Alienware Arena Dragon Nest PvP Tournament Season 2 Report

The Alienware Arena Dragon Nest PvP Tournament Season 2 held over the weekend at the Alienware Arena in Lucky Chinatown, Singapore, was yet another jewel in Cherry Credits' crown of community events. Though Dragon Nest PvP action has alway been a crowd pleaser, especially with the addition of a seasoned caster this round, Cherry Credits outdid itself in terms of community engagement this time round.

Apart from the live cast of nailbiting PvP matches, free game time and an in-game pet was offered to Dragon Nest community members who came down to spectate. Hourly lucky draws for Ttesport peripherals and limited edition Dragon Nest plushies were also conducted for spectators who registered their attendance. At least 100 gamers were on site taking part in the festivities.

"The crowd is as good as our previous events," said GM Adriano of Cherry Credits. The Dragon Nest PvP Tournament Season 1 was held way back in November 2011, but participation has not dwindled in spite of the gap in between seasons. "Some players even came down from Kuala Lumpur to support the Malaysian team," Adriano added.

Though the Singapore Dragon Nest community is definitely not as big as the followings in neighbouring countries like the Philippines, it still encompasses a dedicated bunch of players, and this is all thanks to the effort Cherry Credits puts into engaging its community.

Dragon Nest, developed by Korean developers Eyedentity Games and published by Shanda Games in Singapore is a game that the latter firm believes is the best for promoting e-sports with, hence their focus on it. Apart from frequent big ticket scenarios that appear with certain patches, such as the upcoming Green Dragon S$20,000 boss-kill challenge, Cherry Credits also makes it a point to meet up frequently with the players.

"We have meet-the-player sessions whenever we have a big patch (like the Kali patch)," GM Adriano told us. "Our producer Addison Kang sends out invites to notable community members. In turn, these people share the invite with their guild. Everyone gathers at the session and we give them a game update and information on the patch."

Community engagement like that certainly paid off over the weekend. We counted no less than over 100 Dragon Nest gamers throughout last Saturday's event. Many satisfied participants walked away not just with their in-game Hound pets, but also with gaming gear and plushies.

Dragon Nest will undoubtedly continue to be one of the top games in Shanda Games' catalogue , with Marketing Manager of Cherry Credits, Cheryl Tan, adding that the team is "looking forward to the PvP tournament becoming an annual occasion."

Mary-Anne is a the Singapore Correspondence for IGN Asia Pacific. You can identify her by her Magikarp tattoo or her propensity to launch into fangirl mode over a certain icy game company. She someday hopes to actually finish the games she owns. Follow her on Twitter @missfors

 SOURCE: IGN