[nirvAnA]

14 Nov 2012 Update:

I went down and had a chat with gamespot today. Turns out the tournament details are not finalised yet and the landing page was "leaked" prematurely.

Some updated details:

• The event will be a WoL tournament, not HoTS
• Players coming can try out HoTS live in person
• It may or may not have a bacraft element to run alongside to get the casuals coming. Yet to be confirmed.
• The event will be pushed back to mid-Dec

The gamespot site manager is really on the ball and wants the best for the community too, so we will be doing our best to run this event properly for the community. It will be properly publicised on all major channels and have a proper game format / rule set with casters. Stay tuned for more details!

+ [Old News] +

Well the promotion for this Alienware tournament is yet again really disappointing. We had no idea about the tournament details until we by sheer luck saw their ad on the MLG stream. Had it not been seen, well it would never have been even posted here lol. In fact, I tried googling it when I saw the banner (it didnt let me click on it for some reason) and there was no trace of it anywhere on the internet.

I don't think the people running this are even aware of SC2SEA or TL or Reddit or stay in touch with the Singapore Starcraft community. Lets hope this one is a lot better then what happened earlier this year which had over 70%? walkover rate when they refused again to post information of their tournament anywhere. Anyway I'm kinda pissed cause it feels like randomly dumped marketing dollars all over again which is such a shame as if its marketed and run properly it is actually a really good opportunity to encourage growth in the Singapore Starcraft scene. Someone has to wake up. /rant

Also, I believe this tournament is for HoTS so Singaporeans need to have beta access to sign up. Its not clear on the tournament page (neither are the rules or format/maps) what game is being played but from what I heard last there was going to be some HoTS invite tournament soon so this is probably it. The use of "wings of liberty" at the start of their paragraph is misleading.

Grand Prize: Alienware X51 Desktop worth S$999
Runner-up Prize: S$500 Voucher
Amateur Entry Prizes: S$100 vouchers and S$50 Dell vouchers
Venue: Lucky Chinatown, 3rd floor, Alienware Arena
Date & Time: 1 December and 2 December, 1pm - 6pm

Singaporean GameSpotters, prepare to take flight and spread your Wings of Liberty!

To provide patrons a sneak peak at its new cybercafe, Alienware Arena, Alienware is hosting a Blizzard Starcraft II tournament on 1 December and 2 December 2012. If you want to be in the running to win thousands of dollars in prizes, then make sure to enter to secure a place in this exclusive tournament.

Competitive players of all levels are welcome, no matter what your level of Starcraft II experience. The Alienware Starcraft II Professional/Amateur Tournament will pit 16 Amateur players and 16 Pro Gamers in a 1v1 bracket elimination, until only 1 is left standing. The Grand Prize winner will take home an Alienware X51 Desktop, while each of the "amateur" finalists will be guaranteed a prize voucher worth up to S$100 just for competing!

To join the ranks and take on the Pro Gamers, simply tell us why you're up to the challenge in about 50 words. The best 16 entries will make up our 16 Amateur players.

Spectators are welcome to come along to view the Alienware Starcraft II Professional/Amateur Tournament live and catch a preview of Blizzard's upcoming StarCraft II installment, Heart of the Swarm!

Refreshments will be provided, so come watch Singapore's top players battle it out.


Fill up your details and a 50 word write-up on why you're up for the challenge to take part in the Tournament, in the registration form below. Entrants must be a resident of Singapore. Registration closes 23 November 2012 at 11.59 SGT. Good luck!

Sign up here!

[ToRTinyTeddy]

Glgl to the people who are gonna play, wish i could enter and win the grand priize!

[Antel0pe]

goddamnit >.< i'll be away during then

[frozen_water92]

Wow thanks alot for bringing this up Nirvana. Really appreciate it!

[OverDrone]

Why only for Singaporians?!?!

Quick Comments

MooZfY:

Singaporeans*

[Reere]

Thanks for the research into it Nirvana. When I saw it on MLG I just assumed is the next big hoo-haa. Didn't realize it was so poorly run T.T~

[ProAnnn]

As expected of an alienware tournament. 0 exposure and noone knows about it.

[aLtShortizz]

Originally Posted by ProAnnn

As expected of an alienware tournament. 0 exposure and noone knows about it.

Remember the one where you have to play ladder matches against each other? I had 3 wins den i think everyone pretty much forgot about it lmao.

[DM.MCZ.Polaris]

Won't be able to make it but by then, I'll be in korea! ^^

[crAzerk]

Who are the 16 pro gamers?

[kyzers0ze]

I'll be at tekong.

Quick Comments

EveLoire:

with my rifle and my buddy and me~

[FlashVeno]

why age limit AGAIN!
arrrgggggg
sometimes being 14 sucks

[FSDarkNemesis]

I don't have HOTS which I want sooooo badly.

Well I did register ANYWAY.

[FlashDrakE]

IMO it would be better if it was WoL - but still a good initiative to try to organise any tournament in Singapore.

[nirvAnA]

I agree hosting tournaments are good, but imo the organisers have the responsibility for making sure the event is promoted and run well, especially if there is a big prize at stake. Rather than just dumping marketing dollars carelessly.

For example the WCS run by Jasper was very enjoyable. The barcrafts run by Frogmite too are done really well. All these events help grow the community and when run well, make the sponsors happy too when they see a return, a win-win situation. A good turn out and publicity encourages sponsors to contribute more, thus more players playing and the standard of skill rising, having more events and the community growing further.

The problem I have is this looks like its heading in the same direction as the first alienware tournament they ran, turning a great opportunity into a wasted one cause no one organising the tournament seems to care. Also, Gamespot Singapore tried to host an invite starcraft tournament before. They wanted to market it as "Singapore's best players" but they didn't put in much effort or prizes or offer any incentive to the Singapore players. So of course these players did not want to go and they ended up having to cancel it at the last minute. Hopefully it does not happen for this tournament, I've already sent an email to them telling them to publicise it properly in TL, Reddit etc and offering help with the rules and format but they've ignored it.

I hope you guys don't end up playing unseeded best of one matches.

[PiG]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

I agree hosting tournaments are good, but imo the organisers have the responsibility for making sure the event is promoted and run well, especially if there is a big prize at stake. Rather than just dumping marketing dollars carelessly.

For example the WCS run by Jasper was very enjoyable. The barcrafts run by Frogmite too are done really well. All these events help grow the community and when run well, make the sponsors happy too when they see a return, a win-win situation. A good turn out and publicity encourages sponsors to contribute more, thus more players playing and the standard of skill rising, having more events and the community growing further.

The problem I have is this looks like its heading in the same direction as the first alienware tournament they ran, turning a great opportunity into a wasted one cause no one organising the tournament seems to care. Also, Gamespot Singapore tried to host an invite starcraft tournament before. They wanted to market it as "Singapore's best players" but they didn't put in much effort or prizes or offer any incentive to the Singapore players. So of course these players did not want to go and they ended up having to cancel it at the last minute. Hopefully it does not happen for this tournament, I've already sent an email to them telling them to publicise it properly in TL, Reddit etc and offering help with the rules and format but they've ignored it.

I hope you guys don't end up playing unseeded best of one matches.

Good effort man, it's sad that they can't even be bothered posting it on a few websites and actually making their event worth the time and money used to host it. Another great example of why e-sports is built on the backs of passionate volunteers who run events. A shame they couldn't just make a post on a forum to find some of these volunteers...

[nirvAnA]

I went down and had a chat with gamespot today. Turns out the tournament details are not finalised yet and the landing page was "leaked" prematurely.

Some updated details:

• The event will be a WoL tournament, not HoTS
• Players coming can try out HoTS live in person
• It may or may not have a bacraft element to run alongside to get the casuals coming. Yet to be confirmed.
• The event will be pushed back to mid-Dec

The gamespot site manager is really on the ball and wants the best for the community too, so we will be doing our best to run this event properly. It will be publicised on all major channels and have a proper game format / rule set with casters. Stay tuned for more details!

[ProAnnn]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

I went down and had a chat with gamespot today. Turns out the tournament details are not finalised yet and the landing page was "leaked" prematurely.

Some updated details:

• The event will be a WoL tournament, not HoTS
• Players coming can try out HoTS live in person
• It may or may not have a bacraft element to run alongside to get the casuals coming. Yet to be confirmed.
• The event will be pushed back to mid-Dec

The gamespot site manager is really on the ball and wants the best for the community too, so we will be doing our best to run this event properly. It will be properly publicised on all major channels and have a proper game format / rule set with casters. Stay tuned for more details!

If possible, help me to ask whether players under 18 years old can play? Cause Venosaur is a talented player that wants to play!

[ProAnnn]

Any updates on this?

[nirvAnA]

Details will be released very soon.

Tentative Details

• It will be held over the weekend on the 15th - 16th December at Alienware's new LAN cafe and will be organised by Gamespot.
• Main prize is a new Alienware computer and there will be cash prizes too last I heard
• Food / Refreshment will be provided.
• Games will be cast and tournament will be advertised well on TL/Reddit too.
• We will also be giving out a large number of HoTS beta keys to those who come down thanks to Blizzard.

I'll talk to all you guys on skype soon. Its going to be a big event and hopefully the start of more so I look forward to seeing all the big Singapore clans / teams there - Flash, Eve, DM.MCZ mGG, FaDe etc