Dacy

I’m having to do this from my phone, so this may be shorter than usual. It’s interesting how differently people can interpret things. Monk, you seem to feel that we are fostering bias, but I will tell you, the bias already exists. We made the dividing line to address it, not encourage it. Were you here for the last contest, Monk? There were no categories. There was some discussion that the larger, complex bases had an advantage, and even that maybe some won because the size was just impressive. I think I said this already, but the size categories are to remove any perceived advantage a larger base has. The winner’s titles will all be the same, because we don’t want to give the impression any type or size base is better than any other. The item count is, frankly, arbitrary. We needed a line, and settled on that. Yes, efficient building can and should reduce piece count. If you were to take a look at our rubric, you’d see that there is NOTHING in the judging relating to item count, but a heck of a lot of focus on what makes a good base technically, artistically and functionally. Another division being given less attention for some reason are the categories of utility, RP, and multipurpose. Now, we wanted the categories because there are serious skills involved with each type, but they can be different sorts of skills, and we want to value the person who is able to present base services attractively and logically at the same level as those who create huge works of imagination, at the same level as someone who creates a more intimate and focused work. All are worth honoring, and the categories and item count was our attempt to give the spotlight to a variety of builders. Next contest will be different, and we will see what worked and what didn’t from this contest, and we will apply that knowledge to the next. Meanwhile, just know that we are definitely going to be judging on quality, and we hope that the rubric will help us keep things as objective as we can be on a very subjective topic. -Dacy (anything I missed I will address when I’m at my computer!)

Um, argh. You know, I've never been a CR before, either...I hadn't considered the categories we came up with for the contest (THIS contest, there will be others and likely not the same categories at all!) to be in any way definitive for anything except the contest, and I don't think EB was thinking of those sort of ramifications, either. We simply were thinking of types of bases we've seen. Now, there are other types, which will be covered (probably not all at once) in future contests. A hub base, we would consider to be a specialized base. My Witch's House, too, is a specialized base. A specialized base has a specific function. Bases made for holding contests would fit in this category, too. Most people have utility bases. A utility base is simply a base made to function and provide the services bases can provide. In this category, we will be judging things like accessibility, organization, completeness of services offered, and then there's the window dressing, or how it looks. There are no rules on that other than the rubric we put up would imply, as to the quality of the work. NPCs that don't provide services are window dressing, so they could be used...or not. Some people want a really nice, thematic base, and have made one or had one made, but they don't actually RP in the base, it is just designed to appeal to the builder/owner's aesthetic or backstory, and because it's not intended to actually be RP'd in, the builder does not have to account for character accommodations, because there are some chairs that can't be sat in, and chairs must be a certain distance from a table for a character to be able to sit and not "float" at the level of the table, due to the hit box. So, although the base can look much like an RP base, it doesn't have to make sure that characters can interact with its environment. A great number of bases on Everlasting are strictly RP bases. An RP base is created to fulfill an RP desire or need. Maybe it's a house, apartment complex, a school, a mall, a park...or perhaps it's more complex and part of an ever growing story that changes according to the needs of the builder or group that is using it, but it has a STORY, and the story relates to the characters that use it. You can usually see evidence of the stories in the base. This sort of base doesn't have to worry about services, tho they may have some, but their base should definitely be accessible for characters. People should be able to sit at the tables, walk around things, and so forth. A Multipurpose base is one that has a story and an RP connection, but also provides all of the services. This is perhaps the highest level of difficulty as far as what's required, because this sort of base has to keep in mind not only character accessibility, but it has to make sure its services are complete, logical, organized, accessible, and to top it all off, the services should, ideally, be part of the base design in a way that complements the design instead of interrupting it. Again, these are our definitions, and we made them and the size categories to be more inclusive. Making the utilitarian base into something beautiful can be a different skill set from those that create worlds from their imagination; we want to appreciate both kinds of work, and also appreciate those that manage to combine both into one project. Our categories are more about focusing on the different kinds of skills involved, than trying to categorize the products of this server's healthy imaginations. Right. As far as I can tell, the descriptions are not categories as we have set up categories, they are descriptions that help the RP crowd know where to find a particular sort of base if they are looking for something in particular, and the hubs get a separate designation because that's helpful for people who want to use them. I don't think our categories would be useful for this; the only people who care about the services are the people in that sg, so the descriptions are all about what the base is supposed to be, because that's all that applies to people who visit it. I have not really thought that bases really needed any sort of categorization. Sure, descriptors are handy for the RP crowd, so they know where to find what, and the creators of the hub bases want people to use them, but I can almost promise that as soon as anyone starts making categories more formal, someone will come along and break the mold. It's really what base builders excel at, lol. And, honestly, our systems for keeping track of bases is hugely flawed, with large gaping holes, so any directory is at best a small representation of the bases that are actually out there. I do wish there was a more automated way to keep track of bases. So I guess my answer to your questions would be, if people let us know that they want a system of classification, well, we can work on one, but I'm not currently seeing a need. People list what they want, when they want, how they want, and unless we get some sort of tracking system that's automated, categories are going to be subjective, if they are listed at all. Interesting points! I hope I answered you satisfactorily. 🙂 -Dacy

I'd like to put in a comment designed to clarify something: A Utility base is one where it offers services, but the location, although it can be decorated and thematic, was not intended for RP. Examples would include my home base, OVERKILL-2729 (Everlasting), RIPOFF-27314 (Everlasting), or TBTP-7677 (Torchbearer). (using examples of my own work here, but TBTP was a buff up project for a class.) A Multipurpose base IS intended for RP, but has worked in all the services in a thematic way. This means that things like seating will accommodate characters. However, the focus of the base is to provide a role-playing environment as part of a story, as a base of operations for a thematic super/villain group, or a place people would visit in the course of various RP stories. It must have BOTH all of the services AND be functional for RP (places will accommodate characters to sit, stand, move, whatever). Examples from previous HC winners would include ONES-5030 on Excelsior, and RATCITY-2259 on Everlasting. An RP base may have some services, but does not have to have any or all of them, and its focus is solely to provide a backdrop for RP stories or be a place characters might visit in everyday life. Examples from past winners would be (all are on Everlasting): The Pagoda GHOST-1471, Paragon Galleria PSHOPPING-13668, and Grimmsel College, which I don't have a current code for. Please be sure you enter in the correct category, and there are perhaps a few? bases already entered that might want to reconsider which category they belong in. Being in the correct category is important to be judged correctly and appropriately for the base you've entered. Thanks! -Dacy

Hi! We welcome your questions and comments. The reason we have two different categories was to distinguish between "small" and "large" bases. Last contest, some of the smaller bases felt at a disadvantage because, to many, a bigger base is a more impressive base. Certainly a bigger base can do more; the more pieces you have used, typically, the more detail you've included, unless your focus is very specific and small. And it gave us a logical dividing point so we could have two winners in a particular category; one will just be a larger base than the other. We wanted to be sure that people knew that, if a base wins, it's not because of its size, it's because of its quality. -Dacy (with a certain CR Easter Bunny looking over my virtual shoulder)

Thank you, EB! And this is why there are two of us! 🙂 Helps a lot when my brain makes a run for it. -Dacy

Winter break is over, sorry for the lag in classes. Next class will be on "Polishing Your Base", different things that will help a base look more refined and polished. It will be on the Homecoming Discord, Voice Channel 1 (unless it's occupied, but that's unlikely) at 2PM CST (that's 3PM EST, 12PM PST, 20:00 UTC. Indicate on Discord that you're interested to get the time in your time zone and to get notifications/reminders! -Dacy

I have the bases, thanks everyone!! -Dacy

Not limited by type, I'm looking for a variety of things, and they could be in any base. -Dacy

I'm wanting to do a class and a video on polishing a base, and I'd rather not build something that needs polishing, simply to then spend the time polishing it! So, I'm looking for a basic, beginner sort of a base (definitely not one entered in the contest!), preferably with some services, that the owner/builder wouldn't mind allowing me in to discuss and demonstrate some things that would improve certain aspects for a class and probably a video. The goal here is not to disparage a base, but to show what would improve it to a more "polished" presentation, or make changes that bring it closer to what the builder had dreamed of to begin with. I can either give credit to the original builder, or keep that information private, as they wish. So, if you have a base that you think is a candidate and you're willing to let me buff it up a bit, please DM me here or on my Discord. Thanks! I need to be able to see the base and talk to you to hear what you were conceptualizing to know whether or not it is a good candidate. Ideally, I could choose one base that has a variety of things requiring different approaches, but if not, I'll spread the demonstration over several bases needing different things. -Dacy

Addition to the Quick Tips series: a very fast overview of editing commands, for those that don't really want to watch a longer video, but don't have any idea how to do things in a base! 🙂 It's very short! -Dacy

Dark Demon, you need to go to the "plot" button on the entry room popup, or type /editbase 3 to get the upgrade plot prompt; go into that and look to see the total number of items placed. You have not chosen whether your base should be in the under or over 7k items, and the pic is so we know how you got that total. I'm guessing from the total here, that your whole base is not over 7k, but you do need to specify which category you are entering. Thanks! -Dacy

I need to correct this: you can only enter one base and be entered to win with one base. If you happen to have worked on another base, and someone involved with that base enters it, you don’t get to share in the spoils with that. You have to choose which one base you want to represent you and your chances to win. This differs from the first Homecoming base contest in that, you could only enter with one base, and that meant that if there was another base, owned by someone else, that you worked on, they were now ineligible to enter that base. In our 2023 contest, a builder may have worked on multiple bases that are entered, but may only win with the one they choose to enter with. -Dacy

Whoops! I didn’t check context. Sorry! -Dacy

And limited in doors, floors, walls, roofing…there are no door frames, wall pieces for framing windows and doors, or ceilings or triangles suitable for gables. Walls are huge, wide, and thick. For requests for base improvements, there is another poll (tho the one pinned is one of two I put up, the other is AWOL). Feel free to ask for things there. The hope is that they will see what we care about, and respond. 😊 -Dacy

The first and only base contest was, I believe in 2020, Easter bunny I’m pretty sure looked it up. The second is a typo, you are correct. It should say 2023. Easter bunny will correct it I’m sure. Dacy

I have experienced the items going wonky when released too quickly, and indeed, many glitches that happen while editing can be resolved if you slow down. However, when I had those problems, there were problems on my end of things that were causing it, not in the editor. Internet speed, a mouse with an attitude, limitations in CPU or memory, all have contributed to this. And it usually means you are working very close to the capacity for whatever limitation is causing the problem. -Dacy

Okay, folks! We did a poll about changes you'd like to see in the editor, how about a poll to see if there is another style you'd like to see presented in the base itself? Like tech, arcane, sewer, etc, style choices affect how the base walls, floor, ceiling, and trim looks. So, if you had to choose from four styles: Arachnos, Ritki, Praetorian Office or Praetorian Tech, what would you favor? -Dacy

Oh, I mentioned that I had another base tour debuting shortly, and here it is: Comments and upvotes appreciated on YouTube so that more people see it, if you feel like being kind. 🙂 (And if it's genuine, of course!) -Dacy

I love this community 🙂 Got a problem? Here come the people who want to help! Thank you all for being AWESOME. -Dacy

Agree some things need resizing, but as for the rest of this: first, remember we’re working with a game that’s 20 years old, has a volunteer work force with limited time, and the base part of the game is complex. It’s doubtful an entire overall could be achieved without blowing up everyone’s bases, and the team doesn’t want to do that. Regarding comparison to the SIMS: in that game, building your environment is at least half the entire game, instead of a quality of life sideline. They could afford to put the kind of resources towards that that you see. We do have one of the most flexible editors in the industry, you can do things with this editor you just can’t even dream of in other games, or really in most games. I’m not saying it can’t and won’t be improved, but you’re never going to see those level of changes. -Dacy

That is not a common bug! I’m not sure what the cause is, but it’s not an editor bug, because I can place anywhere on the screen. I’d have to say, and I’m not an expert on how systems work, but seems like a problem in your system. -Dacy

That is very odd! I have not heard anyone else reporting this. -Dacy

FINALLY Dacy got off her lazy butt and put out another video. Man, that woman needs ...well...less to do, probably. 🥴 It's been a while. Too long. Hoping the next will be out MUCH SOONER. But, here, and I hope you enjoy, these bases are killer. -Dacy

This was one reason I stopped working in LInux, I was having difficulty with editing. Not always, but enough! And then, I can't use my video editing program in Linux. so...now I pretty much stay in Windows. 😞 I'm sorry, -I- don't have an answer, maybe someone who knows Linux really well could help. -Dacy

See the end of my post, "resetting the base does not change this, it is not a ghost." 🙂 It is not persistent. -Dacy