2,500,000th Member milestone competition
The Nexus Sites have been running in one form or another for over 9 years now and in that time we've had literally millions of members come and go; over 2 million in fact. I held a modding competition to celebrate the millionth member to register on the sites a while back and now the next milestone is upon us, 2.5 million registered members.
To celebrate the success of the Nexus community and the success of the modding communities of the Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Dragon Age I am hosting another modding competition to celebrate the success of the modding community we all belong to.
Theme
The theme for the last modding competition revolved around the community and making mods that reflected everything that was good about the community. This time the prizes are going to be bigger and better so I'm expecting bigger and better things!
There's no reason why this theme has to change either. The modding community we have for the Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Dragon Age is awesome and I think it's great that we can celebrate the success of the competition through something that brings us all together -- mods.
Ergo the theme of this modding competition will be "The community we are in". I'm hoping to see some great mods that cover users in the community that might have influenced you during your time here, the various sites of the community that you are a part of (it doesn't just have to be the Nexus!) and what you like about the community.
The type of mod you make, be it a quest, a new landmass, a house or castle, NPCs, weapons, armour, etc. is totally up to you but I will look more favourably upon entries that have a quest in them because I'm a sucker for a good quest! That doesn't mean a mod with a quest in is going to win, however, and if you come up with something really unique then I'll probably love it! A Nexus defence mod, for example, where you defend fort Nexus from a horde of trolls with your fellow moderators wielding ban hammers by your side is something I've dreamt about...
You might like to look at some of the entries for the previous competition that are still on the site for an example of the creative stuff that was made before (Oblivion competition , Fallout competition).
Requirements and judgement specifications
This competition is for Oblivion, Fallout: New Vegas and Dragon Age only and entries are separate for the three games. Oblivion entries will not be competing with Fallout: New Vegas or Dragon Age entries. All entries will be judged by myself and a panel of independent judges.
Unlike the last competition this time the mods will be uploaded to a hidden category that will not be visible to the public until the competition ends. I think it only fair that the people making mods for the competition are allowed to keep their entries private so that everything is kept hidden from prying, copying eyes! When the competition is over the entries will become available for public download.
Here are the requirements that entries need to keep to in order to be accepted into the judging process. All entries should:
- be uploaded to the special "Modding competition" category to be created soon on TESNexus for Oblivion entries, New Vegas Nexus for Fallout: New Vegas entries and Dragon Age Nexus for Dragon Age entries respectively
- follow appropriate mod submission etiquette including proper documentation such as a readme
- be archived in omod, fmod, zip, rar or 7zip format with all files properly archived in appropriate directory structures for easy installation
- work with vanilla patched Oblivion, Fallout: New Vegas or Dragon Age without the need for any other modifications or DLCs
- contain the authors own work ONLY. You cannot use other author’s content from any other modification
- optionally provide a small (750 words or less!) written document explaining choices made when designing and implementing the mod that might help the judges better understand why the mod turned out like it did
- Only one entry per person per game. For example you cannot have more than one entry for Oblivion, but you can have one entry for Oblivion, New Vegas and Dragon Age
Please ensure your entry is easy to install (as easy as any normal, popular modification) and well documented or your entry may be void.
Note: you may create your mods using script extenders such as FOSE as long as they are mainstream. This is the only exception to the "must work with vanilla version" stipulation.
Here are the judgment criteria that will be used to judge entries in the competition:
- How easy is the mod to install? Is it well documented and well published on the site? You will get extra points for having a "pretty" mod page. (Pyschophats 3GB Fallout NV Enabler PLUS page is a good example of a "pretty" mod entry)
- Does the mod capture a sense of community and integrate community members well into the premise of the mod?
- Is the mod well made? Is it pleasing to the eye? Missing textures, bad dialogue, spelling mistakes, lack of innovation, lack of creativity, lack of originality and lack of matching content to the personas of community members will be considered as bad! For example try to make any NPCs unique and relevant to the person you are trying to represent in the game both in their dialogue and their physical appearance.
- Is it entertaining? Does it provide an interesting experience for the user, whether it be funny, challenging or informative?
- Has a good effort been made? Is this a mod that has had a lot of effort put into it or does it show signs of being a quick hash together. The judges understand that not all authors are master craftsmen, but effort can be judged accordingly.
Closing date
All entries need to be submitted and uploaded to the site at midnight 10 days after the Nexus Forums hit the 2.5 million member mark. The date will be published on TESNexus, New Vegas Nexus and Dragon Age Nexus when it is reached. By my estimates that gives you 235 days based on the premise that there are 450,000 new registrations to go at an average of 2,000 new registrations a day. Any entries that do not contain a file by this time will be automatically removed from the database.
Prizes
The prizes are split equally between the three games with three teirs, there can only be one winner in each tier for each game. The winners will be selected within a month of the competition closing.
Grand Prize – the mod considered by the judges to be the best based on the judgement criteria provided
$350 Amazon voucher, or voucher from any major online retailer of the winner's choosing
Runner-up – the next best, as decided by the judges
$100 Amazon voucher, or voucher from any major online retailer of the winner's choosing
Highest potential – the mod that had great potential but fell short for one reason or another
$50 Amazon voucher, or voucher from any major online retailer of the winner's choosing
Total prize pool: $500 x 3 = $1,500
Entrants in countries in locations other than America can have their vouchers in their respective currency (so long as Amazon accommodates your currency) based on the exchange rate at the time of the competition’s closing. If you are in a country that is not supported by major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Play.com etc. then I may not be able to help you. You may wish to inquire about this before entering the competition.
Vouchers will be delivered online via the Nexus Forums and email to all winners.
Blurb
This competition is open to all users who are at least 18 years of age or older. No alternative, financial or otherwise will be provided to winners and it is recommended users check at Amazon.com to make sure their country is supported by the site.
Sole choice of winners is granted to Robin Scott (username Dark0ne) who will make his choice of winners based on his own reviews of entries and based on recommendations from his panel of judges. Robin reserves the right to disqualify any entry without warning should an entry or the author of an entry act outside the terms and conditions for either this competition or the site.
Authors are required to use only their own work, apart from that already offered by the original Oblivion, Fallout: New Vegas and Dragon Age: Origins games and their respective patches and are highly recommended to seek permission to include representations of other community members within their works to avoid any potential drama. Shivering Isles is the only supported expansion for Oblivion that entries can make use of. None of the DLC are supported.
All entries are uploaded to the site in the knowledge that you grant permission to Robin to publish them on the Nexus sites indefinitely. You retain all copyrights to your work and can upload your entry to any other site you wish but grant Robin the right to publish the mod on any Nexus site indefinitely.
By uploading an entry you grant your irrevocable permission to Robin to publish your online alias (not your full name, unless your alias is your full name), the name of your entry and any comments you may have made in regards to your entry.
This competition is not endorsed, sanctioned or supported by Bethesda Softworks, its parent company or its subsidiaries.
