ESWC Masters has been and gone, leaving a slight sense of disappointment. It wasn’t that my favourite player didn’t win or that my predictions were woefully inaccurate (apart from Sky, I was actually pretty good). No, the problem was that the organisers, uncharacteristically, let down the spectators.

You see, I always thought of ESWC as being the best of the best when it came to fan-based esports tournaments. Last year’s final even prompted BSL to write this article, praising the event’s atmosphere. I’ve been to two ESWC finals myself and I can vouch for Vikan’s unabashed praise of the crowd.

Yet, despite all that – despite the ten-thousand or so cheering fans in Bercy, the real home of the esports spectator is, well, home. It’s you and I, frantically refreshing Waaagh!TV or HLTV.org as we wait for the next exciting match to be broadcast. Sadly, the WC3 fans are the exact people that were badly let down last weekend.

Admittedly, things got slightly better by the end and WTV was available for all three games of the final, though even then it crashed before the end of the third game.

But before Sunday’s grand final, the coverage was lacklustre to say the least. Picking 1.21 didn’t help, but ESWC could at least have linked the old patch somewhere on their page to help us. Even when we did manage to get Nostalgia working, there was hardly anything for us to watch anyway. WTV, for once, seemed to be fairly stable but ESWC broadcast barely any games all weekend.

I realise that this was “only” the Masters tournament, but it is a problem which ESWC need to quickly overcome before they head to San Jose in late August because if there’s one thing we can be sure of it’s that the WC3 tournament will not attract many live fans in America.

Lawrence "Malystryx" Phillips explains what it was like on site.

Well since Zechs has covered what it was like for an online observer, I am here to fill-in the blanks for what it was like for someone at the event.

In terms of Warcraft3 I found it incredible that even after they chose 1.21, they did not have WaaarghTV already prepared. After reading some comments on the SK Gaming website I went over to ask what this was all about; why no WTV?

The admin then seemed unprepared for this question, "oh we could install it I think", so then I scurried away to write some stuff. I came back 30 minutes later then admin obviously wanted to demonstrate he was not incompetent stating that they were "testing" it, and it would be ready within 30 minutes. I asked if it would be ready before the end of the groupstage to which he replied "yes".

Replays were hard to get hold of, I got about four by asking the admin I thought looked the most inexperienced but I knew I could not keep doing it and they said they would upload all the replays after the groupstage. DoTA also had the same problem no stream for people to watch, the only way they could see the games was through demos which were uploaded slowly.

The player areas for Warcraft3 was actually relatively good. Each player had their own PC assigned to them and they were far away from the other games. The players were literally within grabbing distance for the fans whose numbers fluctuated. They could keep track of the scores inbetween games via a screen which kept them up to date of which matches had been played and which hadn't.

The main problem for fans was there was nowhere to sit down, no seats or benches, so it was a case of standing for a long period of time or sitting down, unable to see the players but able to see a screen which streamed the games silently. This was the same problem for DoTA - nowhere for fans to sit and the only way to watch the games was via one screen which had no sound of any kind.

This was a recurring problem throughout all the game areas, the main stage was reserved for only the grand finals or for ESWC France matches. The thing to remember is that the Palais de Omnisport is an oval and normally hosts concerts and the like, but all the group matches etc. were held in seperate rooms "outside" of the oval. The ESWC MAsters was just a part of the "Mondial du Gaming" so many of the stages around the centre of the oval were dedicated to games like Mario Kart, FIFA, Wii Tennis, Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty4 and some others, where members of the public could compete in mini-tournaments for some prizes.

Some of the playoff matches for Warcraft were held on a mini-stage within the main area, which had a very good French shoutcaster and which gathered a modest crowd of I'd say around 200-300 people. I stumbled accross the matches by accident normally, as I was walking between the WC3 and CS play areas.

The biggest blunder I saw was during the CS Ladies final Les Seules vs SK where the game was delayed 5-10 minutes because one of Les Seules' players had a "keyboard malfunction", it was then changed but a huge discussion went on as to what should happen next. In the end it was decided to keep the score as it was when the player paused (5-2 to Les Seules) but reset the money for all players to $800, so Les Seules who were winning essentially lost their financial advantage. Once the game resumed, there were several mistakes with the template of the score which often displayed the wrong score which the commentators then had to apologise for.

For me personally these were the main points:

+ good player areas, games well seperated.
+ fans are close and within grabbing distance of their favourite players
+ not too many delays (for Warcraft)
+ the games that were on the mini-stage had a good commentator and a good crowd
+ Main stage, great environment for atmosphere/crowds.

- No WTV stream prepared despite choice of 1.21, no stream for DoTA either.
- Replays not uploaded regularly for various games
- Games to appear on mini-stage not publicised well enough
- Nowhere for fans to sit or relax
- the screens near the player areas streaming games had no sound and no commentary.

Maly's Verdict:
I think the ESWC Masters somehow managed to pull of the harder stuff more efficiently such as a well designed stage but lacked some forward planning on some of the more basic stuff like streams, replays and seating facilities for fans. However it is fair to point out that the ESWC Masters features five different games, and considering this fact I think the tournament went well, and the problems could be easily rectified for San Jose. It is just a case of realising that no problem is too small and making sure you've got a good foundation down before trying to be too adventurous.

Zechs' Verdict
As you can see from Maly's part of the column, the spectator experience from within the stadium was a mixed affair. While I can't comment on the specifics myself, not having been there, I feel that the ESWC really let themselves down over this event.

I have always enjoyed ESWC more than any other tournament, but last weekend's Masters competition was, from a fan's perspective, a far cry from what it could - and should - have been. I sincerely hope these problems are overcome before the grand finals next month.

The Zechs Files will be back next Tuesday.