British esports organisation Method has announced its plans to stream its world first race in the newest World of Warcraft raid Battle of Dazar’alor, live from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere, London starting January 30th.
Method will have a number of streaming options for viewers. Method members will stream from their point-of-view (If they choose to stream), during raids members won’t have in-game sound or voice comms, but are allowed to chat to their streams during breaks, the situation will likely be similar to the previous raid stream. As for Method’s main stream – the event will be hosted by Richard “Rich” Campbell, Alan “Hotted” Widmann, Cayna, Aaron “Sours” Shaffer, Shanna “Darrie” Sarr, JB, Mike “Preach” and Bay from FinalBossTV, with Method raiders Sco, Gingi, Narcolies, Chrispotter, Perfecto and Deepshades in attendance live from the venue.
Method achieved its first world first during WoW’s Mist of Pandaria expansion which they achieved in the expansions first raid, Mogu’shen Vaults. This feat continued the legacy of EU guilds that was started by Nihilum, Ensidia and Paragon. Ever since Mist of Pandaria, Method has been dominant across WoW’s follow up expansions Warlords of Draenor, Legion and the latest one Battle for Azeroth. Whilst Method has continued to step up its progress and preparation, US guild Limit has begun to step up its attempts to gain world first as they said to us in our interview in December.
Sascha Steffens, Method Co-owner, Co-founder, had this to say: “For more than a decade, World of Warcraft’s Race to World First was a competition that took place behind closed curtains. Live streaming made it possible to spectate the best players and teams in the world achieve greatness but the raid race remained to be a secret competition until last September. The live stream of Mythic Uldir was an incredible experience. For the first time, we showcased the tenacity and willpower that raiders are required to have in order to achieve a World First. Admittedly I was worried that watching hundreds of failed attempts on the same boss could lead to viewers tuning out eventually. But the opposite happened, every failed attempt watched got you more invested in the race. I’m incredibly excited to announce that the Method guild will live stream their attempt on another World First in Battle of Dazar’alor. See you all next week!”
Battle of Dazar’alor will open on January 29th for players in the US region, whilst Method, based in the EU will have to wait until 8 am on January 30th, giving Limit and other NA guilds a roughly 14-hour head start.
The raid will also be supported by Discord, MSI and Zippo.
Esports Insider says: The first stream was a massive success for both Method as an organisation and its individual members, who thanks to the success and exposure managed to make streaming a full-time career. The decision to stream again also shows Method’s confidence in its teams ability to still achieve a world first, whilst showing off its tactics to the world and the added pressure of being watched.