Taiwan’s team at a Hearthstone e-sports event in Singapore was yesterday disqualified for watching a broadcast of the competition in which their opponents’ cards were visible, losing their chance to play in the world finals next month at BlizzCon in the US.
Taiwan had advanced to the final 16 at the Hearthstone Global Games, securing their place in the world finals in Anaheim, California.
They finished in second place in Group C after bouncing back from a 0-3 loss to New Zealand to defeat the US 3-1 and Singapore 3-2.
Photo courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Taiwan’s team, which consists of last year’s world champion, “tom60229,” as well as “Roger,” “reall.hs” and “Shaxy,” were heavily favored to reach the world finals.
“Tom60229” is Chen Wei-lin (陳威霖), “Roger” is Lo Cheng-yuan (羅晟原), “reall.hs” is Kuo Shao-an (郭紹安) and “Shaxy” is Liu Wei-chieh (劉瑋劼), who was caught watching the broadcast.
Singapore is to take Taiwan’s place in the Hearthstone Global Games playoffs at BlizzCon.
“The Chinese Taipei Hearthstone Global Games team has been disqualified from the Hearthstone Global Games competition,” Blizzard Entertainment said in a statement on its Web site.
“Following the Chinese Taipei vs Singapore match, the Chinese Taipei team uploaded a video of their game play. Upon review of the video, and after reviewing in-person statements from the players, the Hearthstone e-sports team has determined that members of the Chinese Taipei team used the delayed tournament broadcast to aid them in a decision during the game,” it added.
The decision sparked criticism from Taiwan’s e-sport community and calls for an explanation.
Chen said they are still in Singapore and cannot comment, but promised to explain what happened when they return to Taiwan next week.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS