People love building contests, but those often take a while to prepare. As such, I'm trying today something new: smaller-scale contests!

This special challenge has you working in a limited, 10x10 space to create an element of a botanical garden. What will you do? A floral arrangement? A nice fountain? A water display? Benches to take a break? Something else entirely? The choice is yours!

The contest area is Central's Seasonal Park, in the Residential District, located in the north side of the city. To get there, walk the paths heading north or use the Residential Line from underground in Grand Central Station.


* RULES *

Pick a lot, put your name on it (on the outside border is fine too), and get building! Due to the nature of the park, you own the lot from sky limit down to *5* blocks underground. Your working area is defined by the 10x10 grass square you've selected. Tree leaves can overhang in the pathways as long as they're not in the way, but be reasonable on this front.

Due to this contest being designed to fit within the park, only 20 lots are available for the taking. Once all places are taken, that's it, so be sure to head there early! One lot by person only.

UPDATE: All 20 lots have been claimed, that was fast!

The contest begins NOW and ends in two weeks, that is on August 2, 2014 at 23:59pm, Eastern Time.


* PRIZES *

Of course, what would a contest be without prizes? As this event is smaller in scale, so are the prizes. They might not be as impressive, but they definitely have a value for many of the players! Besides, you can always claim bragging rights!

- First place: Enchanted diamond sword, specialized for Wither Skeleton kills
- Second place: A set of potions geared toward PvP + a Dr. Cossack head
- Third place: Two enderchests for the careful explorer and builder!

Judging will take place after the contest period is over. The judges will go around and give a score out of ten on each entry. Evaluation criterias will be adhesion to the theme (botanical garden elements), overall quality of the build and best use of the space available.


The garden will remain on display afterwards, but might get temporarily swapped out for other events, such as Christmas time.

If this new formula is a success, smaller contests could be scheduled on a regular basis to cohabit with the larger-scale events we've done in the past. Comments on this are welcome, now and after the event!

You prefer the idea of larger contests, where you can go wild with your ideas? A new one is already in the planning stages, with more to follow, so stay tuned!