Housing Contest - Cruel Rule Needing Clarification

I'm hoping to get an official response regarding the Housing Contest rule:

"Do not make any changes to your estate until after Sponsor reveals the winning entries."

It just seems a little cruel that all these new housing items come out for 4.4, but if we submitted our house for the Housing Contest, we aren't allowed to make ANY changes? What if we only add a few items to the house, will that really get us disqualified? Or what if we slightly move something or remove an item? If it's a solid "no" to any changes, what if it's in an area of the house that was not in a screenshot?

I love so many of the new items, especially mannequins. It's killing me that I can't add any of it to my house until sometime in November... :(

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The wording of that rule is just slightly confusing to some people I know. They thought "changes to your estate" did not include the contents of the house. Others are of the idea that "changes" does not include "additions" like holiday decor or mannequins. Other people I have spoken to are afraid to make any changes, including the outside or adding the new tags. Purely because they do not want to become disqualified. I went emotional, personal, and maybe a little whiny for my post, I should have stuck with these facts to get less negative commentary regarding my question.

Meanwhile I wonder if I take a couple of weeks break after my sub expires will I be automatically disqualified?
I will be back in November for the halloween event but yeah > >;; I wonder if to risk it or just pay the sub and take my break anyway.

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Originally Posted by MuseTraveller

Meanwhile I wonder if I take a couple of weeks break after my sub expires will I be automatically disqualified?
I will be back in November for the halloween event but yeah > >;; I wonder if to risk it or just pay the sub and take my break anyway.

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That too, would be a great question to have answered.

Clarification on this would probably be nice for the peace of mind, but I also feel like this is the sort of thing you knowingly sign up for when you join a contest with that in the rules.

I'm sorry, but what is there to clarify?

Before you entered the contest, you hopefully read and understood the rules (and if you didnt, thats on you) and had the chance to evaluate if you wanted to agree to them or not. If you considered them "cruel", you shouldnt hav entered.
And at least I read and understood the rules with the knowledge that 4.4 was upon us and would most likely bring new furniture - no idea, what excatly, but I considered the risk that they would add something I'd really like to use.

I feel its going down a slipepry slop with the "what are we allowed to change" (swpiing out this chair for a different one? Mannequin instead of dresshanger? Changing the floor is only one item!) and a simple "nothing" is the easiest answer ton ensure the enteries get judged based on what has been entered - and hopefully throuroghly and fairly.

You agreed knowigly to those rules... wanting them changed later - because calrification is not needed, it says "Do not make ANY changes" after all - is like wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

Why would the degree of changes matter? They said any, don't touch anything. I know it's hard I got the verdant patrician drop in the dungeon, its burning a hole in my inventory. Or disqualify yourself, less competition.

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Originally Posted by Neko_Yanagi

I'm hoping to get an official response regarding the Housing Contest rule:

"Do not make any changes to your estate until after Sponsor reveals the winning entries."

It just seems a little cruel that all these new housing items come out for 4.4, but if we submitted our house for the Housing Contest, we aren't allowed to make ANY changes? What if we only add a few items to the house, will that really get us disqualified? Or what if we slightly move something or remove an item? If it's a solid "no" to any changes, what if it's in an area of the house that was not in a screenshot?

I love so many of the new items, especially mannequins. It's killing me that I can't add any of it to my house until sometime in November... :(

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How would they know you changed something if it wasn't in the screenshot you submitted? I sincerely doubt the Community team handling the contest has any way of getting a snapsnot of everything you had placed and their locations at the time you made your entry.

Either way, it's totally up to you if being able to decorate and use the new items is more important to you than a chance to win the contest. I'm sure a lot of people entered not because they expected to win but simply because they wanted to share what they've done with others.

As for it being "cruel"? Sorry if you grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth so you think contest rules you freely and voluntarily agreed to are cruel. Try getting out into the real world and see what true cruelty is.

I'm pretty sure there's a record somewhere of what does/doesn't happen in a house, although whether or not they're checking it, I dunno. I wouldn't want to risk it, and I went into this event knowing that I wouldn't be able to change our FC house until November (or later). Granted, we then found a large and I decided I was willing to forfeit my chance in the contest for it, but that was my choice.

There isn't "clarification" needed. The word "any" means any. You're not asking for them to clarify, you're asking them to give you a pass. If you didn't read the rules, or you didn't consider them, or you (somehow) hadn't paid any attention to the fact that a patch was coming in September (and patches always have new furnishings), that's personal accountability. They can't be spelled out much clearer than they already are.

I ended up disqualifying myself because a large mansion in Shirogane went up for sale and I bought it, obliterating my little Shirogane cottage forever, but this was an opportunity I sure as heck wasn't going to miss.
I do hope there will be another contest in the future since I've spend weeks filling out my new home.
Still I feel the entries should have been judged by the screenshots alone, since I bought the new home well after the contest entry period had ended.

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Originally Posted by Edax

I ended up disqualifying myself because a large mansion in Shirogane went up for sale and I bought it, obliterating my little Shirogane cottage forever, but this was an opportunity I sure as heck wasn't going to miss.
I do hope there will be another contest in the future since I've spend weeks filling out my new home.
Still I feel the entries should have been judged by the screenshots alone, since I bought the new home well after the contest entry period had ended.

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I, for one, hope they're looking at more than just screenshots. It's so hard to get all the good stuff into 6 shots, especially when you like to decorate your house with rooms and nooks.

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Originally Posted by Edax

Still I feel the entries should have been judged by the screenshots alone, since I bought the new home well after the contest entry period had ended.

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It's likely so they can confirm people weren't just grabbing images off housingsnap and such and passing them off as their own, of course they could be judging off the full tour as well. That does seem like a bit of stretch to wait though for people that love to change things up. Only about a month to go, though that does lock contestants from doing Halloween decorations (of course it also means possible lost mogstation sales for decorations unobtainable in game now).

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Originally Posted by InkstainedGwyn

I, for one, hope they're looking at more than just screenshots. It's so hard to get all the good stuff into 6 shots, especially when you like to decorate your house with rooms and nooks.

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That's a fair point, I didn't think of that. Still, for a contest that's suppose to be fun, that's a few long months to keep a house unmodified.
If they allowed Youtube, I could have filmed a tour, and there would have been no doubt that was my house.

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Originally Posted by InkstainedGwyn

I, for one, hope they're looking at more than just screenshots. It's so hard to get all the good stuff into 6 shots, especially when you like to decorate your house with rooms and nooks.

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I would imagine that's the reason why this contest takes so long. They need to actually go to each house to judge them in their entirety, perhaps just using the screenshots to weed out the worst ones.

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Originally Posted by Vidu

I'm sorry, but what is there to clarify?

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The wording of that rule is just slightly confusing to some. I have a LS mate that completely overhauled his house recently, when I asked him why he did that after submitting to the Housing Contest, he said that he thought "changes to your estate" meant the location, name, and greeting. He was even concerned about adding the new tags just for that reason. After he said that, I could totally see how that mistake could be made, and started doubting what that rule actually meant. It didn't say "changes to your estate and all it's contents." Then I found several other folks I know thought the same exact thing. That made me question everything about the rule then...

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

How would they know you changed something if it wasn't in the screenshot you submitted?

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I don't know. However, the rules say nothing about keeping your house unlocked, so I'd assume that if someone was to check the house, it might be a GM or someone who could enter even if the house was locked, and they would check some sort of housing logs. Maybe?

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

Try getting out into the real world and see what true cruelty is.

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Fully aware of how cruel the real world is, thank you.

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Originally Posted by InkstainedGwyn

You're not asking for them to clarify, you're asking them to give you a pass....

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As explained above, I know several people who thought the rule meant changes to the estate, but not the contents (since that rule did not state that specifically). On the other side of the spectrum, I had a player tell me not to even change the outside or use the garden... that's how paranoid the rule has made some people. Personally, I'd like to know if adding anything (but not necessarily changing anything that is already there) would be against that rule, since again, it wasn't specified.

I added a mannequin to my house just to see what it looked like, how it worked, goofed around with it, then removed it. I also want to know if something like that counts as grounds for disqualification. I'm sure I'm not the only one curious about that.

Yes, I also would like to just add the mannequin to my house without fear. But more than that, I don't feel the rule was 100% clear. I'm glad to hear so many folks are content with thinking that you should leave your house exactly as it was during the screenshots. For some others, it's making them a nervous wreak because it's the first time they felt brave enough to submit something for a contest, and they don't want to mess it up. To some people, this is a really big deal to them. I wasn't looking for negative commentary about my post. I was looking for some additional clarification to the rule because many people I know felt it to be vague.

So what I'm requesting is some official clarification if possible, please.

One of my FC mates gave up on the contest and remodeled his basement. Having to keep your house static for months is crap.

I had to just listen to a FC leader friend rant for 20 mins on how an officer of her FC removed and threw out an item in the FC house, and now the house may no longer qualify for the contest because of it... The officer's defense was that "someone had eaten up all of one of the food items, so wouldn't that already be considered a change to the estate? I was just getting rid of it to replace it later."

It was one of those pumpkin stews from a few Halloween events ago I think. No one in the FC has another to replace it with. The FC leader might have to buy one off the Mogstation, but she's not sure if she's already disqualified just because a change was a made. It may all be for nothing.

Some people take these contests super seriously. In addition, no one has an answer for when this sort of thing happens, since it wasn't specified in the contest rules.

It would be nice to know when we could rearrange our furniture. I agree it's really disheartening to have new items added and the judging period not be over. Halloween is my fave holiday so skipping it this year is heartbreaking. Especially assuming I don't even win anything and it was all for naught.
Some people in replies were a bit harsh. Please understand for a lot of people decorating is their main source of fun, we all play for different reasons. Yes we read the rules but doesn't mean we can't groan about it. ;)

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Originally Posted by Edax

I ended up disqualifying myself because a large mansion in Shirogane went up for sale and I bought it, obliterating my little Shirogane cottage forever, but this was an opportunity I sure as heck wasn't going to miss.

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Housing contest is fleeting, but a Shirogane large is forever. Was I in your shoes I would have done the exact same thing. Congrats on your new home!


As far as clarification regarding the rule goes, I would have to agree that we be told what the restrictions are as it seems like different people are interpreting the rule in different ways. If we use our flower pots during the judging period, would we be disqualified? What about if we place something in the house just to preview it but remove it again afterwards? What about food items that can be immediately replaced? Little nuances like this need clarification.

What is the problem with interpreting this rule?

It is as clearly as possible.

"Do not make any changes to your estate until after Sponsor reveals the winning entries."

And in the context of the contest it is clearly stated that they are meaning the interior of the house/private chamber.

For comparson the german version:
Verändern Sie Ihre Unterkunft nicht, bis der Sponsor die gewinnenden Beiträge bekannt gegeben hat.
Translated this means:
Don't change anything at your housing till the sponsor reveals the winners.

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Originally Posted by Legion88

What is the problem with interpreting this rule?

It is as clearly as possible.

"Do not make any changes to your estate until after Sponsor reveals the winning entries."

And in the context of the contest it is clearly stated that they are meaning the interior of the house/private chamber.

For comparson the german version:
Verändern Sie Ihre Unterkunft nicht, bis der Sponsor die gewinnenden Beiträge bekannt gegeben hat.
Translated this means:
Don't change anything at your housing till the sponsor reveals the winners.

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That's why I'm being "harsh" in this thread. "Don't change anything" means anything. Anything at no time has ever meant "only some things" or "this but not that".

https://78.media.tumblr.com/e6e48177...zp25k_1280.png

And I'm sorry, but how does "changing the decorations inside the estate is fine but you can't change the name or greeting" make any sense when it comes to an interior design contest?

I get that decoration is the lifeblood of many people in this thread, and it's one of the things I enjoy most about this game. But all I'm hearing is "I know I read the rules but I changed my mind, I want to be able to participate but still use the new toys right now can't you make an exception?" There's nothing about the word "anything" that is vague. The aquarium patch notes were confusing, this is not.

It's why I only entered my private room. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist fiddling with my small home and the FC house.

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Originally Posted by Jandor

It's why I only entered my private room. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist fiddling with my small home and the FC house.

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This is sort of my stance on things. If I enter something, it'll be a space I know I'm not going to be fiddling with/wanting to fiddle with even if new furnishings come out.

If people can't sit on their hands until the judging and contest it done, then maybe they shouldn't enter? Pick a space you don't mind leaving "as is" until the contest is over, and use your other spaces to sate your decorating needs. We all have access to FC rooms, Apartments, some of us houses and FC houses. That isn't even counting alts for those that have them, people that share a house with others, and so on.
You know what you are signing up for, and if you some how don't, then you shouldn't enter until you've gather enough information to make a good judgment call on what to do based on your decorating needs/habits.

I could be mistaken, but this isn't the first contest, is it?