the state of the common rooms belonging to Antonia Bayle and Lucan D’Lere. The rooms of Antonia and Lucan are decorated in the style of a bygone era--decorating has grown so much since they were built. While they were some of the best decorating seen at the time, we have building blocks, scaling, the layout editor, and a host of other tools of which our ancestors could only dream.

    As players and not developers, we cannot change what their castles look like. However, we can create "Secret Apartments," "Summer Palaces," or "Hunting Lodges" for the rulers--locations that will reflect the elegance we expect royalty to live in, without being tied to the palaces of the main cities.

    This is where you come in!

    The four rulers of Qeynos, Freeport, Kelethin, and Neriak are hiring decorators in time for Spring. They’d like to have new retreats built, where they can go to relax when they aren’t handling the stressful job of running the various cities.


    WHO: Anyone who wants to join in, no matter the server.

    If you aren’t an incredible decorator, that’s fine. No matter your skill level, YOU have a vision of what the rulers’ retreats should look like that no one else does. Let us see your vision!

    WHAT: Retreats of the Rulers. Pick a ruler and an apartment style, and go wild! You’ll be judged on how closely your room/rooms match the style of the city and ruler that you’ve chosen, so be sure to brush up on your lore (or at the very least, run around the city of your choice getting ideas)!

    Rulers:
    Queen Antonia Bayle of Qeynos
    Overlord Lucan D’Lere of Freeport
    Queen Cristanos Thex of Neriak
    Queen Amree of Kelethin

    Room Styles:

    Secret Apartment--this small apartment is a place where a ruler can duck in and relax for a day or two when the stresses of ruling become too much. It should have the basic amenities. Bedroom, bath, kitchenette, and office. Because this is a smaller location, please be sure to spend a lot of time focusing on details that will fit your ruler!

    Summer Palace--When the heat of the cities becomes too much, rulers often move to a smaller, more intimate, cooler locale. Your Summer Palace should include a receiving room, a (smaller) throne room, a council chamber off of the throne room, where the ruler can gather with their council, and a chamber where the ruler can prepare to visit the court. While this isn’t a full sized throne room, there should be enough room for at least 10 visitors to stand comfortably in the throne room without crowding. This should also be opulent! Just because it’s small doesn’t mean that it should be plain--the rulers of the cities like to WOW! their subjects with displays of wealth.

    Hunting Lodge--Sometimes instead of retreating to elsewhere within their city, the rulers instead head to the nearby wilderness for some recreational hunting. Your ruler’s hunting lodge should keep in mind the terrain outside the city. Is it forested? Plains? A giant cave like Neriak? What sorts of prey animals would your ruler hunt for fun? Your hunting lodge should look rustic chic--just because your ruler is “roughing it” isn’t any excuse for them to be without the comforts of home! They’ll need a bedroom, bathing chamber, office (because the work of running a country never really stops, does it?), kitchen, dining room, etc. Your Hunting Lodge should be relatively large compared to a “normal” house--this is a “house” for royalty who normally live in castles, after all! You may want to think about including guest bedrooms and a parlor for social gatherings. It’s likely your ruler has brought other members of their court out hunting with them.

    • You may pick a home in any city as your base home, though if you pick a Gorowyn home for Lucan D’Lere, we’ll expect to see some amazing decorating to offset the fact that the base home doesn’t match Freeport at all!
    • You may pick a home of any size to decorate. Just make sure that it fits the Retreat style that you pick. It’s probably not a good idea to use a Dojo for a Summer Palace, or a Mistmoore Crags Estate as a Secret Apartment…
    • You may spend as much or as little on your vision as you choose. Whatever you choose to use to bring your vision to life, go for it! If it only takes you 10 gold, teach us how to do it, oh master decorating guru! If it takes you several thousand platinum, well… share the wealth with everyone else, Mr. Moneybags!
    Feara, Strings, Iosabella and 3 others like this.
  2. Jazabelle Well-Known Member

    WHEN: Signups are open NOW until April 16th at 11:59 PM PST.
    Decorating will run from April 17th to May 3rd.

    Publish your home on or before May 3rd by 11:59 PM PST. The name MUST BE in the format of “Retreat Style by YourCharacterName (RotR2015)” OR "RulerName's Retreat Style by YourCharacterName (RotR2015)" where Retreat Style is “Secret Apartment,” “Summer Palace,” or “Hunting Lodge.” If the name is too long to fit, abbreviate it as best you can.

    Example: Hunting Lodge by Jazabelle (RotR2015) OR Amree's Hunting Lodge by Jazabelle (RotR2015)

    To change the name of your home, please go to the Housing and Leaderboards, My Houses tab. Click the house in question, and find the "Edit" button below the current home name. Type in your new home name, and click "Save."

    PLEASE DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! You only have two weeks to decorate, although you may begin gathering supplies before the 17th.

    Winners will be announced by May 8th, 2015, and all prizes should be granted by May 15th. If for some reason we are unable to gift you your prize by the 15th, we will mail you informing you when you can expect your prize by.

    WHERE: ALL SERVERS can participate! As the rewards are SC market items, we can gift to any server!

    WHY: Because as lovely as the current common rooms are for Lucan and Antonia, they’re showing their age. The couch cushions are looking a little flattened, the edges of various tapestries are fraying, the soot’s piling up in the fireplaces, and there’s that fishy smell that won’t go away by the aquariums, no matter how well they’re scrubbed…..

    HOW: To sign up, please post the following IN THIS FORMAT
    Server Name:
    Character Name:
    Homeowner Name:
    The home address:
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?:
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?:


    WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU SIGN UP:
    • If you are on AB, give JAZABELLE, IOSABELLA (yes, that’s an i, not an L), MEEBA trustee on the home you choose to decorate. You must grant trustee by April 16th, or you will be disqualified.
    • If you are NOT on AB, please give JAZABELLE trustee, unless you are on Oasis. If you are on Oasis, please give JAZABELLA trustee. You must grant trustee by April 16th, or you will be disqualified.
    • Change the name of your home to “Retreat Style by YourCharacterName (RotR2015)” OR "RulerName's Retreat Style by YourCharacterName (RotR2015)" where Retreat Style is “Secret Apartment,” “Summer Palace,” or “Hunting Lodge.” If the name is too long to fit, abbreviate it as best you can. VERY IMPORTANT!
    • Please make sure that you have at least 80 days paid upkeep if your home is not a prestige home.
    • All homes MUST BE PUBLISHED by 11:59 PM PST on May 3rd! You may publish before that time, but any homes published after will be disqualified.
    DETAILS:
    • Please DO NOT sign up if you think you won’t be able to finish a house in this amount of time.
    • Please DO let us know if you sign up, and a real world emergency happens that causes you to be unable to participate.
    • As all homes are being judged together, rather than separate by home style or ruler, only one home will be allowed to be submitted for the contest at this time. However, that doesn't mean you can't build a second home for fun, if the idea has piqued your interest!
    JUDGING CRITERIA:
    You will be judged on:
    • Syle: How closely does what you’ve built match the style of the city of the ruler of your choice? How closely does what you’ve built match the ruler of your choice? Antonia shouldn’t have a torture dungeon, for example. Do you have everything in your retreat that the ruler needs?
    • Execution: How well did you put things together? Does it look like you spent time on it, or does it look like you just dropped items out of your inventory wherever you happened to be standing (please don’t do this)? Is it obvious that you spent time thinking about what you were doing?
    • Bonus points for lore: You will receive bonus points if you can manage to work in some lore into your ruler’s retreat! If you do work in some lore, make sure WE ARE AWARE that it is there by placing a book at the entrance, directing us to the snippets of lore that you’ve included. What form that lore takes is up to you.
    PRIZES:
    1st: 2000 SC worth of items of your choice from the SC marketplace
    2nd: 1000 SC worth of items of your choice from the SC marketplace
    3rd: 500 SC worth of items of your choice from the SC marketplace
    All others: Between 50 and 100 SC worth of items of your choice from the SC marketplace (depending on how many participants).

    All prize requests must be submitted to HomesandTomes@gmail.com by May 11th, to ensure that we have enough time to gift all participants their prizes. Keep in mind that the more items people choose, the longer it will take us to gift them all, as there is a cap on the number of items that can be gifted per day.

    Who to contact if you have questions:
    Jazabelle (Either via PM on these forums, PM on homesandtomes.com, or email at jazabelle dot wraeth at gmail dot com)
    Iosabella
    Meeba
    HomesandTomes@gmail.com
  3. suka Well-Known Member

    this sounds like so much fun. too bad it is at the same time as our extreme homes contest. i am much too busy to enter at this time. good luck though
  4. Ocarinah Well-Known Member

    I wish all of the contests were more spread out there are what 4 or 5 now for around the same time. Especially since we are finally about to have a break from the holiday events back to back and need a little bit of a breather. Tax season is here and cannot put it off much longer. If I were to participate it would be for one that was announced before this one...other ones are more tied to another event so get why they had to be overlapping.
  5. Jazabelle Well-Known Member

    The timing of this contest was something that we considered very carefully before deciding :) It's been in the planning stages for months, and the choice of contest dates was decided quite a while ago. It's unfortunate that it overlaps another contest, but that's the way of things. The good news is that it means more choices for people. They can choose to participate in multiple competitions, one competition, or none at all!

    The fact that there are no events going on during the course of the competition was a deliberate choice on our part--competitions that happen during event season don't receive a very good turnout, unless they're smaller competitions, or ones themed specifically for the event in question. Even then, the contests tend to need limits, to ensure that people manage to decorate in the time given. A single room, a small home, a single item (like the contest to build an altar to Innoruuk that's ending right before this competition starts), etc.

    Additionally, this is the only competition that's open to all servers rather than being limited to AB (or another server). We're able to do this because a) we're giving SC item prizes rather than monetary prizes, and b) our judges are willing to server hop to ensure that everyone gets to participate.

    We hope that everyone is able to enjoy the Retreats of the Rulers contests, whether you're a participant or an observer. The entries should be lovely, and we can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

    As to the Extreme Homes contest being hosted on Butcherblock, it looks like you're allowed to enter your Retreats of the Rulers home as an Extreme Home entry. Fyurie LeBlanc posted on Facebook in the EQ2 Homeshow group stating as much :) For our part, the organizers of the Retreats of the Rulers contest have no problem with you entering your Retreat in other contests.

    Happy decorating!
  6. suka Well-Known Member

    I agree wholeheartedly. You are welcome to enter the homes you make for this contest into the Extreme Homes contest on Butcherblock. We welcome you all. just somewhere add one word- extreme - to the name of your home so we will know to include it in our judging and of course let us know. Our judging will be May 15 and we will announce the winner on May 20 to coincide with our anniversary event. and everyone is invited to the event itself which will include a public pumpkin smashing to be announced later.

    and our contest was planned to be around our anniversary- which is May 19. Sometimes things just coincide. However, look at it as more opportunities - especially since the same house can be entered in both contests.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone and Niboota like this.
  7. Uwkete-of-Crushbone Well-Known Member

    Aw, Gorowyn has rulers too; I think the only place that doesn't is New Halas (so you'd think they'd be as liberal as Gorowyn with regards to alignment...). ;->

    Ah well, when you're already living in a tropical paradise and there's not much lore or history concerning your people, and your "palace" is quite accessible and shared with your nobility, you're probably still learning how to get opulent! ;->

    Uwk
    who's seriously considering...
    BettyKroaker and Wanderingbat like this.
  8. Iosabella New Member

    I believe Gorowyn and New Halas were discussed, but left out as it would make the contest a little too broad for the judges and contestants alike. It was a discussion to even add Kelethin and Neriak to the mix. Additionally, lore is a little harder to find on those two cities. If there is enough interest in them and participation in this one turns out, I could certainly see Homes and Tomes running a secondary contest in the future for Gorowyn and New Halas.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone and Strings like this.
  9. LuvieRawrpants Member

    Server Name: Guk
    Character Name: Histy
    Homeowner Name: Meerina
    The home address: 3 Tranquil Way, South Qeynos
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Queen Antonia Bayle
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?: Secret Apartment
  10. Misstake Well-Known Member

    Server Name: Oasis
    Character Name: Devilkiss
    Homeowner Name: Devilkiss
    The home address: Jade Tiger's Den Comfort Suite 02
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Overlord Lucan D’Lere of Freeport
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?: Hunting Lodge *OK added trustee, paid up 84 days and renamed my house =D
  11. Iskatawna Active Member

    Server Name: Oasis
    Character Name: Pywakett
    Homeowner Name: Pywakett
    The home address: Aerie Kolmas
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Queen Amree of Kelethin
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?:Secret Apartment *OK added trustee, paid up 84 days and renamed my house =D
  12. Starcloud Member

    Server Name: Crushbone
    Character Name: Starcloud
    Homeowner Name: Starcloud
    The home address: Fish's Alehouse Luxury Apartment, Qeynos Harbor ( Qeynos Province District )
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Antonia Bayle
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?: Secret Apartment
  13. Wanderingbat Active Member

    I certainly will enjoy seeing these retreats etc. I think this is a fabulous contest and one which I wish I could participate in. Sadly there is not enough time for me to create one. I am not as prolific as some due to health issues. It just just takes me a little longer and I don't want to sign up and then not be able to finish. :(
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  14. Lillaanya New Member

    Server Name: Antonia Bayle
    Character Name:Sunissa/Kayanne
    Homeowner Name:Lillaanya
    The home address:Manors of Erollisi
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?:Antonia Bayle
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?:Hunting Lodge
  15. Uwkete-of-Crushbone Well-Known Member

    Hugs! Hope you feel better soon! :)

    Uwk
    Wanderingbat likes this.
  16. Wanderingbat Active Member

    Oh thank you Uwk :) I'll be fine.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  17. Jazabelle Well-Known Member

    Reminder: There are only THREE MORE DAYS to sign up for the contest!
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  18. Moonshinee New Member

    Sign me up!!!
    Server Name: AB
    Character Name: Moonshinee
    Homeowner Name: Moonshinee
    The home address: 17 Tranquil Way Apartment, Qeynos Capital District
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Queen Antonia Bayle
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?: Secret Apartment

    Sounds like great fun! Can't wait!
  19. Alhana New Member

    Server Name: Butcherblock
    Character Name: Alhana
    Homeowner Name: Alhana
    The home address: Secluded Sanctum, South Qeynos
    Which Ruler are you decorating for?: Antonia Bayle
    What style of Retreat are you decorating?: Secret Apartment
  20. Linnlyna Member

    server name AB
    Character name Linnlyna
    Homeowner Name Linnlyna
    Home Address New Halas Magical Manor Frostfang Sea
    Antonia Bayle
    Summer Palace