The Great Challenge Returns

*Warning! Spoilers to the next promo ahead! All information is based on the previous time this event ran from memory and information gathered from the Spoilers Topic and the pre-pod server*

It is with incredible happiness I tell you all that the next promotion once the Plants promo has finished will see the return of the Great Challenge and the festivities!

New to the Great Challenge? Here's the breakdown of what happens:

The Great Challenge
The Great Challenge is 3 daily objectives ranging in difficulty, that when completed give you horseshoes (I will explain their purpose later). Examples are: Groom a horse, come last in 5 competitions, remove a pegasus' wings etc. The most difficult objective is always #3, and from memory, cost 5000 equus to ask for help so another player does it for you Once you complete your 3 objectives you can check the community help to view the objectives people ask for help for. Doing these can get you lottery tickets and community recognition. Completing all 3 objectives also gives you a "puzzle piece" that fills up the jigsaw, and each piece allows you to collect prizes when the festivities begin (you don't have to fill the jigsaw to win them, it is merely a limit on the prizes). The prizes contain Ageing points (ohhhh so many APs to win *rubs hands and licks lips*), BMIs and resources.

The Festivities
After the Great Challenge comes the lottery. Tickets are purchased for each draw and can be gifted to friends and received from friends (all very lovely indeed), including all the tickets you may have won through doing people's objectives for them during the Great Challenge. Spending passes also gets you tickets without directly spending them on the promo. EVERY TICKET IS A WINNER. You can win all kinds of BMI and the divine for this Promotion is Cancer (more below) as well as equus and more APs *faints*. There is 1 divine won per draw, and some other exclusive BMI such as Hestia's Gifts and 1,000,000 equus are gifted in limited amounts. Also, more exclusive BMI tend to be time limited to 90 days, as is the norm nowadays. Worried you won't win Cancer in the lottery? Throughout the Festivities, you can try your luck by opening Horns of Plenty to win Cancer (was previously Golden Fleeces but is now Horns of Plenty). 

The Horseshoes
Completing the objectives earns you horseshoes. These horseshoes contribute towards the community, and the more horseshoes everyone collects, the more draws there will be in the lottery (maximum of 4 per day) and maximising the prizes you get. The more horseshoes you personally collect also allow you to win Golden Horseshoes for the Events Trophy and also allow you to have offers on Horns of Plenty during festivities (basically buy on get one free type offers that get you more for your passes the more horseshoes you collect).

Cancer the Divine
Cancer is part of the Zodiac collection. Like other Zodiacs, if she is your zodiac you will receive a 5th element on your birthday when you log in that day. She is gifted to 1 player under her sign on the 22nd of July each year. She can breed with Gemini to make Leo. She cannot be sold.

Points to note and changes to this promotion compared to the last one
-At the start of the festivities, you will have to manually collect your gifts through a Game Team PM, this prevents the delay caused by trying to hand out thousands of items simultaneously. 
-You will not receive any gifts before the festivities begin, so do not be alarmed if you get a puzzle piece and nothing for it.
-Read objectives carefully. I see so many people attempting to give a unicorn a carrot when the objective states it has to be a horse and things like that.
- The lottery draw begins at the stated time (e.g. 12:00) but you may not actually receive your prizes until a few minutes later - this is normal.
- Players can only receive an allotted amount of tickets from friends per draw, so if a friend is not on your list don't be alarmed, they probably already have their friend tickets for that draw.

My advice
- Make sure you have BMIs such as Helios' Rays, Fertility Wands and the like spare, as using these items can be an objectives
- If you can, get hold of pegasi, unicorns and donkeys. Objectives can include removing horns and wings and grooming donkeys, and when people realise this the prices will go up in the sales, so collect now to avoid a larger loss of money. 
- Save item exchanges and completing horse's training, as these too can be objectives, and it makes your life easier if you're prepared and have horses/exchanges ready to go, and saves energy and APs
- Do the objectives for others you can, but don't go out of your way to. If it's easy, it's a way to get an extra lottery ticket, but don't go wasting your items for another.
- Keep an eye out in the Spoilers Topic on your server for any more info on the objectives

I wish you the best of luck, and Happy Howrseing!

F x