costume contests

[Snarky]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.

 

bullshit, i been to art school

 

i am seeing people regularly place in contests in outfits so bland i would delete the toon...

[SeraphimKensai]

It's seems to me that most costume contests have predetermined winners planted amongst the contestants as a means of gifting large sums of influence and other prizes to people in effort to pay back gambling debts without raising the ire of the Paragon City I.R.S. branch.

 

That's the only logical explanation why I haven't ever won any costume contest.

[biostem]

It irks me when I see the winner of a C.C. is using like 90% the same costume set, or if they're undead...

[Mjolnerd]

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

i am seeing people regularly place in contests in outfits so bland i would delete the toon...

 

"Bland" in the general sense of the word, or the MMO sense? Because having bigger shoulders and more pointy bits doesn't always make something look better. Frankly, a lot of designs people come up with are really, really busy these days. There's nothing wrong with clean lines and readability.

 

That said, I've won a few costume contests, I've lost a few costume contests where I totally agreed with the decision about who won instead of me, and I've lost a ton of costume contests where I went "really?" Of all the designs here you think THAT's the best one?"

 

The thing that irritates me isn't people having different tastes than I do, it's how ungodly long it takes most of them to announce their damn decision. You've got fifty people standing around and not playing the game for like a half hour, sometimes longer -- and let's face it, probably four of them are actually in the running to win... maybe hurry things up a bit?

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Mjolnerd

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, biostem said:

It irks me when I see the winner of a C.C. is using like 90% the same costume set, or if they're undead...

i know exactly!  wait...wha.....

[Snarky]

58 minutes ago, Mjolnerd said:

 

"Bland" in the general sense of the word, or the MMO sense? Because having bigger shoulders and more pointy bits doesn't always make something look better. Frankly, a lot of designs people come up with are really, really busy these days. There's nothing wrong with clean lines and readability.

 

That said, I've won a few costume contests, I've lost a few costume contests where I totally agreed with the decision about who won instead of me, and I've lost a ton of costume contests where I went "really?" Of all the designs here you think THAT's the best one?"

 

The thing that irritates me isn't people having different tastes than I do, it's how ungodly long it takes most of them to announce their damn decision. You've got fifty people standing around and not playing the game for like a half hour, sometimes longer -- and let's face it, probably four of them are actually in the running to win... maybe hurry things up a bit?

 

I mean bland bland.  My favorite contests were private ones Cosmic Council used to hold regular.  themed.  Lot of great designers.  I remember I was going for a fireman look and could not get the jacket right.  So I made something else.  In walked a costume that used 3 pieces to create a firemans jacket that I never would have dreamed of doing.  Tip of the hat, and if I remember that person placed but did not win.  Because....better costumes.....

[Glacier Peak]

I like to think that everyone has their own idea of the best costume. 18 years ago, I thought the coolest costume used the flames pattern. Then I realized that a lot of cool concepts involved unusual combinations of pieces. Then I got more comfortable with my own style and finally I've just recently realized I'm never going to be as good as some of the best costume and character designers I've had the pleasure of seeing. 

 

Go check out this thread...

 

 

.... to feel:

[Clave Dark 5]

Yeah, I've won a couple and lost some where I just think "... the hell???"  I have seen a few with costumes in them that seriously blew me away too. 

 

At this point I've learned to not like try to get into such a contest because that gets me geared up about doing well, and there's nothing worse than walking home without a second glance after that*. I just hop by one if I happen to be in Atlas and hear the announcement, which fortunately isn't often as sooner or later I'm bound to explode after losing another one to (I kid you not) another "undead Elvis-looking guy" or something.

 

*Worst example: big Halloween contest, had set categories for "spookiest," "most beautiful," "most frightening," and another one like that, buuuuut... I'd gone in what was arguably a sort of kitsch or perhaps humor-category costume (that had won other contests!), so I was shut out completely.  I wasn't the only one there to feel this way although I didn't bother speaking up like they did.  And yes I still think about this because it still annoys!!

[SeraphimKensai]

Also speaking of Costume Contests, is there a reason people are still doing them in Atlas Park? It eliminates the possibly of any Red Side or Gold Side toon from competing. The HC Dev team created Echo Plaza for things like costume contests and the like which anyone can go to without having to change their alignment.

[Zect]

I feel like I'm pointing out the blindingly obvious here, but many people assume winning costume contests is about having a good costume, when it's not.

 

It's about appealing to the judging panel's taste.

 

If you care about winning, as opposed to having a good costume, then find out the judges' taste. Look at past contests they've judged, and try to discern a style or common thread amongst the winners. I seem to recall an SG on Everlasting that used to hold weekly costume contests and posted the results here. Most of the winners were classic full-body tights costumes, especially muscled tights on women. That should be an easy win for anyone who cares to do their research.

 

On the other hand, if you care more about the validation of having someone else say your favorite costume is good, costume contests don't seem like the place to go. The chance of losing is much greater than that of winning, unless you specifically entered a contest whose judges share your sense of taste - see above. Random compliments from passersby would seem to deserve more weight than cc's in this regard - after all, when someone holds a costume contest, they are obligated to pick a winner even if nothing on display tickles their fancy (I suspect this is the reason behind some of the very unconventional winners - at least it was when I ran them). On the other hand, nobody is obligated to strike up a convo with a stranger.

 

[Luminara]

If you stopped showing up naked, you might win, @Snarky.

 

thousandyearoldgooeybageeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Snarky]

54 minutes ago, Zect said:

I feel like I'm pointing out the blindingly obvious here, but many people assume winning costume contests is about having a good costume, when it's not.

 

It's about appealing to the judging panel's taste.

 

If you care about winning, as opposed to having a good costume, then find out the judges' taste. Look at past contests they've judged, and try to discern a style or common thread amongst the winners. I seem to recall an SG on Everlasting that used to hold weekly costume contests and posted the results here. Most of the winners were classic full-body tights costumes, especially muscled tights on women. That should be an easy win for anyone who cares to do their research.

 

On the other hand, if you care more about the validation of having someone else say your favorite costume is good, costume contests don't seem like the place to go. The chance of losing is much greater than that of winning, unless you specifically entered a contest whose judges share your sense of taste - see above. Random compliments from passersby would seem to deserve more weight than cc's in this regard - after all, when someone holds a costume contest, they are obligated to pick a winner even if nothing on display tickles their fancy (I suspect this is the reason behind some of the very unconventional winners - at least it was when I ran them). On the other hand, nobody is obligated to strike up a convo with a stranger.

 

I remember a college art exhibition.  I entered  a drawing a man holding up a skull of an antelope. It was from a picture i found so the concept was not mine. It was in colored pencil.  My technique was mostly good.  My command of color and attention to detail very good.  Did not get accepted.  As i was picking up the piece in the reject phase the man handing it to me spoke with me.  Told me it was very nice.  Just so happened they had a guest judge who wanted a woman themed art show.  No one mentioned that in the art show announcement….

Edited December 17, 2022 by Snarky

[SeraphimKensai]

54 minutes ago, Zect said:

On the other hand, if you care more about the validation of having someone else say your favorite costume is good, costume contests don't seem like the place to go. 

The truest form of validation on your character's costume was an old joke sg some of my old pvp team assembled for a bit called the Fashion Police back on Guardian. We'd run around and issue citations to ppl in horrible costumes, telling them they need to report to icon at once or pay a hefty fine. We had an sg uniform where we looked like police officers out of reno 911.

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, Zect said:

It's about appealing to the judging panel's taste.

I have to agree.

 

1 hour ago, Zect said:

If you care about winning, as opposed to having a good costume, then find out the judges' taste. Look at past contests they've judged

And how in the blue hell, or in Paragon City, for that matter would anyone do that? 
You'd have to know who the judges are. Their global name. Possibly their sg name, if they have one. You'd have to know when their contests were, with enough time to spare to actually get there and discover what the theme was, if any. At best, you'd be skimming through the forums and chat channels, and discord looking for contest announcements, and then marking time on a calendar to be there. It's not always evident who the judges are, in my limited experience. 

I was on a panel of judges for Cosmic Council's contests a few times. I found it interesting that my vote would never count because my tastes were so drastically different from everyone else's. None of my top 5 were in anyone else's top 5. There's taste variance, sure. And then there's the discrepancy between what you see on your screen and what I see on my screen. Those that are playing with the better video cards, with the newer monitors that refresh at higher rates would probably see something slightly different than someone who's still working with a 15" boxy monitor, because the damn thing won't die. 

Truth is, if I want to hold one and reward the ones I think have the better costume, I can do that. Nobody can research my past judging efforts, that's for sure. 

But I'd never do that. Costumes are too subjective. If I'm going to award based on subjective matter, it would be on a punny name and bio that amuses/interests me. One of these days, I'll get around to it. All costumes are bland. Except kitty and turtle costumes. Those are boss, right? 



 

[lemming]

Every once in awhile I'll get a compliment on one of my costumes, I'll take those wins. 😉

 

If I hear about a costume contest, and I seem to have a feasible costume, I might stop by, but I'm not sure when the last time was.  Last few contests, I did drive bys and looked at some of the entrants.

[kito]

I held a CC once for a SG event, IT WAS A MESS. XD like 50 people where there we had 5 judges no one could agree on what what the best one.( it took us like a hour of arguing over who should win with no winner in sight) In the end I had everyone pick there top 5 in a 1-5 order and then added the 1-5 of each costume I think the #1 winner had like 7 points. had was 4 peoples bottom 5 of there favorite costumes letting them get the most points. So they did win, none of the judges where happy XD

I mean how do you Pick a winner with more then one judge? I think the more bland costumes would have the best chance that way, as more people will like it. It might not be anyone's #1 pick but its something Everyone might like. I think the less judges there are the more you will see the *this one is cool * win. 

On a personal Level I have never agreed with a #1#2#3 costume. as there are always so many good costume. I have always wanted to just have 3-5 people pick there top 1 costume and then spilt the rewards 1/3 - 1/5 to each of them. But never won that argument XD 

[Spaghetti Betty]

Yup. At this point I've given up on costume contests. On top of most of them being held at times I'd have no hope of joining, the judges never seem to agree that I have the best looking toon in the known universe. The love I get in the Best Costumes thread and from random passersby is more than enough for me.

[DougGraves]

17 hours ago, Mjolnerd said:

"Bland" in the general sense of the word, or the MMO sense? Because having bigger shoulders and more pointy bits doesn't always make something look better. Frankly, a lot of designs people come up with are really, really busy these days. There's nothing wrong with clean lines and readability.

 

All of my costumes look amazing in the costume editor and lose 90% of their detail when seen in game at a normal distance.

 

The costume editor should have an option for displaying 50 feet away in a crowd so you can see what other players will see.

[Mjolnerd]

10 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Also speaking of Costume Contests, is there a reason people are still doing them in Atlas Park? It eliminates the possibly of any Red Side or Gold Side toon from competing. The HC Dev team created Echo Plaza for things like costume contests and the like which anyone can go to without having to change their alignment.

A combination of two factors:

 

Old habits die hard -- The same reason people are still staging Incarnate trials RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE PORTAL THAT OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT WANT TO USE FOR SOMETHING ELSE in Ouroboros instead of the big courtyard in the special Incarnates-only zone that was put there by the original devs, in part, specifically for that purpose. And why nobody uses the LFG tab to flag themselves as looking for teams/TFs/iTrials/whatever so that other people can find them with a quick search instead of just yelling that you've got a spot open in chat. Learning a new way to do things is hard, especially when you're already used to the old way.

 

I didn't know that was a thing -- People try to use Echo Plaza for events every once in a while, and the chat immediately floods with people asking "where? What's that? How do I get there? What's a 'tunnel network'? I'm under Atlas for the CC, where is everybody, did I miss it?" I mean, in CoH communities on social media like Facebook and Reddit, I see posts almost daily with current, active players being directed to these very forums for some reason or another (password resets, help with builds), and most of them respond with shock that the forums exist at all EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD TO HAVE COME HERE AT LEAST ONCE JUST TO SET UP THEIR ACCOUNT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

 

Basically, change is scary, and we're all somehow old farts set in our ways and tiny little crybabies refusing to let Mom and Dad change our diapers, both at the same time.

 

1 hour ago, DougGraves said:

 

All of my costumes look amazing in the costume editor and lose 90% of their detail when seen in game at a normal distance.

 

The costume editor should have an option for displaying 50 feet away in a crowd so you can see what other players will see.

Or at least the ability to change graphics settings from inside the editor without losing your work. "This looks great on Ultra settings with cel shading turned on -- I wonder if it's anywhere near as awesome using Recommended OH GOD MY EYES"

Edited December 17, 2022 by Mjolnerd

[ForeverLaxx]

In my experience, if the CC isn't just being held as a way to hand off a bunch of influence/prizes to their friends and drum up some PR in the process (for whatever reason this is actually a thing), most of the winners I've seen are either super-basic costumes (which do have their own appeal) or they happen to fill some particular fetish of the person holding the CC. I still remember a contest where the winner was just a white tiger girl in the standard schoolgirl uniform colored pink/purple. You can't tell me that particular costume was actually worthy of any prize, but it got the grand prize. For reasons.

 

Truthfully, the only costumes I ever wondered the reasoning for how they win are the costumes built entirely out of pieces already designed (and often bundled in a preset) to go together. We're talking stuff like the full Samurai outfit or most of the robotic stuff. I know that a lot of the time, the way some of the parts are designed, they only really fit and look right if you match them together but you can create some really interesting looks if you mix/match certain pieces. You can even get around the poor seams some of them have with the proper belt or shoulder pieces. I spend way too much time in the character creator doing this so I know it's possible.

 

I've never managed to win any CCs on any Homecoming server, though I did win a bunch (and ran a fair few) on the Live servers. I do still get the random "nice costume" message from time to time when running DFB and that's good enough for me these days.

[gamingglen]

I've won one CC for certain, and maybe a second but I cannot remember what the costume was. For the first one it was "casual" themed. What is more casual than jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, hair in pony-tail (female)?  Of the other numerous contestants only one other person was remotely casual, it looked like everyone else showed up with their super tights. Easiest CC ever. (on live)

 

I did place, maybe that was the other first place finish for me, in a dev sponsored contest with the top 3 (or was it 5?) picks on each server receiving the newly released animated-tail pack for free. I had just created a "fox girl" but she was missing the bushy tail (of course). I really really wanted that pack, and got it (I'm a cheapskate and didn't want to spend the $10).    woohoo!

 

edit: or was it that I had the tail but not the fur and won the fur pack?  sigh, was sooo long ago...

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by gamingglen

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, ForeverLaxx said:

In my experience, if the CC isn't just being held as a way to hand off a bunch of influence/prizes to their friends and drum up some PR in the process (for whatever reason this is actually a thing), most of the winners I've seen are either super-basic costumes (which do have their own appeal) or they happen to fill some particular fetish of the person holding the CC. I still remember a contest where the winner was just a white tiger girl in the standard schoolgirl uniform colored pink/purple. You can't tell me that particular costume was actually worthy of any prize, but it got the grand prize. For reasons.

 

Truthfully, the only costumes I ever wondered the reasoning for how they win are the costumes built entirely out of pieces already designed (and often bundled in a preset) to go together. We're talking stuff like the full Samurai outfit or most of the robotic stuff. I know that a lot of the time, the way some of the parts are designed, they only really fit and look right if you match them together but you can create some really interesting looks if you mix/match certain pieces. You can even get around the poor seams some of them have with the proper belt or shoulder pieces. I spend way too much time in the character creator doing this so I know it's possible.

 

I've never managed to win any CCs on any Homecoming server, though I did win a bunch (and ran a fair few) on the Live servers. I do still get the random "nice costume" message from time to time when running DFB and that's good enough for me these days.

I do a lot of robot stuff. The real trick is the blend.  Look at ascension, the gloves and boots.  Technically i do not think that costume set is mechanical, but it works to add a completely different theme to a robot design.  Then that closes the door on a bland set and screams make the final product be something 

[WumpusRat]

14 hours ago, lemming said:

Every once in awhile I'll get a compliment on one of my costumes, I'll take those wins. 😉

 

If I hear about a costume contest, and I seem to have a feasible costume, I might stop by, but I'm not sure when the last time was.  Last few contests, I did drive bys and looked at some of the entrants.

The biggest compliment I've gotten for a costume lately was someone sending me a tell going "I love your costume. I'm going to use it for inspiration for one of my characters."

 

To be fair, I AM pretty proud of the suit of platemail I put together for my "D&D paladin" character.

[SaintD]

All my toons are full cheesecake women, but I have the decency to play solo. Nonetheless, many of the costumes I see somehow manage to be worse than just not bothering. Zero sense of color, let alone color co-ordination, and highly mismatched pieces to make a conceptual mess.

When a costume is worse than me just throwing a woman barefoot into a white Lebeaux leotard with a fancy haircut to float around kicking guys to death, I just don't even know what people are doing anymore. There's snobbishness, and then there's just like....actual WTF are you doing. Please just use the 90% matched pieces costume. Please.

I forgive you for looking bad with the animal heads though. They all suck, there's no way to fix them. If you wanna be some kind of minotaur or lionman or something, you're just doomed from the start and I understand that.

[Lazarillo]

Yes, there's a significant "luck" component to costume contests, since they're basically entered under the assumption that one's own tastes are going to be compatible with the tastes of the one holding the contest.  Very often, I find mine don't.