37 Competitive Press Conference (1/2)
Closing Strife, Eric opened up a browser. Opening Riddit, it seemed that Ryan had been telling the truth. The top posts for the last four hours almost all pertained to Fate. With various clickbaity titles alluding to the contents.
Pressing on the top post, the page suddenly disappeared, replaced by a system prompt. Eleanor's voice rang out inside his head, ”Would you like to watch this video in 3D using the FateGear?”
”Sure,” Eric replied, watching with interest as the room disappeared, replaced by a packed crowd on a grassy lawn. Looking around, Eric saw that the crowd seemed to be comprised entirely of reporters. The blinking red lights of microphones, cameras, and recorders creating an almost concert-like atmosphere. Straining to stand on his tiptoes, Eric was shocked to find himself suddenly flying up above the reporters. Halting his flight roughly three meters in the air, he suddenly realized where he was.
The enormous Hurricane building did nothing to make itself inconspicuous. With massive statues of main characters from various Hurricane titles dotting the lawn in key positions while well groomed and manicured hedges formed the logos of the most popular Hurricane games. Their intricate designs spanning the length of the enormous front lawn. It was at the foot of this lawn, nestled into an alcove near the entrance of the building, that this press conference was being held. At the front of the alcove, a makeshift stage had been set up, beside the enormous statue of Orthas, the most well recognized character from Hurricane's previous MMO, World of Bladecraft.
Standing on the stage was the recognizable figure of Michael Lietke, as well as another man who Eric didn't recognize. The second man appeared confident, standing firm as he surveyed the gathered reporters. His red beard and well groomed appearance gave indication to his importance, clad as he was in a snazzy navy suit with a nice silver tie to round off the look. His sharp appearance stood in stark contrast to Lietke's never changing casual attire. Even today, Lietke was only dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of slacks. As Eric watched, Lietke strode to the front of the stage and motioned for silence.
Quieting down, the reporters held their recording equipment high, ready to catch every moment of the press release. Satisfied with the noise level, Lietke opened his mouth, ”I'm glad everyone could make it! Have you all been enjoying Fate?”
The crowd roared, several reporters giving appreciative whoops but still managing to hold their equipment steady. Lietke grinned, ”I'm glad to hear it! Now as I'm sure everyone knows, but especially all of you, my esteemed members of the press, is that the Fate World Championships will be happening next year. However!” Lietke paused for dramatic effect, watching the silent mass of reporters straining to keep their cameras on him.
Pausing for applause, Lietke looked towards the well dressed man to his right.
”Allow me to introduce Nicholas ”Redbeard” Kowalczyk! The man in charge of the Fate World Championships!” Pausing once more for applause, Lietke stepped back, allowing Nicholas to take the stage.
”Thank you Michael,” said Nicholas, clapping along with the audience as he took the centerstage. Surveying the crowd, Redbeard smiled, ”I see everyone is excited to learn about the championship. Now I'm sure you all have questions, but I do ask that you save the questions until after I've explained the tournament format.”
Seeing that there were no objections, Redbeard continued, ”Now the format for the Fate World Championships will be single elimination. Each region will send a number of representatives determined by population. The regions are North America, South America not including Brazil, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Europe, Korea, Japan, China, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania. Prior to the round of sixty four, there will be a round robin group stage which will pit the top seeds of each region against lower seeds from other regions.”
As he spoke, an enormous projection appeared behind him, obscuring the statue of Orthas. As the gathered press watched, an enormous trophy appeared in the center of the projection. Slowly spinning as it completed a full rotation, it soared to the right side of the projection, slowly shrinking as it settled at the far end of the projection.
As the trophy settled, lines began to appear on the opposite side of the projection. Sixty four lines slowly being drawn. As they watched, each line paired off with an adjacent line, a new line branching from the paired lines and repeating the process. As the final two lines met, a new line emerged, entering the trophy which glowed as the line struck it.
Turning back to the crowd Redbeard smiled, ”Here's a more visual representation of the finals. Are there any questions so far?”
Seeing a reporter in a blue dress raise her hand, Redbeard pointed towards the woman, ”You. Yes you in the blue. You have a question?”
”Yes, Clara Lee, ESCN. Some of these regions have significantly different population sizes. You mentioned that each region would have a number of spots available based on their population. Will that be proportional? Will China and India have almost twenty times the number of spots available as Turkey for example?”
”Yes. The number of teams available to each region will be strictly based upon population. As such there will be a rather long group stage beforehand to determine which teams will advance. Top seeds in each region will have easier group stages than other teams from the same region. Players do not need to worry about being disadvantaged due to their region,” with these words the projected image exploded into shards of light which came back together to form a large number of cells. Each cell contained four different words, straining his eyes Eric could see that the words were the names of various regions with a number behind each.
Seeing that the image had changed, Redbeard continued, ”There will be an incredible 128 groups in the group stage, with each group containing four teams. This means that there will be 512 teams participating in the world championships. More than enough for each region to have a fair shot at the title. Does that answer your question?”
Nodding at his answer, the woman hastily began to scribble down the key points as Redbeard returned to his explanation.
”Now in order to get to the Fate World Championships players will need to form teams of five to eight players. Each round will be a best of three with three different game modes. The first game mode is a tag team battle. Three players from each team will battle in a 1v1 arena style duel. The first team to defeat all three opponents wins. The second game mode is an objective focused game mode. Each team will send five players and attempt to destroy the opposing team's idol. The first team to do so wins.Take note that this is the only game mode with respawns enabled. The final game mode is a straight up 5v5 elimination style deathmatch. Each team will send out five players and attempt to defeat the opposing team. First team to kill all five opponents wins. In addition, separate to the main tournament will be a duelist competition. Players are free to enter the duelist competition regardless of whether or not they are part of a team that is participating in the Fate World Championships. Yes?” Redbeard asked, furrowing his brow as he looked at a burly reporter energetically waving his hand in the air.