Champions League Season 4

[Skam]

In the first five minutes, three contestants managed to global. In the 90 minute duration, 57 participants were dominating the all chat window, spamming with purple writing.

Season 04 of Champions League has begun.

In the control room, people have gathered for the event. The mood is ace, people are dancing and joking around, happy to be back for another season in one of Calypso's largest and greatest player-made events. It is here you can see for yourself how much of a difference there is between the contestants. You have the group that is dominating the league, dressed in Shadow, Angel, Eon or something equally as shiny. Then there is the Tiger, Phantom, Boar, Ghost and Gremlin crowd; it seems every level of players is represented. NEVERDIE, sounding as enthusiastic as ever, is greeting people over the speakers, welcoming them to his domain.

As the clock starts to tick, people make a choice. Neconu, big Berycleds (which Neverdie pronounces Bercycled), Allophyls, Longus or a dome with smaller critters. In the first few minutes of the event, there is no secret where the loot is hiding. In the Neconu dome the swirlies abound, and seems to be the dome inhabited by most of the elite players.

Chat is as lively as ever, and some people do their best to entertain the rest of the players with jokes. Jenna Star is flirting with his nemesis neomaven, blowing him kisses over chat and dedicating songs to him. "It's Raining Men" filters through the domes over the live stream, and I am singing along while frying chickens, not quite the KFC style -but it works.

It's a fierce fight on the leaderboard. Jenna, Skalman and neomaven are switching places rapidly. Mirandax, Stryker and some others also pop up, but are wiped off again. In the background we can hear dance music and a baby crying. People are starting to get low on ammo. Not wanting to lose any time, Jenna announces that she is buying ammo for 200%. Shortly after, I meet Trifle, who asks if I need any ammo. I dont, but I am still smiling over the kind offer.

After nearly an hour of hard-core hunting has passed, it is nearly time for the usual bounty-hunting period. Klod makes the decision that there will be no PvP'ing until total war which is the last five minutes of the event, due to server issues that Club NeverDie sometimes suffers during events with lots of entrants, making it, in Neverdie's words, "painful to die." Not being able to revive after several minutes as a ghost results in a lot of lost hunting time, and often results in a slide down the leaderboard. If the loot would ever appear that is.

During total war the server stress is better. I die and revive without problems. I get back in the dome and see Mirandax. Now, instead of hunting them, I am the one running around like a headless chicken. She manages to get in the final kill three seconds before end of event, and I'm actually happy that my death at least brings the gamer chick up a point on the Champions League score table. Back in the control room, people are calming down from the adrenaline rush at the end of the event, and breathe a little easier again.

Jenna Star Mercury, who won several rounds in Season 3 of Champions league, also emerges as the winner of this first round of Season 4. Skalman finishes close behind in second place, with neomaven in third. All three were in a close run all through the contest. In Champions League, there is no such thing as a certain winner until the final seconds. Yours truly ended up in #22, after being both up at #13 and down at #35. No extra pk-points, because simply put, I am a terrible pk'er. That and someone else stole my kill from me. Ill get him back next week.

Adrenaline or frustration, it is at times hard to separate the two feelings, but the league was filled with it. While all the contestants seem to highly enjoy the event itself, the lag makes it challenging for many. Some even vowed to quit the event until MindArk solves the problem. Not only the participants, but also the event manager Klod is feeling it. The servers have a problem with handling so many hunters looting at once, so limiting the tickets available is under consideration. It's unfortunate that the conditions aren't better for such a fantastic event.

[Jorael]

nice article there

That gif is kind of distracting though, but the great content makes up for it.

[Violet]

As ever great report Skam

Also good to see someone taking on Warants atlast.. well done Star!

[NEVERDIE]

Very Nice Article, I like the gif too

[forgo]

Great article.

Yes the lag in the event was pretty horrid, but I think the issue is seperate from the regular servers. It seems that the event system itself uses a process, or seperate method of business. The instant the event closed the lag disappeared, was very noticable as the 6-7 mob cue all of a sudden cleared at once. Im only writing this here in hopes that those from mindark who will see this (as Im sure they dont miss these great articles ), can relay this information to the appropriate teams. Many support tickets went out I know, but more exposure is good.

I strongly urge some attention to this matter, klod and many others put a great deal into these events, and the participants do not deserve such confusion and frustration either.

I myself will be attending thru that frustration since this event series is put on well, and is an enjoyable experience despite the lag.

But yes good article and grats to the winners indeed!

[OgiMini]

Great writing as always!

[Crone]

Crone heard about the event and this time during the event, it's getting better. Then Crone thought about the commentary ND would be giving and just needed to hear that. Strangely Crone couldn't find the channel...

Next time...

Grats to the winners (so far)

[Casay]

Originally Posted by forgo

Great article.

Yes the lag in the event was pretty horrid, but I think the issue is seperate from the regular servers. It seems that the event system itself uses a process, or seperate method of business. The instant the event closed the lag disappeared, was very noticable as the 6-7 mob cue all of a sudden cleared at once. Im only writing this here in hopes that those from mindark who will see this (as Im sure they dont miss these great articles ), can relay this information to the appropriate teams. Many support tickets went out I know, but more exposure is good.

I strongly urge some attention to this matter, klod and many others put a great deal into these events, and the participants do not deserve such confusion and frustration either.

I myself will be attending thru that frustration since this event series is put on well, and is an enjoyable experience despite the lag.

But yes good article and grats to the winners indeed!

Nice post and great positive attitude! +rep for that!

[Jimmy B]

Great article Skam

[Scudd]

Great report Skam and wow!! what a fantastic start to the new season.. credit to you Klod. I myself didnt suffer from the lag too much and enjoyed every minute of the event.

Looking forward to the next event and great commentry from ND as always

Jack Scudd Samuels