Project Lore

The first day of BlizzCon, as you have seen from numerous news coming out here at Project Lore, was an amazing time with a cataclysm of news (ba-dump-shh). Some of you may also be living it up at the convention, some are undoubtedly watching the organized chaos unfold from pay per view at home, and others of you surely have been refreshing your browsers as news comes out for you to soak up. So what about the other, fan-centered aspects of BlizzCon, beyond the news? Yes, I'm talking about contests. Costumes, sound-a-likes, dances, fan-art, songs and videos - all were showcased at the close of BlizzCon day 1. And although all the news has got my heart pumping in anticipation, I think the contests have been my favorite part so far. It's the first BlizzCon I've attended, or really even followed that closely. As iTZKooPA's photos showed, the halls are packed with a whopping 26,000 in attendance. And I don't want to play down the sheer amount of fun that being here has been so far, but the experience has been overwhelming at times. I found myself in a sea of other spectators, frequently lost and sore from carrying a ton of swag around because I didn't want to take the long hike back to the car. Not to mention the somewhat staggering nature of LA alone, for us non-locals. The contest was a time to sit back and marvel at the lengths some fans will go to show their dedication. Jay Mohr led the competitions with constant, expertly delivered comic relief (which is apparent by my constant laughter in the videos). As with previous years, we saw a hodge-podge of the good, the bad and the ugly. Costume-wise, I was smitten with interpretations of Queen Alexstrasza, several succubi and Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. And somewhat frightened, but very impressed by the overall winner who donned an unbelievably intricate Diablo Mistress of Pain costume. Amazing. Then dancing and sound-a-likes ensued, and many impressed. My faves: a blue, costume-wearing troll female shaking her thang for the audience, a band of "ninjas" doing the infamous Napoleon Dynamite dance and a seemingly husky man who surprised everyone with his tap-dancing prowess that translated perfectly to the dwarf female's moves, and won him first place in the process. The sound-alikes also were interesting for the most part, but the panel ran long. Each contestant had 30 seconds to mimic something heard in-game. Many chose speeches that bosses give when they attack or die. Some chose side effects or emotes. And we heard a whole group of Orc peons at "work, work." Between performances, Blizzard lit up their big screens with images of  the winning fan-art, and videos, and turned up the volume for excerpts from the winning original songs. I must say, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing at one video about a human man begging the moon not to get full because his wife is a Worgen and would rip his guts out. And again at an epic video about a player whose alt gets ganked over and over again. Finally, he gets his main and is ready to kick ass as he heads to confront the ganker. Then, a rogue unstealths and the pair team up to kill him again anyway. Loved it. Anyhow, who else here gets revved up by fan contests? How'd you feel about the costume winners? I'm curious how many of you would be brave enough to strip down and dance in front of tens of thousands of people watching (many with video cams) ? Personally, I've been known to enjoy costuming from time to time. But hell if I'd ever do a dance on stage! ...Now get pumped for Day 2!

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