Mega8 Inaugural Tournament

Not long ago, Mega8 completed their first eSports tournament and I cannot stress how important I think it was. In this article, I wish to explore that a little instead of just dealing with the event in a void.

One of my most important rules in shoutcasting, is don’t lie to your audience, so let’s get the negative stuff out of the way. The event suffered from some production issues, particularly on the first day, some players chose some unfortunate in game team names at times, the upload for the stream wasn’t the best and some of the casters had some connection and sound issues. Fortunately, most of this was addressed and severely improved upon on the second day.

I guess it’s only fair that I start the positive off, with the manner in which the issues were addressed. I can tell you that the early morning of the second day had a lot of minds coming together to resolve the issues and at high speed. Not only was this treated with the urgency it needed, but also was handled with positivity and creativity. That bodes well. No matter how much you prepare for an event, you will run into issues, it’s how you handle them that’s most important. I’d like to think that after working with the Mega8 team, we can see this in the positive stance of lessons learned.

The next item on my list and far more impressive, is the manner in which Mega8 handled the teams. The communication was impressive whether it be the casters performing admin duty on lobbies or the constant conversations happening between Mega8 and the teams regarding what they wanted and how is it achieved. I’m pretty sure if you ask any of the MGO owners involved, they will say it how it is second to none. Mega8 did a fantastic job and the effects will be ongoing. As their tournaments progress, it can only improve as the people involved refine the end result. Trust me, this is a big one.

There are a few minor points I’d like to acknowledge before I get stuck into the one I feel is most important. We really were fortunate to enjoy some quality Dota2, the teams had some fantastic matches that were entertaining and showed a drive to win the first ever Mega8 event. The casters put on some great performances. I was jealous not to be casting myself, but proud of what they put together. I enjoyed the panel, it was a bit of an interesting combination of personalities. Don’t underestimate the challenge of keeping a panel going for extended periods of time, sometimes exceeding the time of the actual play time of the game.

Mega8 looked after everyone at the event, food, water, beverages and a comfortable environment go a long way. Although I can keep going here, I think the point I am trying to get across is that a lot was done very well.

That leaves only one more topic I wish to talk about… Competition. Competition is literally what drives us to improve, it’s healthy, provides more opportunities and regulates the industry. I am sure we can all agree, monopolies in any industry are bad for everyone who wishes to be a part of it. It’s clear Mega8 are arriving with good prize pools, opportunities for anyone and everyone to get involved and a drive to produce exciting and professional events. This won’t just make their tournaments great, but make everyone else’s better as well. This event is literally an iconic moment in South African eSports and represents the beginning of a new era.

Mega8, I am sure I speak for a very large portion of us gamers… Best of luck, we will be watching and supporting you.