Here are some tips we've provided players on various realms who have taken up our torch and assembled their own transmog competitions. For additional questions, contact Keelhaul or Noelani at the following outlets:
Keelhaul: @deazeroth
Noelani: @noelaniwow
Keelhaul: keelhaul@deazeroth.com
Noelani: noelani@wowroleplaygear.com
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| The WoW Factor, Lightbringer (US) |
Tip 1: Location, location, location.
One of the biggest challenges we've found when hosting our shows across various realms is identifying the right location. We prefer to go indoors so as to avoid too many mounts. As much as we'd like to drag competitors out to the dancing troll village for the lights and the catwalk, we gain a lot by keeping these in the major cities.
First, we find players logging in on a level 1 toon for our shows so keeping it to a major city enables you to have an audience from other realms.
Second, keeping it in a major city enables you to announce the event in trade chat and recruit a few more contestants at the last minute, building your crowd.
Thirdly, you may want to host it indoors to avoid the trolls on their mounts. Sometimes the mount is part of a player's look, and if that's the case we just step outside with them to evaluate it. Otherwise the presence of mounts simply become too much of a hassle.
Lastly, crowd control is a key goal with your location. You need to quickly get players organized, and in many cases we've found that specific room interiors serve to enable that crowd control quite nicely. A few of our favorite locations include:
Alliance
- Ironforge, the Hall of Explorers Library. This is a great location because you can just tell competitors to grab a spot on the stairs in the rotunda room. It makes for easy viewing and if it gets crowded players will automatically stagger themselves on the steps in order to be seen, so it's a great location in that it does most of the crowd control for you.
- Stormwind, the Keep. There are a few rooms in the Keep that are worth a look, but so far we've preferred where the battlemasters can be found, just off to the right from Varian. Observers can sit on the table and watch, and have your competitors pick a spot around the room.
- Stormwind, the Cathedral of Light (above). We hosted the Lightbringer event in this room and it was fantastic. You can simply tell players to grab a spot on one of the colored floor tiles and they tend to crowd control themselves pretty well.
Horde
- Garrosh's throne room. A nice, circular environment where contestants can pick a spot around the room, enabling judges to move freely in the middle. The light is a bit low, but just remember you can mouse over a player and they will quickly be lit with natural light for your evaluation.
Tip 2: Enforce a rule that the players' outfits must have the majority of slots transmogrified.
I think we bend that rule a bit from time to time but we can defend our selections better than most. So perhaps for the average host, we simply recommend they shoot for 50% or majority transmogrification.
Tip 3: Judge quickly.
Looking at an outfit takes time and before you know it you've spent 120 seconds on a single outfit, trying to determine how good it is. 120 seconds times 30 participants is one hour.
Tip 4: Assign a translator.
If you've got a number of you in teamspeak or vent, select one judge to be the translator. Let that translator paraphrase in /say some highlights about what the judges are talking about in vent. That way the players in-game can somewhat follow along with what the judges are discussing. It doesn't have to be word for word, but something is better than nothing.
Tip 5: Verify your disc space.
If you're frapsing or screenshotting the event, you're going to be generating a significant amount of data quickly and it could add dangerously quick. Verify ahead of time that your computer has the space to accomodate the data you'll be generating. For example, in a single show I generated over 25 gigs of movies and images.
Tip 6: Screenshot players early and often.
If the event lasts up to 45 minutes or an hour, you will likely lose them to raid times, etc. Get your images early so you aren't left kicking yourself at the end of the show.
Tip 7: Assign a nametaker.
With each individual that becomes a winner, make sure someone is the designated name recorder so they are documenting each of the winners. It's easy to lose your head in the middle of the action.
Tip 8: Move around.
Don't just judge in a straight line, mix it up. If participants see you moving in a line through the crowd of contestants, they will rush over and start standing on top of each other to be the next one judged. Have everyone pick a spot and tell them you'll be selecting looks at random to take a closer look at. That way they'll stay where they are and wait patiently.
Tip 9: Reward the effort.
You'll see some amazing things that players have put together and regardless of whether or not a player has won a prize or placed high in your final rankings, you should congratulate everyone on their efforts. Be sure to /clap and /cheer for players often and thank them for coming at the end. Recognition at these events is key.
Tip 10: Have a blast!
These events are fantastic, so stay inspired! And have fun!
-Keelhaul and the WoW Factor team
