2017 Prize Winners and a Brief Look Back

[Metropolis Man]

2017 Tournament Wrap-Up

Before moving all the Tournament threads to the Graveyard as I always do this time of year to make room for upcoming new threads, I wanted to reflect on this season. 68 total players submitted a score in at least one event with 39 participating in 3 or more events to earn a World Ranking. I am really proud of that. There have been more in previous years, but I am hopeful it will increase if EA continues to put out quality expansions. With Vampires and Cats and Dogs bookending this year it was a solid one for Sims 4. Those expansions spur players to want to learn more about the game with some landing upon our forum, and with any luck, we have a few new Tournament players.

Before we all give a round of applause to this year's prize recipients I have to give props to my wonderful team: Trip, MarianT, sdhoey, and LenaLJ...

Trip is the one team member who is not as visible as the rest given her home turf is mainly Sims 3. The Sims 3 Dynasties are her specialty and she is a pro in that department. Over the years the Sims 3 Dynasty rule sets got more and more complicated with the many expansions needing to be incorporated. Trip knows them all backwards and forwards. All of those multi-generational Sims 3 events are still very popular and she continues to field questions every day.

MarianT. When I think of Marian, "creative" and "hard worker" come to mind. I was going to say "workhorse", but then I don't want anyone to have this mental image of Marian with a yoke around her neck plowing the Tournament fields for 18 hours a day. "Marian, you look hungry. How about a nice bale of hay?" In all seriousness, she is the source of most Sims 4 Dynasty ideas, as well as a good chunk of each season's Tournament challenges. It never fails...I will head to the Brain Storming thread on the invisible Challenge Workbench board where the team and I flesh out ideas, and I am all ready to toss out some of my own ideas.
Wait...what's this I see? 3 new ideas from Marian. Lol.

sdhoey has been a forumer for years which is a big reason why I offered her a team position this past summer. She has been playing in the Tournament forever and she knows Dynasties. A win-win. So, she may be the new kid as far as the challenge team goes, but Shannon knows her stuff and what an addition she has turned out to be. I told her from the get-go that I did not want her to sit back and be idle, but rather be an active voice and she has indeed. She has offered up her own Tournament event ideas as well as spending many hours testing events to make sure they are smooth right out of the gate.

LenaLJ is a player of the highest caliber -- very few players over the years can claim they have beaten her and to have someone with her talent on the team shaping rule sets is a big reason why events are presented as polished as they are. She does a lot of testing for the team and knows intricacies that others do not -- once in awhile a player will post a ridiculously high score that makes me scratch my head and think..."okay, there's no way." I'll PM the team and ask for opinions.  You would not believe the number of times Lena has calmed my nerves by signing off on something. When it comes to me knowing if a score is legit I turn to Lena's input as the final word.

It's time to acknowledge this year's prize winners:

Isabelalabe. Fabulous 50 Winner. reggikko had a great prize idea for this year -- a random drawing simply based on participation. So, I sorted my Tournament spreadsheet based on the number of events that everyone has participated in and everyone that has submitted scores in at least 5 events was tossed into a random number generator and Isabelalabe was chosen and scores a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Oh, and feel free to call Isabelalabe lucky #47.

Minnie Mouse (4th place) came to the forum in the fall of 2015 and first started Tournament participation the following year. This year definitely saw Minnie Mouse kick it up a notch with three wins -- Cupid's Challenge, Patient & Perpetrator, and Restaurant Simpossible. Great job, Minnie Mouse. Enjoy your $50 Amazon gift card as well as a $20 EA Game card.

lesleyj42 (3rd place) came to the forum in the fall of 2016 so was only able to dive into the tail end of the 2016 season, but she really honed her chops this year and won two events -- Don't Put All Your Collectibles into One Basket and A Sim About Town. Well done. You're receiving a $50 Amazon gift card and two $20 EA Game cards.

GlazeyLady (2nd place). I had forgotten how long GlazeyLady had been around but as I was enjoying reviewing old World Rankings I saw she placed 15th in 2011, and has made the World Ranking every year since then, including a couple top ten finishes. She has been very consistent over the years, but 2017 was unquestionably her breakout year and was a true threat to Lena. GlazeyLady won five events, but also missed three events. So, given how I compute the World Ranking by only including a player's best 10 finishes, armchair quarterbacks like me have to wonder would there have been a different result if another event could have been dropped? In the end, it could not have been closer between GlazeyLady and Lena. A fantastic year for you. Thanks for making it such an exciting finish for me as a fan on the sidelines. You're receiving a $75 Amazon gift card and two $20 EA game cards.

LenaLJ (1st place). I have said a lot about Lena already, but what an amazing and consistent 8-year ride it has been for her. Starting off in 2010 she strings together three consecutive years of 2nd place finishes. She finally rose to the top and won the Championship in 2013. I remember how excited she was to finally win and how much she loved the plaque I always make for the champion. She defended her title in 2014, but ClayMask (2015) and Nutella (2016) forced her down to 2nd place again the next two years. I think she would agree with me that 2017 was not her most dominant year -- i.e. lots of wins. She just had one outright win and another tie for 1st with yours truly (the highlight of my career...tieing with Queen Lena. I kiss that painting event leaderboard every night before bed). But, her real strength is that crazy consistency...a) She only missed one 2017 event, and b) If she does not win, her chance of being in the top three ranks up there with..."will the sun rise tomorrow?" I am proud to name Lena 2017 Tournament Champion. Enjoy your plaque, Lena.

How about a round of applause for our prize winners? Great job, all of you.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, everyone, for your participation this year and good luck in 2018.

[reggikko]

Congratulations to all the winners! I didn't get to complete as many of the challenges as I would have liked but I'm hoping for a better run next year. I can't wait to see what's in store.

Thanks to the challenge team for putting in the hard work to bring us such well thought out and fun challenges!

[MarianT]

Congratulations, @Isabelalabe, @Minnie Mouse, @lesleyj42, @GlazeyLady, and @LenaLJ! And I want to thank everyone who participated, too. There wouldn't be much point in working on challenges, if we didn't have people to play them. Here's hoping next year brings lots of new expansion packs, and no game-breaking bugs!

[WriterJunkie]

Congrats on all the winners! I've certainly learned a lot from reading ya'lls strategies in each challenge. I've never been much of a "plan it and dominate it", I'm more of a "have fun and see where this goes" type, but some of the things ya'll have shared has been super helpful, not just for these challenges, but in my regular game play, too. Thanks for doing these every year, and next year I hope to participate even more!

Happy Simming!!

[cyclonenic]

Congrats/Thank you to everyone mentioned, both team and winners. Y'all are amazing. Look forward to playing and learning with you and from you in 2018. We should also all thank @Metropolis Man for his fabulous leadership of the challenge team over many years.

[Eighty8Keys]

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to those that put in a lot of hard work to keep these challenges going. I've been play The Sims for 17 years now and these challenges keep it fresh and fun for me. I'm so looking forward to next year. It looks like I need to do a lot of research on Vampires since I only dabbled enough to get through the Super Parent challenge. Thanks again everyone!

[GlazeyLady]

Thank you @Metropolis Man and @MarianT - every year these challenges get better and better - I had so much fun this year.  It's hard to believe that we've completed 3 years of Sims 4 challenges already!  I'm so looking forward to next year! 

As Metro mentioned, I've been doing the challenges since 2011, when I first found this site, but I actually started with The Sims in early 2004 when a co-worker got so excited about The Sims Makin' Magic expansion that she just had to get me in the game!  I skipped Sims 2 - with 2 boys to raise and running my own business I just didn't have time.  But by mid-2010 I'd sold my business and my boys were teens, which made me the last person they wanted to spend time with. I'd heard about Sims 2 and thought I'd give it a try.  But when I went to buy it, I found that Sims 3 was out.  There was so much to the game! I felt like I could never learn it all.  After a few months, I just knew there had to be help somewhere on the internet, and that's when I found @Carl, @Pam, and @Metropolis Man - first the guide and then the challenges.  I discovered the site on a Friday night, and I still remember staying up all night reading the Guide.  I went back to it every minute that I had available all weekend.  I had more "Aha!" moments than I could count that weekend.     The first challenge I tried was My Garden of Eatin' Smells Fishy.  I thought I was really ready to tackle that.  I placed 45th out of 95 players, and I was bowled over by how much more there was to know than I realized, and even more so by how willing everyone was to share their knowledge and strategies.  I've been hooked on this site and the challenges ever since. I've learned so much from the guide, the forum, and all of you.  Every year it's great, and every year it gets even better.  I know we're going to have a FABULOUS 2018 together!

[GlazeyLady]

I started feeling a little nostalgic after that last post and went looking at some of the old challenges.  I really did LOL when I found this:

You’re Hired: The Trump Challenge

Congratulations. You and your new spouse were co-winners of last season’s Sims Apprentice. The Donald was so impressed he had to hire both of you. Now the real work begins. Trump has taken serious interest in Sunset Valley and the Trump Organization has “asked” the two of you to move to the town and buy up all the businesses as quickly as possible. In addition to the purchase of the businesses, Trump’s wife Melania has asked for 11 items as souvenirs. Needless to say, Melania has expensive tastes and you won’t find these items at the Dollar Store.

GOAL

Start with a Young Adult married couple (no kids) and have them acquire full ownership in the 11 Sunset Valley businesses. Plus, buy Melania her 11 trinkets quickly before she stomps her foot on the ground and sulks to Donald.

RULES

1. Create 2 new young adult sims (Relationship Link = Spouse) with the lifespan option set to "Long." Both sims need to immediately enter the Business career. The All-powerful Donald is keeping tabs on both of you, so no additional revenue streams — it’s all Business career and Business Opportunities.

2. Build a house or move into an existing home — doesn't matter. Change homes as often as you want.

3. No cheats or modifications.

4. No traveling allowed.

5. The challenge ends when you and your spouse have full ownership of all 11 Sunset Valley businesses and have purchased all 11 items for Melania. The player to accomplish the goal in the fewest days wins.

Melania’s Items:
* WallVuu Standard TV (TVs)
* SimLife Goggles (Video Games)
* Ambiguity Itself (Misc Decor)
* XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries (Computers)
* Mad Llama Foosball Table (Indoor Activities)
* Puck’s Soliloquy (Paintings & Posters)
* Multifunction Seachlight Device (Outdoor Lights)
* Plaza Gusher (Lawn Ornaments)
* F-Class Hunter-Killer (Lawn Ornaments)
* Bwan Speedster YL (Transporation)
* Margaret Vaguester (Transportation)

Good luck, everyone!

Players Who Have Finished the Challenge —

Player                      Ending Date
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaitlin9613                Week 11, Day 1
HelenP                      Week 11, Day 2
Carl                          Week 11, Day 4
Metro                       Week 13, Day 1
AriaGirl77                 Week 13, Day 2
Pam                        Week 13, Day 5

____________________________________________________________________

I have to admit I'm a little tempted to go back to Sims 3 and play this over the Holidays!   

[Metropolis Man]

Oh, wow. Hilarious, GlazeyLady.

[HelenP]

You know, I think that was the first challenge I ever entered on this forum. Maybe we should do 'Trump version 2 - Now It's Political!'

[Metropolis Man]

You know, I think that was the first challenge I ever entered on this forum. Maybe we should do 'Trump version 2 - Now It's Political!'

Oh, sheesh. You went there. Yep...you're another long time challenge player, Helen. I've always loved your Diablo avatar. I still regularly play that game.

[sdhoey]

I started feeling a little nostalgic after that last post and went looking at some of the old challenges.  I really did LOL when I found this:

You’re Hired: The Trump Challenge

Congratulations. You and your new spouse were co-winners of last season’s Sims Apprentice. The Donald was so impressed he had to hire both of you. Now the real work begins. Trump has taken serious interest in Sunset Valley and the Trump Organization has “asked” the two of you to move to the town and buy up all the businesses as quickly as possible. In addition to the purchase of the businesses, Trump’s wife Melania has asked for 11 items as souvenirs. Needless to say, Melania has expensive tastes and you won’t find these items at the Dollar Store.

GOAL

Start with a Young Adult married couple (no kids) and have them acquire full ownership in the 11 Sunset Valley businesses. Plus, buy Melania her 11 trinkets quickly before she stomps her foot on the ground and sulks to Donald.

RULES

1. Create 2 new young adult sims (Relationship Link = Spouse) with the lifespan option set to "Long." Both sims need to immediately enter the Business career. The All-powerful Donald is keeping tabs on both of you, so no additional revenue streams — it’s all Business career and Business Opportunities.

2. Build a house or move into an existing home — doesn't matter. Change homes as often as you want.

3. No cheats or modifications.

4. No traveling allowed.

5. The challenge ends when you and your spouse have full ownership of all 11 Sunset Valley businesses and have purchased all 11 items for Melania. The player to accomplish the goal in the fewest days wins.

Melania’s Items:
* WallVuu Standard TV (TVs)
* SimLife Goggles (Video Games)
* Ambiguity Itself (Misc Decor)
* XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries (Computers)
* Mad Llama Foosball Table (Indoor Activities)
* Puck’s Soliloquy (Paintings & Posters)
* Multifunction Seachlight Device (Outdoor Lights)
* Plaza Gusher (Lawn Ornaments)
* F-Class Hunter-Killer (Lawn Ornaments)
* Bwan Speedster YL (Transporation)
* Margaret Vaguester (Transportation)

Good luck, everyone!

Players Who Have Finished the Challenge —

Player                      Ending Date
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaitlin9613                Week 11, Day 1
HelenP                      Week 11, Day 2
Carl                          Week 11, Day 4
Metro                       Week 13, Day 1
AriaGirl77                 Week 13, Day 2
Pam                        Week 13, Day 5

____________________________________________________________________

I have to admit I'm a little tempted to go back to Sims 3 and play this over the Holidays!   

First off, A huge Congratulations to all the winners. You guys rock. 

Now, when did this challenge happen? I know I was late in the game in T3, but WOW!!  And yes I would love to do something on this order again.

[Metropolis Man]

Now, when did this challenge happen? I know I was late in the game in T3, but WOW!!  And yes I would love to do something on this order again.

That predates the whole concept of an organized annual Tournament that began in 2010. Rewind to fall, 2009 when I had an idea and just tossed it up on the forum. And 2009 vs 2017 are very different times in terms of many people's divisiveness--not sure that kind of event would serve the forum well.

[sdhoey]

Now, when did this challenge happen? I know I was late in the game in T3, but WOW!!  And yes I would love to do something on this order again.

That predates the whole concept of an organized annual Tournament that began in 2010. Rewind to fall, 2009 when I had an idea and just tossed it up on the forum. And 2009 vs 2017 are very different times in terms of many people's divisiveness--not sure that kind of event would serve the forum well.

You are so true, and it is that divisiveness that makes our forum that best of the best.

[coolsim9999999]

Congratulations to all the winners .  Great job!