Garden Competition Judging 2018

I.Am.Chalk · June 2018

As always here is a quick thread to discuss the current room competition judging. This thread is specifically for the 2018 Garden Competition!

What rooms did you fall in love with?

And just to share with others, if you completed your contest judging at 25 rooms go back in and judge again! Staff fixed the limit and put it back to 50 :)

As always, please DO NOT share your room entry until AFTER judging is over on VFK.

GIFT · June 2018

Oh thank you! I was wondering why I finished fast. So tomorrow I will give it a go again to see if I need more rooms to judge! Gotta love judging prizes!!!!!

Lily_Hoshikawa · June 2018

I just finished judging.

My favourite rooms that I got to judge were:

1. A room based on the mad tea party from alice in wonderland

2. A room based on the wizard of oz

3. My brother's entry.

4. My own entry XD

Aerwyn · June 2018

Does anyone know why there's a checkmark box in the bottom left corner of the judging box? Just wondering

Bellatrix · June 2018

I'm starting right now, hopefully there aren't a ton of clone rooms.

I unfortunately didn't have time to finish my room and forgot to add a description :(

GIFT · June 2018

HoneyBee said:
Does anyone know why there's a checkmark box in the bottom left corner of the judging box? Just wondering

That's odd. I haven't seen a check box during my judging yesterday. I'm gonna go ahead and judge more!

I.Am.Chalk · June 2018

HoneyBee said:
Does anyone know why there's a checkmark box in the bottom left corner of the judging box? Just wondering

As far as I know it just clears your stars. Like lets say you meant to give the room 0 stars for uniqueness... then you could click that box and re-enter all your scores. Not entirely sure if that's the sole purpose, but that's what I found. @HoneyBee

Aerwyn · June 2018

@I.Am.Chalk Oh my goodness that makes so much sense lol. Thanks!

GIFT · June 2018

I.Am.Chalk said:

HoneyBee said:
Does anyone know why there's a checkmark box in the bottom left corner of the judging box? Just wondering
As far as I know it just clears your stars. Like lets say you meant to give the room 0 stars for uniqueness... then you could click that box and re-enter all your scores. Not entirely sure if that's the sole purpose, but that's what I found. @HoneyBee

What if you tick the box first then leave stars? It seems like my stars go thru and doesn't clear. Just saw these tickets boxes which I didn't notice yesterday. Is this a new feature, staff?

MissWitch · June 2018

:)

Awesome_Piper · June 2018

uhh..i started judging last night and when I went back to continue today, the first room I got looks exactly like a room I already judged. I have seen people recreate the same room but it looks like so much time (and credits) went into this one. I just don't want to judge the same room twice. It doesn't seem fair. :-??

iStella · June 2018

Hey @Awesome_Piper,

I'm pretty sure that the little box in the lower left used to have a tag on it which basically meant disqualify. So if you come to a room you think shouldn't be in the contest just hit that button. That's what I do! It clears any ratings which you might have put on it too.

Also @I.Am.Chalk that's a cool use for it to!

Bellatrix · June 2018

I only got a few rooms that were deserving or close to deserving a full 5 stars...

-VFK Anniversary Tribute Garden

-Mystical Butterfly Garden (the purple themed one)

-There was a room only titled "My Contest Entry" and it had a river with some sort of temple in the middle...

Clone Rooms...

I got way too many clone rooms. I know this is an issue every year, but if you're entering a clone room, why not at least try? I'm SO tired of getting that same clone room 10x times. It's incredibly boring. I really do hope that checkmark box is like a disqualification option and you get no judging prizes. I don't mind people entering clones when they actually try to build (I do it!). But when people enter rooms to just get prizes really irks me. :-)

MistyMew · June 2018

I LOVE all the rooms!!! Maybe I don't think right, but I enjoy judging all of them! Sure, some aren't place worthy but the ones I fall in love with the most are just because they are cute as a button!

Maybe I don't get the same rooms, but I'm going to post all the rooms I got and....whats not to like? =^.^=

First 10

Spoiler:

WOW

So sweet...

I love the giant weeds that are getting mowed!

Just a simple cute garden

Loved this one!

Very themed!

Reminds me of a clock!

Very pretty!

The green house is amazing!!

I LOVE THE BUNNY VILLIAGE!!

GIFT · June 2018

About the clone rooms... From what I have observed...

DON'T BUILD/PUT ANYTHING IN ROOM: Yes, this is possible. It means you are just going to judge. Your contest points won't show up in your pink couch closet but the ability to judge will be in the MENU of your said account. I believe you will get judging prizes as well since you judged.

BUILD SOMETHING: Your account will get contest points and you can judge as well. You will get judging prizes.

I do agree with clone rooms -- at least put effort or if you can't put any effort at all, just judge and don't leave anything in the room. This will save judger's time and visual interest and they can give their stars towards far more deserving rooms.

Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Even if the rooms look all the same, try to see a room with fresh eyes. I get it. There are rooms that have a pattern that even I can detect and (even) guess who the main account is judging by their execution and room of choice. But even I can be wrong.

Have fun judging!

MistyMew · June 2018

I think that was wonderful advise @GiftPrincess!

I am just so confused as why judging isn't fun unless you see all the winning rooms. that's what the homepage is for after the contest, to see the aftermath! I love that when I judge I get to see little rooms I know will never see the light of day or make it to the homepage but I get to witness the little secrets of VFK that will never been seen ever again in the history of the world!

It's tremendously exciting! So many people just store their room, its like getting to see paintings that will be burned soon! They might not be a master piece but they are a treasure! Even a spare account has someone behind the screen and that person bestows their personality into any room they create!

That is just my too cents! =^.^=

MistyMew · June 2018

10 more rooms!!

Whee!! Aren't some of them lovely?!?!

Spoiler:

I was blown away by this one!

I LOVE THIS FROG POND!!

Lovely!

I had so much fun on this ride!

Oh my goodness I loved this one, I just wish it wasn't offset!

OMG This party!!!!! It's to die for!

Again amazing!

So many grown plants!

Oh... This beach party! I wish I had made it =^.^=

And this one is simply stunning!

Holly · June 2018

The one I really liked this year had mickey mouse made out of flowers It was sooo cute!!

Trinityy · June 2018

I agree with @MistyMew, the rooms are always different and unique which makes it a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing these pictures, I didn't get those rooms when I was judging; sadly I forgot to take pictures while I judged. :(

Good luck to everyone who entered! I hope I place too. ^^

MistyMew · June 2018

Next set of 10!!

Spoiler:

This one had a real atmosephere

Under the sea XD

So fairyish!

<3 VFK

WOW

Wish this was mine!

Jungle garden :o

Lovely!!

Hmm space lab garden....

This one really spoke to me for some reason!

prettyredstone · June 2018

I never seen half the rooms... oh wait because I keep getting the same darn clone rooms.

I would have love to vote for more of the ones misty put up.

I will disagree with you @GiftPrincess . It's... to a certain degree that we have to keep a fresh mind on judging but personally after judging so many years and seeing the exact same rooms, it gets boring. It pushes out judging actual people who put their heart into the rooms and we don't even get to see them.

I will gladly disqualify half attempt, half effort, same design, clone rooms.

Butterflykisses · June 2018

Im afraid my room is not being seen as much, since people are getting the same ones!!! I had a huge room and put a lot of sweat and tears and credits into mine, as did most of everyone... I judge everyone's room honestly.... I don't even know who the clones are, to be honest. Every room should be judged for the room, and the hard work that is put into it... we all know how much it takes to do a great room. I feel mine is great and this is my first competition. I'm learning still. But to enter clones just so they can judge their mains person's room, to get more credits, I feel is cheating and NOT COOL.

MistyMew · June 2018

Next set of 10! OMG That last one I want to live there!! And the middle!! I don't know how some people make theses rooms!!

Spoiler:

So pretty!

Theme is great for this one!

This one was just adorable!

This is just so cool!!!

And WOW Just wow!

this one is just lovely!

love the tiki gardens!

So cute!

The architecture is amazing on this one plus a fun ride!

Ah... I want to live here if Only I knew the person who made this!

Lily_Hoshikawa · June 2018

MistyMew said:
I LOVE all the rooms!!! Maybe I don't think right, but I enjoy judging all of them! Sure, some aren't place worthy but the ones I fall in love with the most are just because they are cute as a button!

Maybe I don't get the same rooms, but I'm going to post all the rooms I got and....whats not to like? =^.^=

First 10

Spoiler:

WOW

So sweet...

I love the giant weeds that are getting mowed!

Just a simple cute garden

Loved this one!

Very themed!

Reminds me of a clock!

Very pretty!

The green house is amazing!!

I LOVE THE BUNNY VILLIAGE!!

I am so glad you liked one of my entries. I did the room with the blonde mannequin in blue and the black hair mannequin.

Bellatrix · June 2018

prettyredstone said:
I never seen half the rooms... oh wait because I keep getting the same darn clone rooms.
I would have love to vote for more of the ones misty put up.

I will disagree with you @GiftPrincess . It's... to a certain degree that we have to keep a fresh mind on judging but personally after judging so many years and seeing the exact same rooms, it gets boring. It pushes out judging actual people who put their heart into the rooms and we don't even get to see them.

I will gladly disqualify half attempt, half effort, same design, clone rooms.

I agree.

I don't want to see all the winning rooms, but getting the repeat clone rooms keeps me and everyone else from judging on the rooms that actually need and deserve to be judged on. A clone room built for the sake of getting contest points and judging prizes does NOT deserve to be judged on and you are just wasting my time.

It is so incredibly boring to get the same clone room 5 times in one judging session.

I enter one other account and I actually spent time on the room because it was another idea I had while building the room on my main account (it was actually posted by Misty). I do not care if you enter clone rooms, but I do care whether or not you build in your clone rooms. I really don't care if it places, either. Because you spent time on that room and it was another idea you had. Great! I will have fun judging it.

MissWitch · June 2018

Some people have been saying that if it's not spring themed they won't judge it or if its not use of theme. Since when are we making up our own rules for the room contests? The rules said it just has to be a garden room it doesn't matter if it's underwater, in space, or wherever else. The rules says it can be any kind of room you want it to be. So for all the people who keep saying it has to be a spring garden or a certain theme maybe you should go re read the rules.

- not directed towards anyone but I saw a few people saying this yesterday"

From the rules- " you may enter any type of room"

Perpetual_Fighter · June 2018

I definitely have entered rooms with nothing on a clone (granted I only do one.) I don’t want points or anything. I just want to be able to judge and get the prizes. So if I get 0 contest points, that is fine with me! :D

I think people should be allowed to enter clone rooms if they are empty for the sake of judging - until vfk let’s ALL players judge with or without entering rooms. I don’t want to build 2 extra-ordinary rooms, one on main and one on clone. That could steal the spot someone else deserves if I place on both accounts. I just cannot agree on building two great rooms and placing on both. Placing once on one account each competition should be enough. If there weren’t limited 1-5th spots, I wouldn’t care.

MissWitch · June 2018

EleanorRose · June 2018

CozyFallWitch said:
Some people have been saying that if it's not spring themed they won't judge it or if its not use of theme. Since when are we making up our own rules for the room contests? The rules said it just has to be a garden room it doesn't matter if it's underwater, in space, or wherever else. The rules says it can be any kind of room you want it to be. So for all the people who keep saying it has to be a spring garden or a certain theme maybe you should go re read the rules.

- not directed towards anyone but I saw a few people saying this yesterday"

From the rules- " you may enter any type of room"

I think the developers should do the judging now on so people get a fair and honest result..people like to fight over these competitions and bump honest working people out because it doesn't reflect their style or it's not grand enough for them..I quit doing these because I always felt that I was always unfairly down-voted because my rooms wasn't big and grand enough for them even after sinking every last credit I had into a room..I really think the judging setup is unfair for newer people who do not understand how to build these fancy rooms that always seem to win..

I.Am.Chalk · June 2018

My two cents on every topic above:

Clone Rooms

I understand why people use them, I use them in some contests as well (For contest points in the shop + judging prizes). However, after judging 150 rooms yesterday there were soooo many clone rooms. Rooms that looked EXACTLY the same, same placement... same items... same colors (for example: there was one that was using the same pink and blue flowers on top of the new garden pots, I got these rooms AT LEAST 20 times...). If you truly just want to do it for judging, don't place items in the room. If you want to do it for points, make new rooms, not the same exact room on a different account.

Judging non-garden rooms

I will judge every room equally I guess not every room, but normally I judge every room equally (unless obvious clone or totally doesn't fit with the theme), VFK added the options at the top for which category they belong in; as long as you separate them accordingly, there should be absolutely no reason to not judge the room. However personally, I may not judge rooms that are placed under "other" as high as those that fit into the other categories. No matter how extravagant they are... the contest is themed for a reason, save your other ideas for the proper category (ie Sandcastle, Halloween, Christmas, Space).

However, I can understand where people who don't judge them are coming from. As awful as it may seem.

Seeing different rooms

I judged 150 rooms so I got a bunch of different players entries, there were maybe only 3 or 4 rooms that I got on two or all three accounts. Thus, I feel like the randomization of rooms per account is very fair. Also based off what Misty showed, I only got 6 out of 40 rooms that she SHARED... seems pretty random to me based off those.

As for allowing only staff to judge

This use to be an issue with the older contests which is what brought in player room judging. When only staff were allowed to vote on the room TONS of people would go crazy saying how it was unfair and only "staff favorites" won. Unfortunately, even if it was brought back to this way of judging, the same issue would come up again and people would still feel the same way. I feel this is the most fair way for judging.

When I judge rooms

I don't always give big extravagant rooms 5*s, sometimes those rooms are too cluttered that you cant even tell what is going on anymore. The majority of my 5*s actually go to the more intimate small rooms that put detail but don't throw it in your face (and I know many people who vote the same). Yes, odds are the bigger rooms are going to win first place, usually second too... but that's not always the case. I've done big football field rooms four times and only twice have they actually won, all four to the same level of detail.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

I've been an art student for three years and I can tell you on so many occasions how different everyone's opinions can be on art (yes, online room building is art). You can think your room is absolutely stunning, perfect, and first place worthy... but other's might not feel the same way. And vise versa. I know people who entered this contest expecting just to get points and they are currently on the leaders board... not realizing that their room was -- we'll say -- 3rd place worthy. It's all subject to each player. Think of it this way, each star is said to be 10 points, if you have 1000 points that is 100 stars that were put toward your room. 100 stars worth of people who agreed with all or some aspect of your room. In the end, if you don't place you still get the experience which will benefit you in your future builds... and lets not forget the contest points to put towards the shop!

Mind you this is coming from someone who has participated in EVERY building competition and just started placing in 1st-5th after 8 years of building.