"Everyone, dear players, please don't leave, our press conference still has a final segment!" As Alan Adhan finished his call, and the players were about to disperse, Leng Zhimeng reappeared on stage and spoke.
"Another segment??" everyone exclaimed, surprised by the seemingly endless events of the finals.
However, curiosity got the better of them, and everyone obediently sat back down, awaiting Leng Zhimeng's final announcement.
"Everyone, since the release of our Warcraft 3 blind boxes, they have been immensely popular with all players. We've continuously received messages from players saying they've grown tired of the current skins and are asking if we could create new ones."
"Some players also mentioned that only certain unit types have skins, while others do not, which they feel is unfair."
"Furthermore, players have written to us, pointing out that the most powerful units like the Undead's Frost Wyrms, the Night Elf's Chimeras, and others lack their own skins, which significantly diminishes their gaming experience."
"Therefore, to repay the expectations of these players and to satisfy the wishes and aspirations of all players, we have decided to bring you a brand new gift today, the brand new Warcraft 3 blind box Season 2!"
"Waa waa waa!!" A flurry of excited shouts erupted from the audience. No one had expected the final segment and surprise to be this. Of course, the vast majority of players were thrilled, as new skins meant happiness.
Yet, they couldn't help but touch their wallets, recalling the steamed buns and mantou they'd eaten over the past few months, tears welling up as they inwardly cried, "Don't come! I don't want to see you, my wallet can't resist!"
But, as they say, what's coming will come. Soon, a promotional video began playing on the large screen behind them.
The audience was astonished to find the promotional video of exceptional quality. It wasn't made with animation or in-game demonstrations but with full 3D animation. The quality of each frame rivaled the opening cinematic of Warcraft 3.
The previously blurry character models in the game now appeared unexpectedly exquisite. For instance, Tyrande Whisperwind's prominent features were particularly captivating.
These heroes, however, were only fleeting glimpses. The main stars of the promotional video were the various unit types within the game, all clad in attire vastly different from their in-game appearances.
Judging by the featured units, all those that lacked skins in the first wave of blind boxes now sported them and boasted entirely new looks.
It's worth noting that ordinary units only received about a second of screen time each. However, the ultimate units of the four major races were each granted a substantial three-second display.
For example, the Undead's Frost Wyrm transformed into the appearance of a Concorde aircraft.
The Night Elf's three-headed Chimera surprisingly morphed into a Christmas reindeer sleigh. Its three heads became those of three reindeer, their bodies forming a Christmas carriage laden with various gifts, though without a Santa Claus.
The Orcs' ultimate unit, the Tauren Chieftain, transformed from a tauren carrying a massive log into the image of the Bull Demon King. The log previously held in his hand became the Jade-Eyed Golden Beast beneath him, a complete model overhaul.
Finally, the Human Knights were showcased. While they remained knights, their mounts changed from warhorses to Harley Davidsons, and their armor was replaced with the signature leather jackets of biker gangs, making them incredibly cool.
The final reveal showcased the deluxe rewards.
Initially, the audience didn't react, as the screen displayed no units or characters, only aerial shots panning across each race's base.
However, they soon noticed that the racial bases in the footage had become utterly different.
For instance, the Human base had transformed into a modern city, with all architectural styles updated to contemporary designs.
The Orc base had cannons added to the top of every building, adopting a multi-turreted style.
The Night Elf base saw their treants replaced by individual steel mechs.
The Undead base, finally, had become a series of temples, truly befitting a style for transcending mortals.
"Deluxe rewards... they are... they are building skins!!" The audience was utterly stunned. They thought creating skins for units was already an unprecedented idea.
Who would have imagined that buildings could also get skins, and not just any skins, but entirely new styles for all buildings? This was truly befitting of a deluxe reward, incredibly awesome.
At the venue, among the Warcraft 3 players, approximately over 5,000 wealthy players were present.
After all, for the affluent, they didn't need to meticulously draw lots; they could simply purchase a ticket from scalpers.
These wealthy players watched the deluxe rewards with their eyes shining intensely. Clearly, they were determined to obtain a set of deluxe rewards, no matter the cost. It was simply too cool to describe.
Moreover, within their circle of affluent individuals, not having such a set of deluxe building skins would be utterly embarrassing.
As for Thomas, he was completely enthralled. Heaven and earth, why was there such handsome merchandise in existence, and why wasn't it his?
No, he had to have it!
In essence, almost everyone wealthy present had decided they must obtain these deluxe building skins. However, the ordinary players were quite content. They knew that it would be impossible to get these without spending thousands, so they resigned themselves to fate, hoping to pull a rare item or two, like that knight riding a Harley Davidson, which would be a stroke of immense luck.
Apart from the skins themselves, the physical rewards within the blind boxes were also quite enticing. The traditional figurine rewards were a given. This time, the deluxe reward was a set of buildable models of each race's main base, consisting of 43 plastic sheets and a total of 962 parts, allowing for the assembly of each race's base model.
The Human tanks previously had just over 400 parts. Now, the number of parts had doubled, which was indeed quite exaggerated, but it was fitting for a deluxe reward.
Finally, Leng Zhimeng announced that the on-site sales area was open, and the second season of Warcraft 3 blind boxes would be available for purchase immediately.
Only one million boxes would be sold that day, with a limit of one hundred boxes per player. Additionally, the sales area would feature displays of various models.
As a result, almost all players did not leave the venue but rushed into the sales area to queue. Even with the sixteen sales channels pre-designed by Jiangnan Group, every channel was still crowded with players, making it impassable.
The initially expected eighty thousand players at the venue were all supposed to be able to buy blind boxes. However, only forty thousand players managed to purchase them because too many players opted to pay the thousand yuan to reach the one hundred-box limit.
This left many players who queued but couldn't get any feeling extremely frustrated. Fortunately, Boss Huang urgently sourced an additional five hundred thousand boxes from the warehouse, which barely satisfied the demand of these players.
However, the event, originally scheduled to end at 8 PM, was extended until 12 AM. Jiangnan Group sold a staggering 1.5 million blind boxes in a single night, generating a sales revenue of 15 million RMB, which left everyone who heard the news speechless, marveling at how the blind boxes were like printing machines.
Overall, the impact of this grand finals was enormous. First, the opening cosplay performance ignited a massive trend.
Because of this grand finals, CCTV produced a special program to report on it.
Firstly, CCTV's sports channel broadcasted the competition live. Indeed, since esports is now officially recognized as the 100th sports event by the state, broadcasting the competition on the sports channel was entirely justifiable.
Given that the atmosphere of this Warcraft 3 National Championship was extremely enthusiastic, with millions of players watching the matches, coupled with the current public opinion environment, which was not as adverse as in another world, it was logical for the sports channel to broadcast this competition live.
However, the sports channel did not broadcast the entire event, only the five matches of the Best of 5 series.
Even so, the sports channel was pleasantly surprised to discover an unexpected surge in viewership when they broadcasted the Warcraft 3 Global Championship. Although it still lagged behind traditional powerhouse sports like football and basketball in terms of viewership, it significantly outperformed other sporting competitions.
On its first appearance on the sports channel, it achieved an excellent ranking of third place in viewership across all sports programs, prompting the entire channel to take esports competitions more seriously and laying the foundation for continuous broadcasting of esports by the sports channel.
But the real peak in viewership wasn't during the live broadcast; it was on the following Saturday's "Esports World" program. This program directly aired the complete recording of the cosplay performance, astonishing countless viewers. Even those who never watched esports, upon catching this program, were thoroughly amazed, unable to change the channel.
While they might not understand the game, the stage performance featuring a realistic Archer battling an armored warrior, followed by a Chinese sword immortal, was something almost all viewers had never witnessed in their lives.
The direct result was that the replay viewership of "Esports World" actually surpassed its initial broadcast viewership, as countless players and viewers spread the word, urging them to tune in for the rerun.
Li Xiaoyao likely benefited the most from this. He was incredibly handsome, so much so that even before any of his works were released, he had already garnered a large following among female viewers.
Concurrently, the TV series "Chinese Paladin" received immense publicity and promotion, with many eagerly anticipating Li Xiaoyao's performance in the drama.