MRTvision Screenshot Contest
| MRTvision Screenshot Contest | |
|---|---|
 The current logo, in use since the seventh contest | |
| Creator | MinecraftYoshi26 |
| Original run | June 16, 2018 - |
| Based on |
Eurovision Song Contest MRT Screenshot Contest |
| Producer | MinecraftYoshi26 |
| No. of contests | 8 |
- For the ongoing contest, see MRTvision Screenshot Contest 8.
The MRTvision Screenshot Contest is a server-wide screenshot competition held among the cities of the MRT server. Each participating city submits an original screenshot to be shared publicly, then all participants and the public casts votes for the other cities' screenshots to determine the winner. All ranked cities are currently eligible to compete as long as they meet the requirements.
Origins
In 2015, the first MRTvision contest was held, where the competition mirrored that of the Eurovision Song Contest with members singing. In 2018, MinecraftYoshi26 became more interested in the Eurovision Song Contest wanted to create a contest that brought the Eurovision Song Contest to the server where everyone could partake, regardless of singing abilities. He ultimately came up with the idea of mixing the Eurovision Song Contest's style of voting and other aspects with the MRT Screenshot Contest. The concept was finalized at the General Staff Meeting on June 16, 2018.
Format
Participant cities submit original screenshots, all to be shown to the public. Renders are accepted. A "city" as a participant is represented by one member: typically and preferred, but not always, that city's mayor. States may participate to embody many cities; however, any cities in that state may not partake. A player may only represent one city and have one final screenshot.
During a specified period, the cities' participants then proceed to cast votes for the other cities' screenshots: participants are not allowed to vote for their own screenshot. At the end of the designated voting period, the screenshot with the most points is declared as the winner. The winner receives the prestige of having won, hosting or choosing the next competition's venue for the ceremony, influencing the slogan, and between $3,000 and $5,000. Second place receives $2,000 (formerly $3,000 for the first contest) and third place receives $1,000. For the first two contests, the top 12 were featured on the website. From the third contest on, the top 10 were featured on the website.
A qualification round, known as the semi-final, was introduced for the third contest. The highest-placed screenshots from the semi-final qualified for the grand final, while the lower-placed screenshots were eliminated. In each of the semi-finals, the voting is conducted among those cities which participate in that semi-final. The automatic grand final qualifier, the prior winner, votes in both semi-finals. The public may not vote in the semi-finals, as that is closed to participants only. The top 10 cities which receive the most votes in each semi-final qualify for the grand final. The qualifiers are announced by the presenter in random order. Full voting results are withheld until after the final.
A semi-final allocation draw was first introduced in the fifth contest. Semi-finalists are allocated into a number of pots, based on aggregate rankings by participant, not by city, from prior contest data. These allocations were introduced to reduce the chance of lopsided semi-finals by predicted placement from prior contests.
The contest is held approximately every three to six months.
Participation
Cities may choose to join by filling out the provided form to join before the deadline. From the first to the fourth contest, cities confirmed their participation to the producer(s) to join. The city must be on the New World and have a flag. Members who opt to run under a state must have at least one of the state's constituent cities must be on the New World. The city also must be ranked; however, there is some flexibility. For members who own a town that is unranked and have no other ranked towns, they may enter their town as long as they fit the other requirements. If a member does not have any towns, then they may represent someone else's town. For example, chiefbozx owns Vermilion and Schillerton, but could only represent one and have SilverWolv, who does not own a town on the server, represent another. Such is allowed specifically as an option only for members who do not own towns. In certain circumstances, the mayor of a town can elect their deputy mayor to represent their city.
All entrants receive between $10 to $20 for full participation by voting, regardless of placement.
As of the seventh contest, 87 cities with 77 members have participated at least once. Italicized cities refer to a new city participating, but not with a new member. The cities are listed here alongside the contest in which they made their debut:
- a. ^ Before Aprix was renamed in 2019, it was presented as Sulfureal Lakes.
- b. ^ Before Arbatskaya Moscow was renamed in 2020, it was presented as Hanamura.
- c. ^ Before the creation of the Nymphic Union in 2019, Nymphalia ran as a city. SoaPuffball, the mayor of Nymphalia, opted to run as the state, which included Nymphalia, rather than the singular town.
- d. ^ Before the creation of Bahia in 2019, Sunshine Coast ran as a city. Echohue, the mayor of Sunshine Coast, opted to run as the state, which included Sunshine Coast, rather than the singular town.
- e. ^ Before the fifth contest, Fort Yaxier ran as a city. camelfantasy, the mayor of Fort Yaxier, opted to run as the republic, which included Fort Yaxier, rather than the singular town.
Hosting
Host city and venue
Beginning in the second contest, the winning city typically hosts the following contest. The venue is required to have a stage, seating for viewers, and an optional location for a camera. Host cities and venues have sometimes been chosen from a pre-released list of venues in all New World towns owned by the winner of the previous contest. Some venues have been built or refurbished as a direct result of the contest, including the Champion's Bowl in Arcadia.
The only city to have hosted the contest twice is Arcadia in fifth and sixth contest.
Logo, slogan, and identity
The original contest was proposed with all screenshots required to be taken in the prior winning town; however, after GSM discussion, this was removed before the first contest occurred. Before the second contest, MinecraftYoshi26 and host city owner Cortesi discussed a possible idea of a theme for all screenshots. After a poll was put on Discord, it was decided that there would be no theme. Although the poll showed a slight majority wanted a theme, MinecraftYoshi26 stated that they had come to this decision because they "want to not limit the people participating and avoid people from complaining their photo was rejected on the grounds of not fitting the theme".
Each contest's logo contains the generic MRTvision Screenshot Contest logo often with another design. The original generic MRTvision Screenshot Contest logo that was edited by MinecraftYoshi26. The current generic logo is an edited from the logo for the MRTvision 2017 Song Contest created by MikeRoma. The slogan and logo are typically used to plan and formulate the show's visual identity, including the logo, broadcast, and scoreboard coloring.
The slogans for each contest are listed below:
| No. | Host city | Slogan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Central City
|
Celebrating Six Years |
| 2 |  Murrville
|
Show Us What You've Got |
| 3 |  Wazamawazi
|
One Of A Kind |
| 4 |  Fort Yaxier
|
A Visual Symphony |
| 5 |  Arcadia
|
Worth A Thousand Words |
| 6 | Arcadia
|
Hub For Inspiration |
| 7 |  Airchester
|
Looking Back |
| 8 |  Covina
|
Paint The World |
Rules
Screenshots
The screenshots can be of anywhere on the MRT server, not just the town that a participant represents. Editing photos, such as photoshopping or using Lightroom, is not allowed; however, using texture packs that do not majorly alter the photo's contents and shaders are allowed. Cropping screenshots is allowed. The screenshot may contain any subjects (including structures, towns, cities, landscapes, players, mobs, etc.), as long as it is within server rules. The Heads-Up Display (HUD) must be hidden in submissions. Screenshots are allowed to be rejected on any grounds by the producers.
Screenshots are allowed to be taken off-server on a copy of the MRT world or the beta server; however, the locations must not drastically different than its counterpart on the main server unless explicitly exempted by production.
Each city is allowed to re-submit their entry up to two times after their initial submission during the submission period. Cities would be given approximately two to three weeks of finding a screenshot and submitting it.
Old screenshots are allowed to be submitted as long as they have not been released publicly before. The city's designated photographer can only submit a screenshot taken by them.
Voting
Each participant is required to award a set of 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 top screenshots. The public may also vote by filling out the voting form. Public voters must be at least of the member rank. Entrants may not vote for themselves. Players having someone else represent their city may not vote for their own city but can vote for others as a public voter. The public may not vote in the semi-finals, as that is closed to participants only. Non-qualifiers were required to vote in the final as a participant for the third to fourth contest; however, this changed in the fifth contest with non-qualifiers no longer required to vote in the final. If a non-qualifier wants to vote in the final, they are allowed to as a member of the public.
Voting based on the photographer solely is implicitly not allowed. Participants may not be penalized by doing so. Plotting with a group or in large scale to sway the votes is not allowed. Bribing for votes is also prohibited. Participants may not purposefully vote for what they deem as the 'worst' screenshots to get ahead.
Each city receives a draw number that is used on the voting form.
Beginning in the sixth contest, in ties for any placement, the submission that received points from the most different voters get the higher placement. If there is a tie within that, the submission with more 12 points gets the higher placement. If there is a tie in that, then it goes to the submission with more 10 points, all the way down to 1 point. If the cities have the same point breakdown, the later in the draw order is given the higher placement. In the fifth contest and prior, ties were decided without consideration of the number of voters and instead through the amount of 12 points, then 10 points, then so on.
Contests
| No. | Final | Host city | Winner | Photographer | Screenshot | Location | Points | Margin | Runner-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 8, 2018 | Central City
|
Murrville
|
Cortesi | "After the Party" | Daneburg | 280 | 40 |  Kessler
|
Covina
|
| 2 | December 1, 2018 | Murrville
|
Wazamawazi
|
autobus22 | "Golf at the Savannah Oasis" | Bexley | 365 | 15 |  Secunda
|
Covina
|
| 3 | March 30, 2019 | Wazamawazi
|
Fort Yaxier
|
camelfantasy | "One Summer's Day" | Aeolia | 404 | 27 |  Victoria
|
 Elecna Bay
|
| 4 | July 27, 2019 | Fort Yaxier
|
Arcadia
|
lil_shadow59 | "Parks and Recreation" | Arcadia | 423 | 4 |  Moramoa
|
Murrville
|
| 5 | November 16, 2019 | Arcadia
|
Arcadia
|
lil_shadow59 | "15 Million Tons of Economic Power" | Arcadia | 294 | 103 |  Spruce Valley
|
 Lacledic Republic
|
| 6 | May 8, 2020 | Arcadia
|
 Murrville
|
RacCort | "Work Starts at Dusk" | Anthro Island | 221 | 21 | Covina
|
 Peripotamia
|
| 7 | August 15, 2020 | Airchester
|
Covina
|
_Kastle | "Like a Shooting Star, I Will Go the Distance" | Gray Cloud | 302 | 47 | Arcadia
|
 Redwood
|
| 8 | April 3, 2021 | Covina
|
TBD | |||||||