As soon as the news came out that 7.0 was going to have a graphics update, I knew that Scenic Cycle was going to be the first cycle I wanted to run, and the excitement and enthusiasm from our photographers this cycle shows it was the right decision.

First, I want to thank our new judges Rosemary, Juzelle, and guest judge Chaton for their hard work this cycle. I hope you had fun and learned a lot. I will definitely be inviting you all back to judge again! I started out ENTM as a guest judge and look where I am now (not that I plan on going anywhere.) Also thank you to our most senior and veteran judge Ona, and our rotating judges and previous S rank winners Malkovich and Rymm for stepping in to help out when I was going to be short a judge this cycle. I may continue trying to have a stable of available emergency judges available, although I am not sure I’ll do a permanent rotating judge again….. and I’ll need to remember to ask ahead of time when a regular judge tells me they are on vacation. (My bad.)

And I want to thank all the photographers for participating, especially our two newbies to ENTM, Oudine Aubemarle and Oaken Bookshelf. It’s always a risk to try a new type of contest, and you have been wonderful additions to our ENTM crew. As I mentioned before, since Scenic Cycle is non-character based, you’re both welcome to join us for a Fresh Faces cycle, which we plan to run sometime in early 2025.

One more round of appreciation for the entire photographer cast of Scenic Cycle 4:

Alastor Izunia
Netizen James
Oaken Bookshelf
Zukira Phaera
Damien Montclair
Oudine Aubemarle
Escher Strange
Hilda Garde
Schan Starfall

And now, the winners of Scenic Cycle 4! Scoring is based exclusively on judges scores for this cycle; community votes are not considered (they were just for fun during the weekly rounds.)

Third Place: Hilda Garde

With a score of 99! Hilda’s shots didn’t take home a weekly win, but she consistently scored high in the background from the judges, often coming in a close second or tied for third. Her best scoring shot was Bed of Roses with a score of 10. Congratulations!

An FFXIV screenshot of an ARR dungeon. The image is a bedchamber, with a four poster bed that has been tattered with time, dust covered wooden walls, and a visible spider web. — Bed of Roses

Second Place: Oaken Bookshelf

A new participant to ENTM, Oaken Bookshelf understood the assignments immediately and started off strong with a tied win in the first week! He also won week five, with his best scoring shot of 11, Peace. His total score for the entire contest is just one point shy of the win, with a 93. Congratulations!

ENTM Scenic Cycle Four Grand Prize Winner

With a score of 92, our final photographer edged ahead by a single point to take home the grand prize. She has been a participant in ENTM contests many times over the years – and actually won the last Scenic Cycle as well.

She came in strong every week, never having a bad shot. Her best score was in Week 2, where she took home the weekly win with her shot Light in the Dark with a nice low score of 9 total.

An FFXIV screenshot of an ARR dungeon. A beam of sunlight filters down through a whole in the wall showing off tree roots. — Light in the Dark

Congratulations to Schan Starfall, ENTM’s newest repeat S-Rank Winner!