I'm writing this here out of frustration and to stop myself from bothering anyone else with it. At time of writing this, there is still the chance I get scouted in time, but the chances of it are very slim to none.

I'm pretty sad with the requirement of being scouted to participate in the secret santa event this year. This as well as the October drawing challenge forum post are the only times I feel invited and comfortable to share my art and participate in something with other artists. I really enjoyed doing both the last 2 years here and would've loved to do so again this year, especially secret santa. Its one of the few events I really look forward to during the months approaching december.

I was scouted at somepoint but lost it for reasons no one told me. I don't know if it is because I scouted someone of low art quality or the person who scouted me did something wrong or something else, I don't know. I don't recall scouting more than maybe 1 or 2 people but I don't even remember who they were, and I'm not constantly checking the person who scouted me to see if they do the same or not. The lack of telling me that I am no longer scouted is pretty annoying and on top of that, the option to scout me being removed without my knowledge is disheartening. I'm not sure how I could better my behavior and actions without being told what I did to deserve being blocked without notice. The only reason I even found out I was blocked from being scouted was because another artist in the NG SS discord mentioned their account not having it.

This means that for however long, my stuff was only showing under the undiscovered artists tab (which it seems like little to nobody else really looks at regularly) and even if someone from their or from looking at my few posts on the forums decided they wanted to look at my artwork and scout me, they wouldn't see the option and would just assume I was already scouted at the time. I don't know anyone who'd see the inconsistency of my stuff showing under undiscovered artists while not having a scout option, deciding to look into the matter and reach out to moderators, and not just write the lack of an option as a bug and move on.

I didn't really mind being scouted or not too much prior to this event. I mainly came to newgrounds as a way for people to view my artwork without needing to log into an account of any kind. Since then I've loved the range of type and quality of artists here and have enjoyed quite a lot of it, from the artwork to movies to forum posts, and even some of the games, its been great. The SS event was a great way to really partake in the community, as I could draw someone elses OC with permission as well as get a drawing of my own character from someone else, it would've been hard NOT wanting to join it. I still feel this, but I just am barred from joining right now due to this one requirement of being scouted.

I read through the SS post and understand why this level of entry is in play, but I don't think it should've been locked to just those who are scouted. That post showed some good artists who haven't been scouted and even looking through the undiscovered artists section can give you some cool finds now and then. I feel like a 2nd possible requirement could've been made for those who haven't gotten scouted yet, like having an account that is 6 months old or having a special pass for doing a drawing on time during the last secret santa.

At time of writing this, there is still time I can get in, but my hope for it is pretty low considering what has happened so far. I don't think I'll start completely despising this website if I don't get in, but I'd be pretty bummed out to say the least.