New Tournament Make Major Waves

The first annual Yumland Open came into the spotlight of the NetBattling community yesterday with an exciting announcement: William Grates of corporate giant NanoPengi, appeared alongside main sponsor Glenn Mihara. Mr. Mihara is a private tycoon who plans to donate the proceeds from the tournament to charity. NewsServ analysts speculate that this may be a publicity stunt for both Mr. Mihara's estate as well as NanoPengi. Mr. Mihara has not specified which charity the proceeds will go to, but he asserts that "not a single dollar will go into his already bulging pockets."

In any case, the Yumland Open has attracted incredible amounts of attention. Hundreds of NetBattlers and billions of Zenny are pouring in from all quarters of the world, and from the standpoint of an aspiring NetHero, the Yumland Open could be the biggest NetBattling event of the year.

There is one odd thing about the tournament, some observe: A contract between Mr. Mihara and the Yumland Officials.

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Neither NanoPengi nor the NetPolice, or any other organization, has any affiliation with this tournament. Entries are controlled by Glenn Mihara and him only. He and his private estate have complete jurisdiction over the tournament, its proceedings, and its competitors.

This statement, sealed by the Yumland Local Police and Yumland Government, states that Glenn Mihara has exclusive jurisdiction over the entrants and the running of the tournament, without any outside interference.

A question and answer session will follow in a few hours. Please stay tuned if you have questions. A representative from News Server will be online to answer them to the best of our abilities.

Thank you for staying informed with us.
~News Server

Mr. Mihara is here to talk a bit about the tournament. So without further interruptions, we will begin our live interview.

News Server: Let's cut right to the chase, if you don't mind, Mr. Mihara. How is this tournament different from the countless others that have been held in recent years?

Mr. Mihara:Glad you asked!

The tournament will be divided into two parts: Pools and Ladder.

In the pools, heavy restrictions will be placed on NaviCust, and only your Navi's original Signature Attack can be used. You will be divided into groups of 6 and each group will be of equal level according to registered Navi level. You will then fight a round robin with 200 HP in those pools.

The results of the pools will determine your seeding on the ladder. In the ladder, your Signature Attaks will be released and the NaviCust restrictions will be raised. These fights will be with 600 HP. Of course, for both pools and elimination, NaviCust pieces that increase HP will still function, but HPMemories will give only 5 additional HP.

Your battlechips will be chosen from 3 sets of 9. The last 3 chips will be from your own collection.

This layout was intended to give a fighting chance to skillful Operators who may not be as affluent as those who fight with highly upgraded Navis. The tournament will rely heavily on strategy and a Navi's fighting skills, and less on money, accumulated items, and Operator skill.

News Server: Sounds like an interesting concept.

You mentioned that user will have to select from pre-designed sets of chips. What exactly will these sets be?

Mr. Mihara: The chip sets are still in progress. They will be kept a secret until the day of the tournament, for fairness' sake.

News Server: I see. That's understandable, seeing as you wouldn't want the competitors to plan their own chips around the sets avaliable.

You also mentioned limiting the competitors HP and NaviCust to even the playing field. What are your thoughts on how this will be accomplished?

Mr. Mihara: This is still under consideration, but our current thoughts are that the best way to limit HP would be to set HP values at a certain level and then make it so that all HP upgrades only have half effect. The tournament is still being developed, up until the very last minute, so we look forward to giving you the most balanced, fun layout possible!

News Server: Seems like a lot of thought and hard work is being put into this tournament.

Now for the question that is on everyone's mind. What are the prizes to the winners of the competition?

Mr. Mihara: You may be interested to know that the prizes will be more than just Zenny. Microhard has provided us with new, unreleased, innovative programs and battle equipment to give out as the prizes for the top 4. The top 8 will receive Zenny bonuses paid for by our sponsors, and the remainder will receive Zenny for each won match.