Please read the rules carefully as some things have changed from last year!

If you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the contest, please message me directly on (#22700)!
Do Not just go ahead with whatever and assume things!


1.
* Sign-Ups starting January 15th and will be ending on February 4th.
(This is to allow players time to start collecting funds, other resources, and possible team members for the contest.)
* All important mascot dates can be seen on the official HP calendar and the Important Dates Thread of the Forum’s Mascot Contest category.
* Training starts Sunday February 5th and the last day to train is Saturday April 1st!
 
2.
* Entrance fee per animal for the Ticket/Show Categories:  $100 mill HPD
* Entrance fee per animal for the No Ticket/Show Categories: $40 mill HPD
(Prices adjusted based on last year’s feedback!)
(As this is in in-depth competition things do cost more, but also has great rewards)
* This is an entrance fee per Mascot, not per player fee requirement!
* If you decide to drop out of the contest after training starts or get disqualified for not completing a required task or lack of training, the fee is non-refundable. If you decide to drop before Sign-Ups close a refund will be provided, but you will need to message me on (#22700) for it!
* Please send your entrance fee to Samantha (#1) as soon as you complete the sign up form or by February 5th.
(This allows me to monitor who sent fees and who has not.)
 
3.
* You can enter in 4 categories: Horse (tickets & shows), Dog (tickets & shows), Horse (no tickets & no shows), and Dog (no tickets & no shows).
* One entrance per individual/team per category.
(Example: If you are on a team for the Horse Tickets/Shows category, you cannot enter a separate animal in that same category for yourself or with another team.)
* Mascots must be trained on separate accounts from other Mascots across all categories!
(This is to ensure training integrity and for monitoring progress purposes!)
* Mascots must remain on the account they were signed up with throughout the duration of the competition!
* Mascots must be on an account that you personally own or an account that one of your team members personally owns. No rented/leased/borrowed accounts!
* If you have entered multiple mascot categories with different entries...You are welcome to participate multiple times in each of the official Mascot Contest Mini-Activities in order to earn the prizes for each of your entries. HOWEVER, any screenshots and timestamps provided must be different. If you are partnered with another player, your answers cannot be direct copies of each other's word for word. For the word searches and name scrambles, using different colored highlights and orders are required. (For any events ran by the Event Coordinators during mascot, the ECs may have different requirements than the above, so please also pay attention to that!)
 
4.
* Everyone must start with a "store aged" animal (3 for horses, 2 for dogs).
* This can be from the actual Store (or Cash Shop) or it can have lines.
* I can age-forward a newborn for you before the contest, but I will not de-age a lined animal.
(Please message me on (#22700) to let me know!)
* You cannot de-age back to age 3 or 2, due to the length of time for added points to be potentially gained from sign-ups to the start of training.
* If your animal has lines the "born with points" as well as any points earned from animal awards before the contest starts will be subtracted from your final score.
* You MUST accurately report any "born with" and animal awards points on the sign-up form.
***The animal is NOT allowed to gain any additional points before the training portion begins!***
(Example: No club registry, tickets used, HPP Trade-In used until after training starts)
 
5.
* If you have a question about what is allowed for gaining points, ask me before you do it!
* There is a zero tolerance policy.
Players who violate this WILL have their animals disqualified immediately.
* The Tickets/Shows Categories can use any and all means possible to gain points on their animals as long as they are following all other contest rules.
* The No Tickets/No Shows Categories cannot use training tickets, private shows, HPP trade-in for animal points, or extra energy/permanent energy from the Store or Cash Shop.
* ALL animals in each category can use public shows, club registry, club shows, points won in the Mascot focused activities or activities hosted by the Event Coordinators during the run of the Mascot Contest, and points from earning animal awards.
* Any prizes you may have saved up from past stocking stuffers, goodie bags, contests, activities, or events, etc. before the Mascot contest starts cannot be used for your entry!
(This is to ensure everyone starts off on the same footing.)
 
6.
* Each animal must be Named before the contest starts and have a unique image and a back-story before it ends.
* All animals must ALSO have their height (for horses), color, and brand (does not need to be permanent) filled in before the end of the contest.
* Animals are not required to have stylesheets, as that would prevent basic players from participating. Since they are an upgrade perk.
* There are specific deadlines for these on the HP Calendar (you can also find a mini-calendar in the Mini News) & in the Important Dates forum thread.
* Animals who do not meet these deadlines WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
 
7.
* You cannot de-age, age-forward, gender change, or breed your animal during the run of the contest.
* When advertising for your mascot in Ad Chat, no member of staff can use their staff bold text. They must buy prime advertising from the Cash Shop to make it a level playing field.
* If you are on a team, make sure you guys take turns participating in the activities that are posted geared towards the mascots (rules might be different from the ECs), it's to make sure everyone has a fair chance at earning points.
(This is so not one team member is doing all the work while the others just tag along for the ride)


***Super Important***
For Single Participants - You, and only you are responsible for training your mascot!
Teams - Only team members from that specific team can train their mascot!
* No outside trainers across the Mascot Contest board. If caught using a trainer your mascot will be immediately disqualified!
* No other outside player is allowed access to that Mascot’s account.
(This is in an effort to keep any mascot shenanigans from happening and a fair playing field across the board. You are responsible for all duties on your Mascot’s account.)


Remember:
* Voting in all categories makes a huge difference during the final scoring!
(It especially helps for the bonus prizes, so please don’t skip when the time comes!)
* Part of your score is the popular vote!
Advertise your animal so that you can get the popular vote.
Showcase them! Be proud of your pixel and share their greatness with others!
The more effort and attention you put in, the more seen your mascot will be!
* Having a plan will save you time and energy!
(Or you could fly by the seat of your pants and just wing it as you go along! That’s cool too!)
* There are optional mini-activities for mascots in all categories during the contest in order to earn points and other power-ups. Mini-activities will all be posted at the start of the training portion of the contest, each with specific due dates that can be found on the HP Calendar & the Important Dates forum post.
* We need at least three contestants in each category for the contest to run.
It's encouraged for you to enter as many categories as you want to.
The more competition, the more fun and challenging it is!


If you have any questions or concerns, please send a message my way!