VSOH - Xeth Guild-wide New Years Competition Extravaganza! : Vanguard News

As 2007 draws to a close and Vangaurd approaches its 1st Birthday, we here on Xeth are itching for more content, things to do, and the approach of APW. With this in mind, a few of us have come together and organized an event to tame the masses. This event will be something that will bring the community together, be a fun and enjoyable well-sported competition among players, and include an unforgettable memory that is unprecedented in this games history.

In one month, everyone can look forward to a competition among the active guilds on Xeth entitled : The First Annual Vanguard Toastin the New Year Competition!!!

To make this event successful, the coordinators have spent many hours discussing and setting up the logistics needed to run the event efficiently and smoothly. The serious input from us as well as the monumental reward to the guild who claims victory over the event should peak interest to a large number of players from the community. This event will also give guilds the chance to meet and compete with one another. This good-willed competition will hopefully strengthen the community be producing new bonds among strangers, the chance for small guilds to evenly compete the larger guilds, as well as for guild members of the same organization to have a chance to compete among themselves.

Preliminary Info:

* Date : January 1st, 2008
* Time : 6:00 P.M. CST (Central Standard Time)
* Location : Inside Radiant Heroes Castle in The Deebs on Thestra (north of The Deebs Riftway)
* Number of Invited Guilds: 146 (We scanned every single guild roster on vgplayers.station.sony.com [Xeth has over 1,100 guilds]. The guilds that are not included in this list : have less than 30 members in their guild, have no active Leaders/Officers, or have no active members as of 12-5-07. You can find the list of invitees here.)
* Entry Fee Per Group : 35g
* Deadline for Registration: Wednesday, December 26th, 10pm CST.
* Number of Groups allowed per guild: One
* Grand Prize Jackpot : 15pp (possibly more)

Rules and Regulations:

* This is a server-wide, guild competition, which means any guild that can produce 5 active members to participate in the event is elligible.
* No Pugs or mixed guild groups allowed. This is a competition between guilds and strictly guilds only. However, anyone is allowed to spectate.
* Guilds can only send One group to participate in the competition. The group is only composed of 5 members; 1 team captain and 4 teammates. Based on the amount of entries, the number of groups allowed per guild may be increased.
* Every group must pay the 35 gold entry fee. All of this money goes into the jackpot. The group can decide to either split the fee among themselves (7g per teammate) or the guild can raise the money to sponser their own group. The entry fee must be recieved before the team will be added into the competition bracket.
* The Team Captain is solely responsible for their group. Each guild leader/officer was mailed an invitation to this competition. From each guild, a team of 5 will need to volunteer to represent their guild. One of these will be named the Team Captain. It will be the Team Captain's responsibility to mail-in the names of the 5 teammates, the organization that the group represents, and send in the entry fee.
* Each team must create a name for themselves that is no more than 12 characters long. The suffix of your guild title must will be attached to the end of your team's name. This is simply to distinquish groups from the rest and to allow for a little bit of ingenuity among the gamers. (i.e. The Boneheads from The Guild With No Name) If a team does not pick a team name, then they will be automatically issued a default title. (i.e. Guild so-and-so One, Guild so-and-so Two, etc.) This will be vital in distinquishing teams if guilds are allowed to enter multiple groups into the event.
* All teams are required to be at the site at 5:15 P.M. CST for instructions and setup. If a team is not accounted for by 5:45 P.M. CST, they will be disqualified from the competition without refund.
* The Team Captain will be the ONLY one awarded the jackpot from the competition. The team AS WELL AS the guild needs to discuss how the prize will be divided beforehand. If the group is participating in order to raise money for their guild, then all participating eammates need to be in agreement on that fact. If the group is splitting the money among themselves, then they need to discuss this beforehand. Even if a teammate other than the Team Captain makes it to the final phase of the event and claims victory, the Team Captain will still claim the money. Remember, this is not a competition on an individual basis, this is a guild competition. We want to award a group/guild for winning...not a character (i.e. The Boneheads from the Guild With No Name have won!!! not...Congratulations to Bob Dickery).
* The Primary Guild Leader/Officer must support a group representing their guild (i.e. a group from a guild cannot enter the competition under their Leader's nose in hopes of gaining the jackpot and claiming it for themselves). A guild officer/leader will be contacted to confirm teams and Team Captains.
* Non-event participants will be restricted to the 2nd Floor of the Main Hall to spectate.
* Any teammate who dies at the event MUST leave there tombstone where they released and return to the 2nd floor to spectate. No resurrections or summoning of tombstones will be allowed until the end of the event.
* If over the course of the event, the final contestants all die in the same round, they will be allowed to retrieve their tombstones and continue on with the Phase until only one stands among them.

Event Information :

* Each group will be required to be at Radiant Heroes Castle at approximately 5:15 P.M. CST. They will then be escorted into the Great Hall to a table that is assigned to their group. Once there, they will be given instructions and a review of the entire event. At approximately 5:50 P.M. the spectators will be allowed entry and escorted to the 2nd floor where bleachers and special catwalks will be provided. In front of each group, on the table, are 5 stacks of 20x of Macken's Wisdom (a Diplomacy Beverage that has a chance to kill if consumed). A seperate chat channel will be created for all event-goers.
* At 6:00 P.M. CST the event will start. This part of the competition is called the Initial Event. During this time, the competition is not among each guild, but among the teammates themselves. Each teammate is trying to outlast the others based on luck. The members in the group will be allowed to pickup one stack of the beverage. The Initial Event is composed of many phases. Each phase is composed of 20 rounds. For each round in Phase I, each teammate will consume one of the beverage. This happens around the room simultaneously by all groups due to an announcer who calls out each round. Over the course of the 20 rounds of Phase One, teammates from different teams all around the room will start to drop out like flies. Some groups may lose many teammates, some groups may not lose any. After 20 rounds, the competition will move to Phase 2. During this time, the number of surviving teammates will each be issued 2 stacks of the beverage. Remember, each phase has only 20 rounds...so the teammates must up-the-anty and consume 2 drinks per round. By Phase 5 they will be consuming 5 drinks per round...etc. The event will continue with many phases until there is only ONE surviving teammate from each 5-man group.
* We now move into the part of the competition known as the Final Event. The Final Event is also composed of many phases, and each phase has only 20 rounds. The same format that was followed for the Initial Phase will be followed for the Final Phase. This is the part of the event where it is a competition of guilds. The surviving teammate from the 5 man teams will now gather around a large circle of tables located in the center of the room. The surviving members will then go through each phase round by round until there is only one who stands Champion over all the others. This individual will be dubbed the Luckiest character on the Server,the groups Team Captain will be awarded the money, and the Guild they represent acknowledged. Prizes will also possibly be awarded to 2nd and 3rd place winners (T5-T4 Housing Packages, Caravels, Sloops, Crystals, Dusts, etc.)

Special Statements :

* Volunteers will be gathered for this event. Event Coordinators/Greeters to lead groups to tables, instruct spectators, and manage competition issues. An announcer who will officially regulate each round of the phases and will setup text macros for the created competition channel to easily lead the event. Referees who will monitor 1-3 tables and guarantee fairness and efficiency of the competition as well as being responsible for handing out the stacks of Macken's Wisdom to the groups.
* There will be fixtures blocking all of the entry points into the Great Hall. Only the groups will be allowed access in at 5:15 P.M. CST. A Greeter will have a list of the teams and will check off each group as they arrive. At 6:00 P.M. the Great Hall will be opened for the spectators to proceed to the 2nd Floor.
* Any spectators who do not follow the instructions of the Event Coordinators will be asked to leave. If this individual is a representative of a guild group in the competition, there is a risk of this group being disqualified. We hope everyone will allow the event to proceed uninterupted. In understanding that the masses need attention, a special area will be provided for those who wish to spend their time dueling. Strippers and a Bartender passing out drinks is also a crowd favorite and might be worked into the fray.
* We are inviting rich patrons of the game (primarily crafters) to send a monetary donation to help support this event. All donations will go into the jackpot to help increase the winning Guild's Prize. Other items can also be donated for 2nd and 3rd place winners.
* We are also inviting a group from the Vanguard Team itself to participate in the event. (A special invitation was sent to Ellyra). After all...they have a guild of their own, and every guild is elligible (Keepers of Telon).
* Based on the stability of the game and the successfulness of the competition, the creators of this event have primary control. At some point, we may have to close entrees into the event. A chunk can only hold so many people. Everyone should keep this in mind. Our goal is to run the event with at least 30 groups...which turns into about 150+ people. Whether this goal is reached or not, it is sure to be a most memorable occasion.
* This event will be as valid as possible. Cheaters will be automatically disquallified from the event. Validating that a competitor has consumed the beverage Macken's Wisdom can be confirmed in many ways. Consuming the beverage causes an emote where the character tilts his/her head back and bring up their hand to their face. Drinking the beverage causes scripted text to appear in the chat box. Drinking the beverage causes a debuff effect. Teammates that die in the competition must release and cannot retrieve their tombstone until the event's conclusion. Picking up your tombstone or accepting a rez will disqualify your team. As before mentioned, a referee will be monitoring 1-3 tables.
* If your guild Leader/Officer did not recieve this invitation (or relay this information to someone that cares) then please send an in-game mail to Castigar or request more information by E-mailing castigarfalknor@yahoo.com. All Team Leaders can email their teammates names, guild organization, and team name to this address as well. The entry fee will, obviously, need to be mailed in game.
* There will possibly be a Vent Server that will be rented for all of the Team Captains and the Event Coordinators to use. This will be helpful to increase communication to the groups. This will not be allowed to any outside parties.

We look forward to hosting this event, and look forward to meeting many of you on January 1st, 2008. After this, hopefully everyone will walk away with many new friends, a heavier wallet, and some extraordinary memories. Based on the success of this event, we will consider making it into a Xeth tradition held every 4 months or so. Alot of hard work and caring has gone into guaranteeing the success of this competition. We hope that everyone will recieve the proposal in a positive manner, and that lots of guilds will come out and show interest. In the end, this is an event to mark the New Year and wish Vanguard many new successful gaming birthdays. Come out and lets have a good time. Onward my friends!

Sincerely,

Castigar Falknor, CouncilLeader of Radiant Heroes

Gwynella Darkmist, Co-Leader of The Guild With No Name