Tourist Attractions (S3-04-W)

[ST Challenges 113]

Results Announced Here!

Tourist Attractions
What brings tourists to your city?
Season 3 - Challenge #04 - Weekly (7 days)

Thanks to @Mymyjp for the challenge idea.

Around the world there are countless places that attract tourists. Visiting famous cities, landmarks, experiencing diverse foreign cultures, or simply taking in the sights and smells. You can travel thousands of miles across the Pacific by air, or take a road trip south. There is always something new to see and do, wherever you go. It's these memories which last a lifetime, and make you want to keep exploring.

Yes, it's time to get into that holiday feeling! For this challenge we're looking for your most celebrated tourist destinations. What place is unique to your cities, and makes people genuinely interested and excited about visiting? There are numerous ways to go about this. It could be a notable building or structure, a prominent natural feature, or something more obscure. You could even give a brief background in the description, explaining the history behind the location. Use your imagination. Again the choice is yours what image you submit and how you choose to present it.

See the Possible Ideas section below for a few examples.
 

This is a  Weekly  challenge running for 7 days.

 

Submission Requirements

1. Your image must feature a place which attracts tourists (in gameplay terms, or theoretically).
    
2. You may use any city-building game -- including SimCity 4, Cities: Skylines, SimCity (2013), and CitiesXL / XXL.
    
3. Please submit only one image for this challenge.
    
4. For the purpose of voting, please check your image has a full title & description.
    
5. To qualify for entry, please ensure your image is uploaded to the submissions category, and complies with these requirements.

 

Possible Ideas

Here are a few ideas to get you started, just giving examples of ways to go about this challenge:

Note: The following is not a complete list, or a requirement:

• A sunny destination
• Beach
• Resort
• Landmark
• Unique natural feature (e.g. special hills, cliffs, waterfall)
• A heritage attraction -- the site of a historic or significant event.
• Memorial
• A unique building or architecture
• Something located in a rare or unusual place.
• A special event
• Castle
• Forest or National Park
• Amusement Park
• Museum
• Zoo / safari

 

New Leaderboard System 

 

As mentioned in the announcement topic, this season will be using a brand new leaderboard system.

 

Each challenge will award points to all participants, based on your placing. The higher the position you come, the more points you'll receive. It also gives an extra incentive to take part, even if you don't reach the podium. Then at the end of the season, prizes will be awarded based on your overall standing.

Full details and the current standings can be viewed in the following topic:

 

The winners will be the top 3 ranked images after a 6 day voting period. Reputation prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries, and the overall average rating. See this topic for more info.

For this  Weekly  challenge, rep prizes will be given for the top 3 placed entries, along with points for the "Overall" and "Weekly & Extended" leaderboards.

Good luck to all!

 

[_Michael 2,681]

I've submitted mine!

[_Michael 2,681]

Is voting being turned on? It's been 20 hours (by BST) since the end of submissions.

[ST Challenges 113]

VOTING NOW OPEN!
Please cast your votes in the challenge album.

Voting will be open for 6 days.

Voting Rules

1. Votes may be cast by rating images inside the album.
2. You may rate all images once at any rating value (1-5). All votes are anonymous.
3. We encourage you not to rate your own entry.
4. Try to vote on all other entries, as this will help ensure the results are evenly distributed.

 

Suggested Voting Criteria

Here are some ideas to help you evaluate each entry when voting:

• Does the tourist attraction seem like a place people would like to visit?
• How well the attraction stands out as being something interesting.
• The amount of attention to detail.
• How much effort you think has gone into creating it.
• Is the image visually interesting / appealing?

 

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

4 hours ago, michae95l said:

Is voting being turned on? It's been 20 hours (by BST) since the end of submissions.

It was pushed back slightly since the challenge opened late on July 4th.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

VOTING SUSPENDED

I'm very sorry to announce, that a user has been found abusing the rating system. It has come to light that a competitor in this challenge was using tactics to make their entry rank higher than everyone else's. There is overwhelming evidence to confirm this, including clone accounts which were created to downrate other people's entries. It is very disappointing that a user would cheat in a fun, friendly and free competition.

Such behaviour is taken very seriously. As a result, the offending user has been disqualified from Tourist Attractions and all future challenges, including the ability to take part in voting periods.

Since the results would otherwise be affected, the voting will shortly be wiped clean and restarted for this challenge.

We do not believe the previous challenges to be affected, as this user, or the clone accounts weren't part of them.

Thanks everyone for your understanding.

[_Michael 2,681]

This is such a shame. It is all a little fun, sure I'd love to win, but I honestly don't see any point in cheating your way there. Only a good picture can win.

Cheats can not.

I commend the fast action of the admins, and the suspension of the voting, along with the swift punishment of the perpetrator. It is reassuring to know that these things don't go unocieted, or not acted upon. A fair community is always a good thing.

I look forward to cast my votes again, and the rest of the challenges season.

[Abrams 1,744]

Woah.I've never would expect this.Just cheating for like 100 reputation points or just for having other users think you're superior than you?

I'm shocked.

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Well done, guys. I didn't think this of any member of this site. Sincerely disappointing.

[MushyMushy 3,618]

You know, I had actually suspected this was happening. Maybe it's because I inherently distrust people by default.

I'm not trying to say that I think my image is better than other people's (there's some in the challenge that I would objectively say are better than mine hands down), but I noticed straight away it got flooded with very low votes, which I thought was odd. I also noticed similar things happening to other images.

Either way, I'm glad you guys caught them and I'm so disappointed that someone would actually cheat on something like this.

[antsel 841]

I was wondering why the highest rated image only had a 3.6, especially with the amount of great entries. Thank you to the admins for noticing and suspending the voting in order to resolve the issue.

[Abrams 1,744]

The same low image ratings are in urban features too.Maybe he voted there too?

It's still amazing that this is the first case(in my knowledge,correct me if i'm wrong)but this was expectable at some time,it can happen everywhere.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

 I noticed that the voting was not what should be expected as natural, even given the behavior of people favoring a particular person.   In the tourist attractions it seemed everybody offered something at least worth a 3.   

I hope you guys didn't take a comment I made the wrong way, referring to some kind of perceived imbalance and somewhat suggesting something sinister going on behind the scenes.   

Is this really a competition?  I see it more as peer review, artists sharing their work, inspiration, etc.   It becomes very obvious if some are rated way too low or way too high for no apparent good reason.      It is a challenge in the sense that one is incited to participate and contribute, but not really a 'competition'  Everybody wins just by enjoying participating.

I hope a thousand people enter the next challenge in a good spirit.  Its just plain good fun and educational.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

With all entries reset and re-uploaded...

VOTING HAS REOPENED!
Please recast your votes in the challenge album.

The voting period will still run for 6 days from now, meaning it'll conclude on Sunday evening (EST).

Thanks all!

[Edvarz 1,985]

What a nasty thing to do, and for what exactly? This type of behavior, pervasive around the internet, just ruins a fun and healthy challenge for everyone. Kudos to the moderators who were on top of it.

Let the best image win fairly then!

[Qorten 49]

It's the first time I participate and follow one of these challenges, but it seemed a little odd that nobody even got a 4, while some were definitely worthy IMHO (not necessarily my own, but one can hope). Given the fairly low activity compared to years ago on this site it seemed also like there were an unusual amount of votes in an unusually short amount of time.

Who rigs an event that can win you nothing but a bit of reputation?

Congrats to the moderators for finding out and fixing this!

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

VOTING NOW CLOSED!

Thanks for the great turnout everyone after the restart.

The results will follow after Urban Features (yes, it has been a while).

[ST Challenges 113]

Results Announcement

Tourist Attractions
What brings tourists to your city?
Season 3 - Challenge #04 - Weekly (7 days)

Time to announce the results from the 3rd completed challenge...

The 12 entries have been processed by the BARS System, which uses the album voting data to rank images, and then assigns rep and Leaderboard points accordingly. This takes into account the revised values, as determined by the Reputation Referendum.
 

---

 1st Place 

72  Rep
27  Bonus Points
56  TOTAL Points

Escape to this quaint, picturesque place in the sun...
 

Spoiler

Beachside Getaway – @MushyMushy

"Far from any major cities and only connected by an average-speed country road are several old-style villages tucked between the mountains with stunning views of the ocean. Many of these towns changed over time as tourism grew, which led to the construction of hi-rise resort hotels and a subsequent influx of beach-goers and yachtsmen.

This particular town is one of the smaller ones and lacks any marine facilities, but many people will sail over here due to be able to take in the grandeur of the towering rock face that surrounds the town on three sides. This causes the town to have longer than average "nights."

Today we are catching the town in the later part of the morning, and the pitch-black shadow caused by the eastern rock face has almost receded. The two resort hotels in this town are seasonal, and tourist season has just begun. The beach is not particularly full and the hotels are just getting started up for this year's tourists, which explains their empty parking lots. The fancier hotel to the east has already sent the first two of its white and yellow shuttle buses to the city to pick up customers from the airport - a 40 mile drive. One of them can be seen heading west on the country road. The larger hotel on the west end of town already has its first group of patrons - a large group of foreign tourists filling two chartered buses.

The crowd currently gathered on the beach is watching a mid-sized cruise liner slowly make its way through the water. The ship is based in the city 40 miles away and so it's a frequent sight in many of the coastal towns in the area. Another sight to behold is the multi-million dollar yacht that has also entered the scene from the west. It would also appear that there are some people on jet skis racing each other. The beach generally gets 3-4 times as full when tourist season is in full-swing.

Lastly, the bleak building at the base of the mountains is a corporate office where bigwigs meet to discuss future plans for the city's dominant oil company. A small group of black cars can be seen making their way up the hill to the site.

All cars and other vehicles are static models Photoshopped in. Photoshop was used extensively for this image."

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 2nd Place 

43  Rep
16  Bonus Points
42  TOTAL Points

Relax in this spectacular Mediterranean paradise...
 

Spoiler

Myrtos Beach, Greece – @korver

"Located on the island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea, few beaches across the globe can compare to Greece's breathtaking Myrtos Beach. Due to it's remote and rugged location, the beach is completely inaccessible by foot - the only way to reach it is to traverse your way down a series of steep hairpin curves. Once you make it there however, you'll be rewarded greatly with pristine, warm Mediterranean waters, perfectly soft white sand, and of course, incredible views. There's plenty to do as well - surfboarding, windsailing, boating, or you can just soak up the sun if you wish - why don't you come visit today?"

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 3rd Place 

29  Rep
11  Bonus Points
35  TOTAL Points

Team up with Bear Grylls, and tackle the many activities inside...
 

Spoiler

Ardmore Falls National Park – @antsel

"Ardmore Falls National Park is situated on the south coast of the Isle of Lethaon. Featuring the tallest cliffs in all of the Star Isles at over 350 vertical meters, the climbing centre at Ardmore Falls attracts climbers from all over the world. At the top of the mountain adrenaline junkies can bungee jump from the rope bridge over the rushing mountain river. Camping, fishing, climbing and more, Ardmore Falls National Park is the perfect destination for outdoor enthusiasts."

Click here to view the album entry.

 

Congratulations to the top 3!
 

---

The remaining entries (4th to 12th) are ranked as follows...

 

Spoiler

 4th Place 

21  TOTAL Points

The Alcázar – @Edvarz

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 5th Place 

18  TOTAL Points

Fields of Ruin – @11241036

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 6th Place 

16  TOTAL Points

The Olympic Park – @_Michael

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 7th Place 

13  TOTAL Points

East Harlane – @clementgalloni

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 8th Place 

10  TOTAL Points

Mitteck Opera House – @Qorten

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 9th Place 

8  TOTAL Points

Desert Oasis – @nRVOUS

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 10th Place 

5  TOTAL Points

Orthodox Fun Park – @TheLynx99

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 11th Place 

3  TOTAL Points

SimFest 2016 – @RandyE

Click here to view the album entry.

 

---

 12th Place 

2  TOTAL Points

Highline Tourist Attraction – @Socold

Click here to view the album entry.

 

 

---

Thanks all for taking part!

The rep prizes have been awarded, and these top 3 images will be inducted into the Challenges Hall of Fame.

As this was a  Weekly  challenge, points will count towards the Weekly and Extended Leaderboard, along with the Global Leaderboard.
Even if you didn't make the top 3, any points gained are still valuable to the standings.

The latest Leaderboards will be updated shortly in the following topic:

 

The full challenge data can be viewed at the following link:
Season 3 - Challenges Data   (Excel spreadsheet shared on OneDrive)

 

~The Challenges Team