Beauty Contest
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The Beauty Contest is a weekly art competition that began on February 21, 2000. Users submit pictures of their Neopet to be voted on by other players. A new round begins every Friday at 4:15 PM NST (or 3:15 PM DST). Unlike other art contests such as the Art Gallery and Random Contest, the quality of art is irrelevant; the number of votes is the sole basis for determining winners. For this reason, the Beauty Contest is sometimes considered to be an advertising competition. On the other hand, this allows users of any skill level to enter, provided they follow the rules.
Also unique to the Beauty Contest is its lack of Neopoint and item prizes. This is so users may enter their pets on side accounts without violating the Terms and Conditions.
Participants are encouraged to advertise in the special Beauty Contest Neoboard. Creating off-topic threads outside this area may be considered spam.
Rules
Because the outcome of contests depends on user votes, the Beauty Contest is closely regulated. Participants must abide by specific rules regarding their behavior and artwork.
Artwork
All entries must be a maximum of 75 KB in size and either a JPEG or GIF file. After submission, the image is reviewed by contest_judge (a staff account) to gauge whether it is acceptable. Users are notified by Neomail if their image is rejected, but they are free to resubmit after making corrections. Some images are mistakenly approved at first and removed mid-competition.
Some common causes of rejection are:
- Too human-like. The Beauty Contest allows for anthro artwork, but entries that resemble humans more than Neopets are rejected.
- Does not resemble a Neopet enough. Although users have a lot of leeway, the drawing must be distinguishable as the appropriate species.
- Too realistic. (Photography is disallowed.)
- Includes copyright symbols or language. However, it can be signed with a username, as long as the account actually belongs to the submitter.
- Not completely the work of the user.
- Links to offsite websites, such as Deviantart.
Other Rules
Users must advertise using the account they have entered with, and only for their own pets. Spamming in the Beauty Contest board, while usually frowned upon, is usually not a reportable offense. Advertising on other boards is also acceptable to an extent.
Each person has exactly one vote per species, and these votes must be spent on a main account. Intentionally voting on multiple accounts or on a side account is a freezable offense. Buying, selling, or trading votes in any way is not tolerated.
Placing
Originally, the Beauty Contest awarded winners with Neopoint and item prizes. As a result, users could only enter from their main accounts. However, starting on April 4, 2008, prizes were discontinued to allow users to enter pets on their side accounts provided that advertising was done from the appropriate account. Currently, winners receive only a trophy for their efforts.
| Prizes (Pre-April 2008) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Place | Overall Winners | Species Winners |
| 1 | 20,000 NP + one rare item | 10,000 NP |
| 2 | 10,000 NP + one rare item | 5,000 NP |
| 3 | 5,000 NP + one rare item | 2,500 NP |
Pets who win first place in their species category cannot enter again for 4 months to allow other pets a chance to place. This is colloquially called a goldban.
Terminology
| Anthro | Neopets drawn with human characteristics. |
| Goldban | Winning first place, which results in that pet being locked out of the Beauty Contest for 4 months. |
| Manual Vote (MV) | Voting by looking at every entry and voting for the best artwork. |
| Non-Silent Vote (NSV) | Voting and announcing who received the vote. |
| Placing | Winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. |
| Quad | Neopets drawn to look like Neopets; i.e. not Anthro. |
| Silent Vote (SV) | Voting secretly, without announcing who received the vote. |
| Traditional | Type of artwork made using traditional medium, such as watercolor, pencil, pastels, etc. |
Trivia
- The Beauty Contest was originally called the Neopian Beauty Expo.