The Beauty Contest As We Know It

As simple and glamorous as it sounds, it may not quite be what you imagine. The first time I entered my neopet into the Beauty Contest was in 2002. My most recent entry was just in April 2012. I have had much experience with the Beauty Contest and I would love to share it with you.

I remember back in 2002 when I entered my first few pictures; the BC was much different to what it is today. Back then, during the week's competition we could see how much votes our pictures had collected. This was handy, cause we could see how many votes away one entry was from another. It was like a rat race where Neopians tried every way they could to collect votes to beat their opponents. Eventually TNT took out the vote count to help put our minds at ease--or not. Either way I don't really mind. We can always see how much votes we have collected when the competition comes to an end.

If you're planning on winning a Beauty Contest trophy, then you have to consider your pets species before you enter the competition. Some species are more difficult to obtain a spot for a trophy than other species. This is because certain species are more popular than others. For example Draiks, Krawks and Kougras would be far more competitive than the Techos, Meercas and Kikos. With that being said, you now know what you may be up against and how hard you have to work to get a trophy.

Did I just say work? Yes, I did. You have to work for your votes. It feels almost like a job at times. Do you recall when I mentioned earlier that it might not be what you imagined it would be? Well, let me explain to you that the BC is also an advertising competition. BC entrants may advertise on their neopet's pages, neopet's lookups, user lookups, the BC message board and also on their message board signatures. Take note that you cannot neomail and bug Neopians to vote for your neopet's entry. You also can't spam on people's boards. They are all against the rules. If you break one of these rules, your entry shall be disqualified and taken out of the competition as well as endangering your account of being frozen.

Most Neopians find BC advertising very annoying. But what can we do? Entrants would like the votes so their neopet can obtain a bright, shiny trophy. I've come to realize after all these years from competing in the BC, that sadly it isn't about having the best artwork, but rather about how often you've been advertising for your artwork. If you have entered amazing art into the BC and do not advertise, you could definitely be beaten by artwork less worthy only because they have advertised more than you did. It is what it is.

Because of this, I almost don't feel as if it's even worth entering at times. After a long tough competition I always end up needing a huge break from the BC. Eventually I get sucked back in and find myself crawling back for another beautiful trophy for my neopet.But enough is enough. There has to be a better solution for the BC for everyone to be happy. This is why I have decided to write this article. I wanted to propose a new idea for the Beauty Contest.

Looking at the customization spotlight, it seems to have a much better voting system compared to the BC. The BC should have something similar to that voting style but with different sections for the species where Neopians can choose the best picture of that certain species (since you can only use 1 vote per species on an account).

It would be nice if all BC advertising in Neopia would be banned apart from your own space such as your user lookups, neopet's lookups and neopet's pages since they're your own personal area. The Beauty Contest message board should be deleted and no message board signatures should be advertising their BC artwork. That way BC entrants don't have to bug other Neopians anymore. Not only that but with advertising banned it would make all BC entrants have an equal chance at winning. This way it makes Neopians vote for the best artwork that appeals to them rather than being bugged and told to vote for a certain artwork directly at their faces. We wouldn't need to work for votes as if it were a job anymore. Entrants can sit back and relax while Neopians vote in their own time.

Well, this is just my suggestion. I am sure there are more ways to upgrade the BC so it is much more friendlier for Neopians to enter or vote. I do hope that TNT applies some changes soon to improve the Beauty Contest. I have noticed that a lot of artists have already moved in the direction of the art gallery. Most likely because of their dislike towards the BC.

I hope this article makes Neopians and TNT come to realize the difficulties with the BC. I also hope that it pushes TNT to find a better solution for the BC. Cause I am sure majority of Neopians who have entered in the Beauty Contest in the past would agree with this matter that I have risen in this article.

With that being said, my job here is done. I look forward to hopefully entering my future artwork in the newly improved Beauty Contest!