Spiral Knights - Tev's Great Big Contest 2.0: Seasons of Cradle

Tev's Great Big Contest 2.0: Seasons of Cradle - Results are in!

488 replies [Last post]

Tue, 04/30/2013 - 21:32

Tevokkia

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Tev's Great Big Contest 2.0! If you were here for last year's contest, great; if not, we love to see new faces. Things are going to be run a bit differently this year, though, so make sure you give the new rules a read. If you're not an artist or a writer, feel free to stick around for the games and raffles and to check out the entries.

This year, entries are to be made on the theme "Seasons of Cradle".

All entries will be posted on the "Current Entries" post and posted on Tumblr on Rockjelliesandothercuriosities for maximum exposure. I'll make sure to acknowledge each entry so you know I recieved it, but won't be giving any feedback prior to judging.

THE RESULTS

Character Drawings and Paintings
1st - Klear "A Wolver Tale"
2nd - Snowprism "Winter Snipe"
3rd - Don-Atropine "Snow Days"
Runners-up - Bamske "Mega Shock Greaver Season" and Dreams-Knight "A Warm Welcome on a Cold Christmas"

Junior-level Character Drawings and Paintings
1st - Meta-Knight-Kirby "Easter Egg Hunt"
2nd - Grittle "Gorgos, always tailgating!"

Concept Art
1st - Shue-Donnym "Winter Wizard Set"
2nd - Pballs "Fall for Fiends prize box"
3rd - Antworker "Wintry Iron Vanquisher"

Spiral Spy
1st - Happyapathy "Something Spiral Seasons"
2nd - Manibogi "Clockwork Autumn"
3rd - Ariav "Season x4"

All the Arts
1st - Remiliaoftheearth "The Smaller Guardians"
2nd - Gfjmember "Wolver Coats of the Seasons"
3rd - Icreep "Diplomacy"
Runners-up - Skye-Lightning "Frozen Calibur" and Dreathuxy "Spring Cleaning"

Special: Tev and Friends
This category was not ranked, but Snowprism, Engravement and Possiblespy all won prizes

Short Fiction
1st - Luguiru "Malevolent Clockwork"
2nd - Anbroid-One "Defrosting"
3rd - Hexlash "In Balance"
Runners-up - Mawashimono "Pyromantic" and Shotjeer "Winter Beer Problems"

Mini Fiction
1st - Mawashimono "Wintry Metamorphosis"
2nd - Dreathuxy "Sheer Cold"
3rd - Skye-Lightning "The Phantom Mask"

Rhyming Poetry and Free Verse
1st - Xairathan "Fall"
2nd - Remiliaoftheearth "Fire Seasons"
3rd - Meteroran "The Blood Red Knight"
Runners-up - Nai-chan "Alone in the Dark" and Grittle "Seasons of Lockdown"

Community Choice

Character Drawings and Paintings - Bamske, Don-Atropine and Dreams-Knight
Junior-level Character Drawings and Paintings - Meta-Knight-Kirby
Concept Art - Shue-Donnym
Spiral Spy - Manibogi
All the Arts - Caffinated-Slyph, Gfjmember
Tev and Friends - Snowdusk
Mini Fiction - Mawashimono
Short Fiction - Andbroid-One, Luguiru, and Hexlash
Rhyming Poetry and Free Verse - Xairathan and Grittle

Community Favorite in Art - Bamska "Mega Shock Greaver Season"
Community Favorite in Writing - Anbroid-One "Defrosting"

Best in Show in Art - Shue-Donnym "Winter Wizard Set"
Best in Show in Writing - Luguiru "Malevolent Clockwork"

Most prolific - Remiliaoftheearth

All prizes, including participation, that were not able to be awarded at the ceremony will be awarded tomorrow.

Thanks so much to all who participated in the contest, the weekly activities, today's events, and the award ceremony!

Schedule of Events

*June 1 - Contest begins and entries may be posted. No entries posted anywhere on the internet before 12:01 am EDT (GMT -4) will be judged.
*August 31 - Contest ends. Entries posted after 11:59 pm EDT (GMT -4) will not be judged.
*September 1 - Community Choice voting begins
*September 1-6 - Judging
*September 6 - Community Choice voting ends
*September 14 - Post contest events throughout the day, finishing in awards ceremony in Tanzola guild hall
*September 16 - Last prizes should have been awarded to those who were unable to attend the ceremony by end of day

Event Day -- September 14 -- Schedule
All times are in EDT, events may still be added
We ask that all onlookers and participants for events (and especially the Award Ceremony) within the guild hall please unequip their Battle Sprites to reduce lag (except participants of the Sprite-themed costume category during judging for that category)

10am - Weapon Play: Meet in Haven 7 Garrison for invite into the right Advance Training Hall
Includes "Elimination" with Snowdusk (bring a Sealed Sword to participate), "Alchemer Wars" with Tevokkia (bring any alchemer-line gun), "Curses" with either Tevokkia or Sol-Ether (bring a Faust or Gran Faust)
1pm - "Item Search" with Remiliaoftheearth in the Tanzola Guild Hall
2:30 pm - "Guild Hall Hunt" with Remiliaoftheearth in the Tanzola Guild Hall
5pm - Costume Contest with Tevokkia in the Tanzola Guild Hall west hallway
Includes "Best Coordination With Sprite", "Best Coordination with Weapons", "Classiest Budget Costume", "Epic Theme", and "Most Atrocious" categories*
7pm - Trivia with Tevokkia in the Tanzola Guild Hall, musical chairs afterward if time permits
9pm - Award Ceremony in the Tanzola Guild Hall

*"Best Coordination with Sprite" - Matches or mimics the look or color scheme of the knight's sprite
"Best Coordination with Weapons" - Matches at least two equipped weapons. Full inspect must be allowed
"Classiest Budget Costume" - Visually appealing and made as inexpensively as possible (i.e. low level armor, cheap/free accessories)
"Epic Theme" - Costume with a cohesive theme (i.e. bomber, angel, chroma, gremlin, etc)
"Most Atrocious" - Clutter, mismatch, and overall ugly combinations of items

Thread Rules
Rule-breakers will get no more than a single warning before being disqualified, either from the contest or the weekly raffles, depending on whether or not you are an entrant. For large infractions, such as mass-spamming, flaming, or obvious TOS breakage, I will not warn you before making a report.

1. All posts and entries, as usual, need to follow the Spiral Knights TOS
2. No spamming. A bit of chatter is fine, but I like my topics to stay on topic.
3. No criticism of the entries. If an entrant specificlly asks for critique of their work, only constructive criticism is allowed.
4. All rules here also apply to any threads linked from here. Misbehavior my Stone Field Borough thread or any threads containing entries will be treated as though it were misbehavior here.

Table of Contents
Welcome, Schedule and Thread Rules
Announcements
Current Entries
About the Theme
Entry Form
Rules and Categories for Art
Rules and Categories for Writing
Weekly Activities
Previous Weeks' Activities and Winners
Acknowledgements and FAQ

Sat, 09/07/2013 - 09:22

Tevokkia

Announcements

NEW Announcements

Voting for Community Choice has closed; thank you to all who voted!

Now taking applications for event hosts for the day of the award ceremony. Drop me a line if you have an idea or want to host an event!

Older Announcements

Sept 1 -
Community Choice Ballot is up!
August 25 - ONE WEEK left to submit entries! Please pay attention to the entry date/time and make sure you know what it translates to in your timezone!
June 1 - The contest is now live! Start playing games and posting entries, peepcakes!
May 1 - Posted the thread!

Thu, 09/12/2013 - 05:35

Tevokkia

Current Entries

Entries by Contestant (alphabetical)

Entries by Category

Character Drawings and Paintings
Skye-Lightning, Don-Atropine, Piosionus-Snarby, Snowdusk, Dreams-Knight, Klear, Charismo, Meta-Knight-Kirby, Bamske, Sroell

Junior-level Character Drawings and Paintings
Grittle, Artistbma, Meta-Knight-Kirby

Concept Art
Vinnydime, Shue-Donnym, Remiliaoftheearth, Pballs

SpiralSpy Scenes
Happyapathy, Ariav, Remiliaoftheearth, Manibogi

All the Arts
Dreathuxy, Skye-Lightning, Caffinated-Slyph, Vinnydime, GFJmember, Remiliaoftheearth

Art Special Category; Stone Field Borough

Art Special Category; Tev and Friends
Possiblespy, Snowdusk, Engravement

Mini Fiction
Remiliaoftheearth, Mawashimono, Dreathuxy, Skyguarder, Skye-Lightning

Short Fiction
Mawashimono, Luguiru, Shotjeer, Andbroid-One, Relikkan, Remiliaoftheearth, Hexlash

Writing Special Category; Stone Field Borough

Rhyming Poetry and Free Verse
Xairathan, Meteoran, Skyguarder, Nai-Chan, Grittle, Remiliaoftheearth

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:32

Tevokkia

About the Theme "Seasons of Cradle"

This year I decided to give my contest a theme, partially to encourage a bit of structured creativity. I chose "Seasons of Cradle" because it's a theme that can be interpreted and used in a lot of different ways.

Except for entries into special categories, all entries should touch on the theme in some way. You can use them for special categories as well, if you're so inclined, but it isn't required. Examples of ways to use the theme include:

*Using Clockworks levels or Lockdown maps that bring to mind a certain season as a backdrop for your picture or a setting in your writing
*Incorporating seasonal events into your entry
*Equipping the knights you draw or write about with weapons and armor that equate so a specific season to you
*Keep in mind status effects that can be used to represent a season
*Consider what seasons aside from the ones we've been shown might look like in Haven
*Think about what kinds of seasonal events and habits that knights or monsters may have that we haven't seen in the game
*Get creative! Use metaphors or other, more subtle ways to get the theme into your work

You don't have to use all of these (or any of these if you can think of something different) as long as I can find at least one "season" thing in your entry.

Sun, 06/16/2013 - 10:19

Tevokkia

Entry Form

Entry Format
You may enter up to 3 times in each category type (art and writing), but no more than once per category. You may win up to two category prizes. Entries in special categories do not count toward either entry limits or prize limits. All entries are eligible for both Community Choice awards and for the Grand Prize in their category types, neither of which count toward prize limits.

Subject Line: ENTRY (Category ... i.e. Spiral Spy Scenes or Short Fiction)

In-Game Name: (So I can award prizes more easily)
Entry Title: (This should be self explanatory)
Entry: (Link to entry. Links can be to other threads or posts within the forum, Deviantart, Photobucket, Google Docs, Keep and Share, Dropbox, or any other place I can easily access. Just make sure your file sharing options aren't set to private!)

EXAMPLE ENTRIES

Subject: ENTRY (Artwork: Character Drawings and Paintings)

In-Game Name: Tevokkia
Entry Title: Office Fight
Entry: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/Tevokkia/officefight.png

Subject: ENTRY (Fanfiction: Short Fiction)

In-Game Name: Tevokkia
Entry Title: Consumption
Entry: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/53805

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 14:08

Tevokkia

Rules, Categories, and Prizes for Fan Art

Rules for Fanart Entries

1. No tracing other's work or passing off something created by another artist as your own. This will result in immediate disqualification from not only this contest, but all future contests.
2. The piece must have been created specifically for this contest; no old work, commissions, etc.
3. You may enter up to three pieces in the regular art categories, each in a different category. Entries made in special categories or writing categories do not count toward this total.
4. You may win twice, for different entries, in the art categories. Awards given to entries in special categories or writing categories do not count toward this total.
5. Your entry must reflect the theme "Seasons of Cradle" some way, whether it be with the background, enemy type, or some other way of your choosing. This may be blatant or subtle. Entries in the Special categories do not necessarily need to reflect the theme.
6. Collaborations may include up to three people. If a collaboration wins, the prize will be delivered to the player who posted the entry. It is their responsibility to disburse it correctly to the rest of the collaborators.
7. Entries must be finished at the time of submission.
8. Entries must be made on the thread with the entry form and can be submitted by link either from a Photobucked account, DeviantArt, original Tumblr post, Google Docs, or any other way that allows me to easily view it. If sharing links via Google Docs or similar services, make sure that your entry is set for public viewing.

Prizes

Each category description will include the prizes offered for that category.

Unless otherwise noted, all entries in the art category will be eligible for the Grand Prize in Art, a Battle Pack, and Community Choice awards. The Grand Prize and Community Choice awards do not count toward the winnings total.

Community Choice awards include a Mewkat Monster Pocket for Overall Community Favorite in Art and 500CE each to up to three picks in each category, depending on number of entries.

I may award extra Subjective prizes, such as funniest, most romantic, most epic, etc, as I see fit.

All entrants who do not win a larger prize will recieve a participation gift of 200 CE.

Categories

-Character Drawings and Paintings: Artwork depicting the knights, monsters, strangers and snipes of Cradle. Entries may be in any medium, in black and white or color.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept or composition, technical skill, and adherence to the theme.

Prizes: 1st-3000CE, 2nd-2000CE, 3rd-1000CE, Runners-up(2)-500CE each.
-Junior-level Character Drawings and Paintings: Sketches, doodles, MS Paint drawings, or pictures by beginner artists depicting the knights, monsters, strangers and snipes of Cradle. Entries may be in any medium, in black and white or color.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept or composition and adherence to the theme.

Prizes: 1st-1500CE, 2nd-1000CE, 3rd-700CE, Runners-up(2)-300CE each.
-Concept Art: Concepts for new monsters, equipment, levels, or other things that don't exist in the game. Stats and background information are appreciated but not required. Entries may be in any medium.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original well-thought-out game concept and adherence to the theme. Technical skill in the chosen medium should be sufficient to convey the concept well.

Prizes: 1st-3000CE, 2nd-2000CE, 3rd-1000CE, Runners-up(2)-500CE each.
-SpiralSpy Scenes: Scenes made in SpiralSpy, which must include a background and at least one character. Some retouching in a graphics program is allowed: this includes blurring for depth of field, vingiettes, speech bubbles or sound effects, action lines, weather effects not available in SS, and things of that nature.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept or composition, technical skill, and adherence to the theme.

Prizes: 1st-3000CE, 2nd-2000CE, 3rd-1000CE, Runners-up(2)-500CE each.
-All the Arts: Visual arts that don't fit in the other categories. This could be texture edits, Minecraft models, handcrafted items, or whatever else.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept, some technical skill in the chosen medium, and adherence to theme.

Prizes: 1st-1500CE, 2nd-1000CE, 3rd-700CE, Runners-up(2)-300CE each.
-Special Category; Stone Field Borough: drawings and paintings featuring characters or scenes from my Tales From Stone Field Borough series of short stories
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept or composition, some technical skill, and a reasonable understanding of the characters being illustrated (i.e. it helps if you've read the stories; feel free to ask for reference pics)

Prizes: Prizes in this category will be awarded subjectively and will range between 500 and 3000 CE.
-Special Category; Tev and Friends: Drawings and paintings featuring Tev, Sol, both Tev and Sol, or Tev and one of her friends. References are here. Are you one of Tev's friends? Feel free to draw yourself with her, too.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting or original concept or composition, and some technical skill.

Prizes: Prizes in this category will be awarded subjectively and will range between 500 and 3000 CE.

Sun, 07/21/2013 - 18:10

Tevokkia

Rules, Categories, and Prizes for Fan Fiction and Poetry

Rules for Fanfiction Entries

1. All work must be your own. Passing off another writer's work as your own will result in immediate disqualification from not only this contest, but all future contests.
2. All fiction entries MUST show proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Some mistakes are understandable, but do use the spelling/grammar check on your word processing software if you need to. Properly spacing your paragraphs so they are not walls of text will help your entry during judging.
3. The piece must have been created specifically for this contest; no old work, commissions, etc.
4. You may enter up to three pieces in the regular writing categories, each in a different category. Entries made in special categories or art categories do not count toward this total.
5. You may win twice, for different entries, in the writing categories. Awards given to entries in special categories or art categories do not count toward this total.
6. Your entry must reflect the theme "Seasons of Cradle" some way, whether it be with the setting, enemy type, or some other way of your choosing. This may be blatant or subtle.
7. Collaborations may include up to three people. If a collaboration wins, the prize will be delivered to the player who posted the entry. It is their responsibility to disburse it correctly to the rest of the collaborators.
8. Entries must be finished at the time of submission, and cannot include characters from applications submitted to the writer by other users. Entries made in forum threads with chatter from other users between chapter posts must have all story posts either linked in the first post, or a link to the next story post at the end of each story post followed by conversation.
9. Entries must be made on the thread with the entry form and can be submitted by link either from a forum thread, Google Doc, a file in your Dropbox account, or any other way that allows me to easily view it. If sharing links via Google Docs or similar services, make sure that your entry is set for public viewing and that editing is not enabled.

Prizes

Each category description will include the prizes offered for that category.

Unless otherwise noted, all entries in the writing categories will be eligible for the Grand Prize in Writing, a Battle Pack, and Community Choice awards. The Grand Prize and Community Choice awards do not count toward the winnings total.

Community Choice awards include a Love Puppy Monster Pocket for Overall Community Favorite in Writing and 500CE each to up to three picks in each category, depending on number of entries.

I may award extra Subjective prizes, such as funniest, most romantic, most epic, etc, as I see fit.

All entrants who do not win a larger prize will receive a participation gift of 200 CE.

Categories

-Mini Fiction: Prose pieces under 1000 words. This can be in script or narrative format, in any tense and perspective.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit a good grasp of writing prose, including an interesting plot and balanced characters with both strengths and weaknesses, technical correctness (i.e. attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar) and adherence to the theme.

Prizes: 1st-1500CE, 2nd-1000CE, 3rd-700CE, Runners-up(2)-300CE each.
-Short Fiction: Prose pieces between 1000 and 10,000 words. This can be in script or narrative format, in any tense and perspective. Keep in mind that shorter pieces are easier for me to read and judge.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit a good grasp of writing prose, including an interesting plot and balanced characters with both strengths and weaknesses, technical correctness (i.e. attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar) and adherence to the theme.

Prizes: 1st-3000CE, 2nd-2000CE, 3rd-1000CE, Runners-up(2)-500CE each.
-Special Category; Stone Field Borough: Stories of any length using my little section of Emberlight as the setting. The goal is to write my characters so well that I can consider your story canon, or create new characters I feel fit well in the setting and can use in future stories.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit a good grasp of writing prose, including an interesting plot and accurate portrayal of the setting and characters given, and technical proficiency (i.e. attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar).

Prizes: Prizes in this category will be awarded subjectively and will range between 500 and 3000 CE.
-Rhyming Poetry and Free Verse: Poems of at least 12 lines. Poetry in this category can rhyme, but do not need to, and can be in any format. Multiple haiku, limericks, or other short forms of poetry on the same theme or which collectively tell a story can be submitted as a single poem as long as they total more than 12 lines.
Prize-winning entries in this category will exhibit an interesting concept or story, technical proficiency (i.e. correct meter and syllable requirements for the chosen format and reasonable rhymes) and adherence to theme.

Prizes: 1st-1500CE, 2nd-1000CE, 3rd-700CE, Runners-up(2)-300CE each.

Sun, 08/25/2013 - 20:59

Tevokkia

Weekly Events

Each week, we'll have a different batch of things for thread participants to do and ways to win crowns or art.

This Week's Activities

Stay tuned for more - I'll be adding either a new game or contest at least every other day this week, possibly every day.

Contest: Late night TV - Even Cradle has infomercials. Tell me about the product in your infomercial and what the actors are doing terribly ineptly to show that they need your product.

Bonus Contest 1: Trivial Pursuit - Submit a trivia question (without its answer; I'll find that myself) for the thread trivia event on Awards Day! You may submit more than one.

Bonus Contest 2: Memoirs of a thread participant - Create a new entry for any of the previous weekly contests!

Weekly Game
Each week, I'll put up a game or puzzle. This could be a crossword, word search, scavenger hunt, or things along those lines. Players should send me their answers via in-game mail (I'll refund your 25 crowns if need be), email at tevokkia@gmail.com, or as an ask or fanmail at either Tevokkia or Rock Jellies and Other SK Curiosities on Tumblr. If you're not submitting via in-game mail, make sure to include your username! The first/most complete entry or entries win for the week. The usual prize will be 10k cr, although this may vary somewhat. Games switch out Sunday night/Monday morning after Livestream Sunday is over.

Weekly Contest
Flex your creative muscles! Each week, a new mini-contest will offer a prompt. Entries should be posted in the thread with the subject line "MINI CONTEST!" or something of the sort. The usual prize will be 10k cr, although this may vary somewhat. Contests switch out Sunday night/Monday morning after Livestream Sunday is over.

Weekly Post Raffle
Each person who posts in the thread, whether it be an entry, a question, conversation, or a weekly contest entry (anything that isn't spam, really), will be entered into a raffle for that week for 10k cr. All posters in the entire thread will be entered into a raffle for a larger prize at the end of the contest.

Livestream Sunday
Every Sunday around 9pm EST (GMT -5), I'll start a Livestream where I'll draw 3-5 of your requests from the previous week. Rules for Livestream requests:
*Spiral Knights related pictures, since it's for a Spiral Knights related contest thread
*No more than one character per request (unless they're really easy, like a couple of lichens or something)
*Your request must include any references I may need; since I am trying to speed through them, I don't have time to search the wiki or build SpiralSpy models
*I'll be spending about half an hour on each, so simple requests are more likely to get color. Knights may be simplified or be headshots only
*You don't have to attend the stream to get your request drawn, just post your request in the thread
*I'll try to spread them out to as many people as I can over the course of the contest, so don't expect to get more than one unless I have a lack of people asking
*I'll be choosing from only requests posted that week. Those who have been active in the thread will get preference ahead of those who drop in just to post a request and leave

Sun, 08/25/2013 - 20:22

Tevokkia

Previous Weeks' Activities and Winners

This Week

Stay tuned for more - I'll be adding either a new game or contest at least every other day this week, possibly every day.

Contest: Late night TV - Even Cradle has infomercials. Tell me about the product in your infomercial and what the actors are doing terribly ineptly to show that they need your product.

Bonus Contest 1: Trivial Pursuit - Submit a trivia question (without its answer; I'll find that myself) for the thread trivia event on Awards Day! You may submit more than one.

: Memoirs of a thread participant - Create a new entry for any of the previous weekly contests!

Last Week

:Anagram Jumble! Unscramble the words, each of which have one or more extra letters included. Use the extra letters to unscramble the Secret Word. Lordofnecromancers is the only one who attempted this one, so guess who won?

Contest: Work it baby! - Submit a screenshot, SpiralSpy model, or item list for the most ... unusual costume you can think of. SS'ers, remember that the costume has to be able to be reproduced in-game! Much like the game from this week, we only had one entry. Prize goes to Remiliaoftheearth

Game: Find the word again! - This time, the words can be going in any direction. LoN, as usual, dominated the word search, but Remila and Pballs were each not far behind him, so they get runners-up prizes

Contest 1: It was a dark and stormy night - Write a story under 100 words about your knight's first day in the Clockworks. Pballs made me laugh, but Skye-Lightning's story had some nice descriptors in it. Kudos to them.

Contest 2: Hey baby, wanna see my weekly contest? - Submit an SK-related pickup line ... if Tev were single, would she think you and your pickup line were hot stuff, or would she laugh? Either one is fine, but remember to keep it PG-13, peepcakes! GFJMember dominated this one completely with a pun-filled love letter to my inbox that earns him double prizes. There were a lot of great puns this time around from everyone, though.

Random poster for week 11 was GFJmember, while week 12 was Piosionus-Snarby!

No requests for a Livestream this week.

Previous Weeks

Week 10

Random poster this week is Charismo!

Weeks 7-9

Game: Pretend I'm loaded out with a Troika, a Polaris, an Acheron, and a Dark Retribution and am wearing two Penta-Heart pendants. I'm protected by a Grey Owlite Shield, a Miracle Hood, and Dragon Scale Mail, but am wearing full Valkyrie as a costume. If I crafted everything I'm equipped with using materials only acquired by spending tokens, what tokens did I use and how many? Unfortunately, I accidentally saved over the file with the answer in it and some of the recipes are different after the update, so I can't include the answer. Fortunately, I can give prizes to the only two people who entered: Remiliaoftheearth gets 10k for being the first, and Pballs gets 5k for being the second

Contest: "What was that, again?" 2: the sequel - Caption this new image. If Sol laughs at it, it's probably just awful enough to win. Because Sol is just awful. Skye-Lightning and Narfle both had the same idea but worded it in different ways, and I liked them both, so 10k to Skye for being fist and 5k to Narfle for being punny about it

Random poster drawing Week 7 - Caffinated-Slyph Week 8 - HappyApathy Week 9 - Grittle

Livestream Sunday: I did two of them somewhere in this time zone: Skye-Lightning and Remiliaoftheearth

Week 6

Game: Jumbulation! - Unscramble the words, then fit them into the right rows to find the letters for the secret phrase. You'll have to unscramble that, too. LordofNecromancers (who should change his name to LordofWordPuzzleGames) lead the pack again this week, sending in the correct answers less than half an hour after I had posted them. Snowdusk wins a runners-up prize for not being far behind him, and for also being the only other player to successfully unscramble the secret word.

Contest: Knock, Knock, Boom - First, disregard that I stole this contest name from the title of one of my Stone Field Borough shorts. Second, write an SK knock-knock joke and leave it here! Latisan-Sklay wins this week, because "sernterce" really cracked me up.

Random poster this week is Remiliaoftheearth!

Sol got me sick again this weekend and when I thought I was going to be able to do Livestream Sunday, I was mistaken.

Week 5

Game: "We're going on a Snipe hunt, we're going to catch a big one ..." - Use the clues to hunt the forums, Wiki, Haven, and in-game story for the scavenger hunt answers. There was a tie between Meteroran and someone whose email name is KS but who did not include their IGN, with 9 correct answer each. Both will receive prizes (although KS will have to send me another email telling me who he is first! I don't have most of your email addresses memorized. XD)

Contest: There once was a monster on Cradle/writing limerick's whenever he's able/he writes and he laughs/'till there's knights on the path/then he quits after flipping the table - Write a limerick about your favorite monster while you forgive Tev for the terrible example/title she just posted. Dkjadfjk was the only person who entered the mini contest this week and wins by default.

Random poster this week was Dreathuxy!

Livestream Sunday resumed this week with requests by Latisan-Sklay and Morpho-Cy!

Week 3/4

Game: Crossword Fever - Use the clues provided to fill in the puzzle and send me what you get. Winner this week was LordofNecromancers, who got all the answers right ... we only had two entries for this one. No love for crosswords. XD

Contest: "What was that, again?" - Caption this image to make Tev laugh, facepalm, or spit her tea at her computer screen! I actually did spit tea on my computer upon reading Narfle's entry, so I owe him 10k cr, and he owed me a new laptop. XP

Random post winners were: Skye-Lightning for Week 3 and Skyguarder (Benightz) for Week 4!

I've been away from home and decent internet, so Livestream Sunday will resume next week with Latisan and Morpho-Cy's requests.

Week 2

Game: "Quick! Can I hide in your guild hall's Arsenal station? The Snipes are after my Jelly Gems!" - Using the letters in this week's game title, create me some SK anagrams. No just looking through the wiki for words ... entries must be phrases or sentences that are not just item or location names. You may only use each letter once for every time it appears in the sentence. I had trouble choosing the winner this week, so Sol tie-broke, making Dkjadfjk the winner with: "Help, Doc! Gremlins ate all my friend's cake!" Xairathan is our runner-up this week for "The Ice Queen stole my underpants! Now my ar*e is cold!" (light censorship since I'm not sure if that would count as cursing)

Contest:The contest this week/will be haiku poetry/watch your syllables - Submit a single haiku (remember, 5/7/5 format) on any Spiral Knights related topic. Two winners this week, one for silly haiku and one for serious haiku. Silly haiki winner is Grittle for Scattered in Haven/The Beggars are crying out/"Can I hav crownz plz?" while Narfle wins for serious haiku My dear Snarbolax/Who hides away from the world/Can you hear me ring?

Random Poster this week was Artistbma!

No Livestream Sunday this week because I didn't get requests in time. Don't you guys like free art?

Week 1

Game: Find that word! - Find as many Spiral Knights related words as you can in the puzzle and send me your list! Words may be left-right, up-down, or diagonal left-right. Nothing backward this week. I'm going easy on you. LordofNecromancers is the winner this week, having found all 30 words! Several people corrected me over putting "Phial of Fear" in rather then "Phial of Phear", and the random word combination "sage seal" turned up in the puzzle, much to some players' confusion.

Contest: Libraries of Cradle - Submit a book title that might be found on Cradle, whether it be in the library of the Spiral Order, hidden among Owlite tomes, or on a bookshelf somewhere in the Colony. Be sure to include an author! Extra points for bonuses like publishers, editors, or dedication pages. Latisan-Sklay and his last minute entry take the cake this week, although we had a few very good entries.

Random Poster this week is Hexlash!

Livestream Sunday requests went to Shue-Donnym and Raphael-Sabrewing this week. Enjoy, guys!

Sun, 07/21/2013 - 18:08

Tevokkia

Acknowledgements and FAQ

Acknowledgements

First, thanks to everyone who participated in last year's contest; the sheer number of you and your level of involvement really meant a lot to me and made me want to do this again for all of you guys!

Thanks lots to Jamesh, who provided many of the lovely prizes last year and continued to fund me as soon as he found out I was planning on doing this again; his generous contributions are going a long way to funding this year's weekly activities.

Thanks to Latisan-Sklay and everyone at The Arsenal Podcast, plus everyone at Adventure is Delicious for putting up with me and helping me get the word out.

And of course, to Sol-Ether, whose encouragement and support keep me going.

Frequently Asked Questions
(or a reasonable facsimile thereof)

Why so soon after the last one?
The last one ended just as people were going into final assessments at school and the winter holidays were descending on me. Christmas and related are a big deal at my house, and it made things difficult for me to do the wrapup in a timely manner. I figured a summer contest this year would help everyone out, schedule-wise.

Why aren't you doing the prizes the same way this year as last year?
Last year, I had a lot of cool stuff to give away. Thing is, I gave it away and Three Rings hasn't had nearly as many big item promos this year. Aside from that, it was a lot of extra work coordinating everyone's prize choices and some people found the whole thing confusing. And who is going to say "No" to CE?

Why is the thread up a month before you're accepting entries?
There are lots of reasons I do it this way: it drums up excitement and allows people to get all of their questions answered before the clock starts ticking, it allows me to run a 3-month contest while still allowing everyone 4 months to think about and work on their entries, and I usually have to commit to things publicly to make sure I do them; that's why I announced the contest a full month before the thread went up on The Arsenal.

I'm thinking of an entry that involves someone else's character design. Can I use that?
You may use another person's character design as a reference for your drawing, but if the design differs appreciably from the models and equipment available in-game, be sure to credit the person with the design, either in your DeviantArt/FurAffinity/whatever description, or if you're not posting with a service that allows descriptions, below your entry form.

Can we split our stories into chapters?
Yes, you may format your story however you wish as long as it doesn't hurt my eyes or make me lose my place while reading. Just make sure to stay within the word count limit!

Can we enter the same piece in more than one sub-category?
No, you should pick the one you feel that your entry fits best in. There shouldn't be much overlap between categories that a piece can be entered in that doesn't involve Special categories anyway.

Can I make changes or additions to my entry after I've submitted it?
Sorry, I allowed that last year, but it got a bit confusing for me while judging some of the pieces, and I decided that this year, your entry must be complete when you post it, as per rule #7 in the art categories and #8 in the writing categories.

Tue, 04/30/2013 - 22:26

#10

Tevokkia

Hey there, peepcakes!

I still need to add some links and format the category posts for better readability, but y'all can look around and get thinking now. <3

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 04:17

#11

Artistbma

YES! :D

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 04:32

#12

Cobalterian

Old-Timer, comin' through!

Been to the first competition, can't wait for the second :D

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 05:31

#13

Xxpapaya

The papaya giggles ^^

Yay! Nice of you to hold yet another contest, Tevy ^^ Glad that there's a poetry section :P

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 11:27

#14

Immortous

Ant-loaf

Yes! Glad to see the competition back Tev!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 12:20

#15

Shotjeer

YAY

Imma participate this time. Time to start cracking up a shot fanfic.

Slightly off topic, but @KoV, I gave you 7000 crowns and some materials for summaries, on your Knight-of-Vanaduke account. The system said «No knight named «Topoyozarine»»

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 13:54

#16

Tevokkia

*waves*

Hi everyone! Glad to see you guys getting excited. ^.^

I added a new question to the FAQ post, got the links sorted out, and re-formatted the category posts to be a bit less confusing.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 15:32

#17

Nechrome

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 16:35

#18

Aidanblades

I'm in!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 17:46

#19

Zenmaiser

Potatoes

Thanks!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 18:24

#20

Shadownox

Beep beep. Make way for the dead bunny.

Incentive!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 18:26

#21

Thurderwing

this sounds fun! :D

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 18:36

#22

Hearthstone

It sure does! Short fiction: I need to work!

Wed, 05/01/2013 - 18:44

#23

Hearthstone

@Shotjeer

I think it's << Topoyozariane >> :3

Also, Tev, there's a question not listed on your FAQ, so I'll just ask it straight.

Fiction: Can be divided into Chapters?

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 00:36

#24

Tevokkia

@Skye

Yes, you may format your fiction however you would like as long as it's easy to read (i.e. doesn't hurt my eyes or encourage me to lose my place) and fits within the word count limit.

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 06:02

#25

Cobalterian

Hey!

Can we start writing our fan-fictions and stuff yet? Pwease????

@Shotjeer Hey man, yeah, it's Topoyozariane. Also, if you sent it to Knight-Of-Vanaduke, then it's wrong. It's Knight-Of-Vanduke, just one A, no double As

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 08:14

#26

Tevokkia

@KoV

Go ahead and start writing! Just don't post them until June 1. XD (And yes, that does mean you may have to write out of the public eye on your word processor for a bit rather than into forum posts)

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 12:54

#27

Isisdelltion

Wohoo!

Hey Tev, I still have dem Krogmo Coins if you need em. XD

Either way, congrats on getting the ball rolling and good luck. I'll definitely try to join in on this one. ^.^

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 13:45

#28

Tevokkia

@Isis

Hiii! If I think of something to do with them, I'll let you know. And thanks! I hope to see you on board. ^.^

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 17:42

#29

Artistbma

I started a short fanfiction

I started a short fanfiction quite a bit ago, but never posted it. I'll definitely be entering it in the Contest!

PS: It's winter-themed, with winter-related ideas. Is that was you meant by Seasons of Cradle?

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:34

#30

Latisan-Sklay

Y'aaar

*Jumps in the air with the flourish of a blade in true anime style, landing on one foot on a Rocket Pup statue*

Ahaha, why didn't I post here earlier? Good question.

...

Moving on. TEV! Weekly updates to begin on the SK Weekly News and podcast, if that's ok with you. Just give the go ahead and may the publicity abound (and thanks for the early advert. ^.^).

*whoosh, jumps from the statue down to the center of the Treasure Vault, throwing his sword down into the soft dirt*

ARTIST! 500th post. Make it happen.
KNIGHT-OF-VANADUKE! PAPAYA! Good to see you boys again – it's been a while.
THE REST OF YOU! Welcome and welcome back! Hopefully you have some aces up your sleeve, because this contest is going to be one heckuva ride. Hardly worthy to be called a contest really. More like an extended party.

*the elevator drops down, and Latisan stands on the extended lift railing, supported by a hand on the shaft holding the lift up*

I'm off to chuck this thread at some peoples' heads. Seasons of Cradle, hah. Indeed a new season starts. A season where the air is filled with art, music, and the sound of poetry and fan work. A season where the atmosphere is warmed by the tapping of keys on computers and the friction of pen on paper. A season where the spirit of giving and fun abound.

We're blowing clear through 1637 replies this time around, peeps. Let's gooooo!

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:06

#31

Hearthstone

@Artistbma

Oh yeah I forgot to ask that one-- I've put an *autumn* theme.

Last question: Can I integrate a song that fits into my entry? :3

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:19

#32

Tevokkia

'Sup?

@Lat: Go ahead hon! I know Nj is starting a contest too in a couple weeks, and from what he told me it's going to be rather unconventional, so watch out for that, too.

@Artist: *points to the post entitled "About the Theme"* Is there an actual or metaphorical season involved? Yes? Yay, it qualifies!

@Skye: What kind of song? 'Cause I'm going to say right now, that if you use lyrics from some song you heard on YouTube to set your mood, I'm going to roll my eyes, possibly facepalm, and probably score you a bit lower than if you had just left them out. XD If you are for some reason writing a musical set on Cradle and wrote some lyrics of your own, I'd probably give you a gold star. If you write SK-related parody lyrics or some other manner of original song content and incorporate those somehow, then that's cool.

Minor apologies if I seem to be full of snark and chile peppers at the moment. My tension headache knows no bounds. D:

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:21

#33

Yttriu

Guess who? :D

I'm back and looking forward to this contest more than last time!

This time, there's the challenge of a theme, but I promise no procrastination this time..... Haha, that's a total lie.

Thanks, Tev, for being an outstanding person once again! See you people later! :D (So excited)

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 18:38

#34

Latisan-Sklay

Wait...

Suddenly, I see talk of music and no category for it in the contest.

Did I miss something in the contest categories?

(note that I ignore the possibility that music is not a valid sumission – i want my music! :P)

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 19:38

#35

Tevokkia

@Lat

I was kinda' assuming that Skye was looking to include lyrics of some sort in his story. >.<

If you want to enter music, go ahead and chuck it in the "All the Arts" category or the poetry category, depending on whether you'd like the focus to be the lyrics or the overall package.

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 22:33

#36

Hearthstone

@Tev

Lol-- I'd go for something I heard on Youtube so I'd have to do my best at the fic to cover up the points XD

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 01:34

#37

Xxpapaya

The papaya loves autumn

Autumn is the best season and you know it >:)
I just <3 it when a shower of red, yellow, and orange maple leaves rains down on me (even though it has never happened to me XD)

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 05:25

#38

Tevokkia

@Skye

I'm not sure you'd be able to make up that many. XP I have this distinct dislike for random lyrics in a story. >.> (Besides, that would count as using material you neither created nor asked the creator to use)

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 12:14

#39

Artistbma

@Tev Man... it seems like I

@Tev

Man... it seems like I always miss the part that I need to ask about... xD

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 12:36

#40

Xenonguard

This contest interests me greatly, the Short Fiction section especially. Last time I did a non-series piece of writing was Skolver, which was Winter themed, so this time, I'll be doing a Summer thing. Well, the heat aspect of summer anyway.

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 18:38

#41

Xxpapaya

The papaya hums a song

@Latty (Latisan-Sklay)
/hum The Sound of Music

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 20:21

#42

Vifig

Hello again Tev! <3

That junior art category sounds like a great idea! :D :D :D Any crap I come up with won't look as bad next to everything else! Haha <3 I'm excited to see the entries people come up with this year!

Sat, 05/04/2013 - 07:27

#43

Thunderbog

hush draggies. i creep in.

Good luck to everyone on this contest!

(the spring break artwork I drew last time would be probably my last artwork I've done, so don't expect me to be in here as well :x)

Sat, 05/04/2013 - 19:38

#44

Snubear

Welcome back!

Thanks for hosting another great big contest, Tev! I'll be pretty busy during this period but I'm hoping to get some writing done regardless. Interesting theme, looking forward to seeing some great stuff come out of this :D

Sat, 05/04/2013 - 23:31

#45

Hexlash

Yay, /cheer Tevokkia!

I'm glad to see you got your contest stuff out :D
I can't wait to get started on procrastinating for my contest entry again!! :D

Sun, 05/05/2013 - 14:40

#46

Shotjeer

welp

Im back

My favorite seasons gonna be wayyy out of the year(Winter. Can you believe it~_*) ANyways, imma crack up a coupla shorties, and JUST MAYBE, some art, altho that has never been my thing. soo@Skye&KoV-Not cool bro. That was 20 hard earned flame souls given to a guuy who may or may not have been a noob. I aint paying you again, KoV. Not until my fanfic hiatus is over. like Lordofnecromancers, Im dragging the writing to summer vacation, cause of MCAS crap and stuff, but I will be back.

BYE GUISE. NICE KNOWIN YA ~_*

Mon, 05/06/2013 - 00:22

#47

Feline-Grenadier

I'm not sure if you clarified this but...

Can we enter the same piece in different sub-categories?

Mon, 05/06/2013 - 06:45

#48

Tevokkia

@Vinny

Nope, just enter it in the one you feel it fits the best. There honestly shouldn't be much overlap that doesn't involve Special categories. I'll add the question to the FAQ.

Mon, 05/06/2013 - 18:26

#49

Shear-Force

Games?

When is there going to start being games because truthfully if I start a story I don't tend to finish it

Mon, 05/06/2013 - 19:30

#50

Yttriu

@Zero-Master

I'm assuming this year will be the same, but last contest, games started the week entries were allowed to be posted. In this case, that would be June 1.