Thread: [Summer Fun 2012] Marvelous Masquerade- Imladris, July 14, 6-8pm, RP Event

The Children of Arda would like to invite all members of the Free People to a Masked Ball, which will be hosted in Falathlorn, Lant Veren neighbourhood, outside 5 Waterbank Road, from 6-8pm servertime.

Please be aware that this is an RP event!

You should wear a costume for the ball; and please remember that while you can see name tags, everyone around you will be masked and look completely unfamiliar. As with every ball, there will be music and dancing and drinks - and maybe even intrigue, as you might never know if the goblin you are dancing with is just a little hobbit maid in truth!

At around 7:30pm servertime, our fabulous jury consisting of Gwyndir the Fashionable and Ellonur the Most Amazing and Gorgeous will award prizes to the best costumes. After that, it is up to you if you want to unmask yourself, or if you would rather allow the mystery to remain...

Categories for prizes are:
- Most Beautiful,
- Scariest,
- Most Colorful,
who will all win TP codes, and:

- Best Animal Theme,
- Best Nature Theme,
- Best Use Of A Single Color,
who will win dye packages and gold.

In order to win a prize, the character must be present for the judging at 7:30 pm.

Please join the Children of Arda in celebrating this masked revel and enjoy a night of intrigue and costumed fun!

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: A masquerade? In LotRO? But there aren't any masks that work!

Not so!

Part of the fun is finding something unique that suits your character best, but part of the frustration is getting inspiration in the first place. Long-time RPers will probably already have a good four or five usable objects in wardrobe, but some of you may be feeling a bit left out. That's what I'm here for.

Headgear in LotRO is pretty awesome. There are wacky helmets, medieval hats, and cosmetic circlets. There are also a lot of things to cater to those shady characters who like to stay half-hidden in mystery.

A good starting point is the compendium, an add-on for LotRO. You can try on all sorts of headgear there (using ctrl+left click to use the changing room tool) and also try dye and outfit combinations. To get compendium, I highly recommend using the LotRO Plugin Compendium at: http://www.lotrointerface.com/downlo...ompendium.html
This will install any and all plugins you like to LotRO for you with the click of a mouse, so you don't have to worry about extractions and all the fuss. This also, of course, will let you install the LotRO Compendium for in-game, where you can browse and try-on all sorts of things.

But that has a lot of headgear. A *lot*. So I thought I'd offer a helping hand, listed in categories of "where to find".

For those with TP to toss around, the LotRO Store has some interesting items.
Visage of the Goat
Visage of the Bear (pro-tip: the first hunter class quest also gives a bound-on-acquire bear helm that is a bit cuter and fuzzier. If you have a free alt spot and a wardrobe slot open, you could also make a hunter alt, level to that quest, then drop the item in wardrobe.)
Battle-mask of Rhun

For those with skirm marks to spare:
Recruit's Heavy Helm of Adlan (heavy armor skirm vendor - lvl 23) - 6 marks
Makeshift Ranger Mask (cosmetic -> cosmetic items) 286 marks, 13 medallions
Ceremonial Thrill-Seeker's Helm (cosmetic -> rift cosmetic clothing - medium) 547 marks, 33 medallions

For those who have some questing rewards:
Worker's Helmet - for an ancient dwarf look
Leather Helm of Leaping Stag - for a masked/mysterious look
Helm of the Investigator - for people who like to look like Sauron

You can also check the AH under armor and headgear slots of different levels and qualities. The wardrobe means that even if you're level 12, you could buy a level 75 helmet and wear it cosmetically. Also, don't leave cosmetics and festival items on the AH neglected. Different festivals have given us a raven's mask, a pumpkin jack-o-lantern mask, and a bunny mask to name a few.

Finally, if you put something in wardrobe, it remains unbound. Posting here is a good way to ask if anyone has some spare cosmetics they might be willing to lend to you to use on an outfit. Please don't wait until the evening of the event to ask for items, as people will be busy with their own preparations and last-minute touches.

Good luck, and we hope to see you there! May the best costumes win!

And we're down to the final hours! This is the time to be finalizing outfits, borrowing cosmetics, and asking your best friends if those pants really do make your butt look big.

This is also the time to answer any questions you have. In that venue, I have set up a FAQ and an in-depth rule list for everyone to read, understand, and conform to if they wish to have a shot at 500 TP or a fabulous dye and gold pack.

The TURBINE POINT categories are MOST BEAUTIFUL, SCARIEST, and MOST COLORFUL. One person will be judged 'the best' at each of these categories, and each winner will be awarded one TP code for 500 TP each. All judgments are final and at the judges' full discretions.

The DYE AND GOLD categories are BEST ANIMAL THEME, BEST NATURE THEME, and BEST USE OF A SINGLE COLOR. One person will be judged 'the best' at each of these categories, and nobody who won a TP code will be eligible for a DYE AND GOLD award as well. The award here will be 1 GOLD and FIVE EACH OF black dye and a selection of favorite colors from your favorite, fabulous judges! All judgments are final and at the judges' full discretions.

I will be announcing in REGIONAL at 7pm an overview of last minute rules and a reminder that there are THIRTY MINUTES REMAINING until judging. This will be the time to take care of business if you need to run to a vault to change your hat or if you want to log into a different character for judging.

At 7:25 I will be announcing in REGIONAL and in /say via SHOUT that five minutes remain until judging! This is when we will start separating the crowd into a line for easier viewing and comparing. This is going to be your FINAL COUNTDOWN to switching outfits or getting to the area with another toon. At 7:30 prompt judging will be announced and there will be no late entries.


RULES:

~ You can only win once, in one category!
This means that when judging begins at 7:30 server time, whatever you are wearing at that moment is what we're judging. There will be no outfit changing at that time -- if you do change outfits, we will disqualify you. And if you are a single-color goblin, you can only either win for single color OR scary, depending which we think you were better at than anyone else.

~ You must be wearing something that covers half of your face to win!
This means that your mask DOES NOT have to cover your ENTIRE face. Our judges will in fact be wearing hoods or masks that only cover half of their face! But you do need to have at least one half of your face covered to be eligible for a prize! Either your eyes and nose need to be masked, or your nose and mouth. Full masks also count, but are not required.

~ Our word is final.
Your fabulous judges will be keeping names off while voting so that we are not influenced by kin, character, or previous personal interactions with entrants. But this means that we also expect you, the participants, to be fair. Things like this are very hard to define as best in some cases, and so you will need to accept our decisions on what makes something best. We will be taking screenshots with names on to keep records of who wore what so that nobody can quick-change, and everything will be as fair as possible.

~ No emote spamming! This is an RP event.
You do not have to be an RPer to come, compete or win, but we do ask you to respect the RP atmosphere. This is simple things like keeping floaty names turned off (default N, hitting it while not in the chat window will toggle names off and on) so you aren't tempted to recognize a person beneath a mask, not saying "LOL XD" in chat, and most importantly --
Do not spam! If you are spamming emotes, which means typing /laugh or /wink or /fishslap and sending it repeatedly, you will be disqualified. So please resist the urge to /roll around everywhere or /poke your friend ten times in a row.




FAQs:

* Do you have to wear a mask?

No, you don't! But if you are not wearing a mask, you are not eligible for any prizes. So if you're just looking to come and hang out and have fun, and you don't care about winning anything, feel free to wear just a hat or nothing at all! But if you want a shot at a prize, AT LEAST ONE-HALF OF YOUR FACE MUST BE COVERED. This means either from the hairline to your nose, or from your nose to your chin.

* Can I switch outfits for different categories?

No! One outfit per person for voting. Once voting begins, there will be no changing of outfits. We WILL be taking screenshots with names on for record-keeping to make sure that nobody is cheating and changing while our backs are turned. IF WE SEE YOU SWITCHING OUTFITS, EVEN SOMETHING AS SMALL AS HEADPIECES ONCE JUDGING BEGINS, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. Use the hour and a half leading up to judging to fine-tune anything you need to perfect.

* Can I win TP and some dye?

No, one prize per person. If you win a TP category, you are disqualified from winning in a dye category, and vice versa. We welcome you to try for more than one category, but do keep in mind that it will be the BEST at each category, so if you're trying to be a scary all blue bird, you're likely not the best at any one thing.

* Can I bring my alt to try for another category?

No! Judging for ALL categories will happen at 7:30 pm exactly. You must be present in the outfit you want judged on your character you want to win at that time. No late entries, and no standing in the line-up, then logging out, then logging in on your alt to hop into line-up. One shot per person, so give it your best!

* … No, Ellonur is not available as a prize, his husband isn't signing the waiver.





FINAL NOTES AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

For the best chance of winning something, we recommend that you focus on only one or two categories in your outfit. The more things you try to include, the less perfection you'll achieve in each category. So pick your battle wisely!

Keep in mind that categories that seem 'fun' or 'easy' will seem that way to everyone! Animal themes are quick and fun to do, especially simple things like bears. But nature themes take a more creative touch. If there are ten bears and only one tree, that tree is going to have a very easy time winning and those bears will be growling.

***on this note, we do offer the idea of showing up early and scouting out your competition. You may be proud of your bear until you see someone else who made a much scarier looking bear. You'll have an hour and a half until judging, and you are allowed to go and change outfits during that time. ONCE JUDGING BEGINS, YOUR OUTFIT CHOICE IS LOCKED INTO OUR PANEL.

If you have any further questions before or during the event, feel free to send an in-game letter or tell to either Ellonur or Gwyndir. May the best costumes win!

Thank you to everyone who came and made this such a success! We had a huge crowd, and so many wonderful costumes! The Gorgeous and Most Amazing Ellonur would like to once again congratulate everyone for trying to look as fabulous as he does - especially the winners, who came close to that elusive goal! \o/



*Ellonur twirls around in his gorgous purple horse-cloak and scatters petals*

Don't feel sad if you didn't win, at least you had a chance to admire Ellonur the Beautiful!