Hello, Taernians!
This is Silka and here’s my report from TaernCon 2023. I’ll tell you what happened at this year’s event, who won each contest, where you can get Broken Ranks swag (including t-shirts - something you’ve been asking about a lot 🙂), and many other things.
This year, the event’s attendance was through the roof. We broke the record of all the past TaernCons and we hope that there’ll be even more of you next year. We were happy to see that the ratio of our old-timers to the new recruits was more or less 1:1, which means that the Broken Ranks community is growing and, consequently, both the online and offline meetings are even more fun. Thank you for this! 🙂
TaernCon 2023’s celebratory feast took place in Browar Mieszczański in Wrocław. The attendees began gathering at about 3.30 PM, so we decided to start the party a little bit earlier. At the entrance, you could get a badge with your nickname and sign up for the first ever TaernCon PvP tournament (more details further on).
The next ninety minutes were spent feasting at the outer courtyard of the Browar with a coffee, lemonade, or something stronger in hand. At 5 PM, the premises became filled with the rhythmic sounds of the drum - our Raven Charmer was giving a sign that the official part had begun.
The players entered the first corridor, illuminated in the purple of the eyes of the Utorians. On the wall to the right, surrounded by nautical nets, one could see the weapons of the winners of the TaernCon 2022 cosplay contest - Wurm (Kafelcio) and the Death’s scythe (Ruukk). The next corridor was reminiscent of the Druid Village, as it was illuminated in green with firefly-like lights attached to the walls. Here, a booth with a selection of Taernian beer awaited you. You could treat yourself to it throughout the event. The very next room was the main hall. Huge sails were suspended from the ceiling, illuminated in the colors of the Broken Ranks classes.
Once everyone found an empty seat for themselves, our ever-reliable Dawid took the stage accompanied by the sound of the drum. While we’re at it, I’d like you to know that an interview with him (and not only him!) will soon be shared on our YouTube channel in a video dedicated to TaernCon 2023. Right now.... let's move on! After a brief welcome from the MC and our founding fathers - Drygu, Torgerd and Pan Tomasz - the drawing of the eight adventurers who expressed their desire to participate in the tournament began.
The tournament lasted for basically the entire official part of the event, as the battles took place between the various items on the agenda. You'll see snapshots of it in the event videos, and if you want more, attend TaernCon 2024. 😁 As for myself, I can say that the tournament caused a lot of excitement, the audience shouted, buzzed, and cheered as only Taernians can do, that is po-wer-ful-ly! Each clash was accompanied by lots of applause, words of support, and advice from those most involved in the game. Music from Broken Ranks and the incessant drumming of the Raven Charmer added to the atmosphere, making me feel like I was in a real PvP arena.
The following players reached the semifinals: Paskudna, MatriśMag and Gromak. Paskudna's opponent, however, seems to have been unable to resist the maze of the Browar and did not show up for the fight, so Paskudna won by walkover and finished third.
The final battle was fought between MatriśMag (FM) and Gromak (BB). It wasn't easy, it took as many as 5 rounds to determine the most powerful PvP-player of the year, but the Fire Mage eventually managed to fry the Barbarian at the last minute and the score settled at 3:2. Oh, and don't be surprised by the class choice - before the tournament began, each participant had to choose the class they would play at each stage. You know, who would want to watch a tournament with only druids? :D And besides - which Taernian doesn't like a challenge?
However, the cherry on top of the entire event was, in my opinion, the TaernCon 2023 Cosplay Contest. It was something truly amazing. A year ago, the participants were really awesome, but we had only three of them. This time, as many as 13 people entered the lists. For some reason, the absolute hit of this TaernCon was the Knight class - at level 5 lvl as well as at 100, in female and male versions, morphed, classic, and whatever a person could dream up. However, there were other classes, too (more on that below), as well as bosses, NPCs (Veela stole the hearts of the audience <3), and even pets (a glowing Sol!). The judges in the contest were our founding fathers and some people from the audience.
As for me, every cosplay, regardless of the complexity of the costume, was an absolute blast. Here, I’ll give you only the photo of the winning three, but don't worry - you'll be able to take a closer look at each costume when an album with the event photos is uploaded to Facebook (as tradition dictates). Our YouTube channel will also feature videos from the contest and some extra photos will be shared on our Instagram and TikTok. So who won in the end?
Here are this year’s top three cosplayers:
- 1st place – Ryzerr as Gregorius with a smoke-spewing Attawa (“it is more spectacular this way”),
- 2nd place – VdMisia as (ha, you wouldn’t have guessed) Voodoo in the level 100 set,
- 3rd place – last year’s winner – Kafelcio as the Collector.
The participants were given commemorative t-shirts and precious rewards (more details can be found HERE).
After the contest, we had one of the tournament battles and a break to clear our minds after this amazing Taernian fashion show. You could drop by the photo wall where, as per TaernCon tradition, our Knight from TentacleCreations and two beautiful ladies, dressed as Morana and Bianca, were waiting. There were also some great cosplayers there, so we managed to do a few interviews for the video.😍 Although I personally think that the biggest star was Drygu who was dragged for a photo by virtually everyone (which is totally understandable :D).
Once the break was over, the trivia contest began. What can I say? It definitely wasn’t easy. The final battle was fought between 5 adventurers, but only three of them made Taernian history:
- 1st place – Pierwshy
- 2nd place – Qemad
- 3rd place – Jagmin
From right to left: 1st, 3rd, and 2nd place.
Congratulations to the greatest minds of Taern!
The next item on the agenda was a presentation by the founding fathers. It featured a segment on how the work on Thalia is progressing and what you can expect in the near future in terms of mechanics and graphic design of Broken Ranks. Personally, I was happy to learn all about that and see the future of Taern. As for those absent from the event, we will reveal more information later on. :D
The attendees of this year’s TaernCon also got to see a preliminary build of the highly anticipated (by both you and us) Broken Ranks mobile version. There are many things we still have to iron out, but the game already plays very well on a cell phone and is truly beautiful. We hope we’ll be able to tell you more soon!
The official part ended with one of your favorite spectacles (our veterans specifically love it) - a Q&A session with the developers. This time, however, there was a limit on the number of questions and people. Some members of the audience weren’t too happy about this. :D Don't you worry, though, you can always ask questions on Discord or other social media and we'll do our best to answer them. 🙂
After that, an incredible party began. There was dancing, one of the players played the trumpet (by the way, you're awesome!), some people took photos by the wall, some were trying out drinks in the company of other Taernians, and someone preferred to make friends with the members of our Team over a pint of Khold Rotgut. No matter what the players chose, the fun was great! As for myself, I must add that I was impressed by the feat of the guild "Jes jak jest" from Kadarin. They had identical t-shirts with their nicknames, guild name, and the Broken Ranks logo. It looked really epic! As for the rest, see for yourselves:
Can there be a better illustration of our incredible community? Words aren’t enough to convey this! :D
Finally, on behalf of the entire Broken Ranks Team, I would like to again thank you, our wonderful community, for your overwhelming commitment, which motivates us to continue working on Broken Ranks! You are all awesome, see you next year, hopefully with even more attendees! 😁
I would also like to thank the Team and our moderators - without you, the event wouldn’t take place. You’re awesome, too. <3
Links to all our social media profiles can be found here - CLICK.
✨ Bonus for perseverance ✨
Since you’ve been asking us about this a lot, we are starting to sell Broken Ranks goodies! Here you can order: t-shirts (including those from past events), mugs, mouse pads, backpacks, shopping bags, sweatshirts, and other stuff. We plan to add more merch later on, so I recommend taking a look at the store's offer from time to time. As for the quality, we actually ordered the current event t-shirts from them and we are really satisfied, so you can purchase the Taernian gear of your dreams without worrying about this! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. ;)
May you loot many epics and may the power of the Stone Spirit be with you! For Taern!
