Alright, as you probably all know Cosplay Chess is a fun event that happens on Day 3 consisting of a giant chess game with cosplayers as pieces. Pieces move, battles and hilarity ensue until one team is victorious (or inevitably a stalemate). However, it seems that this year was beyond chaotic and both players and audience members started lacking respect for one another. I have a few things that we could really work on to make Cosplay Chess not only run a lot smoother, but also make it more fun for everyone without it becoming chaos and noise.
First off: If you are not a piece on the board, then STAY OFF THE BOARD UNLESS SUMMONED. There were tons of people who thought it'd be just awesome to jump into fights without being summoned, making some of the fights more chaos than they needed to be. It was fine towards the beginning, but as we got closer and closer to the end it became more and more insane. If this continues it could even lead to damage to people and/or property, with things becoming too hectic or audience members/alternates being not quite clear on the rules.
Secondly: If you are an audience member, please don't interrupt the action by being disrespectful or trying to join in. For example: all the people who gave weapons to the White Mokona. Yes it is both creepy and adorable to see a Mokona wielding a machine gun or a katana, but if it means interrupting the game then it shouldn't happen. This can also become a safety hazard, such as when Inuyasha gave away his sword. There are exceptions to this, such as if a team member wants to help out their fellow piece, but even this shouldn't happen in the middle of the board. It should happen during the start of a battle, and even then it should be talked about first. Also in this subject is heckling and jokes. Some are fine, but it should be kept within reason and not detract from the action at hand. Responding to a witty remark made by a chess master is fine, constantly interrupting with them is not.
Thirdly: PLEASE be respectful of your surroundings. Every year there is at least a story or two of how someone's costume got stepped on and dragged down, almost ripped, someone actually got hit during a chess game(happened to me 2 years ago, got a knee to the stomach and a smack to the face), etc. It is always said at the beginning of the meeting before the game, but it always inevitably happens. I know accidents happen, but at the same time a lot of accidents can be avoided simply by increasing your awareness of your surroundings.
Lastly: This isn't necessarily something we do wrong but something that we can add to increase enjoyment for everyone. When you go to a fight, try to increase the length through meaningful ways. This is especially true if the person you're fighting hasn't fought yet, because this may well be their only chance on the stage for the entire event. Make a battle out of it, let people use special attacks, etc. Another thing we can do is A) not have a run fest into the corner, and B) take more than one hit before you fall. Obviously if it goes with your character to do one of those two, then by all means do it. For the rest of us though, it seems like this becomes the norm while the exciting battles become the exception rather than the rule. The chess board is a stage, and the pieces are the actors. When your big scene comes up, make it just that: big and exciting.
Sorry for the long rant, but these are things that seem to be getting worse with each year. If you have anything else to add please do, or if you think I was going too far with some of these please let me know that as well. Cosplay Chess is my favorite event out of everything we have at Kumoricon, and I really want to see it continue to be amazing with each and every year. So please contribute to this discussion, and if you were someone who did one of the above or know of someone who did one of the above, please read through this or share this and hopefully we can improve and make Cosplay Chess fun for every participant of the convention.
