Has the cosplay community overall stopped caring for the masquerade

>>9583833
honestly I think its more the hassle?

usually the line is pretty long, if you dont get a good seat you're screwed for seeing the costumes in good detail, and really it takes forever. You gotta get through the entries, the side show while waiting for the judges to pick winners can take forever, and then the barrage of awards.

People dont talk about the winners and results as much after the fact because not as many people find it worthy to go anymore.

I say this as some one who routinely enters the masq- and I can see why from an audience perspective it isnt as engaging. Generally the house is pretty cleared out by the time awards come out.

Its more because a lot of the time, its just a circle jerk of who is friends with who or who is most popular.
Its the same thing with contests.
No one cares because a lot of the time- they know that they wont win.
Blame people using cosplay to get rich/famous and making it sour for everyone else.

My main problem with masquerade is that the MCs are often super cringy and make me want to walk out.

>>9583866
I also notice it's kind of a hassle to participate in them too, and it can take away from participating in other parts of the con.

Getting up early to go to the rehearsal for it when you're still hung over is a pain in the ass too.

>>9583833
They've become very commercialized and circle jerky from the ones I've been to, where to even be considered you have to have an almost professional level cosplay
The people buying their costumes and the people who travel around to win these raise the bar above what a normal person can do, and that's kind of boring to see the same types and same people win, and not being able to compete yourself

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been in cosplay community since 2007, i must say it has really changed. guess i'm getting old and there's too much drama involved for me, people take the contest too fucking seriously
nowadays it's more about instagram/fb followers and fame than fun

>>9583886
>They've become very commercialized and circle jerky from the ones I've been to, where to even be considered you have to have an almost professional level cosplay

But if the masquerade's purpose is to award and showcase the best costumes at the convention then wouldn't it make sense for the entries to be near professional level

>>9583966
It would, but it also makes it boring and means that fewer people will care about it.
Most cosplayers I know don't give a shit what some pro does when it's literally their job and they have 100s of thousands of dollars worth if machines to work with
They care about what other hobbyists do in their free time from work

So yeah, you can have pros and bought costumes all you want, but don't expect people to care much about it unless they're competing

>>9583996
We care about high level dance competitions and watching pros go at it cause they're the best and that dancing is a hobby

We buy pro grade art even though drawing is a hobby

Why not extend that same level of caring toward pro costumers. I care about the end outcome as opposed to seeing some hobbyist crap. If said hobbyist is putting out professional grade stuff then sure I'll care but most of the time its not

>>9584001
You can say that all you want, but people would rather socialize and look at other hobbyists instead of some pros competing and that's why it's not as popular. It used to be fun because most people could at least halfway compete, but now they can't, and they stopped caring as much.

>>9583886
I have several Best in Shows under my belt, as well as lots of near-the-top awards. Many of these Masquerades weren't small potatoes either. And yet, I'm not anywhere near a professional. I just work hard. Granted, I have a grownup job that lets me spend money on good supplies and I have nearly 15 years of experience in Masquerades, but believe me, you do not have to be a professional to win.

>>9584018
Good for you then but the question was why do average congoers not care as much about it, and that's the answer.
There are very few opportunities for amateurs to compete in, and it's just not interesting to see the same people win over and over simply because they had more money to spend on it.

I don't really see the best stuff actually in the masq though. Anyone who enjoys cosplay for the sake of craft has realized long ago that the shear amount of waiting around and sitting through long, awful masqs is rarely worth the prize you actually get.

>>9584023
Boring ass and cringey skits is why most people don't go.

>>9584023
I'm also frequently a judge at smaller events, and pretty much everyone in those are "amateurs." Sometimes the prizes aren't outstanding, but if someone wants experience, starting small is a good idea.

I wasn't commenting on why average congoers don't care as much any longer; I was just mentioning that you don't have to be a professional to win. But I think there are a multitude of reasons. One big reason is that Masquerades used to be a way to make a name for yourself and become cosfamous, but it's not like that any longer. Prizes in Masquerades back in the day used to be shit, but it didn't matter. Halftime entertainment has always been mind numbingly boring, but 10-15 years ago everyone still sat through it, because placing in a contest would instantly increase the social standing of those cosplayers.

When cosplayers picked the famous among us, it was more about skill, and winning in Masquerades was proof of your skill. Now neckbeards and the general public decide who is famous among us, so scantily clad girls who get their images shared around the Internet are what people strive to be like. Masquerades have no place in the hierarchy of cosplay any longer.

Most cons bring judges who have a high follower count these days regardless of their skill. So the worth of an award is thrown out when given by someone who glues rhinestones to a bra. People just arent as interested unless its more flashy in terms of the show and costumes.

>>9584046
>>9584018
Anon, you have good opinions and I want to be your friend.

I'm also a 15 year+ master-level cosplayer, and I never compete, only judge. The overall quality of masquerades has declined over the years, which makes it both unappealing for non-cosplayers who want to be entertained by a good skit, and for cosplayers both entering and watching (only a handful of entries are drool-worthy). I do find that masquerades at large conventions are still pretty darn good and they normally pack the auditorium. However a lot of "top tier" cosplayers simply will not enter because it's a huge time commitment for very little recognition after the event - there is no point in doing it unless you're entering for love of the competition.

The general quality of cosplay has gone up so now the masq showcase is unnecessary. You'll see lots of good ones on the floor that are maybe not as good as the top in masq but good enough. Ie a masq might have a 10/10 while you might see 7/10 just walking around. Hell you sometimes see 9s and 10s just walking around too

People would rather do any of the following: eat, relax, party, have fun than sit through an hours long masquerade

>>9584018
>>9584116
in the same boat as you anons....been around for a good long while, a couple best in shows and a bunch of best master awards under my belt. for me, (and i know this is entirely a function of the cons that i attend) i've noticed a decline in both quality of judging and organization of masqs in the last say 5 years. last time i entered anything, the head judge kept trying to imply that i had bought my costume (WTF) even though it was an obscure character from a 70s anime, then ignored all of my progress photos and notes. this experience really soured me on masqs. plus, dedicating an entire day to waiting around for the unorganized masq organizers is a pain in the ass. really, the only masq i'd consider entering at this point is the friday night contest at dragoncon (which i enjoy) because it has careful, articulate judging and you don't have to spend all day in the green room waiting.

>>9584031
>Boring ass and cringey skits is why most people don't go.

Add to this, entries that feel like they were made for the thrill of the performers and have no regard for the audience

>>9584130
>Hour long

Maybe if there were 5 entries

I stopped going to any where the MC doesn't crack down on that "ha ha ha wooooo hydra" horseshit that makes the already-dragging competition take literally twice as fucking long as it has to. I'm happy to sit there for hours looking at costumes, but I don't want to listen to that crap, let alone *wait* for it all to play out after every god damn entry.

>>9583878
You literally lose your Saturday. Morning for judging and you spend at least one hour of prep before sitting through the whole thing for your performance/waiting for awards to be announced. I go to cons to see my friends, not be locked in main events all day.

They simply take too long. There needs to be more pre-judging where a lot of the poor quality costumes don't get a walk-on and only the top 30 or so actually get to get up on stage. Keep it under and hour and showcase the best of the best. I've also experienced a con where everyone thought second place should have won best in show and it turned out the winner was friends with all the judges.

On top of that, the prizes are meaningless to the people who had the resources to put into making a winning costume. I've seen cons offer guest spots/premium tickets for the next year of the con to winners which I think is really the way to go with prizes. Prestige over prize money.

Masqs used to be one of the few places where cosplayers were guaranteed a lot of people would be able to see their costume, and where attendees would be guaranteed the spectacle of at least some high quality costumes. Nowadays anyone can go on facebook or instagram and accomplish the same thing, with more cosplay to look at and more viewers to reach. The golden age of Masq was also before social media took off; if you loved seeing big awesome costumes you had to trawl through coscom or you could attend masq.

The last time I competed at a large-ish con it was Ohayocon and they made the walkons contestants sit around through the entirety of the skit rehearsals. For the love of god don't do this. There's no reason to make people sit through awkward skit rehearsal.

Speaking of skits they're always at least 80% terrible bu no one wants to be the "bad guy" and tell the Yuri On Ice / Attack on Titan / Kingdom Hearts / Ouran High School mashup clusterfuck that they're not good enough to compete.

>>9584519
>made the walkons contestants sit around through the entirety of the skit rehearsals. For the love of god don't do this.
OH MY GOD THIS. WHY DO CONS DO THIS? makes no fucking sense.

>>9584483
>I've also experienced a con where everyone thought second place should have won best in show and it turned out the winner was friends with all the judges.

While I can't vouch for the quality I can say that masqurades are so insular that if you do them enough times then eventually you'll become friends with everyone involved so having judges that don't know each other gets more and more difficult

A lot of the time they're not run well. Either behind the scenes or on stage or really bad both.
Sac Anime still can't figure theirs out to where it never starts on time for prejudging or the actual masquerade, people go over time and no one has info. The chick running it is also a total bitch when you try to explain stuff to her as well on why she was wrong over something till the entire rest of the early entries all agreed with me for not having a fucking post it note from when we checked in on Friday.
The announcers suck, the in between shit sucks (dancers and singers, ect) and half the time the judges go missing DURING the show.
Fuck one year one of the judges was on the phone during prejudging. Last summer's judges were awesome though and I hope they continue the way they had that prejudging set up cause it was good and detailed.

Honestly most masquerades are just terrible to watch, and I don't feel like the new crop of young 'uns really prioritize craftsmanship or skill. A lot of the new focus is on the finished product's visual similarity to the character, and that's the end of it.

The masquerade used to be where the big costumes were brought out that were too showy for crowded halls, but these days the showy costumes are presented through special photoshoots. Masquerades are a lot of time with not a lot to offer.

>>9584186
>hours long

What is reading comprehension

>>9584483
>I've also experienced a con where everyone thought second place should have won best in show and it turned out the winner was friends with all the judges.

Was it a craftmanship or skit prize? Because most of the time with craftsmanship there's a ton of shit the audience can't see that was all wrong with a costume.

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>>9583833
Long line to get in, cringey skits and people in general, probably a 15% chance you'll see something actually impressive... in AZ anyway

I'm sure other states have it better, but here I stay away from them. They're mostly a waste of time.

>>9584555
>>9584678
It was one my first cosplay contest as a contestant and this was all I heard about the next day. The contestant who won best in show was actually rooming with one of the judges and had posts on social media about the judge helping the contestant style her wig.

I don't want to say more than that because I plan on competing again next year, but the con facebook page and forums were filled with comments about this.

>>9584810
That doesn't answer my question.

>>9584818
Best in Show means first place. Not craftsmanship or skit, those were separate prizes, as well as was audience favorite. Does that answer you question?

>>9584818
Best in show usually means a combination of both craftsmanship and performance. Being friends with a judge doesn't necessarily mean the contest was rigged, but the fact that a judge was fine with helping a contestant with their costume is really skeevy imo.

>>9584825
Best in show is different at each con. Like at Fanime it means you have to have done craftsmanship AND a skit. So no I still don't know what that prize was for.

>>9583871
This. And that there are always some really cringy skits no matter what.

>>9584159
See, I loooove playing and engaging with the audience.

I heard a story where a group that won an award during the Fanime masquerade bailed out of the tail end of the show so they could watch Cosplay Wrestling Federation.

If this is true then it shows how far masqurades have fallen

One factor is pettiness on judges. I've entered contests before where personal issues clouded how judges saw some entries. Def more a thing at smaller cons than at bigger ones, but its disheartening.

>>9585298
That was 2016. Group of three I think. Two of them left and the last stayed for the rest of the show and accepted the award.

I grew up in the masq-as-a-big-deal world and when i felt ready to compete several years ago, i worked very hard on a costume and joined in. The judges were behind. They were rude. One didn't care, one kept saying "oh, you did it like THAT...."- either way I got no conversation or feedback, just manhandled by a couple judges pulling me every which way.
I showed up for the contest itself, all of the cosplayers were in a circle following each other on insta. They were handing out business cards. Some asked for mine, but I wasn't a business, so why?
Then staffing hauled us around, they yelled at us frequently, had us stand in for a very long time and then pushed us in a corner. Then each got a small walk-on, and we waited forever for the deliberation. I placed and received a certificate with the wrong date and my name spelled wrong. I spent maybe 6+ hours of time I paid to be at the con, and was just yelled at and pushed around like cattle. I thought staff should really be nicer to a group that is making up a main event? I mean, cos costumes revolve entirely around people wanting to do them, so why yell so much and be so rude?

Part of it is due to how other events are not doing what the masquerade promises but better.

Example is we wanna bill the masquerade as this big extravagant performance spectacle when really its a talent shown.

Someone mentioned Cosplay Wrestling Federation and its worth mentioning that they get really packed rooms and grow each year yet they're often scheduled against the masqurade.

Many cons feature Cosplay Chess and while that event is unscripted, it gives people the sort of crossover dream matches they want in a much shorter time frame.

I'd rather go to the previous two shows than any masquerade

As someone who's always wanted to enter one, it just takes up too much time and here there's only one legitimate big local con so people are lining up for up to 5 hours to compete. And then the actual masquerade takes another 5 and you've basically wasted the whole day for what, 5 minutes of fame and a ribbon? Idk trade-off just doesn't seem worth it, especially when cons are for me a place to hang out and meet friends in costume.

>>9585322
One of the judges at my local one kept asking "did you make that?" When I had 2 pages of work in progress pictures in front of them and explained how I made the item. Another asked me what series I was from "I'm from the digimon games-" (was Rina with a lifesize Veemon plush) "Oh my friend likes digimon I know it" and looks away from me for the rest of my prejudging time.

As for being treated like crap- one summer masquerade required check in at 3pm. They didn't start pre judging till 5 and no one said we could go. So it was a room of hot awkward cosplayers waiting to be judged. There were no near by water fountains and if you left to even use the bathroom and they called your name you got moved to the bottom of the list.Show was suppose to start at 6, didn't start till 7pm. They forced us back stage and gave us no direction until skits were suppose to be on stage or the walk ons started. You couldn't hear anything backstage and we didn't even know who won. The majority of the crowd left before announcements because the judges were finger fucking out back. One of the cosplayers had to peak their head through the curtains to tell us it had ended because no one came back to say "thanks for trying, better luck next time" or some shit like that, which they used to do.

The only cons with masqs worth any real cred are Anime North and Costume Con

>>9583833
I really don't envy judges who have to compare things like this. How does masterful sewing score against armor? How does a detailed and weathered armor score against clean and chomelike kinishes? Wings against grairy defying wigs?

Not to mention there's always going to be that shitty kid who whines that they should have won with their crown made of felt and fraying cotton ballgown

>>9583833
I went to masquerade for the first couple of years I went to conventions. After a that and a watching some YouTube videos I decided I had seen all there is too see at masquerade and there was no need to go again, and started attending the other events run opposite masq instead.

>>9584491
I guess you could say that social media had the same effect on masquerade that BitTorrent and Crunchyroll had on anime screening rooms

>>9585771

It's important to get judges who have experience in a wide variety of techniques so they can do that. For things like armor versus sewing I look at how long it probably took them to do it, with how difficult the technique is and how successfully they did it / clean finishes.

I'm a mid-tier cosplayer. I don't compete because I don't have a shot of winning. I don't watch because the skits suck.

I might go if the cons near me got rid of skits and did a show of walk-ons only. As a potential viewer, my ideal masquerade would involve a runway fashion show of all the entries, followed by a "the models/cosplayers stand/sit around and people get to look at them up close and maybe even talk to them about how they did stuff" event. No bullshit, all craft.

Cosplayer from Europe here and I actually wish we had more walk-ons/runway like competitions, everything just always is about skits, and most of them tend to be incredibly cringy or just plain boring to watch.
And as someone who actually participates in them: it's such a pain in the ass to always prepare audio/video and stage props you're going to throw away later anyway, so I can really see why most skits aren't spectacular. Also, compared to the US, the winning prices for those competitions always seem to be quite low over here, there are barely any cash prizes.

>>9586097
And even with a wide range of costumes types there can still be baselines.

* Is it accurate (which is why cons should require reference)
* Is it well constructed
* Is it clean & finished (there's a difference between weathered and poorly finished)
* Did it use a wide range of skill

And then of course a well run and judged contest should also take into account stage presence.

Undoubtedly though, people will complain when the biggest flashiest thing doesn't win.

Real talk masquerades aren't really relevant anymore because it's infinitely easier for thirsty cosplayers to get their egos stroked on Instagram then having to put time and effort into a good costume and having to compete against others

Last masquerade I was at a Pearl won for her "amazing wig" you could see bobby pins and where it was falling down from the 8th row of seats. Blew our minds.

Good and great cosplayers are more plentiful than ever; you really don't need to go to the masq to see some anymore.

>>9583833
>Drop cash for ticket to masq
>On top of money for travel, hotel, con admission, food, merch
>Wait in line
>Wait for con staff to get their shit together so things can actually start
>Skits are cringy
>If they're not painful to watch, they're just boring
>listen to every contestant list the exact same methods and materials used because we have this shit down to a science these days
>Godawful sideshow starts
>Judges finish taking their sweet fucking time on deliberation
>Winner is either the fuckheug WoW/Blizzard armor guy, the ruffle apocalypse lolita redesign, or the flavor-of-the-month Marvel cosplay.

Three cons, three masquerades, and the same thing three times over. I can see why some people like it but I just don't care about the professional/competitive side of the hobby so I really don't get anything out of it.

>>9586330
Go to the UK, here the only time anyone will put a skit together is when they're going for the big international competitions. Every other masquerade you can get away with submitting a 40 second music clip, doing 4 poses on stage and still have a strong chance of winning.

For those wanting a different audience experience, there's the CWF. To my knowledge it is the only show where if you don't like what's presented on stage, you are actively encouraged to boo the contestants. Many performers actual enter as bad guys to take advantage of this fact.

Any other show if you yelled "fuck this guy!" you'd be thrown out but in the CWF, you're free to do so

https://youtu.be/jFuB2DaF5fQ?t=19m32s

Non-amerifag here, what's the difference between masquerades and contests? Or are they the same thing?

>>9587547
It depends on the con. Usually the stage contest is called a masquerade but it can be confusing if the con also has a dance or ball. So some call it the "Cosplay spectacular" or some variation.

>>9587547
I was genuinely confused too anon, but going on what was this thread it's about the same thing, with the same type of shit. I've only ever heard it as contests, and I know of a couple cons that have a masquerade (as in the masks) dance event thing, which like>>9587559 said, can be confusing.

I've been to two contests, one was at a big con, and it was one that you had to sit behind away from the con activities for five hours, even if it's to have no skit. We decided to improv bullshit for one minute (so the wait wasn't a complete waste of time), and show off our costumes. The audience got a couple of laughs with the short improv, so I guess it wasn't completely cringy and dull. Otherwise, it was a horrible experience.

The other time it was a tiny convention, so while I didn't have to wait, the mic wasn't on for my minute skit, I didn't know how to turn it on, and it was the most awkward moment in my cosplaying experiences. Teenager me was pretty embarrassed by it.

I haven't done it since. It's not worth it to me.

>>9586107
At one of the cons I go to the Masquerade and skits are separate events

>>9587278
I was hoping that the increase in performance awards would make people start doing skits again, but it's just dance/singing acts as far as the eye can see

>>9587660
My friends and I put together a decent Phoenix Wright skit for a small con. But the judges took points away because they thought it was too good a decided we must have stolen the audio from another group. We got third to two FXII people who a admitted on stage they made up the skit 20 minutes before the contest and an L who beatboxed, badly, for 10 seconds.

So yeah not doing that again. The guy running the masquerade was begging our group to do another one for a couple years after that but with the crappy judges he kept picking it wasn't gonna happen.

>>9585311
>One factor is pettiness on judges. I've entered contests before where personal issues clouded how judges saw some entries. Def more a thing at smaller cons than at bigger ones, but its disheartening.

This so hard. Watched a guy who put a crazy amount of time into a costume that looked REALLY GOOD walk away with nothing because one of the judges has a huge beef with him. And a less impressive cosplay won overall.

>>9583833
I could barely get a seat to these things.

Pretty much the reason why there needs to be more pre-judging. Hydra Comic Con at least did this to streamline the event.

>>9583833
not to be a spoilsport, but why waste time on the masquerade when you can make a low effort bikini (+other sexy) cosplay, or be a generically attractive bishounen, for x10 the attention and potentially x100 $$$?

In all honestly, the majority of people entered/hyped the masquerade because it was the most attention garnering thing at the time. If you entered cos comps or things like WCS, you could be guaranteed a name among the niche comm. Now, you can get attention easily for posting photoshopped selfies on Instagram.

It's sad, but it's true. Won't stop me from entering competitions thought, but that's the reality.

See these comments
>>9583933
>>9584046
>>9584088

>>9587660
I don't see any point in UK performance awards when it's guaranteed to go to a out of time dance act simply because the judges are easily impressed.

>>9588302
Dance acts don't normally win it in the UK, unless the rest of the comp is shocking.

>>9584157
I hate that cons STILL do this shit. Back in 2003 when I first started competing, cons did this. Masq would always start late because you'd be crammed in a room for six hours while everyone got judged. It would run into the show. So if you were the lucky one toward the end, your time judging was literally two seconds.

I've got some best master and best in shows under my belt as well. I also ran masqs for some time, probably about 7 years I started setting them up so you'd get a time slot to be judged and spend 5-10 minutes depending on group size and come back an hour before the show started. I also had an optional rehearsal period for performance entries or anyone wanting to do walk ons. Worked out great for the attendee because they chose their times and didn't have to miss out on panels or photoshoots. Worked out great for staff and we always started on time. Judging was done for craftsmanship ahead of the show and we just needed about 10-15 minutes to prep awards for skits if that even. It always ran smoothly.

But yeah, I feel like the average attendee just doesn't care anymore. You don't have to wait for the masq to see the flashy costumes. They're all over social media. Also remember that back in those early days, we didn't have fancy photoshoots and most of our photos were hall shots or pics from our friends on our cosplay websites or coscom/cosplay lab profiles. Everything is showy these days. Why even bother attending an event for it? I used to notice a huge slow-down in hallway activity when masqs was going on and I sat out of it. Not so much anymore.

>>9587737
to be fair there werent a lot of entries at Hydra

>>9588302
>>9588306
I've not seen a dance act win the performance award for a while

The newer generation of congoers also don't realize that the skits are voluntarily done by other cosplayers. A lot of the kiddies now think that skits are just performed by staff and have NO IDEA. So in convention threads and FB they request certain skits with their fanservice characters and don't get that out of a masquerade. Also, many of those entering purchase their costumes now and it isn't about the craftsmanship + performance. But just about showing off on stage which reduces the quality of performances.

>>9584116
>non-cosplayers who want to be entertained by a good skit
No such thing.

>>9588788
A dance won at MCM Manchester.

>>9590253
I stand corrected! Was that on the Sunday?

>>9584519
after waiting 6+ hours backstage after the con literally could not find their sound guy for the competition, I can vouch for this. I understand that it may be hard to get everyone together on time, but 6 hours is RIDICULOUS.

>>9583833
My problem with it is assholes like Kenny cosplay have wone numerous masqs with that same cosplay. The tier at every even is high there's no room for beginners.

I was at sunnycon and saw this bif armoured guy walk into a junior crafter tournament. Was bullshit. He should have been taken up to the top tier to give others a chance.

Comps here are extremely biast. I saw a blood elf elsa win 1st place know why
Armour and flashy lights.
Just isn't right. It's too easy to guess the winner. Some don't even ask for references

>>9583833
Why does Kenny allways have that smug ass look on his face. He doesn't even look like he's happy to have wone, shoot over to the Hagrid next time the contrast is like night and day.

>>9593478
A lot of those levels are based on how many costumes or awards you've done. Judges don't want to bump people up because they didn't prepare for that level which expects more out of them than they could be ready for

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>>9585322
>masq-as-a-big-deal world
>instagram existed

>>9589785
You've never interacted with a non cosplayer attendee have you?

>>9583833
Are there any rules from any of the competitions you've either been involved in or looked into that you thought were outrageous or unfair?

>>9593689
I'm OP. I haven't noticed any outright unfair rules, just how little we talk about masquerades now.

Aus anon here, this thread really brings into perspective just how different comps are in the US compared to how they are here. Most comps have no prejudging, and the ones that do the "prejudging" is just looking over the progress photos of the persons costume weeks before the con to pick who gets to compete, and thats Only for professional level comps. Open level is pretty much a matter of signing up online, showing up on the day to sign in, then getting backstage 30mins before it starts. Once the comp starts it typically only takes around an hour to go through all the entries, judges deliberation, and awarding. I've never been to any of the cons that are held solely outside of my state though (such as SMASH in Sydney), so it might differ at those.

I don't mind when people dance for their skit, I mean I really shouldn't mind since I do it myself to be eligible for as many awards as possible, but what I really hate is when people (cough, Love Live cosplayers) will use the loophole of "if you wear a bought costume you can only be awarded best skit " as an excuse to wear their cheap taobao crap in the comp. Like, buying costumes is fine, but if you wanna dance so bad then go do it outside? Don't take places from people who Actually put effort into their costume.

>>9586330
Fucking this! I want to see a nice show like a catwalk and cool poses and not such cringy show.

>>9584846
I've won Best In Show before when I was friends with two of the judges and had been in a cosplay group with them the day before, and I was so worried people were going to say it was a rigged contest. I have a tacit agreement with my friends that if I end up in their contest, they either judge me harder or don't judge me at all and let the other judges decide. The latter is what my friends ended up doing in this particular instance, just sitting back and letting the other judges discuss. Wish more people were like that.

>>9587547
It's a regional term in the US, I discovered this when moving from the East Coast to Texas. East Coast says "masquerade." So does the West Coast as far as I know. Texas says "cosplay contest." They mean the same thing. When I first moved and would be talking about my past experiences with "the masq" people would look at me crooked and be like ".....the ball?"

My opinion in general on this topic is that I think the culture is definitely changing, and basically the staff running the contest has to adapt or else the contests will eventually become defunct. I've seen examples of both sides of this- contests that still run the same way as the ones I was entering years ago and that sacrifice your entire day, don't prescreen skits and have an arduous judging process (yet simultaneously get judges with big names and online presence but no actual construction talent in a desperate bid to attract more attendance), and then good contests which have innovated the process in order to eliminate situations which draw the majority of people's complaints (contest dragged on for too long, entries were sub par, process was too time consuming, skits sucked, judges weren't skilled enough and didn't judge fairly, etc).
It's about the willingness of the contest to adapt to the new con culture and make an event worth attending. Which unfortunately the vast majority of contests aren't doing, but oh well.

South east person here,
I don't enter them anymore because it will take up my entire day no matter what con I go to. I'm also not that great, so it'd be a waste of time for me.
I feel a lot of people have that same feeling. It's an almost all-day ordeal.
I have helped with running and organizing multiple costume contests and I feel it's always the same: either judges giving it to their friends or legit great people winning and everyone else that entered trying to tear them down and telling everyone that they didn't deserve to win.
Literally had a girl my friend was dating enter into awa contest with a costume that did not look like the reference pic she gave, was unfinished and missing armor parts and the prop looked super shitty. She didn't win and was pissed and crying about how she was so much better than the girl that did win. (I will say I have nothing to do with awa or their contest)
I feel a lot of people ar deluded and blinded about how great they think they are and it makes the whole contest situation not fun.

>>9583833
I used to be interested but lines aren't worth waiting in, and I'm not gonna fucking pay to go (Anime Expo)

>>9583833
I stopped caring when I watched people who I knew for a fact purchased their costumes enter the masquerade.

And I got really fucking tired of seeing really shitty costumes, that I could usually ignore on the floor.

I generally only care for preliminaries or finals of the big competitions rather than masquerades.

>>9598248
Usually those with good skits with lots of movement are put on by cosplayers with bad looking costumes

>>9598248

Uh - if you knew people won worksmanship/best in with purchased costumes you should have informed staff. Or that's a very shittly run masq with judges that can't tell the difference.

Ive won high tier awards and judged, we get much more up close they anyone will on the floor. Some costumes may look great but when you flip up the hems and see shoddy unfinished seems, badly done lining and the like - those are the people that think they deserve something and end up losing to someone with a "simpler" design that did much cleaner work. I've heard plenty of times post-show - "Why did X win instead of Y", the general response is about details and construction you wont see without actually handling the piece.

On that note, the other bit being a general lack of knowledge on how things are made sometimes. A well tailored suit or tuxedo is much more difficult than a dress no matter how much frill and trim you add to it. Armor might look badass, but there might be visible unfinished undersides or detail work might end up photographing really well but not look as good when inspected closely.

Masqs have declined for a few reasons - chief among them being the time commitment and a greater focus on social media I think. A cosplayer's validation is much less heavily weighted on the trophy you take home from a contest and more geared toward the number of likes/followers you generate these days.

Too much time
Too little enjoyment

>>9583867
This a million times.

Because I would rather be getting fucked up with my roommates in the hotel. I don't care about a circle jerk cosplay contest when there's free liquor and good friends in front of me.

I've been to contests and masquerades, small and big for over 10 years. I do it because I love the stage and I love planning and acting skits. It seems that now, around here, winning a contest is a question of honour. If you are in a contest, you are not there to have fun: you are there to win. People are really nervous and anxious to place.

After so many years, I'm starting to find it a hassle to go to contests. They make you wait for hours in the backstage, even when there's no pre-judging, and you can't see the rest of the con.

When there's no pre-judging, the winners are always the ones with the flashy dress and LEDs props.

I've won a lot of things, but nowadays I kind of stopped caring. I'd not stop making skits (people tell me they're kind of entertaining, so I guess it's ok), but the competitive stress on backstages is way too tiring, especially when comparing to the results on stage.

Back in my time people went to the masquerade to have fun with their friends, meet new people and have a good time on stage. Now I get on the room and you can feel the weight of stress on your shoulders. I'm too old for this.