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Greymoor Home Decorating Contest - Winner photoshopped/filtered?

NotaDaedraWorshipper
NotaDaedraWorshipper
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Firstly, I shall congratulate all the winners, and thank ZoS for holding a housing contest with such nice prices. Couldn't been easy to decide winners and runner ups.

But after looking at the winners closely I've found something that is really bothering me. Which is that the Nord theme winner's screenshot looks photoshopped or at least filtered with something. The in game textures and lightning doesn't look like that.

pB9TurU.png
Edited by NotaDaedraWorshipper on July 25, 2020 1:27PM
[Lie] Of course! I don't even worship Daedra!
  • Caelnir
    Caelnir
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    As someone who stated that earlier aswell;

    1) Look at fish stand's left leg, its stretched out.
    2) Onion plate's right side is distorted
    3) Horn on table looks weird with that angle, because it's distorted.
    4) Those Solitude tires on right corner are way too big for the items that are standing way closer.
    5) Color correction in some spots. Such as fireplace in distance, table in front of it and white fur on ground. (There is no way they can look that smooth in a screenshot)
    6) When some items are blurred, some items are sharper to give more depth
    7) Nearly all edges have that brush effect which is the reason people think "omg this is like loading screen art"

    I am %100 sure there is no way you can fit such big angle in a screenshot. There is just noooo way you can go there again in game and take a screenshot looking exactly like this. There is no editing on furnishing aspect but display, whoever won probably combined multiple angles to bring the whole scenery in one frame and used some filters create that pleasing / artsy look. More importantly it blows my mind how ZOS can not see that. It's incredibly obvious.
  • StabbityDoom
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    I went to the home and reproduced the shot. I'm pretty sure you guys are wrong on some of these, especially the perspective on the wheels. Looks like Seaofstars did in fact take a normal screenie. But the horn does look odd. Maybe time of day? It's partially outside. 8jctuzd7kghh.png
    Edited by StabbityDoom on July 25, 2020 1:41PM
    PC/NA
    EHT zealot
    streamer: http://twitch.tv/stabbitydoom
  • idk
    idk
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    I went to the home and reproduced the shot. I'm pretty sure you guys are wrong on some of these, especially the perspective on the wheels. Looks like Seaofstars did in fact take a normal screenie. But the horn does look odd. Maybe time of day? It's partially outside. 8jctuzd7kghh.png

    Good counterpoint
  • Caelnir
    Caelnir
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    That proves it's edited even more. You couldn't fit the items on sides as he/she did. Textures are still different and color correction is even more visible. As I stated before, there is no editing on furnishing aspect but noone can convince me that screenshot is not edited. It is %100 not raw.
  • StabbityDoom
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    idk wrote: »
    I went to the home and reproduced the shot. I'm pretty sure you guys are wrong on some of these, especially the perspective on the wheels. Looks like Seaofstars did in fact take a normal screenie. But the horn does look odd. Maybe time of day? It's partially outside. 8jctuzd7kghh.png

    Good counterpoint

    Oh lawd. I could have been not standing in exactly the right spot, I'm not the builder and can't tell you where she stood, but the comparison is SO CLOSE as to be easily accountable that way. I really think you're wrong.
    PC/NA
    EHT zealot
    streamer: http://twitch.tv/stabbitydoom
  • seecodenotgames
    seecodenotgames
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    You can fit more in if you change the FoV, it did this with mine.
    Houses on PC EU (newest first)
    • 62. Sand Castles (Fogbreak Lighthouse) - A literal life size sand castle
    • 61. Riften Meadery (Old Mistveil Manor) - A new meadery has opened outside Riften
    • 60. Helene's Writing Room (Golden Gryphon Garret) - A small room for Helene to get some quiet writing time
    • 59. Picnic at Pelin (Black Vine Villa) - Based on the lore book Picnic at Pelin (A Horror Story)
    • 58. Almalexias Temple (Forsaken Stronghold) - A Dunmer Tower with a shrine to the three
    • 57. Pirate New Life For Me (Highhallow Hold) - A pirate tavern where they gift you loot
    • 56. Woodvine Cathedral (Agony's Ascent) - A living cathedral thriving in the Deadlands
    • 55. Dark Elf Town House (Quondam Indorilia) - A small and cosy town house on the edge of Mournhold
    • 54. The Secret Tower (Exorcised Coven Cottage) - A hidden mage tower in the swamps on the Hag Fen
    • 53. Knight Club (Frostvault Chasm) - A disco in a dwarven mineshaft
    • 52. Dwemer Cave City (The Erstwhile Sanctuary) - A lost dwarven city has been found deep underground
    • 51. Alinor Gryphon Aerie (Colossal Aldmeri Grotto) - A place where gryphons are trained
    • 50. The Charred Towers (Doomchar Plateau) - Deadlands themed fortress with two towers and custom furniture
    • 49. Argonian Sea Town (Tel Galen) - An Argonian sea port
    • 48. Daedric Princess Tower (Seaveil Spire) - An underwater tower dedicated to the Daedric Prince Meridia
    • 47. Fargrave Observatory (Ossa Accentium) - An observatory in the portal realm of Fargrave
    • 46. Hundings Beach House (Hundings Palatial Hall) - Beach house and hottub
    • 45. Crystal Gardens (Snugpod) - Enchanted Gardens with crystalline trees
    • 44. Dawnlight Health Spa (Princely Dawnlight Palace) - Our spa waters are revitalising and ready to heal your aching body
    • 43. Mountainside Retreat (Pariah's Pinnacle) - An orc mountainside hall with an amazing view
    • 42. Volcanic Vile Villa (Kushalit Sanctuary) - A private hollowed out volcano for all your mad alchemist needs
    • 41. Arenthian Water Temple (Strident Springs Demesne) - A relaxing water temple outside Arenthia
    • 40. Woodland Cottage (Ald Velothi Harbor House) - A house in a tree, but not a treehouse
    • 39. Winter Snow Meadhall (Enchanted Snow Globe Home) - A winter meadhall has opened to get everyone in the festive mood
    • 38. Fire and Ice Hotel (Elinhir Private Arena) - An new hotel has opened with an ice bar and a lava room
    • 37. City of Princes (Pantherfang Chapel) - Citadese is under attack from a dragon invasion. Prince Tarvia is leading the escape through the sewers.
    • 36. Dark Brotherhood Home (Stay-Moist Mansion) - A Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary found beneath an Argonian village
    • 35. Volkihar Courtyard (Velothi Reverie) - A castle courtyard modelled on the famous Volkihar Castle in Skyrim
    • 34. Rada's Summer Getaway (Potentate's Retreat) - A Redguard mansion with a dark vampiric secret in the basement
    • 33. Cascadia Wine N Dine (Sweetwater Cascades) - Vineyard and meadery with two restaurants and a chapel
    • 32. Walled Kitchen Garden (Amaya Lake Lodge) - Fresh produce and cut flowers for sale. Hot food served in a family restaurant.
    • 31. Luckycat Summerhouse (Lucky Cat Landing) - A khajiiti villa with spa and dining
    • 30. Helene's Boutique (Water's Edge) - The famous dressmaker has opened a new dress shop in town
    • 29. Alinor Garden Party (Mathiisen Manor) - A party in the flower gardens of a Altmer noble's manor
    • 28. Markarth Bath House (Stone Eagle Aerie) - A relaxing spa and bath house with an arts and craft centre
    • 27. Treeboat house (The Gorinir Estate) - No one know how an imperial ship ended up in the treetops
    • 26. Varlaisvea College (Varlaisvea Ayleid Ruins) - An ancient library has been discovered deep inside an Ayleid ruin
    • 25. City on the Moon (The Orbservatory Prior) - Moonbase with housing and an inn under the stars
    • 24. Lakemire Water Gardens (Lakemire Xanmeer Manor) - Relaxing hanging gardens and a fish restaurant beneath the Xanmeer
    • 23. Hircine's Hunt Club (Hunters Glade) - A relaxing villa for werewolves to feast in the ever refilling hunting grounds
    • 22. Lost Dwarven Kingdom (Shalidor’s Shrouded Realm) - A lost Dwemer king's palace has been found in a mage's pocket realm
    • 21. Replaced with 54. The Secret Tower
    • 20. Topal Fishing Resort (Grand Topal Hideaway) - A resort in the middle of a fishing lake on a private island
    • 19. Castleton Manor (Alinor Crest Townhouse) - The home of Lord Castleton and his daughter Sonja
    • 18. Cave of BBQ N Ribs (Earthtear Cavern) - A secret rocky dome, hosts a BBQ and ribs restaurant
    • 17. Who Lived in a Shoe (The Ample Domicile) - There was an old reach witch who lived in a shoe
    • 16. Dwemer Party Tower (Hall of the Lunar Champion - Lion's Cradle) - A dwarven flying tower repurposed for parties
    • 15. A Taste of Alinor (Sleek Creek House) - A small piece of Alinor beside a creek
    • 14. Lava Submarine Base (Bastion Sanguinaris) - An evil vampire alchemy lab, accessible only via a lava submarine
    • 13. Spirit-tree Library (Wraithhome) - A library built atop an ancient forest within an ancient Daedric ruin
    • 12. Golden Beach Palace (Thieves' Oasis) - A dwarven inspired Redguard beach resort
    • 11. Mad Scientists House (Cyrodilic Jungle House) - Workshop and garage with an experimental De-lore-ean
    • 10. Big Toy House (Antiquarian's Alpine Gallery) - Two life sized doll's houses and a inn beneath the stairs
    • 9. Icy Falls Inn (Forgemaster Falls) - Two Nord lodges on a lake, serving mead and fresh fish
    • 8. Blue-ice Palace (Stillwaters Retreat) - Solitude, but on a frozen lake
    • 7. Mushroom Manor (Coldharbour Surreal Estate) - Dunmer house built from giant mushrooms
    • 6. Vampire Academy with wine bar (Daggerfall Overlook) - Come for the nibbles; stay for eternity
    • 5. Three Pillows War (Grymharth's Woe) - Re-enact the three banners war with pillow forts and floof balls
    • 4. Treefern House (Moon-sugar meadow) - Giant treefern treehouse
    • 3. Artaeum Theatre/Opera housel (Grand Psijic Manor) - Tiered Balcony
    • 2. Imperial Bridal Suite (Linchal Grand Manor) - Wedding venue with bridal suite extension
    • 1. Dragonguard Penthouse (Jode's Embrace) - 3 Extra floors, with indoor conservatory and top floor gym
  • Caelnir
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    You can fit more in if you change the FoV, it did this with mine.

    Let's say she changed FoV, and let's say the angle is all right. Do you still think there is no editing color wise or some kind of fx filter on that screenshot? I really do not buy that brush texture on some items myself.
  • NotaDaedraWorshipper
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    Yeah. Fitting everything into the screenshot is not what bothers me and made me think it's altered in some way, but the lightning and brushed feeling of the textures.
    [Lie] Of course! I don't even worship Daedra!
  • Lalothen
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    There's some creative use of out-of-shot/hidden lighting going on by the looks of it - as well as having picked a "perfect" time of day for the desired tone of the scene - but I don't see anything there to imply that the shot was 'shopped or filtered, particularly given StabbityDoom's own shot here.

    I experimented with lighting placement A LOT on my own build, and also with time of day since the point from where I took my shots was open to the elements, and Moon-Sugar Meadow's daytime is hella bright. What I found was that time of day had a significant impact on the way things inside looked, including the perceived texture of items. In daylight things looked crisper, whilst the "darkest of night" shot I ended up submitting was a little fuzzier in areas. Placement - and just as importantly choice (the new vampire sconces offer greater and crisper illumination than many other sconces, for example) - of lighting items also had a significant impact as well.

    The Nord winner was expertly done, and I would hedge a lot of time was spent taking screenshots at different times with different PoVs and different lighting placements, to end up with this amazing shot. It's honestly a build and screenshot quality to aspire to.
  • JHartEllis
    JHartEllis
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    Winner photoshopped/filtered?
    No.
    Guild leader of Spicy Economics and Spicy Life on PC/NA
    ESO Stream Team Partner on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/jhartellis
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHartEllis
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/JHartEllis
    Website: https://spicyeconomics.com/
  • Caelnir
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    I actually went to that house and took the exact same screenshot; I can say I was wrong about multiple things and I was right about few things

    1) Thing is you can fit that angle in the screenshot yes but the items are still stretched more than they are. I will approach to that with good will and say that she is playing with VERY wide monitor so that makes her some items look stretched more than they normally are.

    2) No matter which time-zone I used in house my texture was still way looking better and it didn't have brushy/filtery look. Again I am approaching to that with good intentions and assume that she is actually not playing on good settings and that gives it a weird blurry look even on very simple items.

    As I said before, I am not criticizing the decorating nor saying this person doesn't deserve to win. I am just assuming that this is not normal looking screenshot as it is. So these could be what causing it ^ Maybe that makes sense to some of you who blindly tries to defend.
  • JnD
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    I really don't mind if they used or not a slight photoshop or editing effect to publish it.
    All houses that won or runners up are absolutely amazing.
    I'm sure, as they said in the video, that many people sent beautiful creations. It would be awesome to be able to see some if them :smile:
  • StabbityDoom
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    JnD wrote: »
    I really don't mind if they used or not a slight photoshop or editing effect to publish it.
    All houses that won or runners up are absolutely amazing.
    I'm sure, as they said in the video, that many people sent beautiful creations. It would be awesome to be able to see some if them :smile:

    I showed a few on my stream today and I am happy to tour anyone's entries on PC/NA or EU - please just let me know! I was super impressed with just the ones I saw today!
    PC/NA
    EHT zealot
    streamer: http://twitch.tv/stabbitydoom
  • Caelnir
    Caelnir
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    Hey @caelnir it takes real guts to admit that. I admire that.

    Well, I am just pointing out the issues that might be caused because of the reasons "not" because of editing.

    I am still sceptical person about it and remain to be. No matter which light I tried her items always look more blurry than mine and texture is always more blended with background. There are things I can not explain without proof. It's not my place to claim what people did or did not.

    Also there is no reason to jump on people voicing their doubts either. We are not attacking, we are sharing our thoughts. Hope that is clear.
  • JnD
    JnD
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    JnD wrote: »
    I really don't mind if they used or not a slight photoshop or editing effect to publish it.
    All houses that won or runners up are absolutely amazing.
    I'm sure, as they said in the video, that many people sent beautiful creations. It would be awesome to be able to see some if them :smile:

    I showed a few on my stream today and I am happy to tour anyone's entries on PC/NA or EU - please just let me know! I was super impressed with just the ones I saw today!

    Sorry, I hadn't seen your today's stream. I will tonight, for sure. Looking forward to it! :blush:
  • NotaDaedraWorshipper
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    I'm of a similar mindset as Caelnir and can only agree with him. I have in no way meant their house is badly done or not deserving of winning. If I'm wrong then I'd be wrong and I'm fine with that. I've also tried reason the things I deem odd with various things that would explain it.
    But I'm still sceptical about it and think it looks amiss.
    [Lie] Of course! I don't even worship Daedra!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Soul Shriven
    Hello everyone,

    Recently we've had to remove a few posts for getting a bit off-topic. For further posts be sure to stay constructive with the Forum Rules in mind to avoid thread derailment.

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  • bluebird
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    Well, yes it does look unnatural, especially compared to Stabby's comparison. I play on a high-end PC with max graphics settings, and even with either of the Anti-aliasing settings, and with low gamma, images never come out that smooth and vibrant. They may have indeed touched up their screenshot after the fact, because those don't look like qualities achievable with the vanilla ingame settings.

    However, they might just be using a Graphics tweak AddOn or Reshade mod:
    uf2fquvitsi21.png
    pjxzsykd9aas.png
    If they have something like this, all their game will look different from base game values, and they may not have deliberately 'tampered' with their contest entry. The rules clearly said to disable Special FX, but there was no mention of forbidding the use of Graphical enhancement mods. So it wouldn't have been against the rules.
    Edited by bluebird on July 25, 2020 9:53PM
  • Chuck_Finley
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    One of the Vampire winners looked a little bit touched up to me too but ultimately they were all very nice homes and I'm sure they would have won anyway. Because it was about the design of the home, not how vibrant the reds were or how deep the blacks were.

    However since they said repeatedly that by the end they couldn't really pick their "favorite 3" because there were so many they loved, I would love to see an extended gallery go up of all the entries they loved. Even if they post 80 images for each category :smiley:

    Heck even if its 200+ images per category I'd love to see the best entries from this contest! I just loved this contest idea so much and I really want to see more!
  • Chuck_Finley
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    I showed a few on my stream today and I am happy to tour anyone's entries on PC/NA or EU - please just let me know! I was super impressed with just the ones I saw today!

    What is your stream or youtube link? I would love to see a tour of the entries too!
    Edited by Chuck_Finley on July 26, 2020 2:55AM
  • StabbityDoom
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    I showed a few on my stream today and I am happy to tour anyone's entries on PC/NA or EU - please just let me know! I was super impressed with just the ones I saw today!

    What is your stream or youtube link? I would love to see a tour of the entries too!

    I will be putting an index up today so you can skip directly to the entries, but for now, here's a link to the episode:
    https://youtu.be/0Zdl5WE1aZc
    I'll be doing more
    PC/NA
    EHT zealot
    streamer: http://twitch.tv/stabbitydoom
  • rrimöykk
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    bluebird wrote: »
    If they have something like this, all their game will look different from base game values, and they may not have deliberately 'tampered' with their contest entry. The rules clearly said to disable Special FX, but there was no mention of forbidding the use of Graphical enhancement mods. So it wouldn't have been against the rules.

    One of many reasons why these competitions should be divided to PC only and console only. We can not use any mods or addons or pts and we are forced to compete in the same category. That's the most unfair aspect of housing contest.
  • mikikatze
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    Oh my god, you sound like somebody took something away from you which you never owned in the first place...

    Did it state in the rules that Photoshop etc. is forbidden? I only read the German rules where this wasn't mentioned.
  • Tammany
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    Screenshot looks like upon reshade, it wasnt forbidden as i've read.
  • StabbityDoom
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    It could be as simple as just gamma. I should state: Mine is usually up pretty high for touring houses, and that could explain the difference.
    Edited by StabbityDoom on July 26, 2020 1:07PM
    PC/NA
    EHT zealot
    streamer: http://twitch.tv/stabbitydoom
  • Zypheran
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    I don't think it's in the spirit of community support to be casting aspersions on the authenticity of the winning entry.
    Bottom line, the creation is real, the work that went into it is real and it's a stunning design, well deserving of it's prize.
    All my housing builds are available on YouTube
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3oJ_cxuu01HmWZJZ6KK6g?view_as=subscriber
    I am happy to share the EHT save files for most of my builds.
  • Kittytravel
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    Firstly, I shall congratulate all the winners, and thank ZoS for holding a housing contest with such nice prices. Couldn't been easy to decide winners and runner ups.

    But after looking at the winners closely I've found something that is really bothering me. Which is that the Nord theme winner's screenshot looks photoshopped or at least filtered with something. The in game textures and lightning doesn't look like that.

    pB9TurU.png

    k2lfrc4jk8vm.png

    Posting this for comparison; taken from the ESO live stream twitch.tv/videos/689595274 at 54:20
    Doesn't seem to be any difference to me and I highly doubt they edited it in real time; feel free to go look at it yourself.
    Edited by Kittytravel on July 27, 2020 2:20AM
  • bluebird
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    Firstly, I shall congratulate all the winners, and thank ZoS for holding a housing contest with such nice prices. Couldn't been easy to decide winners and runner ups.

    But after looking at the winners closely I've found something that is really bothering me. Which is that the Nord theme winner's screenshot looks photoshopped or at least filtered with something. The in game textures and lightning doesn't look like that.

    pB9TurU.png
    Posting this for comparison; taken from the ESO live stream twitch.tv/videos/689595274 at 54:20
    Doesn't seem to be any difference to me and I highly doubt they edited it in real time; feel free to go look at it yourself.
    Just FYI, that's the same image. ESO Live was showing off the Screenshots, they didn't visit anybody's home. :smile:

    But in any case, touching up the image or using graphics tuning addons wasn't against the rules anyway. And the judges likely looked at the creativity of the concept, the execution of the vision, and the details put into the entries (as they seemed to be mentioning those criteria often during the stream). Even OP wasn't campaigning to have the winner disqualified at all (unless I missed some malicious comments that were later deleted), and as I said they have done nothing against the rules either way so people were just wondering how exactly they got the entry to look like that.
    Edited by bluebird on July 27, 2020 2:42AM
  • Kittytravel
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    bluebird wrote: »
    Firstly, I shall congratulate all the winners, and thank ZoS for holding a housing contest with such nice prices. Couldn't been easy to decide winners and runner ups.

    But after looking at the winners closely I've found something that is really bothering me. Which is that the Nord theme winner's screenshot looks photoshopped or at least filtered with something. The in game textures and lightning doesn't look like that.

    pB9TurU.png
    Posting this for comparison; taken from the ESO live stream twitch.tv/videos/689595274 at 54:20
    Doesn't seem to be any difference to me and I highly doubt they edited it in real time; feel free to go look at it yourself.
    Just FYI, that's the same image. ESO Live was showing off the Screenshots, they didn't visit anybody's home. :smile:

    But in any case, touching up the image or using graphics tuning addons wasn't against the rules anyway. And the judges likely looked at the creativity of the concept, the execution of the vision, and the details put into the entries (as they seemed to be mentioning those criteria often during the stream). Even OP wasn't campaigning to have the winner disqualified at all (unless I missed some malicious comments that were later deleted), and as I said they have done nothing against the rules either way so people were just wondering how exactly they got the entry to look like that.

    Thanks, the lower resolution on OPs image confused me as well as the slight cropping at the very top of it.
  • Caelnir
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    People are going extremely hostile against something we are doubting. Me personally, still sure there is some kind of filter on that screenshot and screenshot is wider than normal widescreen monitor resolution; which makes it look weird. That's it.

    Me personally wasn't even able to attend the contest and wouldn't be attending anyway, there is no -crying- here. And that weird "let's stand up for the winner" approach doesn't make you right in a discussion. If there is something wrong that I see, I say it, simple as that.

    And as a grown up person you should respond and say that you are disagreeing rather than going "omg, you are like a baby, admit it". This screenshot being legit doesn't make me win anything or lose anything. I am just saying it out loud because I hate it when people take advantage of 3rd programs to put themselves over others with ignoring rules. If I feel like someone was not competing on equal standards and that I voice my thoughts about it.. it doesn't make me hater. Hopefully some of you will learn to react with logic next time.

    Nowadays it is incredibly difficult to have a discussion without people acting like kids.

    Adios
    Edited by Caelnir on July 27, 2020 4:44PM
This discussion has been closed.