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A Farewell to the Random Contest


by azienskieth

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On the 29th day of Collecting, in Y6, a new contest was revealed - the Random Contest! This was completely new and revolutionary for Neopians; every week, a different skill could be used to win some shiny prizes. Since then, there have been all sorts of Random Contests, from pumpkin carving to keyring making to shirt designing, and everything in between!

Now, it has been announced that after ten years, the Random Contest is closing - but not without an exciting final contest! Neopians now get the opportunity to create a Caption Contest image! This was done once before, but as far as I know, none of the submissions ever made it to being an actual CC. I imagine there are hundreds of Neopians clamoring about, trying to be a winner of the last Random Contest in the history of Neopia.

When I first found out that the site contest was closing, I was distraught. I quite enjoyed seeing what sorts of things creative Neopians can create when they put their minds to it. However, I do realize that all things must come to an end, and the Random Contest is no exception.

I decided to poll some of my fellow Neopians and discover what, out of almost three hundred rounds, their favourite Random Contests were. (Personally, my favourite was contest 245, in which Neopians created bas-relief paper sculptures. There were some incredible submissions there!) Here's what they had to say:

ennaxor60: The edible entries were usually pretty creative and cool looking, and it always seemed like something I could do if I ever got around to entering (I didn't). Plus, you can eat them when you're done.

metalmario1337: My favorite was the one that I won in! (well, bronze) It was making Neopets balloon animals. I made a pink Uni with white wings/mane/horn! The picture isn't in the contest page because I got bronze, but I wonder if Neo keeps those images around in a folder somewhere?

a_ramsell: Well, I'm going to go along with what was already discussed... food contests! I'm not artistic so the only one I ever entered was the slushie-making random contest, and that got me the avatar, so of course that was a great highlight in my opinion. XD There was one sort of recently that sticks out for me though, the nail-art one. People had such artistic and talented stuff for it; it was amazing.

ratkid120: My favorite was probably the one I participated in. It was one that involved baking and I had a great time baking some Fyora themed cupcakes! I'm very sad the Random Contest is closing! I always enjoyed looking at the creative prompts!

quiggles_are_kewl_1: I enjoy so many it's hard to choose but I'll go with the one I won in too, it was Neopets nail art! More specifically I like the craft type contests better rather than the writing ones or just flat out drawing ones.

ummagine3284: There was an audio one that made me laugh for hours. Something about Sloth I think it was.

dortho: I see there's already mention of food ones, but my favorite concept was Knitting With Food! I was on vacation and picked up some Dried Cuttlefish, which is kinda long and stringy. I didn't have knitting needles but I had fun attempting to weave/tie some of the strands together in the shape of a Pteri. It didn't quite work, so I didn't enter but again, I loved the concept and had fun trying... then also just ended up having a nice snack instead.

cinnamon_girl: I really liked ones where people had to make plushies, some were so insanely cute that I wish I could buy them.

emokidd0: I loved them all pretty much. My favourites were the ones that included crafting, I participated one where you had to make a shadow box. Cooking contests were fun to look at too though I don't think I could ever do any of those.

ayeunn: I enjoyed seeing the entries for the food ones and nail art.. those were especially creative!

joeandtammy: I did the Tiki Mask Mania... way back in the day. Hot glued my fingers to death but won second place. Enjoyed being a part of it.

Amidst all these responses, I realized that innumerable Neopians have fantastic memories thanks to the Random Contest - from having fun making a submission to finding out that their hard work earned them a metaphorical first-place ribbon! The Random Contest has certainly left its mark in Neopia.

In addition to seeking out opinions in general, I decided to ask one of the winners of the first RC to give me their take on what the Random Contest meant to them. Luckily, one of the users who won first place in the original contest, which asked Neopians to carve pumpkins in the shapes of Neopian things and characters, is still active, and was more than willing to share her opinion. Without further ado, here's linnipooh!

linnipooh: I have always been an extremely addicted avatar collector and I also greatly enjoy the artistic aspects of this site. So when the RC was first announced in the news I just HAD to enter right away. It was such an honor and quite the surprise when I later found out that I was one of the winners, I actually squealed out loud and then called all of my non-Neopian family members on the phone to tell them, since they had watched me carve the pumpkin. I have always enjoyed looking through the winners of each unique contest and I will certainly miss the RC.

Thank you, linnipooh! I think your words can sum up the experiences of thousands of Neopians who obtained wonderful memories through this contest.

Well, fellow Neopians, I suppose it is time to bid farewell. We've had fantastic times, but it is now time to move on to something else new and exciting. Before we do, though, let us have a moment of silence for... the Random Contest.

 
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