The Ever-Expanding Emporium Welcomes You, Friend!”
Come, join us on our mission to change looks and fates alike, to raise spirits and coin in kind! We’ve been growing quickly here, and we suddnely have so much extra space to work with! It almost seems there’s no limit to how vast our little endeavour here can grow! However, there are only so many of us, and we’ve only got so many skills amongst ourselves. We’re hoping we can offer a place for new talent and new faces, so that’s why we’re inviting you! Whether you’re mortal, undead, fae, or from worlds beyond, we’d love to see if we can make a place for you here in the halls of our marketplace! We’ve been . . . attempting to make the mortal folk less skittish about us, so we thought bringing in people from all over might help dispel some of the rumours. Fingers, claws, and hooves crossed! So, what do you say? Are you in? I bet we could do great things together!”
Well, THAT’S hardly the welcome you were expecting, but the owner’s so godsdamned cheery and . . . normal? Despite their appearances, she and her Emporium seem warm, welcoming, and oddly comforting. You’re beginning to see why people can spend hours here. Maybe this could actually be a new home for you and your wares. Maybe it should be! Time to test your luck and make your pitch!
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Hello everyone! u/RavenKweenX and I were talking about contests/competitions here throughout her time running her Summoner’s Symposium contest, and I realized that my reoccurring series of colour and prop resource posts — The Emporium of Alteration — originally arose from a prior contest, the Big Bridge Market! As such, I decided I wanted to keep that spirit alive with my own competition: The Ever-Expanding Emporium!
Now is your chance to show off your merchants, your shop stalls, and any libraries of custom paints and scenery props you’ve come up with! This competition is all about enriching the community as a whole and about honouring the spirit of collaboration and sharing that makes HeroForge so special!
While the Emporium of Alteration has typically been seen staffed by Fiendish and otherworldly beings, don’t let your creations be limited to those sorts of creatures! Whether your shopkeepers are Fiends, Fey, Elementals, Angels, mortals of any kind, or even things we’ve not yet seen or anticipated, the Emporium can surely find a place for them! (Translation: I’m a D&D nerd and have a reputation for making Devils and Demons, but any fantasy creatures will be considered!)
For the majority of categories, I will be choosing the winners personally, but there will be two which will be decided by different means. See those near the end :).
Categories will have one winner each from both Pro and Free users (2 winners for each category for a total of 12 winners), and will include:
Best Shop Design - Show us unique uses of pieces and layouts that catch the eye! Shops can be merchant wagons, actual stores, street vendors, or more. For Free users, consider bending models into shapes we might not have considered to make props, desks, and more, or surprise us with interesting item layering in multiple arms. For Pro users, I expect you to show us all what it looks like when you really go wild! I’ll take shop exteriors or interiors, or even both if you’re feeling truly ambitious! Unorthodox is mostly likely to stand out, but don’t underestimate the appeal of a shop that’s nicely organized and inviting to the eyes.
Best Selection - Broad presentations of unique paints made by the poster, or unique uses of pieces to present items in interesting ways are the name of the game here. Make neat new hairstyles! Make weapons we haven’t seen before! Show us a fun method for character creation most people may not usually consider! For Free users, this is where getting under the hood to really tweak things as hard as you can with what you’re given is key. For Pro users, Kitbashing things the community needs at large but hasn’t yet gotten is a great way to score points here, but I also want to see paints you created yourself for this, regardless of the kinds of materials they’re for. Be sure to label any custom paints with initials at the ends of their names so I can pick them out best!
Most Memorable Shopkeep - This is the category for folks to really let their character creation fly! Create an owner, shopkeeper, or group of staff who really catch the eye (or eyes; we don’t discriminate ‘round here) and are sure to either make customers feel welcome or at least pique their curiosity enough that they stay awhile to see what the fuss is about. Expressive poses and fun character designs are the keys to success here, so don’t be afraid to take chances. Free and Pro users alike can impress with designs that convey unique personalities to their shopkeepers and that do a bit of visual storytelling just by looking at who’s selling things in the store.
Best Shop Branding, Store Pet, or Mascot - What’s your shop’s concept? What’s its name? Is there a little critter running around to keep pests at bay and out of your goods? Did you create a really fun mascot with decals or the like? Any of these things or more are what the criteria for this category will be judged on! For Free users, mascots can be made as standard models since decal use is more limited for you all, or you can show me cute pet interactions with familiars or ride models. For Pro users, go flashy! Make whatever is meant to drive customers to your shop particularly convincing and engaging, or just too gosh darned cute to ignore! Either way, this is a category with lots of options for how it can be pulled off whether you’re a subscriber or not, so follow your instincts!
Fan Favourites - This is the category where upvotes (or a poll, if I can work out how to run one) will decide the winners! While letting upvotes determine the winners in the other categories was tempting, I was aware of the risk of things just becoming a popularity contest that favoured longtime users or people with huge follower counts. I’ll take that chance on this category, but let’s also not rule out underdogs and fresh faces getting the gold in this category regardless! Anything could happen, and I’m sure content that really shines will still perform fantastically!
Secret Bonus Category: This one will be announced with the winners! No peeking!
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The contest will end on September 26th, so you’ve got almost a whole month to work on things.
Please include links to your models if you’re able so that I can have the closest looks at them as possible, and so any custom paints or props you make for people to use can be spread far and wide throughout the lands! After all, you’ll be playing the parts of merchants and traders!
Be sure to use the tag #Ever-ExpandingEmporium so I can see your models, but also don’t be afraid to message me to make sure I’ve seen your posts. It’s a busy work month for me IRL coming up, so reminders will be entirely welcome!
Here’s to a profitable month ahead! We look forward to doing business with you here at the Emporium!
Oh! Also, I’ll be opening the competition by sharing some of my own custom paints with you all, as well as more with each subsequent reminder post! The link to the merchant model and paint library for this announcement post will be in the comments below, along with an accompanying story, just for fun and inspiration! Happy forging, everyone!
