This past weekend along with hundreds of others I travelled down to Birmingham to compete in Europe’s only CWL event for this year.

Despite the original complaints on Twitter from professionals and amateurs alike the event was branded a success. This could possibly be due to its large turn out which is a rarity in Europe. However the main reason for the events success can simply be put down to the atmosphere generated by the crowd throughout the weekend.

The football chants that emerged from the spectators can probably guarantee that next year Europe will not be overlooked. Chants normally reserved for Optic were instead unleashed among EU and NA teams, arguably one of the best crowds in Call of Duty history.

But what can we improve to make these events even greater? Here I will propose a list of changes we could implement to improve the event from a players perspective

1. The Bracket

Admins informed worried players before the event that high seeded teams such as Pure (Spaceleys Team) and #Orgless (Dedos Team) would not be entered in the bracket If they failed to check in at the event. However on Friday morning players soon realised that teams had been entered into the bracket giving many low seed teams easy games and runs to the points round. Admins did not seem to have an explanation and some players were told the teams were entered into the bracket simply because there wasn’t a laptop available to remove them.

2. The Seeds

Issue #2 seems to be at the fault of both players and organisers alike. From players entering the wrong information to teams keeping their original seeds even after Roster changes, it’s safe to say that the next time a European event rolls around that both competitors and staff need to be more cautious when entering information.

3. The Equipment

A core necessity of any organised event is standardized equipment. Every other CWL event thus far has featured Benq monitors among its equipment. CWL Birmingham however used iiyama monitors, to the distaste of the playerbase. Aside from being a completely different brand of monitor to every event this past year, many of the monitors were not set up properly leaving some players at a disadvantage to their opponents.

4. Inexperienced Admins

Although there was a shortage of admins due to no shows on the first day of the event, many of the replacement admins were not much help to the players. Between giving out false information leading to some teams almost being disqualified from the tournament, to not having answers to many of the players questions, more experienced and reliable admins could be considered in the future. To avoid these problems in the future at any CWL event, CWL sanctioned and approved admins should be introduced worldwide to help improve the overall experience of the event

5. Lack of communication

It would seem that in the past few years of competing, communication between Staff and teams has actually gotten worse rather than showing signs of improvement. Many teams had to wait in the event for hours and risk leaving the venue to find food simply because there was no estimated time for games nor was there any reliable way to contact teams about their matches. Old systems like LAN Text have ceased use despite still being available for license. Instead teams had to keep checking the monitor screen provided by the admins, which was updated long after the bracket leaving teams unsure of when and where their next games would be.

We all want Call of Duty to succeed as an esport and simple changes can be made to ensure it’s held to the same standard as other titles.

Written by @EmiliaRxse