COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
[OCE] Legendary Tavern Contest

Free Mann Legendary Tavern to a winner on the Oceanus Server (OCE)

From our Family to Yours Contest Summary

Our goal is to provide an opportunity for our fellow players on Oceanus to obtain the deed to the Legendary Tavern, The Free Mann, located in the Northern Grasslands Duchy of Kingdom 3. Additionally, we aimed to make a contest with as low of a barrier of entry as possible. This is a contest of ideas rather than one of art or writing; you or your group should be able to submit regardless of your skillset. 😊

Winner

Congratulations to Alpha_Omega on winning the tavern with their stunning entry!

Message from the Winner:

Thank you very much for the generous opportunity! First nights tankards on the house!

Timeline

Time of Posting – May 4th @ 12:00 pm ACT [UTC+10] Entry Submission Period

UPDATE Entry Submission is closed. It's currently the judging period.

May 10th Winner Declaration

UPDATE Winner Declared

Eligibility

Owning and running a tavern is not a task everyone takes up alone, so both groups and individuals may create a submission. There is a limit of one entry per account. The person receiving the deed to the Free Mann Tavern must meet a few requirements:

  • Account must have a package of Bloodline or higher
  • Account must be locked into the Oceanus Server (OCE)
  • Account must be at least 40 days old
  • Account must be in good-standing

How to Enter

  1. This should be apparent, but read through the Submission Guidelines and Judging Criteria to understand what we as judges are looking for.

  2. Check to make sure your account is bound to the Oceanus (OCE) Server. (See FAQ if unsure how)

  3. Draft your plans and ideas for the Free Mann Tavern either alone or with a group.

  4. Double-check and make sure the format chosen conforms to guidelines, and add any finishing touches. You may need to upload files to a hosting site.

  5. Send your entry to [email protected].

Submission Guidelines

The submission should be a business plan at its core. The intent of this format is for the contestant to communicate their ideas for what should be done with the tavern and how they might accomplish it. The last question of the FAQ in the second post may help if you don’t know what a business plan is.

What we do require is for the main part of the submission to be a text explanation of the contestants plans for the Free Mann tavern. A text document of some variety is preferred. Only send the bare text within the submission email itself if there is no other option available to you.

The presentation of this business plan is left to the submitter to allow those with special skills to show their strengths. To this end, additional information and documents can be submitted in conjunction to the business plan. We will accept lore, graphics, and other depictions. If your true strength is in PowerPoints or photo collages, go for it.

Important Note! Submission can include:

  • (Required) A business plan

    Format: Text Document (.txt / .rtf / .odt / .docx) or Online Document (GoogleDocs / Word Online).

  • (Required) Alias (Forum Username)

  • (Optional) Additional Lore, Graphics, Depictions

    Read the last paragraph of the description above, or ask in this thread, if you need clarification.

Submission cannot:

  • Contain NSFW or NDA-protected or otherwise exclusive information
  • Violate Chronicles of Elyria User Content Creation or Brand guidelines, Code of Conduct, or Terms of Use
  • Enter past the listed deadline

Information to Include when Submitting

Individual Submission

  1. Alias (Forum username):
  2. Special Message if you win:
  3. Any important notes about the submission:
  4. Attach all files.

Group Submission

  1. Group Name (Optional):
  2. Group Members:
  3. Alias (Forum Username) of the Account to receive the Tavern:
  4. Group Specialization (Optional):
  5. Special Message if your group wins:
  6. Any important notes about the submission:
  7. Attach all files.

Examples of what we are looking for in the business plan, Optional:

  • Entertainment that might be displayed
  • Day-to-Day Activities a visitor might experience
  • Types of business relationships the owner might want to develop
  • Plans to secure and protect the tavern
  • How the tavern will stay in stock and manage spoilage
  • Plans to mitigate theft
  • Ways supply lines might be adapted based on need
  • Utilization of the taverns Private rooms and other amenities
  • Promoting the reputation or notoriety of the Tavern
  • Programs to attract and maintain visitors
  • Overall outline of potential income streams

Judges

This contest will have a panel of judges from NA-W to give every submission the attention it deserves. The judges are:

  • Plume
  • Polaris
  • Pteroguin

Judging Criteria

Contests may elaborate on these details within the submission. The bold lettering is what we are looking for, while the explanation included are examples of what we look for within that criterion.

  1. Viability

    Is this plan realistic and cohesive? Is it achievable within Elyria? Is there a Plan B?

  2. Creativity

    Is this plan unique? Does it have a “wow factor” that distinguishes it from other ideas?

  3. Ambition

    Does this plan have long range goals? Does the plan describe how to accomplish them?

  4. Priority

    Does this person or group have the time, passion, and commitment to run and care for the tavern?

Judging Process (Blind Contest)

  1. The submissions are reviewed by Soulbound Studios (SBS) who run the usernames through a pre-screening process and then masks the names on the submissions, before passing the qualified entries to the judges.

  2. Each judge will read through every entry on their own.

  3. The judges will then individually select submissions that fulfill each of the four criteria best, as well as a fifth entry that they personally feel touches upon every criterion. This step will instead be done as a group if there are five or less total entries submitted.

  4. The judging panel will meet to compare their choices and decide upon a final winner, then notify SBS to coordinate and unveil the final winner.

Thanks for taking your time to read this thread, and I hope you are excited as we are to find out the owner of the deed to The Free Mann Legendary Tavern (OCE)!

Special thanks to Soulbound Studios who made this contest possible. Also, a big thanks to Hellmoon, Polaris, and Serpentius for the time you each invested helping Pteroguin and myself make this gift to Oceanus a reality. <3


4/25/2019 9:42:33 PM #1

FAQ

Additional questions to be added as needed

The Prize

Q: What’s the prize? Is there a second place?

A: The only prize goes to the winner, which is the deed of the Free Mann Tavern and everything that comes with it.

Q: What is the Free Mann Tavern deed?

A: Check out this promotional thread for more details.

Q: How will you give it to me?

A: Soulbound Studios (SBS) will directly bind the Free Mann Tavern to the winning account of this contest.

Q: Wait, so they are giving it away for free?

A: No. Pteroguin is paying SBS for the tavern at full value. This contest was presented to SBS as something he would like to do for the Oceanus community if the tavern did not sell. The contest and money put forth are his, and the ability to accomplish it is with the help of the studio.

Q: Why didn’t Oceanus buy it for themselves?

A: Although we cannot know the exact reasons from such a large group of people, it’s a fact that it’s more difficult for the other regions to make such large purchases. This stems from the change in prices due to currency conversion and potentially additional time or fees associated with currency conversion.

Q: Can I give it to a friend?

A: The other legendary tavern deeds cannot be gifted and this one will not be any different. The prize will be bound to the winning account. You can help your friend with their submission and submit as a group however! 😊 See more about participating as a group in the Submissions section of the FAQ.

Q: Are you announcing the winner?

A: Yes, we’ll announce it in this thread as well as update the original post after contacting the winners. We have ultimately decided to be transparent and not allow people an anonymous submission. This is a guarantee to other players that the prize is not being secreted away to a person of our choosing.

Eligibility

Q: Is there a minimum package requirement?

A: You must have exposition access to the game, and additionally be locked into the Oceanus (OCE) Server.

Q: How do I see what package I have and what server I’m locked into / how do I lock into a server?

A: Log in and go to your Account Page. Your server is listed just to the right of your email and right above your package. Locking into your server is not possible at this time, but you will be able to do so again after Domain and Settlement Selection has ended. You are qualified only if you have Bloodline or higher.

Q: Why do you have requirements at all?

A: The required age of the account is to prevent the prize from going to a spam account or troll. The Server lock is inherited from the original requirement to buy the deed for The Free Mann Tavern from the store. The deed can only additionally be claimed within Exposition as stated in the store description, and Bloodline is the lowest tier that gives Exposition access.

Q: How do you know whether I qualify or not?

A: Short Answer, we don’t. SBS is not giving us access to anyone’s personal data or information. There will be a prescreening process; However, this will be handled by the studio to maintain user privacy.

Judging Process

Q: Why are the judges for an OCE contest from NA-W?

A: This is a gift purchased to help Oceanus players. We’ve also enlisted help from outside of our community to ensure it doesn’t just get awarded to someone we know. Additionally, the blind submission format will keep things fair.

Q: Can I talk to judges about my submission?

A: No. General questions can be asked, but anything that might reveal which submission is yours could lead to a disqualification. Direct questions about your particular submission to the contest email.

Submissions

Q: What if my dog got sick or I misunderstood the deadline somehow, and I submit an hour late?

A: The deadline is a hard deadline with no exceptions to make it fair for all contestants.

Q: How do I apply as a group?

A: Add your groups information into the submission so that we may credit them and apply as normal. Make sure to have the account meant to receive the package specifically listed within the submission.

Q: What makes a group?

A: This could be your tavern-oriented guild or just a group of friends. A group is what you make it and is left vague on purpose. If you believe in this person and their ideas, also believe they will hold up well in competition with others. Everyone should have a chance.

Q: Are my ideas private?

A: As private as you want them to be. The submission will only be shared between the judges and some members of SBS staff. The details of the submission will not be shared by us, but the winner is more than free to advertise their tavern however they’d like. 😉

Q: Can I promote my ideas through the duration of the contest?

A: No. This isn't a popularity contest. Additionally, your identity must remain hidden from the judges in order for the contest to remain fair as a 'blind' contest. This process is similar to blind auditions. Promotion, or other actions that could intentionally or inadvertently make the judges aware of the submission's author, may merit a disqualification.

Q: What is a business plan / How do I make a business plan?

A: It’s best to google some business plan examples if you have never seen one to first get a basic image in your head. There are additionally many templates available online to get you started. Making a quality Business Plan may require a little more reading. I suggest this in-depth explanation found by Polaris.

Some components usually included in business plans are superfluous or lack necessary in-game information (like in-game economic data) for the needs of the contest. The ultimate purpose of this format is a way to lay out your ideas. The contest is not over who makes the best business plan, but instead over the content within. Tailor the format to fit your needs as you see fit rather than strictly conforming to the business plan structure.


4/25/2019 9:50:17 PM #2

Wonderful idea...may the best idea win. :)


Luna Server Parade Coordinator---Kingdom of Vornair---Friend code: 31418D

4/25/2019 9:55:54 PM #3

Fantastic! Thank you for doing this!


67CAC0

"Different denotes neither bad nor good, but it certainly means not the same."

-Just a lowly beekeeper

4/25/2019 10:03:19 PM #4

Posted By Cynn at 1:50 PM - Thu Apr 25 2019

Wonderful idea...may the best idea win. :)

Posted By Draguta at 1:55 PM - Thu Apr 25 2019

Fantastic! Thank you for doing this!

No problem at all. I hope people enjoy the contest :D


4/25/2019 10:11:00 PM #5

I'm not from OCE, but this is by far best contest I've seen on here yet! Way to be a community over there.


4/25/2019 10:27:35 PM #6

Leave it to the Pteroguins to set the bar on most generous gift!

Love the contest, hope it goes to a good home.


4/25/2019 10:37:28 PM #7

Posted By Labbe at 2:27 PM - Thu Apr 25 2019

Leave it to the Pteroguins to set the bar on most generous gift!

Love the contest, hope it goes to a good home.

Good luck with your contest! Hopefully you are able to provide someone a great home. ^_^


I'm excited to find out who will win the tavern!


4/25/2019 11:27:13 PM #8

way to go !


4/25/2019 11:39:36 PM #9

I do love a good business contest. I'll keep an eye out for the result.


4/25/2019 11:49:10 PM #10

Incredible event! Thank you so much for the generosity Mr & Mrs Pteroguin, and may the best contestant win!


FEAR NO DARKNESS

4/26/2019 2:21:52 AM #11

I think the inherent problem with the OCE tavern, is that the typical Aussie just loves to drink, but doesn't want to worry about the business side of it :P

Throw in a drop bear or two and I might be swayed :)

Business plan for a Tavern in Australia:

Build it... they will come!! :) Followed by the occassional happy hour, and some fresh nachos and wedges and the place will be packed until closing time!!


4/26/2019 2:25:37 AM #12

Love this. Thanks for setting this up for the community.

4/26/2019 2:38:48 AM #13

Thank you for the opportunity you've presented to those in OCE, it is most generous.

Good luck to all those making submissions.


4/26/2019 4:33:40 AM #14

It's kind of a shame that this was held for the poppy flower tavern. I'm not sure how much genuine interest is there. I would've loved to have participated but unfortunately a flower tavern doesn't really hit the mark.. and with DSS coming..? It complicates settlement selection.


4/26/2019 5:27:11 AM #15

This is so awesome. Good to see at least one of the taverns in player hands before the game starts. Wish everyone luck who enters.