Horation

What I'd do is focus on a tier challenge for building entrants (so as to encourage them to post and reply to their topics, keeping engagement high during the contest), and a smaller single prize for critics (who are likely to reply, regardless of the presence or absence of a prize for simply doing so). Also, maybe a raffle among entrants (say, 25 euros given to one building entry at random, each entry you make gives you an extra "ticket" so those who make more entries get more chances) would work to improve participation? And I would the challenges have a slightly larger threshold (ex : first to 30), that way people come back and keep on posting at least a little longer. Anyhoo, I'm working on 4 additional builds for the contest...

Wunderschön! Excellent build, I quite like the amount of stuff inside, it looks full but not cramped.

Out of curiosity, what's the total budget? I see 690€ on this topic : Also, when is the next challenge happening? I know you said something around the 17th, but it'd be nice to have a number to mark on the calendar. As for the prizes, I think it is quite clear what people prefer (smaller prizes, spread out), except if the classic pirates poll outputs a different result...

There's a bunch of nice pictures, a lot of original prose, and an overall excellent build. I have seen one of these, occasionally two, but only very rarely all three. Then, you also added some video content, it really is an all-rounder! One critique : we don't get an ensemble view of the whole interior, only small bits of it at a time, an overarching view (maybe with the sails removed so as to improve visibility for those pictures) could help give us a clearer sense of what is inside. Other than that, really solid stuff, good luck in the voting phase!

Me and my brother liked history, especially napoleonics, and also Lego, and building armies, guess which theme met all of our rigorous standards...

I'd also add that people are waiting for further prizes to be announced (ex: I'll publish my entries when the next challenge starts, since that will improve my odds of reaching 25 first, otherwise I'd get a bunch of replies before the cutoff date).

Well I was thinking to allow them to go over 3 but then have to choose 3 for selection, but yeah you are correct, there aren't a lot of entries, then again maybe we just need to give it some more time...

Some builders are incredibly prolific (looking at you, @MyFirstMOC-Hun), maybe allowing for those folks to submit more entries, but with them then getting to choose the ones they'll submit for voting on the basis of community feedback, would increase the number of entries.

Another advantage is that it avoids sweeps (ex:1 person wins every 1st to 25 prize because they have more free time than others to write or reply to comments).

I think a couple of medium size prizes would do a lot more to drive traffic than a bunch of small ones, since they would leave a bigger bang (ex : by the fifth time you hear about a 25 euro prize, you won't care much, but hearing of a rarer 100 euro prize might get your attention more easily). Or, we could, just like was suggested earlier in another thread, do a tier system, say 100 euros for first to 50, 50 for first to 35, etc...

I fail to see how smaller prizes would get more entries, the time and effort needed to make an entry is such that if the prizes are reduced in size, it will discourage more entries, since people will win less stuff for the same effort.

I feel like the best way to do it is a couple of big prizes spread out over the contest's duration rather than a melange of prize types which'll confuse newcomers

Interesting selection, the post captain looks great, I might end up using it make a new sigfig!

@Mister Phes, from what I've seen, fully closed shelves work, anything else is basically useless.

Most of it is likely rather boring (ex : legal or production requirements), but they probably also explain how to "lego-ify" someone correctly. You can surely send that man a message requesting a copy or ask Lego's customer services for it. They might just let you take a look.

Arguably, if there was more darkness on the building (ex: dark green vegetation), it would look more in tune.

I quite like the tier idea

A fitting story for Steve, one knows he would not dare spy on his own kin, his own flesh (after all, redbeard and he are clones of each other). Indeed, this looks like a lovely brawl, but for additional chaos, I'd add a few ice cream pieces for smoke on the muskets. The tower looks well-built, with a great roofing technique and some small details on the walls. However, it doesn't fit the other part of the build (the pirates' camp). One would expect their meeting to be in a secluded area, and not next to a small tower in flawless shape that would surely draw attention to them. It'd be easy to make it look like ruins so as to improve coherence. The beach is well shaped, but the black water, I must say, looks disappointing, as it damages the colourfulness of the whole build. Either replace it or use a piece of blue paper/cardboard like @Juhlhaus. A good selection of aptly-posed figures rounds out the entry. There's a lot of skill behind this, and with a little more time, it'd be even better

A lovely build, with clever techniques and a nice colour scheme! 2 questions, though : a) where is all the crew? 4 men for such a ship feels a like a little... b) the ladders are nice, but they make it impossible to access the guns under them, maybe modify it a little? But these are tweeny nitpicks from someone still in contest mode. The sails look custom-made, where'd you get them? Or how did you make 'em?

A nice build that correctly captures the nature of the Steve we know and love! The fluff around the build is well thought out, and instead of some lazy prose, it reads well. There's however little mystery, since we know our Steve would never hoard his money to no end! It is original enough for what it intends to be. One small critique is the fact that there's a little too much foliage (it is a small isle, so it should have small amounts of stuff), and you mention a digging operation, but I see few traces of such an operation, maybe add a little sand here and there to improve the illusion. But these are small nitpicks... If I can make another recommendation : make a follow on! Where does the money end up? Does he get cursed (is it how he lost a leg and became a pirate captain down the line)? Does he buy a merchant boat with and tries again with the redcoats instead of the bluecosts? That's what I want, more, because this is already great!

The only thing missing is a couple of rock monsters! Lovely build, it is chockfull of details, even at such a scale.

That's your choice, but it is definitively going to bother some people, and might cost you valuable votes.

The greedy pirate in me sure prefers the bigger prizes (especially since I've got a real chance of winning 'em). Also, in all seriousness, a bigger prize draws in more interest from top talents (ex : Wimbledon gives 2 000 000 in prize money to the winner, while the Granby open has total prizes under 300 000, guess which one Roger Federer went to the most often...).

Any chance of getting a hint at what the next challenge will involve, or is it, like Steve's background, a mystery?

It is in fact an advantage, as Lego sets tend to be cheaper in Canada than in Europe, so I got 42 Euros per European prices, but which retailed for an amount equal to only 35 Euros in Canadian dollars... Just don't forget to follow the prize claiming rules...