WoW Forever has not even launched yet, and somebody is already preparing to win more money from a level-30 duel than most of us have ever earned from killing Hogger.
The Forever Open, the first major dueling tournament built around the Forever beta, was originally announced with a $50,000 prize pool. Streamer TimTheTatman has now added another $50,000, doubling the total to an extremely serious $100,000.
The tournament takes place across October 17 and 18, uses Forever’s PvP ruleset, requires Horde characters at level 30 and is open to registered players rather than being a closed creator exhibition.
Apparently Classic-style dueling has escalated rather quickly.
The Prize Pool Doubled in a Day
Organizer Tips Out formally announced the Forever Open on September 27 with a $50,000 prize pool. The following day, TimTheTatman contributed another $50,000, bringing the total to $100,000. The updated details were subsequently confirmed in coverage of the expanded Forever Open prize pool.
Tips Out is hardly new to making people settle arguments outside Orgrimmar for money. He previously organized the Classic Duelers League and was involved with the enormous Mak’gora tournament scene that turned Hardcore duels into surprisingly effective spectator entertainment.
Esfand and Xaryu are also attached to the Forever Open broadcast, giving the tournament a fairly recognizable Classic PvP lineup before the first duel has even started.
This Is a Level 30 Horde Tournament
The rules are deliberately narrow.
Participants must compete on the PvP ruleset, play Horde and reach level 30. Registration is open, with qualifiers scheduled for October 17 before the final rounds on October 18.
That level requirement is interesting because the current Forever beta remains capped at level 20. As we covered when the Forever beta opened with a level-20 cap, Blizzard intends to raise that ceiling to 30 during the second phase of testing.
The tournament is therefore effectively waiting for Blizzard to open the next section of the beta.
Once that happens, competitors will have a relatively short window to level, gear, optimize professions and work out which apparently harmless level-28 quest reward turns out to be horrifyingly good in a duel.
Forever Does Not Even Have Rated PvP at Launch
The other amusing part is that Forever is generating a $100,000 competitive tournament while Blizzard itself is deliberately avoiding modern rated PvP.
As we covered in our look at why WoW Forever launches without Rated PvP, there will be no Arena ladder or Rated Battleground system at launch. Blizzard instead wants PvP progression to revolve around world PvP, Battlegrounds, Honor and a seasonal reward track.
The Forever Open is therefore almost aggressively old-fashioned.
Two characters stand near each other.
Somebody types /duel.
One eventually falls over.
There just happens to be $100,000 involved.
The Gold Economy Suddenly Matters Even More
A tournament like this also gives Forever’s economic rules an immediate stress test.
Competitive players will naturally want strong gear, professions, enchants and consumables before qualifiers begin. That becomes particularly interesting after Blizzard’s latest warning that WoW Forever gold buyers can face account action, not merely have illegally purchased gold removed.
When real money is attached to a beta tournament, there is suddenly a very strong incentive to squeeze every possible advantage from a level-30 character. Blizzard’s attempts to control botting, RMT and suspicious transfers are therefore getting a considerably more public test than anyone probably expected this early.
$100,000 for Classic-Style Dueling Is Quite a Statement
This is not an official Blizzard esports circuit, and nobody should confuse it with Blizzard suddenly rebuilding the Arena World Championship around Forever.
It is a community-organized event built on an old-fashioned PvP format.
But that may be precisely why it is interesting.
Forever is supposed to make old Azeroth socially relevant again. A $100,000 tournament built around ordinary character duels, before the game has even launched, suggests players are already finding ways to turn those simple systems into something considerably larger.
Forever does not have Rated Arena.
Apparently it does not need it to make dueling expensive.
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