Meet the WoW Factor: Kireon

Kireon, Eldre'Thalas

Character: Kireon

Race: Draenei

Class: Shaman

Gender: Female

Location: Eldre'Thalas

Character Status: Main

Prize Earned: *This competition was inspired by the WoW Factor and hosted by the Absolute guild of Eldre'Thalas. WoW Factor judges Keelhaul, Noelani and Ironyca were on site as guest judges to the event. 

• Not Applicable: Contest Judge

What You Should Know: It's tough to be a judge. You can be a judge because you love the subject matter, but more often than not that'll exempt you from the competition, itself. Such was the case for Kireon, who as a judge for the Eldre'Thalas competition was not eligible for any of the prize gold nor recognition. But since Disenchanting Azeroth isn't bound by such rules, I wanted to give Kireon a little love not only for the look donned during the judging, but also to give a nod to players out there like Kireon and his crew who, inspired by our efforts, are picking up the WoW Factor torch and setting out on their own to bring their community together in their own unique way. Bravo, sir! 

Keelhaul: If you had to sum up what it felt like in a SINGLE word, to be disqualified from the competition because you were a judge, what word would it be?

Kireon:  "OVERWHELMED" ..... Quite honestly, in the back of my head, I was thinking, "If we can just get 30 or 40 people to show up and participate, then we will have had a really nice turn out considering the realm size.  As the contest start time approached, more and more and more people just kept showing up. By start time we had more people entered in the "Plate" specialization category, than I anticipated for the entire event.  I'd also like to add that I put this set together for me, not the contest. And had there been no contest, I'd still have the set.  I was just so pleased with the turn out, and honored to be able to judge the contest, that I didn't really take the time to think "what if" or "poor me".  I had a blast and I'd do it all again.  I also wanted the contestants I was going to be judging, that I knew first hand how much work is required to put together a truly spectacular set, and that if anyone could appreciate all the hard work it required to get together a great set, I knew.  Would have I entered the contest if someone else had hosted the event, Heck Yes ..... Do I regret not being able to enter, not even for a second.

Keelhaul: Tell me a bit about your initial journey into transmogrification. Was it just for this competition or does your history with it go back further?

Kireon:  My initial interest into Transmogrification goes way back to before it was even implemented by Blizzard actually.  I was leveling my Paladin and doing the mount questline (Yeah, back when you had to do quests as a paladin to get your mount).  I stumbled across a Paladin in Stormwind, on her mount, so I clicked on her and inspected her.  She looked like an angel and her headpiece was what appeared to be a Halo.  We talked for over an hour, and she ended up helping me on the quest to get my mount.  I always remember her, and her Halo, and whenever I would happen across a cool looking piece of gear,  I'd hang onto it :).  Now I have a bank toon, with 5 tabs, stuffed to the gills with gear that just looks cool.  Heck, I even saved the "Crown of Tyranny" helmet, and the "Mark of Tyranny" trinket on my DK.  (yep, her name is Tyranny, on another server).

Keelhaul: With what item did you first begin this look? When did you acquire it?

Kireon: Well, for this set, the first piece I actually acquired was the "Crown of Flame" from Firelands Ragnaros.  It dropped on our <Absolute> first kill.  It reminded me of the "Crown of Destruction" from the original Ragnaros 40 man raid, only better looking.  It also, took me back to that day in Stormwind, that angelic Paladin, and that halo.

Keelhaul: What drove your selection of the remaining items?

Kireon: My first actual transmog set was my T12 set, I had such an attachment to the helm, that I didn't want to let it go so quickly, so as I acquired my first pieces of T13, they all got mogged back to my T12.  After seeing my good friend "Starrxd" showing up for raid every week in a new shiney set of Mog gear, I figured it was time I got into the game, so to speak.  So I started on a new shiney set of my own.  The first set I finished was the "Ten Storms" recolour, and I wore it for about a week or two.  All the time I was working on gathering pieces I could put back with the helm.  I came across a post on wowroleplaygear giving mention to the add-on mogit.  I acquired it immediately, and when I came across the "Engraved" set, I was hooked.  I ran the "Blasted Lands" rare path route 5 or 6 times a day until my set was almost complete.

Keelhaul: If you had to start your look over but you could carry over one single item, which would you carry over and why?

Kireon: I hate to keep going back to the "Crown of Flame" but so far all these questions seem to lead me back to the same place.  "Crown of Flames", for all the reasons I previously mentioned.  Well that, and it just plain looks hot :).

Keelhaul: If you could sit down and work with a Blizzard designer to improve this look, what would you have them build for you?

Kireon: Well, I'm sure you you may have noticed that my boots were from the "Masterwork" set and not from the "Engraved" set.  I felt like, although the color match was slightly better, the clunkyness of the "Engraved Boots" didn't let the set completely flow from the hips down on my Draenei.  So I would have helped Blizz smooth out some of the rough edges on the bottom of the "Engraved" boots. Especially for a set that is so smooth, and just flows, from the hips up.

Keelhaul:  Great look, but why no cloak?

Kireon: Actually, I had a cloak, and I had it mogged, it is the "Raider's Cloak".  I did it mostly for "Completeness" (yes I'm OCD like that).  I did however have show cloak disabled.  I'm sure you've heard this from other Draenei in the past, but the long cloaks just don't flow very well over our tails. And after I mogged the "Raider's Cloak", I wasn't overly pleased with the look, so I just clicked it off. Most of my sets actually have the cloak showing, I guess I just haven't found the right one yet, lol.

Keelhaul: The thing I appreciated the most about your look was how it kept catching my eye throughout my time there at the show on Eldre'Thalas. There was something about it on the tall Draenei figure that was almost regal. Being a judge also added this air of authority that perpetuated the persona, which was cool to see! Has Kireon always been a Draenei? If so, if you could instantly race/gender change to  improve this look, would you do it?

Kireon: Kireon has always been Draenei, and I would never change that for the sake of a Transmog look, that's why I have 9 alts on this server and anxiously await MoP so I can add an 11th :).  Also, Kireon was created to honor a very special person in my life, I could never change her now.

Keelhaul: Transmogrification enables you to change the look of your armor and weapons, but if it also enabled you to alter the look of anything else you owned in-game, what would you add and how would you change it?

Kireon: WOW, tough question there.  I'm such a huge fan of the game.  I'm one of the ones who actually still gets amazed by all the beautiful artwork and attention to detail Blizzard has put into this game, simply for our pleasure.  But if I had to pick just "anything" to add to mog, other than weapons and armor, I think it would be cool if we could Transmog our mounts with different skin colors.  Once you acquired the original mount, you could purchase the additional skin colors for a set amount of gold.  I mean, Blizzard is always looking for ways to sink gold back into the game, and I'm sure that moggers all over Azeroth would buy into this.

Keelhaul:  If Blizzard removed the transmogrification feature, what would you lose?

Kireon:  It would definitely give me some free time on my hands (listening to "too much time on my hands" by Styx, lol).  Honestly, at this point, I would be disappointed if Blizzard removed Transmogrification from the game.  It's such a cool feature, that allows us to bring servers together and strengthen the sense of community.  Heck, we were even able to get the attention of DEazeroth and wowroleplaygear, and entice them to come to our server and see what we had to offer.  I'm so proud of everyone who came out today and participated in our (not so) little event.  It was such an honor and privilege to be there, let alone judge such an outstanding competition. 

Peace,
Kir