I'm not sure about free assets but i have not that much experience with it. I know that when i was trying to find simple (non-fantasy, non-shooter) 2D character i've failed. But on the other hand when i have tried to find it now in paid stuff it's not there either (at least in about 2-3 pages)... So mb you are right here
About "losing" - i'm not that hopeful for winning, i don't know if we even have prizes here :) But if i will have good results it can help at job interviews as style points :) I meant that there is like unfair competition this way if judges will not consider this ofc and there are a lot of work for them even without it so they can accidentaly miss this. And there are different participating goals for different people including having prizes so it can be important for someone. Anyway i'm not into arguing about this, so if you want to have last words on this topic i'm ok with it)
Really cool job for this amount of experience) I have similar experience but including a bit of gamedev job. Thanks for sharing! Wish you the best
It's ok