Hello, folks! As you probably know, one of the more popular events in CO are Costume Contests. The question asked most often is usually along the lines of "When are they held?". With that in mind, I've set to posting the schedule here for easy perusal.
Please note: this schedule is tentative and is based on my current knowledge as of 1/8/2015. I'll change the schedule here if/when I receive new information.
Without further ado, the schedule, organized by date and time! All times are Server Time unless otherwise noted.
Monday
Volt's CC
@8:30PM
Tuesday
Completely open!
Wednesday
Conquer
@6:30PM
Thursday
SODLAG
@7:00PM
Bluhman's CC @8:00PMFriday
DD Brigade @ 6:30PM
Irmandade das Sombras
@7:30PM
MC Radio @ 8:30PM
Red Academy @ 9:30PM
Saturday
Whisper @ 2:00PM
Bloodline of Shadows @ 3:00PM
Team-Up Beatdown @ 4:00PM
Flawless @ 7:00PM
Rhone's CC @ 8:00PM
Sunday
Patriot Act Alliance @ 4:30PM
Conquer @ 6:30PM
Smorf @ 8:30PM
Special event(s)!
Blood Oath Honor Bound Costume Contest
@4pm 1st of the month.
BOHB PVP tournament
@5PM every second Monday
Patriot Act Alliance on the 4th of each month at 10:00PM.
SV CC: Last Thursday of the month at 5:00pm
Patriot Act Alliance: 4th of every month at 9:30PM
Be sure to join the "Contests-Central" channel to get up to the minute costume contest info, as well as help with your costume if you need it!
Comments
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
lol we shoulda had this thread years ago. ... But then again, it'd be frozen, since we can't edit old posts from before the changeover. So, nevermind.
RIP Caine
ETA: I second the request for sticky-hood, and I don't even participate in costume contests. :cool:
So far, nothing has been done.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
And, as this thread half-proves, nothing WILL be done unless the players do it. Too bad "we" can't access the game-sourcecode, or somebody would already have the chat-ban problem solved, The Foundry implemented, and probably have dealt with other longstanding problems too. :rolleyes:
Keep in mind, this schedule is also available in game to anybody subscribed to the contests channel, its the MOTD.
My Characters on PRIMUS
Toons and costumes thread
@Benevon
Leader of Super Serious Brooding Vigilantes
Maybe though, it should be moved to the General Gameplay topic? For said sticking?
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
It's been updated, moved, and stickied into the "Builds & Roles" section and is now outdated and redundant
.
Oh, PSST!
@forutnefire, when you going to update THIS?
| ME | A "Guide" Book" | | I, have a "DREAM! | ( Member since Feb 2008 ) ... ?
[SIGPIC]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/AngelOfCaine/STILLS/Misc/CO-Sig_01e.png[/SIGPIC]
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
I'll do my best to keep this up-to-date as the schedule changes. Thanks for the support, everyone!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
[thread=139701]My old, old guide for Ego Blades. Updated for On: Alert.[/thread]
[thread=154211]The Costume Contest Schedule. Stay up-to-date without having to log in![/thread]
Each SG or individual who hosts often changes their categories for different kinds of costume contests. If you want to know the categories, better be on when then announce beforehand.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
Our big costume contest happens on September 15th at 1PM server.
Haz I made a newb mistake about place and time?
And as far as the scheduling goes, it should still be fairly up to date (I believe the ARC tuesday CC just happened to be canceled this week, but they were there last night as far as I know).
The best way to keep up to date with costume contests is probably to join the "Contests" chat channel. Most folks tend to announce their contests there (and in zone chat in MC).
Also, once you join Contests, if you right click on the chat tabs to bring up chat options, then go over to the "Channels" tab in the options, you can hover over the contests channel to get the message of the day, which lists a schedule of current contests.
Thanks! I'll give it a try another night (a night-shifter, I'm usually sleeping during those times, so I have to wait for one of my days off)
Yes. Also, people whining about thread necro are annoying, far moreso than the person bumping the thread. It's not a thread necro if it's still relevant & currently applicable. Irrelevant, highly-outdated topics being bumped, those are necro-ing, and it never applies to a stickied topic by definition.
Great advice! *thumbs up* Let's hope others see it too
Consolidate the currencies! (Please!)
Does your Champion have a theme song? (share it!)
Got a funny in-game screenshot? (share it!)
Please fix the Overdrive energy unlock! (Should help promote thematic build diversity!)
Thank goodness the actual rules outweigh terrible opinions.
The "should we move?" to "naming the channel" phase has been happening for all of January in an attempt to get as many people informed as possible. If you know someone who is not informed, please inform them so I can stop using the word informed.
"Contests" will be shut down to aid in the transfer on Feb 1st, 2013 so get into that new channel a.s.a.p.!
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
Handle:@XG3NX
Champions Online.. where we sell lockboxes by the dozen.
Irmandade das Sombras is misspelled... :biggrin:
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
Well in the spirit of City of Heroes I guess I'll attend.
Someone may choose to offer those as prizes, but usually the prizes are gold instead. The lockboxes are usually gained as loot.
hahaha, gold.
global resources
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
A few people got word of one at 0600 server time and went in, only to find out it was a troll posting a 'gag' costume contest that wasn't taking place.
I dug into my inventory, found three items that were ok, and gave them out as prizes after I judged myself. I'm not gloating, I just felt bad about it.
If you guys see this happening, take note of the person's name and make sure when they advertise again, you let everyone else know.
That bs doesn't fly in my channel.
EDIT: As much as I hate to do this, p0temk1n hasn't been on in forever due to work so this thread is incredibly out of date. TT, could you take it down so we don't mislead people? If anyone likes, I'll post a thread up here with the actual schedule and make sure it stays up to date.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
[thread=139701]My old, old guide for Ego Blades. Updated for On: Alert.[/thread]
[thread=154211]The Costume Contest Schedule. Stay up-to-date without having to log in![/thread]
Welcome back and thanks to you and all the Costume Contest Hosts and Contestants.
It's a lot of fun. The new categories have been interesting and so have the entries.
This whole thing really sharpens my creative edge, and that's the ultimate prize.
More action at Champions Online Comics @ http://co-comics.webs.com
I have seen CCs announced, and, like several other people, I go running off to design a costume that fits the announced requisites, and lo and behold, the same people win, consistantly, whether the costume they wear is themed or not.
I call favoritism.
Oh, I have recieved a few Honorable Mentions, or taken a few miniscule prizes for something , I thought (and I know it's all subjective) was great, original, and unique, but the prizes were hardly worth the effort.
At some point, I will host an event (eventually, when the prizes are worthy of the work people nvest in their character designs) and will attempt to be impartial, and have judges that are of a like mind, but until that happy day, I beg of you that are running CCs to look at what people have to work with (silver or Gold) and if the costume fits the character type.
Sure, some CCs are themed (most are), but when I hear (as an example) "Elemental types" I get excited, but then the CC turns out to be about "Pokemon" instead...and only the insiders are aware (and by insiders, I mean those that win consistantly), while the rest of us are saying "WTF is goin on?"...then I get irate, and others do as well. We are cheated, regularly, and yes, I know I could just not enter, or just not attend, but if no one raises objections, then nothing will be done.
So, instead of griping, I am offering Solutions.
A: IF you are hosting an event (In this case, a CC) then DON'T change it up to suit your friends.
B: Once you decide to host, then make sure you have prizes worthy of the event. I am sorry, but 8G is not a prize, it's an insult. A Cosmic Key, however, is a prize worth striving for.
C: Be impartial. Seeing the same people win, over and over, is not impartiality, it is favoritism, and I have seen excellent costumes go unrewarded so someone in the know gets a prize, and the awesome costume gets shelved, or the person who designed it is so disinchanted they never come back.
Thanks for the soapbox.
Favoritism has always been an accusation thrown around by the losers. We had that on City of Heroes too. There's a few things that could be done to avoid the accusations, but it's always going to happen.
I'd like to see a basic rule followed: Once you win a group's CC, you're automatically ineligible to win the next... say, three CCs held by that group. That way, at least the winner changes hands.
Also, Cosmic Keys? Really? They cost money, you know. At least that's the most common way people obtain them. If you don't like Globals as the prize for a CC, don't enter, shut your yap and play the game. Earn your own Globals for your own CC.
You can always ask the judges what their criteria for awarding the prize is. If they don't give you an answer that satisfies you, point that out to them. Might be that they're really not the kind of people whose CCs you want to enter. Might be that they are, in fact, indulging in favoritism.
But really, it just comes down to what people like. A CC is a very subjective thing, and peoples' likes and dislikes can change according to their moods. Sometimes it's a crapshoot. I've won CCs with very unimaginative costumes, and I've put hours into a costume only to get passed up for the person who created a nude girl with big boobies. What Ya Gonna Do.
"My attention does not so much wander, as it takes long vacations to foreign locales and meets strange women that leave it crying and broken in the hot, hot sun." :cool:
First off, I'm sorry you had a bad experience at one of the CCs.
Those who are avid CC goers know the reason behind your confusion. Let me explain, many of us in the CC community are close friends. We help each other with outfits, provide feedback, and so forth. Just because one of our friends wins, doesn't mean there is favoritism going on. I'm not naive and wil say that no favoritism ever happens in game, but I can say that to all the CCs from hosts I've been to, listed on the C-C Channel's list, I have not encountered any favoritism.
CCs, by their nature, are a little bit biased. Hosts are looking for clever or the best representation of their categories or themes. Since everyoneis tastes are different, it makes sense that people will judge differently. Thatis the fun of competing. Never go to a CC expecting to win. Go to a CC to have fun competing. If you win, great! If not, at least you had fun doing so. If you really have a problem with one of the winners, wait patiently after the contest is over and courteously PM the host about it. Donit say, "wtf was up with that guy who won ___?" Say something more along the lines of "I was curious if you could explain the judge's reasoning behind _____ ?' I would certainly answer the latter if it was asked of me.
Your point about the winnings urked me a bit. I've been hosting for over 3 years in this game. I'm a full time student and have 2 part time jobs. I don't have time to grind for the Gs necessary to keep up weekly contests anymore (lucky I have a lot saved up). You should understand that the contest you're competing in is not yours. It's the host's. It is for you, yes, but it's not yours. The host is the grand pooba here and to be receiving any sort of prize whatsoever should be accepted generously. They put the time and effort to simply give away what they earned, and that deserves some respect. Some days I'll hand out 10g for a prize. Other days it'll be 250g. Keep in mind that many people host weekly and want to disperse their items/Gs so that they can host and provide a fun community event for as long as possible, I know I do. Trying obtaining 200G a week and still play the game. It's tough!
If you're still adamant about the favoritism thing, I offer you to help me judge at my next contest. I'll explain how I judge and would be eager to hear your input. My sole purpose in this game is to have fun and if those I'm hosting for aren't, then I want to fix the problem--whatever it is.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
There is a specific SG that always seems very well represented as well.
No I am not crying fowl, I have just stopper participating. It's not that I think my costume is any better or any worse, but I will say that I have seen people who look time, effort and did an amazing job on their themes.
Overall, my advice is just to skip the CO costume contests altogether. This is not Virtue CoX, this is it's own beast.
Old time member. I miss NERF :eek:
I'm sorry you also feel this way but the reasoning is described in my previous post. I offer you the same opportunity to help me judge so you can see how the majority of judging is done. (please not that for the dozens of people I've offered this to, only 2 or so actually took me up on it and both agreed that I judged fairly. I wish more would volunteer)
For everyone reading this, please note that myself and many of those I judge with refuse to choose people with anything else in mind other than costume creativity. We won't chose someone who didn't follow the theme or whatnot over someone who did simply because they don't win as much. That's not fair to those who do put hours into their outfits.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
1) Completely different themes hosted by the same SG. Most SGs have different judges with different tastes from week to week, so if a look fits the theme that they like then that character is a winner. Every CC is considered separate from previous ones in the same day and from week to week.
2) There are a few familiar faces that attend a majority of contests. This is due to their love of costuming and wanting to compete. This by no means says that they are automatic winners, but if you attend more CCs the odds increase that you will win.
3) There are several SGs that have many members attend on a regular basis. Again it's just mathematical odds that someone and on occasion several members of the same SG will win.
This by no means says that there's any plotting or favoritism in contests, it's just simple odds. My suggestion is akin to Fortunefire's... ask hosts what you they are looking for in particular categories if the info provided isn't clear enough for you. Also I highly recommend talking privately to the judges or host or even the winners after the CC for an opinion on a particular look. You'll find that many are helpful in giving constructive criticism on looks or advice in general.
As a host I admit it is really hard to narrow down picks to just one per category sometimes, it's why we add honorable mentions as well as multiple places. I can't tell you how many times I've been approached after hosting and asked by someone who was "this" close to winning. So to wrap up my mini novel, keep at it! Sometimes it takes a bit of patience before you win, sometimes you get lucky and win for a look. Either way, it's a great community to be a part of and make friends!!!
@Aleatha1011 in CO | Keeper of the Cheesecake since Nov. 2011| Bunni BOT is on PRIMUS! | Come check out my deviantart page!
1) How closely does the costume match the category?
2) How creative is it? is it unique?
3) Has this person won previous CC's with us?
4) Is this person gold/silver? Why should we consider it?
When i am judging alone or with friends, i usually tell the judges to consider these few points if i wish to oppose their pick(s). I also realize a lot of CC's are fairly opinion based.
Remember we're humans, not robots.
We by all means as hosts try to make things are fair as possible but again we all have tastes and we do what we can to balance the odds. Usually if i spot something such as favoritism or something suspicious, i'll ask the host nicely why they decided to pick that particular person to win.
For those that think the prizes aren't worth their time to win.. consider this..
-How much time do they get to play Champions Online on a day to day or weekly basis?
-how busy are they? Do they have other priorities?
-Are they gold/silver?
-Are they working alongside an Sg or hosting solo?
If you can at least consider this.. then you may change your mind about the prizes not being worthy to win. Winning in itself is something to be proud of, having a prize is just a way for people to get up there and join in. People work hard to pitch in their effort for funding a CC, i myself find it hard to fund a CC as i go solo every week (or used to). Sometimes i used to spend days just grinding for the CC as i have little time to actually play CO. Some people may be in the same situation or worse as i am that are hosting..
Handle:@XG3NX
Champions Online.. where we sell lockboxes by the dozen.
Not sure why silver/gold status or previous wins should influence who wins? Everyone has access either with Zen or not to the same costumes. Additionally, CCs should be individual events. Just because someone won my last CC, doesn't make them ineligible to win my next one. What if their outfit for the new category was the most creative in that group?
I might have read you wrong though. lol it's late.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
Besides there is something you should remember... When they are the ones fronting the prizes they have the right to reward it to whoever they want. If they have a category for 'Scariest' costume they have the right to award it to someone that looks like they wouldn't harm a fly even if you have a costume that has blood dripping off your claws and the ability to kill people just by blinking.
If you disagree with the judges on these contests, go take the time to get some prize money or items together and then host your own contest. We could always use more contests to have fun at. Just be aware that soon it will be your own contest that is going to have people complaining about losing.
But just because you or anyone else loses a contest, even to someone who looks kind of lame for the category in question, do not think it is rigged. Just shrug it off as a personal preference and move on. No matter how well designed your costume is you could go to dozens or even hundreds of contests without winning.
On a personal note, I've been to hundreds of contests, only won once and gotten a few second places or honorable mentions. And, yet when outside of contests I will regularly have random people send me a tell complimenting on this or that alt's costume. The same costumes which get passed over when judged.
Tough luck for me, the people doing the complimenting weren't the judge on that particular night, or there was simply another person there that would've gotten even better compliments. The truth is that with any decent sized crowd the average person will almost never see a win. If this is your experience too just shrug it off and realize that there is more fun to be had here than just by winning.
Then admittedly there is the flipside, people who win these contests on their very first attempt, or who seem to be able to win semi regularly without even really trying. Big deal, get over it. Either they just made a better costume than you on that particular day, or they simply fit better the preference of that particular judge. As has been suggested before, ask the preference of that judge. If you really care about winning that might give you a bit of an edge.
Hell, as I mentioned before for most of the CC participants it isn't even about winning. I, for one, only go to contests so I can see all of the other costumes. And I have seen people walk out of contests in protest en masse skipping their chances of winning just because they felt that the fun of the event was being infringed upon. These contests are more of a way to hang out and blow away some steam than they are about prizes or personal fame and glory.
If you are honestly joining these contests just for prizes and not to have fun, then it is my personal opinion that you are wasting your time. And no matter how often you will win you will always stress yourelf out without reason and the 'lost time' will get to you. Learn to enjoy them like the rest of us do and you'll find the whole experience much more enjoyable.
In other words and in a summary, which would have saved me from having to spend all that time typing something most people won't be bothered to read, I will close with a quotation.
"Don't worry, be happy."
I personally would of ended with, "and that's my momma!"
We will be hosting a Costume contest at:
Saturday, 18. January 2014, 13:00 (( 1:00PM))(Los Angeles time)( Server Time )!!!
Categories will be:
Scifi-Futuristic , Creatures , Living Artwork , Nostalgic and DUO
- Scifi-Futuristic: you should know what this means ^^
- Creatures: anything.. animals , aliens, monsters , plants, demons and yeah...
- Living Artwork: can be anything ART related...
- Nostalgic: From greek over Viktorian age to egypt or stuff like this, maybe 20s,,30s,40s ++ whatever is nostalgic ^^
- DUO: this is like Superhero and Sidekick , Villain and Right Hand , Twins, or even couples .. i think you know what i mean ^^
Auras, Devices an Powers are allowed.
Costume Switch will be allowed for DUO category after the Judges picked their Votes on the single categories !
Prizes will be 50G for every Winner ( DUO gets 50 g Each player )
_________________
Contest Countdown:
Click here to see how long until the contest starts.
SG is Modus Illuminati
Time is 2 PM ST on Sundays.
We are starting simple, as our attendance and bank roll grows, so will the complexity of the contests.
Thanks in advance
~ Craftsman@Casaubon "The Chief" Modus Illuminati SG Leader
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
@Casaubon ~
I'll update the one on the MotD in the Contest-Central channel when I get in game later tonight.
Flare's guide to hosting and judging costume contests!
(link under construction)
This seems to have been accidentally removed from the in-game MOTD. Can one of the admins put it back in, please. If you need a contact then you can add @Liath and/or @milleniumguardian next to it
Click here to check out my costumes/milleniumguardian (MG) in-game/We need more tights, stances and moods