WCS
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You are currently reading a thread in /cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL
You are currently reading a thread in /cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL
This was just announced.
Really feeling like the US branch is crashing and burning thanks to shitty organizers.
>>8743139
I'm willing to bet a lot of cons turned this down because of the sheer cost involved for the "privilege" of hosting. I still wish someone in the USA would start a different cosplay competition that wasn't run like a shitshow.
This is my local con.
What does this mean for me?
>>8743503
Song and dance dog show
>>8743139
Sorry that you have problems
>>8743503
Unless you're planning on entering or watching, probably nothing as an attendee.
If you've got suggestions let me know, I might be able to get them implemented or at least heard.
>>8743139
I was hoping someone would make this thread.
I'm so disappointed. I love the idea of WCS but each year it becomes more of a mess.
>>8743487
I agree but the US is so huge, I feel like the costs involved would be absurd. Either it would be too costly for the teams to bother or too much for conventions to want to support. So many cross country flights involved that no one wants to cover.
Noobish question but does anyone have any experience entering in this? I've read cosplayers' stories about their trips to the Japanese finals but never about how the USA contest and judging goes down. I have good craftsmanship but not a ton of masquerade experience... but since they're at my home con this year I wonder if it's worth entering.
>>8744326
Same, I'm interested too.
I confused myself for a moment, thinking that USA wasn't going to have an entrant in the next contest (since the event isn't until June next year).
Since there are no Prelims everything feels so far away and odd.
>>8744326
They favor what the perceive as a good performance over craftsmanship. Make sure your skit idea is solid. That doesn't mean you need a ton of experience on stage though. As long as you look polished you're fine.
If this is your home con and you won't be out much money do it. Chance to go to Japan aside the experience on the US side alone is worth it.
>>8743139
I don't think ANEXT is necessarily worse than MMX. It's one of the biggest cons in the country (maybe top 15?) iirc. I wish it was West Coast but whatever. A ton of the finalists from last year commented on the announcement stating their intentions to go, even one team that's West Coast.
>>8744326
I think that if you can manage to: 1) have clean, above average craftsmanship, 2) have a clear, not painful-to-watch skit (doesn't even have to be good, just not boring and no malfunctions), 3) be sociable, polite, and not an awkward weeab, you stand a good chance. You can go through past competition years and see which missing factor axed each of the teams that didn't win. Even just last year, Shiki's team might have won if they didn't fuck up majorly at the final performance, or Karmaluna might have won if Luna's partner wasn't autistic as fuck.
But honestly, even if one of those is not up to par, you shouldn't even bother. I don't think not having masquerade experience is a weakness, but you have to super strict when you evaluate your concept and performance. Record yourself multiple times and be as harsh as /cgl/ would be.
>>8744935
I've watched a few finalists in Japan and ngl quickchange costumes seems to be a running theme?
>>8744944
Yeah. But it's not as popular as it in the WCS USA, where almost every. single. team. does at least one costume change. I think USA prefers quantity over quality though. Like for last year's finals, the Jellyfish and Madoka costume changes got the best crowd reactions and ParaKiss got almost nothing, but still won.
>>8744951
It's ridiculous that so many people keep doing them when it's so overdone at this point. Sounds like it's not worth entering if you don't have one.
>>8743139
Actually I think not holding a ton of prelims is a good idea? Sure not everyone will be able to get to it every year, but it's better than forcing people to attend so many cons and potentially use different outfits - I'm willing to bet a higher caliber will turn out to compete. As long as they switch the host con up each year to different regions, I think this is a good change.
>>8743139
I'm really surprised so many formerly competing teams are willing to make the trek to such an insignificant con...
>>8745463
We're not the biggest on our coast but we did draw over 14K attendees this year. Hence our move to Atlantic City.
>>8745463
It's not like you get to enjoy the con when you participate. WCS basically takes up your whole weekend between practice, social requirements, rehearsals, interviews and competition.
>>8745792
You tell 'em. ANEXT was my first con, and I had a lot of fun. Fuck the haters.
>>8743487
You're damn right turned that shit down. Sure, lets just sacrifice somewhere between 7-10K out of programming's budget to send the "winners" to Japan, to fly the judges in and out, pay for the entourages and a bunch of other logistical nonsense. Not like that could have been used for something better.
Any seagulls planning on competing? It would be awesome if one of us won one year.
>>8746129
Not to start anything... but I think seagulls are more interested in talking shit about cosplay than actually cosplaying.
So I don't think anyone from here is going to be winning anything. Unless they have awards for gossip.
>>8746143
I don't think what you're saying is valid... a lot of good craftspeople have come out of /cgl/, and I personally learned a lot from lurking. I don't think the average seagull is any more gossip or drama hungry than the average cosplayer.
Back to >>8746129, I'm pretty sure at least one or two participants last year were confirmed seagulls. One of the teams asked for feedback after being ripped apart on one of the WCS threads, even.
>>8746143
Actually I was considering competing but the timing this year is too close to a different con I'm attending. So yes, some of us can actually sew.
>>8743139
Man, that dress looks so limp....
>>8745938
It's not that bad, though it's not cheap :)
>>8747323
Are you an organizer?
>>8745792
Wow y'all really troll every social media source ever, don't you? It's bad enough that I can't mention your con's name on twitter without one of your lackeys dashing in to salivate all over the convention. Calm down.
>>8747501
Not a lackey.... a vice chair and I do have a lot of time and Internet bandwidth to answer any questions that are out there.
>>8747494
Yup, I'm one of the Vice Chairs. Vice Chair of Programming to be exact. I like to keep track of any questions that come up about our event.
>>8747571
God fucking dammit. Delete your posts and stop saying things. Do you not remember last year when fandom con got their qualifier pulled because a high level staffer started running their mouth on /cgl/? If you want to keep the competition shut the fuck up. It's clearly already in trouble since they cut prelims this year, don't screw it for us because you need to feel important on the internet.
>>8747571
Except it's not just when someone posts a question. We could just be generally talking about the con and it's really obnoxious/invasive when you butt your head in to contribute to the conversation. It's unwanted and very off-putting, you should know.
>>8747575
You mean assistant.
>>8747587
Will do, didn't mean to cause trouble for anyone. Will stop replying. Thanks for the heads up
>>8747610
Other anon quoted 7k-10k, which I believe. I heard the 10k number floated for a prelim host, but that was a few years ago.
>>8747617
But Programming-kun just said it wasn't "quite that much." Two air tickets to Japan round trip are what, $1.5k each? Plus flying in all the judges and officials to finals might be like $2k total, and then giving them hotel... 7-10k actually seems lowballing it.
>>8747575
Doesn't ANext have a separate cosplay department to handle this? Why does programming know so much? Also, do you know what day of the week it'll be?
>>8747617
Thinking back on it, when we turned it down, it was a year or so before they switched from having qualifiers which is probably why the number I remember being higher than what Programming-anon is quoting.
Either way, it didn't seem worth the money. Now that there's only a singular event, I'd be curious to see how it shakes out organization and money-wise. And drama wise of course.
>>8747571
I've started the clock until WCS pulls out from your con because you can't stop yourself from running your fucking mouth.
>>8747714
>And drama wise of course.
It shouldn't be hard for WCS figure out who never to contact again. hahaha
>>8745938
You keep bringing this up each time, but never produce any proof every single time you were asked.
So, it's about time you did now. Each time I have believed you less and less.
>>8748560
Nice try Zarflax.
But I will say this, I've never posted in a WCS thread before this one so if you've got a beef with some con running its mouth, it ain't me.
Even though qualifiers do benefit people from as many parts of the US trying, I can see where qualifiers also cost quite a bit of money to attend. If you get in finals, then while you have a seat to compete and maybe your badge or flight comped, you still are paying for enhancements to your costume, a whole new finals costume, and or any extra costs of traveling. And then if you win, while your flight is paid for and certain events, you likely still have to cover other traveling costs and take the time off from work to go.
So I can see where it may be a possible shittier turn out without qualifiers, but I suppose it could save certain teams in the long run to not have to ruin their budgets to qualify at one place, and then invest for two or three other events after that.
>>8744325
>the US is so huge, I feel like the costs involved would be absurd.
>So many cross country flights involved that no one wants to cover.
I think the mistake is trying to make a contest that all cosplayers can reach with a short drive. I can't think of any other country that does this for WCS or ECC. Sure it would suck if you live in California and the contest is in New York this year, but the alternative is a clusterfuck of prelims and a bunch of hoops that most cosplayers and cons don't want to jump through.
>Instead of paying for expensive flights and accommodations, use less money to offer legit good prizes for all the cosplayers who place
>Good prizes and judging = people actually care about the contest = the host con gets positive attention
>If successful after a few years, branch out and hold other versions or prelims where the first place winner gets a flight/hotel instead of cash
>>8748927
>a whole new finals costume
Very few teams decide to completely change their costume/skit in between their prelim and finals these days.
In general, I understand where you're coming from, but beyond the whole prelim/finals debate, there are a lot of people dropping hundreds of dollars to get to finals when they only get Wild Card, and lots of people prepared to drop serious dough to compete at ANext this year (even people that I personally think don't stand a chance). I think in both situations, there are plenty of people who are willing to spend lots of money for the chance to go to Japan, even though in many cases I'm sure the total amount of money spent may even equal the cost of a plane ticket to Japan....
Lol the salt is real
>>8749145
>4chan
>social network
Kek
>>8748584
What the fuck stupid name is that?
You keep bringing it up, so you need to cough up the proof.
>>8749032
>or prelims where the first place winner gets a flight/hote
But that's always happened with prelim winners. I don't get what you're trying to say.
>>8749870
Damn you thirsty, I brought it up once but you keep beating the drum all on your own.
>>8744935
karmaluna lost cause luna is a fat bully
>>8749924
What? Who has she bullied?
For all the money these idiot cosplayers drop on this shit show, they can pretty much fund a trip to japan on their own without having to deal with the two faced back stabbing and Laura Butler living the high life off their backs.
Also...new Jersey, lol. Pickings must be getting really thin.
>>8749924
I imagine how salty she must be considering how many times she's almost placed but always falls short.
I think she thought that they were guaranteed to be the best out of the really poor pool of teams from last year, considering that most teams were either clusterfucks or lacked experience.
Their Madoka skit was honestly different to see and kinda cool, but up-close, a lot of the costume parts were awful. She derived too far away from the design for hers, and the fit was poor even with the skin panels she added. Her friend's Madoka was also honestly not very good, and I feel like they tried hiding behind the fact that they made 4 costumes total and had 2 that were changes. It doesn't matter, they were poorly fitted and the wigs were not styled well.
>>8749874
That discussion is about a contest that takes place in the USA only. Asking a con to pay for flight/accommodations to Japan is a lot different from flight/accomodations to somewhere else in the USA. There's also the problem with WCS that you can pour lots of time/money into the prelims and get nothing if you get second place, which a lot of teams aren't willing to do.
Dear god please no more fat people being sent. It's embarrassing.
>>8750324
That was just one year, calm down.
>>8749908
With still no proof! Okay.
>>8750323
Again, that's exactly what the prelims HAVE BEEN DOING.
>>8744935
if youre gonna throw shade emily at least be less obvious, you lost because you were fat, no one else to blame but you
two years talking nonstop about how bad you deserve wcs but not one salad eaten or jumping jack, if you want it then exercise, dont blame the skinnier girl
>>8750584
So what? Again the post you're replying to is about how a USA only contest would/could work with a different set of prizes and costs. Stop getting your panties in a twist over the mention of comped flights.
>>8750583
Man, I hope you aren't losing sleep over this. I would hate to see your quest for proof haunt you to end of your days.
Why can't the US hold their own North American competition like Europe does? That way, the US could award people who meet their standards of craftsmanship, ie plus size cosplayers who sew well or skits that use a lot of dialogue. Then for the wcs, send what will actually win.
>>8751162
I really wish we did, especially since the U.S. is so fucking huge it's not like they'd be lacking entrants
>>8750238
she's considering not competing anymore because of last years "disappointment"
>>8751230
k
>>8751237
I don't follow her cosplay page so I didn't see that.
>>8751242
Your kind is the reason why I never believe any "facts" from cgl
>>8751261
Before that was posted yesterday she had stated on her personal page that she was considering not competing anymore.
>>8750668
You really think someone would have to selfpost to believe that they weren't the strongest contestants in this bunch?
>>8751267
Fucking gathering of the landwhales and derpfaces. Nary a woman or man on that stage that isn't cringeworthy.
>>8751267
Omg the persona team looks so devastated...
>>8751237
I kind of knew that she'd still want to do it this time around. I'm sort of curious at this point what she'd choose to do. I feel like the Homura ended up looking half-baked.
>>8751309
They were. They didn't get to perform because from what I heard, one of the stilts had a malfunction and they couldn't perform that day, so they were disqualified, which sucks considering they likely put in money to fly to finals. They performed it at this past AX masquerade though.
>>8751267
Are they the strongest? I thought they looked terribly inaccurate and rough up close
For someone who doesn't know the reference it might seem okay, but any fan of Madoka would cringe.
>>8751671
They're really bad, the only thing I like is Madoka's skirt.
>>8751671
I may not love this one, but at least it is recognizeable as Homura
>>8751162
God, this. The WCS is such a huge investment and cluster for the slim chance of being sent to Japan. I'd love to see a lower key craftsmanship-oriented contest that attracts less drama.
>>8751671
How are wigs so bad? I thought Luna's forte was wig styling.
>>8751595
they did put in money, that's AngelicThreads and her boyfriend.
>>8752577
I mean, they didn't have to pay for hotel/flight, they put in as much money as post other prelim winners.
>>8751671
The dress is a nightmare. I get that she was trying to be creative and throw in some color, but it looks like a hot mess.
Size aside, I think the problem is that she tried way too hard to overdo the design, that it doesn't even look like Homura anymore. The problem is that she probably wanted to cover up her legs, so she threw accurate proportion out the window.
>>8752868
whole dress is awful
bodice looks saggy and lifeless. No boning, no cinching to create a figure, she just let her torso look like a blob
if you are plus sized, you should fit the garment to your body and all she did was attach fake skin sections
she didnt just fail to dress for her body type, she made herself look even worse and bigger cosplayers should be offended by how shitty she represents them
>>8753539
OK, I can understand people not liking her interpretation, but there are a ton of in progress photos of the thing that shows she did make it fully fitted and boned...
>>8753608
Link to the progress? I have no idea who these people are but I would be shocked if Homura's bodice is "fully boned". Look at that massive wrinkle across her stomach - there is no way that should be happening with a bone in the front.
Madoka at least has a few bones in her bodice, even if the fabric is under serious stress.
>>8753645
Are you incapable of finding it yourself? It's not like its hiding.
>>8753662
And waste my time trying to support your argument? No thanks. I have no idea what website those progress photos are on but I did find pic related on her ACP account. I still say there is no way there is an inch of boning in that outer layer, look at all that puckering and collapsing.
>>8753681
I mean she's probably wearing a boned cincher underneath, I'll give her that but eeesh that shoddy craftsmanship.
>>8753681
So you "don't have time to waste" to look for progress photos but you have plenty of time to go to her ACP, find a bad photo of the bodice, save it to your device and then post it on /cgl/
OK then
>>8753707
Uhhhhh yeah? I'm not going on a manhunt across the internet for a photo you swear you saw once. I googled the cosplayer and went to their FB and ACP pages, didn't see any progress pics, so I saved down the clearest/nicest pic of the bodice there was. If you want a bad photo, the ones from WCS are way worse. Why are you getting your panties in such a twist over this anyway? If you're so desperate to prove how well made the bodice is, post the photo yourself.
>>8752560
I can not get over her ugly gray wig with weird curl side bangs
Homura's wig is so easy to get right and this is so wrong
There was a lot of shoddy craft this year. Dem bootcovers.
>>8753707
>Being this salty
>>8753733
she styled the bangs jutting out like that to add dimension to her face. Since she had chubby cheeks and a round face, it gives the illusion of sharper angles.
>>8750872
Proof or it never happened
>>8754005
That's not how it works.
You have to believe, Neo.
>>8753735
Wow. I also thought this skit was the worst of the bunch. So awkward - there was one part where Sakura's mom wrapped her in a piece of fabric and the swayed back and forth together for like a whole minute.
Does this mean there are no more local qualifiers, just one final competition?
>>8756864
Ffs yes. Just read the fucking thread or check their Facebook.
>>8753681
I understand that Homura's hair is a very dark gray but under the stage lights it's just too medium. Also Homura would never open her yap that wide unless she was crying.
Some quick pro-tips regarding WCS and convention relations.
1, WCS wants full control over their event and will not give cosplay, live events or programming any control.
2, WCS expects a certain amount of "turn-out" for their event or they will pull out/cancel all together if interest is not there.
3, WCS is a major loss for a convention to host. The regular masquerade pulls, I would say on average, about 5 times the amount of people. This doesn't even begin to include the cost for hosting the teams/paying for their costs/etc...
>>8758010
I don't see 1 or 2 on your list as problems. WCS should control the event, otherwise you'll have ignorant con chairs stepping in trying to make decisions on things they don't understand. Also, their expected turnout from what it looked like last year was at least 3 groups per qualifier. That's a tiny number in my opinion and if I was running it I'd require more teams than that. But it seems like WCS just takes what it can get.
The real problem is 3 though. How do you solve that problem? Does the WCS main organization in Japan not pay for anything? If cosplay competitions were popular nowadays like they were 10 years ago, and people still centered their entire con experience around watching or competing in the Masquerade, maybe it wouldn't be such a problem getting a con to host and fund it. No one gives a shit about competitions any more though. The most popular cosplayers got popular by being in Masquerades, not by having gorgeous photos. And since online video wasn't a thing yet, you had to be there to see the performances everyone would be talking about later. Getting a ticket to watch the AX Masquerade was a nightmare when I first started going to cons in the early 00s. So maybe there needs to be a culture shift into valuing competitions again for WCS to thrive in the US. The likelihood of that happening is close to zero.
>>8758479
WCS absolutely should not have decision making power over the convention. They are being provided a space in which to hold their event, but the convention supplies them with time, equipment, manpower, advertising, attendees and money (to send finalist/the winners where they need to go)
The convention has information that they will not have about all of the other events, communication with the hotel, the authority to communicate with the hotel, the authority to direct convention volunteers...
It's pretty ludicrous to demand to have authority over a bunch of stuff you are being allowed to borrow. Add the fact that the venue would probably refuse to have you back if you just shoved WCS staff at them so they could get what they need.
>>8758010
In terms of these perceived weaknesses, it almost seems like a smaller con with a disproportionately big budget would be best to hold the WCS finals at. MMX's WCS event was standing room only (I don't think they had an actual masquerade) because for a con of that size, WCS actually was the main event. I think another good future contender would be Waku Waku, which already had a plane ticket to Japan as first place in its costume contest.
>>8743139
Why even have prelims and finalies anymore?
If the US really wants to win the WCS, they need to get rid of prelims and finals then pick the two who are the best from a panel of judges from the community, industry, and sponsorships
Pick a group before the end of the year
(because countries already have their reps already selected while the US under the old format only have a month to make their cosplay for the WCS) and put them to work
The US would be unstoppable if this shitty format was removed and I'll keep saying it until they do
Here's an idea:
Maybe WCS should not do Prelims but instead reach out to cons across the country to have an award at their regular contests.
Make it so that the cosplay teams have to meet certain requirements to place in the WCS category and then those that do must submit online portfolios to the WCS judges after the fact and then they can pick the finalist to compete at the USA finals.
If they roped in enough cons it would only cost them a few hundred dollars each to support flying the USA qualifiers to the finals location and then to Japan.
Example: Get fifteen (?? idk) cons to add a 'WCS Qualifier' award to their regular skit contests. This category would have heavy requirements, just like WCS, as well as require the convention to do a high quality video recording for the WCS Judges to view later.
After the cons have taken place, we have now the 15 WCS Qualifying teams from those cons (and the cons themselves didn't have to pay made money for the 'prestige' of hosting the entire event). Now it would be up to the teams to submit detailed portfolios and coordinate with the WCS judges and do livestreaming interviews with them as well.
Once the US WCS judges have completed the process they can announce the 3-5 (again, another random total) US finalists teams and have them compete live at a selected con.
Doing something like this would both cut the WCS cost down as well as divide it up among more conventions, resulting in a smaller cost per con and thus make it more likely for cons to be willing to participate. This would also allow more entrants, assuming more cons would participate. I don't know what sort of incentives would convince the cons to participate but I'm sure they could come up with some promotional strategies.
I like having a lot of Prelim events but it obviously costs too much to fly everyone across the nation. We have enough technology I feel that WCS should be able to conduct much of the judging online via video conference and photo submissions.
Why the fuck is Fox Gloves competing again? Is winning once not enough? This honestly just seems so unnecessary and selfish to me.
>>8760426
Wow yeah that's seriously dickish. You'd think there'd be a rule against that.
I dont cosplay but ANext is my local con what does this mean for me?
>>8760426
>>8760455
In other countries the same teams rep multiple times. It's not uncommon. I think there's a stigma about it stateside though because we arguably have a much larger pool of cosplayers to pull from.
The only rule about competing again is that you can't do it the year after you've gone to Japan.
>>8760467
Yeah, I get it for other countries, but like you said, for the number of cosplayers in America, it just seems polite and decent to let others have a chance. I personally think that they were one of the worst WCS USA teams so other competitors still don't really have a reason to be concerned, imo.
>>8760426
>>8760503
Only one member of the team is still in Fox Gloves now. She's pairing with Diana of Bejitaballs, they've been all over each others dicks lately.
>>8760467
You can compete again the year after you've gone to Japan, but with a different partner, according to the last WCS thread where everyone was bitching about Sednobis.
>>8760426
The Somenzari siblings from Brazil have represented their country 3 times and won WCS 2 of those times.
This is suposed to be the bigest cosplay competition in the world, not kindergarden, it's not meant to let everyone take turns. The best team should win, even if said team has already won in the past.
I think I can safely assume you never played sports because if you did you would realise how dumb your bitching sounds. Maybe you also think that Michael Phelps shouldn't have competed in the London Olympics because he had already won everything in Beijing and the USA has a lot of good swimmers...
Do you want to win and represent your country? Then be better than the other teams, whoever they are
>>8762445
.... I cannot believe you just compared WCS to Olympic swimming.
>>8760426
Oh how no one remembers fox gloves and their frowny faces and refusing to clap in the background when bejitaballz won....
>>8743487
CostumeCon.
That is the thing you are describing.
>>8762445
But Fox Gloves is just... not. They were mediocre and drama-filled. No one thinks they'll be legit competition, it's just shitty at how greedy they're being. If Cupcake wanted to compete again, no one would be as indignant as people would be about Fox Gloves.
>>8760467
This. I don't think it's an issue, because just attempting again doesn't guarantee an easy shoo-in. I actually don't think she is using the same partner though.
I'm pretty sure Brazil and Italy have had competitors with multiple entries and wins. As >>8762445 mentioned, the Somenzari siblings won in 2005 I believe, and then competed at least twice more. NadiaSK and Mogu I'm pretty sure have also represented Italy a few times.
I don't think it's a bad thing if you're using a totally different skit, and chances are you've improved and might put on a better show.
Besides Fox Gloves and Karmaluna, who else is competing? I think that the Persona team from last year announced that they are attempting to this year.
>>8762817
Princess Jellyfish and Howl's Moving Castle teams from last year are also competing.
>>8743139
"Crashing and burning due to shitty organizers"
This. THIS.
>>8760426
I'm happy they are competing again. I actually like their performances and their costumes look good. So I don't see a problem with them?
>>8764843
I don't know the info, but I remember that some people disagreed when they tried to crowdfund to pay for their trip to Japan.
>>8753723
Sheesh calm the fuck down drama llama, other person just said ok basically. No need to get your panties in a bunch over a tone you're making up in your mind.
>>8760426
I'd rather have FoxGloves than the mess of teams we sent the last 2 years. They're not flawless (hell the founding members are not even speaking to each other anymore) but they're still pretty solid.
>>8765079
What are you even talking about
>>8765097
Deets?
>>8765141
The incredibly salty anon who threw a giant rage fit because someone told them to do their own legwork?
>>8762591
This. There is really no other costume contest that has legitimate standards, stands by them and holds and real stock in the costume community.
>>8765200
Are we reading the same post? The only salty one is the whiteknight trying to defend karmaluna's craftsmanship.
