Halloween 2007 Event Details

OOC NOTE: Consider this page as a flyer that's being circulated around Yuriba. That means that it's not very editable (and written partly from a first-person perspective, as it happens; this is intentional) but there's a space at the bottom for people to add information on after-parties or the like. Also note that all times are PST, which is not quite the same as MUSH time as of this writing. Any questions or comments should be directed to this page's talk page or paged to Tanaku in-game.

The time has come for the fifth Yuriban Halloween Festival. This is an annual one-day-only event that falls on the 31st of October each year, and I, Tanaku, am the event's organizer this time.

Since it's both an anniversary year for Yuriba and the Halloween celebration's 5th anniversary, I'm hoping to make this iteration of the event particularly memorable. If all the plans that are in the works go through, it likely will be the most involving and (hopefully!) exciting of these festivals to date, so try to come if you can! There will be lots of unusual prizes; previous Halloween events have featured the costume competition as the only thing for which prizes were given, and while that's definitely still the main event this year, we'll also have two other competitions with prizes of their own. Additionally, the people-concentration for this event tends to be denser than for most others, so it's a good chance to get acquainted with folks you might not have met before. Most of the event will be held in the Sombreuil Community Center, as is traditional.

Annual Yuriban Costume Contest

Firstly, the announcement I know that many of you have been waiting for: The annual costume contest's categories!

Categories for this year

• Most intricate - Complex and interesting, and possibly difficult to analyze. OOC NOTE: However, it shouldn't be extremely difficult to read; it should be intricate and well-written.
• Most amusing - Not necessarily the same thing as being funny, though humour might be a component of the winning costume.
• Most charming - Not necessarily the same thing as being cute, though cuteness would hardly be a disqualifier.
• Best overall - Winners of other categories will also be eligible for this prize, but it usually ends up going to someone different.

Judging information

The judging format for this year's contest is as yet undecided. I may judge all the categories myself, or I may recruit judges to judge certain categories. OOC NOTE: If any players are selected and agree to be judges, these players and their alts will be ineligible to win any categories in the costume competition themselves, though they will still be eligible for unrelated prizes. Any judges so recruited will remain anonymous until the conclusion of the event, at which point they'll get to announce the winner of their category and hand out its prize personally; they'll also be immortalized as having been one of the judges in the memories of Yuriba's citizenry.

Additionally, some categorie(s) may be judged by popular vote; when the day of the event rolls around, be sure to have a look at everyone's costume so that you'll have a good selection in mind.

Advice on winning

Note that you don't necessarily have to attend all (or even any) of the event to win the costume contest - as long as I (or one of the other more anonymous judges, if there are any) see you in costume some time on the 31st of October, you're eligible to win in any of the categories that are judged by judges instead of other Yuribans. Of course, it's still best to try to attend if you can and you want to win; it's particularly nice to at least be there for the awards ceremony. If any categories are judged based on popular consensus, it would naturally be best to try to be there as much as possible to win those categories, so that your costume would have the most exposure possible to the largest number of people.

The contest's prizes won't be announced until they're being handed out, but they're always interesting and sometimes very unique, so see if you can win!

Area Decorating Contest

The first of the new contests this year will encourage those who own areas, be they homes, businesses, or otherwise, to decorate one of their areas for Halloween. OOC NOTE: Those who will decorate their areas in this fashion should page me with the DBREF#s of all rooms that will be decorated on (or very preferably before) 8 PM on the 30th of October. It doesn't matter how idle I am when you page me; I'll see it. All who pledge to have their areas decorated and accomplish this before 11:59 PM on the 30th of October will have their areas made into destinations for the Trick-or-Treating Contest and will be entered in the contest for best-decorated Halloween room/area, which will have a prize of its own. Note that you don't have to be present for the Trick-or-Treating; all that's required is that your area be open and decorated properly in advance.

OOC Rules and Guidelines

• The area must be gridded. Portaled or unlinked areas won't be accepted for this contest. However, if your area isn't gridded but you'll have it approved and gridded before the final contest deadline, you may still enter it. Area approvals will be processed in a more timely fashion if possible to facilitate this.
• All rooms that will be decorated must be unlocked and publically accessible. Further, no rooms entered may be behind any trick/secret/DARK exits.
• You can decorate one room of your area, several rooms of your area, or your entire area. Give me all applicable DBREF#s in your page. Those who decorate their entire area may be more likely to win if the competition is tight and the overall effect they achieve is better, but a well done single-room desc could also definitely win.

  If more than one room is entered for a given area, state your preference as to which room the actual trick-or-treating will occur in when you page me with your information.

• Only one area may be entered per alt, but one area may be entered for each alt you have.
• Only one prize will be awarded, and that prize will only be given out if at least ten different players compete in this contest. Try to get your friends to give it a go, as well!
• If a large number of areas are entered in this contest, only the first certain number of entries will be accepted - this isn't likely to happen immediately, but it does mean that it's best to get your entries in as soon as possible. Remember, entering just means getting me the DBREF#s; the descs don't have to be done until closer to the contest.
• Your area can be decorated however you would like (within the MUSH's rules); Halloween, Samhain, or otherwise; actually creepy, amusingly spooky, or simply fun - whatever you wish to try.
• It's preferred but not required that areas entered in the contest use a room multi-descer, that way they can be set to more easily use these descriptions in the future.
• Some MUSH-owned (as opposed to player-owned) areas may also be made trick-or-treat locations; these may or may not be decorated, but won't be part of this contest in any event, so there's no need to worry about the added competition.

Trick-or-Treating Contest

Some may remember the trick-or-treat mini-event that was part of the festivities a few years back. One received a special trick-or-treat bag, and had to go around collecting candy and other treats from various predesignated spots. Once one had visited every locale, one's bag magically turned into a ticket that allowed one to enter the event.

That will be returning this year, but instead of being semi-mandatory if one wishes to attend the event at all, it will not be required to attend the main part of the evening's festivities.

Instead, there will be a window of opportunity in which the trick-or-treating can be completed that will allow one to enter the community center early and attend a pre-event party. (Any vagrants will be kicked out and the building will be locked up tight on midnight of the 30th.) No significant parts of the celebration will be held during this window of time, so those who don't manage to or choose not to complete their trick-or-treating before the deadline won't be missing out on anything major. However, one prize will be given out to a randomly-selected person who successfully completes their trick-or-treating and attends the pre-event party, even if only briefly. If one still wishes to complete one's trick-or-treating after the deadline has passed, one will still be able to, as the trick-or-treating locations won't be removed until 24 hours after they've been put into place. Completing one's trick-or-treating late won't make one eligible for the pre-event party prize, but one will still receive a ticket for entry to that party, which might be kept as an award, of sorts.

Note that this contest is not the same as a scavenger hunt; locations will be named specifically instead of merely hinted at, and must then simply be found. This is not likely to be terribly difficult, so one should have ample time to leisurely enjoy one's trick-or-treating and still make some of the pre-event party if one gets an early start.

Event Itinerary

OOC NOTE: Remember, all times are PST, which is two hours earlier than CST, three hours earlier than EST, 6 hours earlier than GMT, and 7 hours earlier than CET ... I'll leave it at that, but that makes me wonder how many Aussies and similar we have. No clue, these days. One further note: Be sure to adjust for DST; this year, the United States's DST status will change one week later than it used to, so those of you outside of the US who experience DST this next weekend may be an hour closer to us than you'd expect.

• From now until October 29th: Other ideas for fun things to add to the event may be submitted. No more contests unless you can come up with the prizes yourself, though, and if you submit something and I like it, I may ask you to partially coordinate it yourself if it will require much work.
• From now until 8 PM on October 30th: Submissions for the area-decorating/trick-or-treat locations contest accepted.
• No later than 11:59 PM on October 30th: All areas submitted to the area-decorating/trick-or-treat contest must be properly decorated and otherwise meet the contest's submission criteria.
• 12 AM: Community center will be emptied and locked until the event starts.
• 1 PM on October 31st until 1 PM on November 1st: Trick-or-treating will be available and can be completed to get award tickets for the pre-event party.
• 3 PM to 5 PM: Pre-event party will be held in the community center. Party only open to those that have completed trick-or-treating; those that arrive before 5 will have a chance to win a prize.
• 5 PM: Pre-event party ends. Doors open for the main event; completing trick-or-treating no longer required to enter.
• 5:10 PM: Pre-event party prize will be handed out.
• 6 PM to 8:30 PM: Scary storytelling, and possibly themely skits and the like. Think up some good ones in advance!
• 9 PM: Firm deadline for a judge to have seen your costume.
• TBA: Sometime after 9 PM, once the results of all the contests judged by judges have been decided, an awards ceremony will be held. Results from any categorie(s) decided by popular vote (if any are) will be tallied just beforehand, with a last call for voters to make their selections.

Other things will also be going on throughout the evening. From 5 PM 'til the awards ceremony and perhaps for a while after the ceremony, there'll be dancing and/or other general party-type interactions to be had. There will also be refreshments (including some fun new additions to those we usually have for Halloween), and music; I have some ambitious plans in regards to the music that may or may not come to fruition in time, but if they do, it'll be sure to be an interesting experience. Other spooky surprises and unannounced events may also happen.

Afterparties

Traditionally, some Yuribans also hold afterparties of various sorts; these shouldn't be scheduled until 10:30 PM or so at the earliest to avoid potential scheduling conflicts. If yours is scheduled for that time and things at the main event are winding down before then, folks can always wander over earlier. If you'd like to announce your afterparty, feel free to add it in the space provided below. Be sure to include projected time, location, and any other relevant or interesting details.

Individual Afterparties

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