Gaming champs reap glory in Level Up! Live 2006

DESPITE the widespread damage left in the wake of storm "Milenyo," gamers still flocked last weekend to the World Trade Center in Pasay City to attend Level Up! Live! 2006, which included the grand finals for Philippine Ragnarok Online, ROSE Online, FreeStyle and RF Online.
Level Up! Live 2006 was a resounding success with nearly 15,000 visitors attending the two-day affair, beating last year’s previous record of 13,000 visitors. It was considered the most attended event at the World Trade Center in recent years.

Apart from the usual online gaming competitions, the event featured several online game-themed activities, such as a Sumo Poring event wherein two players wore Poring monster suits and wrestled; the ROSE Wall Climbing with players wearing body armor; a two-player basketball game called Freestyle Shooting Stars; and the RF Three-way Jousting match.

Other events included a National Art Contest for wannabe artists, a film festival, costume plays and rock bands.

There were also booths featuring player guilds of some of the games, as well as enterprising fans selling game-themed items, both real and virtual.

Level Up! Inc. chief operating officer Sheila Paul said the event was one of the very few times that gaming community members get to meet.

"It’s the communities that really made the games successful. What we’re doing here is just giving back to the members what they deserve," she told hackenslash in an interview during the opening day on Sept. 30.

Paul said they were lucky that storm "Milenyo" did not hit the country on the day of the event.

"The attendance of many of the gamers just goes to show how passionate they are with their games and with their communities," Paul said.

Level Up! started the elimination rounds as early as December to determine the gaming teams that will join.

For Ragnarok Online, the winning team is Armed n Loaded (Odin server) which beat the Ninja team (Iris server) and Coalescence (Chaos server).

Armed n Loaded won the biggest prize among all the tournaments with P500,000 pesos in cash and items, as well as a rare in-game item called the Emperor’s Crown.

First runner-up Ninja team also won the same in-game item, as well as P100,000 worth in cash and items. Likewise, second runner-up Coalescence won P50,000 worth in cash and prizes and the Emperor’s Crown.

Armed n Loaded is composed of Paul Dy, John Michael Manlongat, Aissel Santos, Grevir Ocubillo, Reuben Andaya Jr., Aisser June Santos, Jan Keigh del Carmen, Thomas James Castillo, Stan Bernard Suezo and Bert Conrad Lim.

Meanwhile, the ROSE Online champion is InzoRavenloft (Polaris server), composed of Jeffrey Kalinisan, Mark Anthony Banday, Rogacion Dela Cruz, Albert Genit, John Aeron Garagan, John Rommel Banday, Anthony Libres and Andrew Reymund Chua.

They beat team Salawayun (Sirius server), which was the first runner-up, and team Pasaway (Sirius server), which was the second runner-up.

InzoRavenloft went home with P100,000 in cash and items while Salawayun and Pasaway won P50,000 and P30,000, respectively.

The RF Online champion for this year is ClanRogueWolf (Bellato server), which won P100,000 worth of cash and items. The team is composed of Joseph Allan Cruz, Dennis Aguio, Louie Purcil, Darwin Aguio, Jason Jao, Alvin Noval, Ramon Emmanuel Ballesteros and Rommel Platilla.

The RF Online first runner-up is Waffu (Cora server), winning P50,000 in cash and items, followed by second runner-up Alpha1 (Accretia server) with P20,000.

Meanwhile, the FreeStyle champion was Team NK1 from the Visayas, composed of Dominique Villadolid, Eljay Gangoso and Joseph Galapino. They won P50,000 in cash and items.

The FreeStyle runner-up was Hellbringer, composed of Vincent Alivia, Marlon Payongayong and Antonio Topacio, which took home P25,000 in cash and items.

Overall, Level Up! offered P1.5 million in prizes just for the competition, making it their biggest tournament prize offer for gamers.

List of Winners

Philippine Ragnarok Online

Champion: Armed n Loaded (Odin)
1. Paul Dy
2. John Michael Manlongat
3. Aissel Santos
4. Grevir Ocubillo
5. Reuben Andaya Jr.
6. Aisser June Santos
7. Jan Keigh del Carmen
8. Thomas James Castillo
9. Stan Bernard Suezo
10. Bert Conrad Lim

1st Runner-Up: Ninja (Iris)
1. Patrick Bonifacio
2. Kenny Charles David
3. Ronald Bryan Ito
4. Patrick Quitain
5. Kenneth Tiu
6. Julius Llarenas
7. Vince John Coronado
8. Herbert Ong
9. Nikkolai Bautista
10. Kristine Tiu

2nd Runner-Up: Coalescence (Chaos)
1. Rey-An Lopez
2. Robert Lee
3. Hershad Bajunaid
4. Michael Tan Reyes
5. Jayson Go
6. Mark Anderson Tan
7. Hwan Park
8. Paolo Florentino
9. Jackson Ong

ROSE Online

Champion: InzoRavenloft (Polaris)
1. Jeffrey Kalinisan
2. Mark Anthony Banday
3. Rogacion Dela Cruz
4. Albert Genit
5. John Aeron Garagan
6. John Rommel Banday
7. Anthony Libres
8. Andrew Reymund Chua

1st Runner-Up: Salawayun (Sirius)
1. Francis Borja Circa
2. Anthony Martin Chan
3. Rex Alvin Roto
4. Jul Cea Montaño
5. Renan Sison
6. Jeremae Doria
7. John Rolan Evangelista
8. Vicente Pao Jr

2nd Runner-Up: Pasaway (Sirius)

1. Mark Jim Dalde
2. Anthony Co
3. Jezer Amancio
4. Andrew Hega
5. Jerwin Amano
6. Patrick Villaluz
7. Jason Directo
8. John Carlisleben Gazzingan

RF Online

Champion: ClanRogueWolf (Bellato)
1. Joseph Allan Cruz
2. Dennis Aguio
3. Louie Purcil
4. Darwin Aguio
5. Jason Jao
6. Alvin Noval
7. Ramon Emmanuel Ballesteros
8. Rommel Platilla

1st Runner-Up: Waffu (Cora)
1. Kristian Dave Syjueco
2. Matt Allen Balalta
3. Marc Levin Torres
4. Namecio Nava
5. Lordan Juan
6. Joseph Aguelo
7. Sandro Chua
8. Roween Bulaon

2nd Runner-Up: Alpha1 (Accretia)
1. Richmond Huang
2. Arnel Dandal
3. Nathaniel Abrena
4. Gabriel Umali
5. Klaus Carlysle Santillan
6. Francis Tan
7. Paolo Alcera
8. Edward Bungubong

FreeStyle

Champion: Team NK1 (Visayas)
1. Dominique Villadolid
2. Eljay Gangoso
3. Joseph Galapino

Runner-Up: Hellbringer ( Central Luzon )
1. Vincent Alivia
2. Marlon Payongayong
3. Antonio Topacio