Altador Cup
The Altador Cup was announced by Neopets on May 31, 2006, to commence one the June 2, 2006. It is a sporting event with teams from sixteen Neopian worlds participating.
The role of the user and the system of play is still unclear. It is believed that either players will be supporting (and maybe betting) on their team, or that they will be be playing as part of their team in a localised competition rather than a community-wide competition. Users could select the team they wish to join/support and change teams if they wish until June 8, 2006.
Plot Summary
On June 2 all teams from around Neopia gathered to practice for the games ahead of them, and countless Neopians gathered to watch their favorites take the field. Inbetween practices, most of the players would go and meet their fans, signing autographs. Five days later and the day before the games began, Kiko Lake's Left Forward Holbie Pinnock was injured due to Relle Felson's sling breaking and flying off into Holbie's head, taking him out of the games. Helmo Timm, the one Holbie was replacing, immediately asked to be put back in the game to play, or Kiko Lake would likely not win their games.
On June 9 the first round matches of the Altador Cup tournament begun. Among the eight match ups, two showed to be very interesting. First was "The Moon vs. The Goons," or the Haunted Woods versus Kreludor. It was uncertain who would win, but it would be entertaining.
Second was Brightvale and Kiko Lake. With Kiko Lake suffering from a recent string of injuries fans were devastated to learn they were facing Brightvale in Round One, who are notorious for their roughhouse tactics. They were certainly going to take a cheap shot at Timm and put her back on the sidelines for good.
Yooyuball
The game played to win the Altador Cup is called Yooyu ball. Gameplay appears to be based on Jai alai, where players carry a ball in a sling and charge down the field, trying to throw the ball into the other teams net to score a goal. The ball is actually a rolled up Petpet called a Yooyu, a creature native to Altador.
There are a variety of different Yooyus that are used in each game, which gives the sport an unpredictable twist. For example, a team might alter its particular strategy depending on the type of Yooyu that's currently in play.
- Fire - This Yooyu must be transferred very quickly between team-mates, since keeping it too long can result in some rather unpleasant burns.
- Snow - This kind of Yooyu makes for a very slow ball, and its piercing cold slows the muscles of those playing with it.
- Mutant - This Yooyu is extremely unpredictable and will often move in crazy patterns.
- Faerie - In this form, the Yooyu floats lightly through the air, leaving players to wonder when it will drop down low enough for them to capture and pass it.
How To Play
Before each game of Yooyuball begins, users choose the formation they want their players to stand in and select which direction the would like to move the ball down the field. Using the mouse, you point at the player you'd like to move around. This will select the player. The selected player can be guided around the field using your mouse. When a player has possession of the ball, click the left mouse button to throw the ball.
If a user wanted to unselect a player, they pressed the spacebar or the S key. When none of the players were selected, they can click anywhere on the field to move the closest player to the position they clicked on. To toggle between players, press the left and right arrow keys (or the A and D keys). To activate a player when toggling between them, press the spacebar. Press the Shift key to move your players back to their starting positions.
A new rule was added on June 24, 2006, which would make the Yooyu jump from a keeper's hand and into the playing feild if is stayed longer than 5 seconds. This was perhaps changed because too many users were scoring a single goal, then letting the keeper hold onto the ball for the remainder of play, scoring an automatic win.
Tournament Rules
The Altador Cup Tournament consists of sixteen teams representing the lands of Neopia. Tournament play is single-elimination, which means that the team that wins a match moves on to the next round, while the team that loses is eliminated from all play. Sixteen teams are randomly seeded and matched up, and After the eight losing teams are eliminated the eight winning teams will again be randomly matched up and move on to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, four more teams will be eliminated while the remaining four will head to the semifinals. Semifinal play will determines which two teams will battle it out in the final match.
The Committee
The Altador Cup Committee is a group of officials who carefully examine each play, making sure that the rules of Yooyuball are followed. Players or fans who feel something needs to be reviewed can file a petition, and the committee will decide whether or not to rule on the matter. Once both sides of the issue are heard, the committee gathers in its private chambers to discuss the situation and then votes on an appropriate course of action.
While some might feel they are too strict, the committee's decisions play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the game, and the committee members' actions are always motivated by a desire to protect the game's best interests.
Team Rosters
Sixteen Neopian worlds participated, each sending a team to compete in the Colleseum in Altador. There was also a seventeenth team from Jelly World, who played as the practice team. While the players themselves are unknown, it's known the Goalkeeper is a Jelly Kougra and one of the forwards a Jelly Kau.
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Altador Brightvale Darigan Citadel Faerieland Haunted Woods Kiko Lake Krawk Island Kreludor |
Lost Desert Maraqua Meridell Mystery Island Roo Island Terror Mountain Tyrannia Virtupets |
Staff Tournament
On June 10, 2006, it was revealed The Neopets Team would be participating in Altador Cup as well, as an internal staff tournament within the offices. Sixteen members of the Neopets staff were assigned a team, and each competed in a mini Altador Cup tournament. Users were asked to vote who would take first, second and third place, and the vote was correct the user won a prize.
Participates were...
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Staff tournament rounds coincided with regular tournament rounds, and the same match-ups that existed in the real tournament were played out in TNT's tournament. No staff scores counted towards the real tournament, as that would be cheating. Staff scores were tallied individually, determining who stayed and continued to the round. Voting ended on June 8, 2006.
Trivia
- The Altador Cup appears to co-incide with dates and times of the FIFA World Cup in Germany of 2006, and if the golden orb seen in the preview trailer is indeed the "cup" itself, it bares remarkable resemblence to the actual World Cup.
- Noted advertisments shown within the tournament were a new Dragon Ball Z game being released in July 2006 and a new Garfield movie.
- During Yooyuball gameplay when the Ixi and Grarrl newscasters are making their remarks, if a user refrains from clicking the "continue" button they will begin to ask the user to hurry up, and eventually a Spyder will come down from the ceiling.