Altador Cup XIX (2024)

[Blue]

I am amazed that I somehow managed the top scoring team this round.

Easiest to keep them. Kikocat for Star again.

[Pickles]

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 4:33 pm NST
Soooo we're on an "everyone" Bye day again...but we're not through the first set of matches. I have no idea what we should be expecting at this point in terms of what days we'll be playing and when we won't from here on out. The FAQ still unhelpfully points to the Rules page, and the Rules page never got updated from last year. I will not be surprised if tomorrow ends up being a Bye day as well. I'm disappointed that absolutely no helpful information has been provided about the schedule.

Maybe when the first round ends, Altador gets attacked by Wraiths and we never finish the cup.

ETA:

Orion AC Side Quest 4
Hello, I am back to show another distorted vision. It may be the visions getting to me, but I think we are close to the end! Or perhaps, I am getting close to all I can take... I do have to admit, the crowd has become less daunting the more I appear. However, I'm starting to feel very strange. Almost as if my very being is affected by the mere amount of individuals with a shared affinity all converging in one place together... It feels... almost harmonious. *Ahem* Apologies, back to what's important. If you come across anything that may match this vision, please be sure to call me over to check it out! And as always, if you wish to assist with any of my past visions you can go back to my past announcements to help out!



Click on "Offer Help" and "Explore Neopia" and go find the location of the MPIC puzzle.
Solution:

Maraquan Ruins
This is most definitely the location from my fourth vision!

Thank you for leading me here!

There is tons of rubble here... If it wasn't for me being drawn to it I would never have thought to pick up this particular stone. I had to dig through the debris, but I somehow knew this was what I was meant to find here. My main questions now are how long must this have been here, and why was it here to begin with?



Orion: It seems to be part of something bigger though... perhaps my other visions will lead us to the missing pieces?
For now, keep cheering on your team at the Colosseum, and keep an eye out for me in the news there!
Here is a reward for helping me find this!


Kelp Forest Trinket
This item is now in your inventory!

When you return to Orion at the AC, you will get another pop up from Orion:
Orion:I've put all the pieces together and they created this stone tablet with, and I couldn't believe my eyes, sheet music on it! These pieces were scattered across the globe in some of the most ancient parts of Neopia and somehow had modern-day, Neopian music on them! I couldn't even begin to speculate how this is possible or who or what could have put them there...
For now, all that I could do was play the music. When I did, it caused the wind to pick up and swirl around. The velocity of the current caused leaves and other debris to become projectiles that tore and slashed at me. It was as if all of the air was being pulled into one concentrated mass before me to form something. I kept playing even as the air from my own lungs was slowly drawn out of me. With my final breath, I was able to complete the melody, but before I could witness what materialised in front of me I passed out. When I awoke the stone tablet with the sheet music had shattered once again, but beside it lay another musical cylinder. It is made of air, yet I can hold it as if it is a solid material!
I no longer sense any visions and I'm not drawn to stones like I was before. This must be all that was meant for me here. But I can feel we are one step closer to something big! For now, I will study all that we have learned, but I hope to be able to meet up with you again at the next big event!
Here take these for all your help!

Inside the Swirling Windstorm Background (same day as release bonus prize)
Broken Ancient Music Tablet
Air Musical Cylinder
These items are now in your inventory!
Orion's Prophecies Trophy

Trophy will upgrade from wood to bronze if you completed the Orion thread at the Negg Festival, or you will get the wood one if you didn't.

[Siniri]

Today is the first (out of either 2 or maybe 1) bye days before finals. The staff tournament results may be up, but the site is acting up, so I don't recommend checking until things are fixed. We'll have time to get results and submit for the next round.

Edit: The site is working, so check that staff tourney page and pick your new team!

Okay... so that's... times 4... carry the 7... ah! Given your chosen team's performance, you've earned yourself 6360 Neopoints!

Weirdough slipped a bit (and has each week). SunPotato and Stone have both been steadily improving, and their lowest are higher than his. I'm swapping him for SunPotato.

Maybe I should have kept Aesop... After that bad round, he's now scored the highest of the whole Cup. I'll give him another chance, though Unknown's score was higher than last round, so he didn't disappoint.

And the powerhouse of Dingo, Kikocat, and Binary Supagoo continue to come through for me. And Kikocat for star player until she wins (come on, most consistent... her scores have been identical!)

[Blue]

Okay... so that's... times 4... carry the 7... ah! Given your chosen team's performance, you've earned yourself 6590 Neopoints!

Definitely riding this team and 100% on KikoCat

[Siniri]

Okay... so that's... times 4... carry the 7... ah! Given your chosen team's performance, you've earned yourself 6070 Neopoints!

Ooh, upsets in both defense and offense! Aesop slipped for the first time, and Weirdough came back as soon as I dropped him. Sunpotato was a mistake -- she went from improving each week to only getting 460. Yikes.

And Kikocat was rejected for star player. Again. Next year.

And now it's just waiting for the prize shop.

[Blue]

Okay... so that's... times 4... carry the 7... ah! Given your chosen team's performance, you've earned yourself 6465 Neopoints!

Yep. Aesop slipped a little. But, just 260 points behind the leader. I'll take it.

Not Kikocat? Time for the Neopians to riot in the streets! No Kikocat no peace! Meh. Maybe not but a crazy visual in my head. Garrls flipping over the stores in Neopia central, flinging shops around in the marketplace, Tonus spearing mushrooms, Myncis making mahem. Pehophin pandemonium, and Chias just standing around wide-eyed eating asparagus sad that they bought worthless NFTs.

Interesting that none of the star player winners were among the top scoring players in any of the rounds.

[Pickles]

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2024 9:21 pm
Prize shop has technically been active for two days now, trophies are all messed up (wrong images), actual winners are displaying weird. Oh, and, for some reason, the missing year stamp showed up in the prize shop today. After a lot of people had already spent their points. O.o I've been too busy to really even go look...but that was a questionable decision on TNT's part. Will not be surprised if the leaked Yooyu shows up sometime in the next couple days.

It wouldn't be a 'proper' AC without some extra drama, I guess.

At least there is now ONE decent item I can spend my prize points on? Pretty much have all the rest that I wanted since they're basically all re-releases except the bracelets.

ETA:
Let's add some more drama:

With the AC XIX Commemorative Stamp having made its way into the Altador Cup Prize Shop late, the Altador Cup Coordinating Committee's Prize Shop Subcommittee Chairman has officially decided to hand out 2,800 points to all those who participated in this year's event, which they may spend however they so choose. We're hoping you can expect your points by tomorrow night! The Committee sincerely apologises for this oversight and promises to strive for improvement in all future endeavours. We here at TNT also want to thank you all for your feedback and patience. Happy spending!

Now, I have no need to spend my points on that. Sigh. Should've bought several and sold them while they were stupidly expensive right after they released. Ah, well.

[Blue]

Bonus 2,800 points? Sweet! I have nothing to complain about

[Siniri]

I mean... It's not like stuff I worked hard for ended up being given away for basically free in the plot. Oh, wait... I don't know how TNT could have fixed this in a way fair to everyone, though.

[Blue]

It seems like a decent option to do after this error. The points gift allows for buying anything in the shop and giving the stamp to everyone would make it truly worthless.

[Pickles]

I have mixed feelings about how they handled this.

I hope in the future, the prize shop is NOT visible (or is actually complete, either/or). The stamp (and the still missing Strawberry Yooyu) were found early on, and quite frankly, the stamp wasn't really a surprise - we've had a new stamp (or more) every year. There were questions about whether or not it (or both items) would be added to the shop all through the cup. I'm not sure if the ambassadors brought this to TNT's attention or not, but I would've hoped they had? Nothing was said either way, though, officially, despite people continuing to call attention to the missing items. All that being said, the fiasco with the thundersticks being beefed up well after shop opening alone should've made everyone wary of buying right away. In ANY prize shop. Were there any new items that this could've happened with this time? No. But...jumping in to buy right away seems silly to me anyways.

Should the shop have been complete before it was opened? Yes. Should everyone rush to buy right away when we have a year to spend the points? No. Did any of us get compensated the year they closed the shop with no warning reminders? No. Did any of us get compensated when they beefed up thundersticks? No. Should we have expected to be compensated this time? No. Did TNT screw up on this? Definitely.

Some people made out like bandits selling stamps in the time since it was added. The people who paid a ton of NPs for said stamps lost out on a lot of NPs and this probably feels like a slap in the face to them. We're not even going to talk about how many stamps/other items the botter now gets for literally no extra effort.

It feels really cheap to give out enough points to get the stamp to everyone - even if they earned nowhere near the needed points. I understand they might've felt obligated to do something because, since the rest of the shop was visible and the stamp wasn't there, people might not have worked enough towards it. I'm not sure there was a good solution to this mess.

But I'm really tired of everything being handed out like candy. It makes any achievements you actually make feel so much less worthwhile.

Also, now I have no idea what to do with the stupid amount of points I have. I went ahead and earned more than I should've in case they DID add the stamp and yooyu...and now this. I wish they'd've added more than just the stamp to the shop. Pretty much everything else in there isn't worth it to me. Sigh.

Sorry for ranting.

[Siniri]

Thanks, Pickles. That's exactly how I feel about everything.

I'm still waiting to get to do the glitched puzzle from the plot again. I'd much rather do that everyday than the silly void collection. We could be making devices for each battler affected by the void. (Obviously only a daily if they fixed the mobile version, though.)

I now have over 50k for this prize shop. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

[Pickles]

Is last year's Altador Cup Shop closing?
Yes, in preparation for this year's Mini-Event, the current Altador Cup Shop will be closing at the end of the day on May 31st. Be sure to spend any remaining points you may have before then, because once it closes, all points will be reset. While the Altador Cup Shop will not be refreshed this year, you can expect new prizes, so be sure to check in each day to see what you can receive!

Guess I'd better go spend my points. Even though there's not going to be a "real" Altador Cup this year.

Dear Neopians!
We know you’re all excited as we prepare for the upcoming events in Neopia like the return of The Void Within, the mysterious origins of the elusive Varwolf, and the Altador Cup.
We want to acknowledge that the Altador Cup has room for improvement, and we’re working hard to address those areas so that players can enjoy the event even more. This involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work from our team, including our devs, artists, designers, and QA, to make that a reality.
In response to player feedback and with the plot just around the corner, we’ve decided to scale the Altador Cup for 2025 down to a mini-event to ensure that your time playing feels engaging and fun.
While the Cup will look different this year, there’s still a lot of fun to be had! The Altador Cup Mini-Event will begin early June and run for a total of 19 days. To help keep you informed and to answer any burning questions, review the Altador Cup: The Grey Year FAQ.
We understand that these changes are a bit of an adjustment, but we want future Altador Cup events to live up to both your vision and ours, and to make that happen, our team needs time to implement improvements thoughtfully. We appreciate all of your feedback and look forward to seeing you at this year’s mini-event!

[Blue]

Thanks Pickles! I just went through and spent all of my AC and Staff Tourney points. I had almost forgotten how awful it is to redeem points int he Staff Tourney shop, but instantly remembered after the first purchase of many. Ugh. But, at least that's done

[Siniri]

I'll have to do that tomorrow on my computer. The shops are even worse on a phone.

And I'll have to process the AC news. Kind of figured something had to give. Since TNT has invented results several of the past few years, I definitely think the AC has been long overdue for help... Just not sure I trust them given their recent track record. It depends on whose feedback they're listening to (certain players providing feedback is why they tweaked the results).

But... 19 days is barely shorter than prior years. It's basically the round robin round, just without the five days of finals. I hope the caps are really low. My work schedule is crazy for June.