Curse

Rob Van Der Sloot · Dec 23, 2006, 02:20 PM // 14:20

Here are the winners of the first race of the Mad Queen's Marathon, from Yak's Bend to The Icetooth Cave. All contestants have given their permission for their names to be posted.

Gabriel Cramer E/A
Aldeth Whitesheaf R/Mo
Anastasia Kerensky R/Mo
Jaded Sentinel W/A
K Gecko R/Mo
Angua Wolfshot R/Mo
Gale Valen W/A

The first race was an exciting one, as most runners had focussed on speed, rather than defence. First winner Gabriel Cramer made his fellow runners waste their running skills by placing a Spirit of Muddy Terrain, and saving his own skills for when he was out of range of the spirit. Gabriel also made sure that his fellow runners got hit by spikes from the monsters first. A daring tactic if I may say so, since it meant giving away his pole position for a moment. Runner up Count Kenrill almost beat him to the end gate however, by cleverly shadowstepping to the dwarf just outside The Icetooth Cave. Fortunately one of Gabriel's running skills was recharged just in time for that final sprint, and he beat the Count by a split second.

Throughout the races there were a couple of odd surprises. During one of the races for example, a whole bunch of Aloe Seeds jumped up right in front of some of the runners, thus costing them a few precious seconds. Halfway down the track, at the bridge, the monsters gave the runners another surprise. A large mob of Ice Golems and Stone Summit had blocked up the entry to the bridge, and the runners had a lot of trouble passing them on several occasions. Many of the runners used the assassin's skill Recall to Shadowstep to the runner in pole position. However, it seemed that some of the Stone Summit were able to remove enchantments, adding further chaos to the mix. Other runners had already prepared for this vile tactic, and removed the Recall-enchantment themselves.

Because so many of the runners had focussed on speed, the Driders and their degen spells proved to be a dangerous obstacle along the way. One of the runners decided to keep running, rather than to stop and heal. She almost made it to the gate aswell, but died merely one step away from it from Drider-degen.

Jaded Sentinel and K Gecko were constantly fighting for the pole position, and to much surprise they finished simultaniously, thus ending the race in a tie. Both runners qualified in this way for the next race.

Finally Gale Valen took the pole position right near the end with a clever combo of Dark Prison and Dark Escape. Where many of the runners got bodyblocked by the minotaurs, Gale simply teleported around them and made it to the finishline first.

The winners of race 2 will now go head to head in race 2. From Droknar's Forge to Ironmines of Moladune. At 8 PM CET, this Saturday. The runners will start in Droknar's Forge international 1.

Rob Van Der Sloot · Dec 23, 2006, 02:34 PM // 14:34

Some more shots of the previous race. Driders nearly drain every last bit of stamina from our fearless runners, while large groups of minotaurs charge head first into the group.

The next race is where it gets really hard. Especially the small area known as The Ice Dome is notorious for the vast amounts of Stone Summit, and it could make this run very difficult for those with less armor. Contestants would also do wise to bring some sort of defence against the spells they might unwillingly become a target of. I predict this second race will be more about defence than speed, but we'll have to wait and see. Will ranger and assassin skills suffice for this run?

Buzzer · Dec 23, 2006, 02:39 PM // 14:39

Nice contest

How does zoning work?

Aera · Dec 23, 2006, 02:57 PM // 14:57

Nice!

I'd love to see anyone at all make the run through icedome...it's watersnares and cripple hell...I'm keeping my eyes on this thread

Kelsey Cain · Dec 23, 2006, 03:24 PM // 15:24

how nice to see a player run event

Something for the developers to think about there, encouraging players to create their own content.

Alya · Dec 23, 2006, 03:35 PM // 15:35

Quote:

Gabriel Cramer E/A
First winner Gabriel Cramer made his fellow runners waste their running skills by placing a Spirit of Muddy Terrain, and saving his own skills for when he was out of range of the spirit.

Maybe I don't understand something but how could a E/A place a ranger spirit?

Rob Van Der Sloot · Dec 23, 2006, 05:01 PM // 17:01

Quote:

Maybe I don't understand something but how could a E/A place a ranger spirit?

A small error on my part, it probably was Count Kenrill who put down the spirit.

Quote:

Nice contest
How does zoning work?

Contestants line up at the start of each zone, so people with a slow connection aren't at a disadvantage.

Kay84 · Dec 23, 2006, 05:04 PM // 17:04

Nice contest dude!

It's good to hear that people are organizing their own contests.

chessyang · Dec 23, 2006, 05:27 PM // 17:27

thanks for the update... this is Awesome!!

did some A/Me or Me/A run echo shadow form run? just wondering?

bart · Dec 23, 2006, 10:34 PM // 22:34

pls make a video of the second race if possible so that we can watch it while reading ur commentary. thxs!

Mouser · Dec 23, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Just a note to the commentator, the term "pole position" is only used at the start of an auto race, indicating the front inside starting position. There's no such thing as "pole position" once the race has started, it's "race leader."

But an exciting race nonetheless! Wish I could have been there, instead of at work schmoozing with the boss...

broodijzer · Dec 23, 2006, 10:54 PM // 22:54

grats to all the winners, looks like a cool contest

next run is a lot harder, good luck to the runners!

Iscana · Dec 24, 2006, 12:22 AM // 00:22

How you deal with the zoning? or are you using etappes? Pretty cool if you ask me, keeps up the guild spirit when doing this frequently with chance on nice prizes.

Indeed a short video about the nice parts of the race would be really cool.

What about a UW race, XD or FoW