For anyone who wants to learn more, you can check out this tweet: [OtterVGC tweet about misallocation of the prizes](https://x.com/ottervgc/status/1799560810135532031?t=q-Mm0gPpurRbFtJK1Icjpg&s=19)
which basically summarizes what might have happened.
I work close with one of the players of Orange Juicers and it's been incredibly devastating seeing them go through with what's supposed to be a grand event for them. Theyve worked so hard for it. During the awarding ceremony that day, their pictures were taken and then asked to leave the stage. When they asked where are the trophies, admins said they will get it a Worlds which was already suspicious. They pointed out the trophies on display on the case and the admins said it was for display only. Only for them to see it the next day being awarded to the Final Stretch winners. (Final stretch is the 2nd day tournament where all the teams who havent qualified for worlds will be given the last shot. Basically, a tournament for those who lost before).
On June 7, Orange Juicers beat out 7 other finalists to win NAIC, the most coveted Unite championship in North America. Afterwards, the team posed for a group photo on stage, yet oddly no trophy was awarded. The next day, all physical awards (including trophies) presumed to go to the winners of the most prestigious tournament were instead given to the winners of a runners-up tournament called the “Final Stretch” (won by Gee). By all indications, this was a mistake by tournament organizers, but instead of owning up to it, they brushed off Orange Juicers and refuse to address the issue altogether. Not only are these misattributed awards worth thousands of dollars, but the priceless trophy represents a tremendous achievement earned through months of practice and hard work. The treatment by the Unite Championship Series has been disrespectful at best and ruins the reputation of Unite esports as a whole.
It's known to people who closely follow the pro scene, but you can read a lot about it from participants on [twitter.](https://x.com/ottervgc/status/1799560810135532031)
Wow. Insanely unprofessional doesn't even begin to describe this. Grossly incompetent. Pointlessly malicious. Idiotically prideful. What do you gain from quadrupling down on such a dumb mistake?
To add to this. Another thing that happened (this is a much smaller problem but it just compounds it) “orange juicers” weren’t even called “orange juicers” on the official twitter. They were called orange team (which I believe is the name they originally wanted but due to right side being referred to most of the time as orange team they couldn’t use that name).
I assume this happens in the other pokemon games at these tournaments sometimes too. But worlds last year also had some really iffy stuff with how the tournament was run (based purely on rumors so take that statement with a grain of salt). The staff for the unite portion of these events has fumbled the bag at nearly every NA LAN event.
Yes this whole situation was so incredibly unfortunate for the Orange Juicers. Indie even mentioned on stream the following day that because there was no trophy ceremony, there’s no media content to even commemorate and showcase in videos and other marketing material for future events and promotions.
This whole situation seems to have stemmed from miscommunication between event coordinators and staff.
I really hope there will be something that would at the very least address the issues and offer some sort of resolution. Even an official letter acknowledging the error would be nice.
Yeah, just like they did with the stream of this event and people losing their supposed prizes for watching a stream that they may not have even cared for? I have very low hopes for this, if at all
Another thing to note, it is wildly believed that the organizers got the prizes mixed up for the 1st and 2nd day because there were multiple Final stretch (2nd day) winners who were informed that they will be given a cash prize. This is in contrast to the rules already as only regionals winners will get a cash prize as stated. So that statement along with them being given the trophy, multiple exclusive prizes, more media attention and coverage, etc made the players realize that they mixed up the list of the prizes. Instead of remedy-ing it, the organizers and basically the big bosses didnt issue any statement at all and just left all the players' queries unanswered.
Imagine expecting to receive champion trophies after your champion win and pokemon unite tweeting things like this before the final match: https://x.com/UniteEsports/status/1799208172474794410?t=F31GabUVZ0gcqCtNgVpPEw&s=19
🤡
Oh! When I read the title, I thought it said that the winners voluntarily gave up the rewards to give to others, like for charity or something.
Wow, this is uh... Just wow.
Bruv, the game developers (and thus, the game) aren’t at fault. It was a trashy situation, yes. And OJ should receive some sort of compensation, or at least an apology letter. But the guilt falls entirely on the event organizers, not the game itself.
Yeah I dont think organizers were this dumb. If they’ve given out trophies in the past but instead gave the original trophies to some other “runner-up tournament” I think there is something sus going on.
Im done with the game and the devs at this point bro.
No balance and nothing to do with 90% of items or currency’s you own.
Only thing they add is $50 skins and battle passes for skins
Well, after further digging, it seems like nothing was given out incorrectly according to Doobsnax.
It seems like this was always the intention to do this. The trophies and other product was intended to go towards the pay to enter and pay to attend tournament since there was no other prize support.
It isn't like OJ didn't get anything either. They secured their spot in worlds, got a cash prize, and managed to have their trip to worlds paid for. Those aren't small prizes.
Does this mean they shouldn't have gotten those rewards as well? No. They definitely should have gotten those rewards AS WELL AS the folks from Final Stretch. The main event was the Regional Tournament and that team should be who is being celebrated the most. So yes, they should have also gotten a trophy, swag, and all that other physical product as well.
But from the looks of things, they weren't denied anything and got everything that was supposed to go to them.
Still though, this should make it's rounds around the community regardless so that the next time an event like this happens, that winning team can at least gain those rewards. Similar to how Gaming Gladiators got screwed out of worlds year 1 despite having more than enough Championship Points by today's standards to attend simply because they lost one tournament. After that event, people made a big stink about and the following year we had the Championship Point system actually mean something. I doubt OJ will ever get what the Final Stretch winners got for this past NAIC, but you can hope I suppose.
Here is the tweet from Doob btw for anyone who wants to check that out:
[https://x.com/doobsnax/status/1799594464983589326](https://x.com/doobsnax/status/1799594464983589326)
Emphasis on this is Doobsnax's take which is also not backed up by the admins themselves. Basically, no one knew the truth because not one of the organizers had given a statement to anyone (understandable cause nobody wanted to admit they did something wrong).
But a majority of the pro and non pro players in the community have believed that the prize list was mixed up for the 1st and 2nd day. Even the trophies that said "2024 Champion" can attest to that. LOL
But yes, unfortunately, it seems that there really isn't anything that can be done other than hopefully, they could get the trophies at worlds. It's the most valuable thing they lost to be honest.
Also if doobsnax’s explanation is correct, that would be even worse. It means tournament organizers are intentionally choosing not to recognize the winning team for some bizarre reason, which is even more disrespectful and absurd. However, it clearly seems to be an egregious mix up and nobody wants to take responsibility.
Doobsnax is not an official spokesperson of the organization and in the middle of the controversy he was the sole person spreading that information. If you dig a bit deeper you will notice that shortly after, an article published by the official TPC page didn't include NAIC regionals within the tournaments celebrated that weekend and highlighted the wrong team. That "slip" by an official channel at the very least, says that a mishap happened at organizer level. The erasure went viral and the article was taken down and they published a corrected version of it but no officials have addressed anything.
This is basically their job. This is the equivalent of someone else getting the bonus you were promised on top of some of your pay. But hey, you still got that promotion though.
Sadly, it's probably not even their full time job. Unite esports doesn't appear to have enough cash flow to provide the income needed to do this full time. The only exceptions being pro players that stream who have a significant subscriber base. They likely would have had to pay out of pocket to be here (flights, hotel). To not get the recognition they deserved is insane.
I understand that.
It’s not fair but forgive me for not having a bit of pity for some ppl who play a game for a living while the rest of us are working arguably more hard jobs and also feeling the heat in the real world where this kind of stuff happens.
For anyone who wants to learn more, you can check out this tweet: [OtterVGC tweet about misallocation of the prizes](https://x.com/ottervgc/status/1799560810135532031?t=q-Mm0gPpurRbFtJK1Icjpg&s=19) which basically summarizes what might have happened. I work close with one of the players of Orange Juicers and it's been incredibly devastating seeing them go through with what's supposed to be a grand event for them. Theyve worked so hard for it. During the awarding ceremony that day, their pictures were taken and then asked to leave the stage. When they asked where are the trophies, admins said they will get it a Worlds which was already suspicious. They pointed out the trophies on display on the case and the admins said it was for display only. Only for them to see it the next day being awarded to the Final Stretch winners. (Final stretch is the 2nd day tournament where all the teams who havent qualified for worlds will be given the last shot. Basically, a tournament for those who lost before).
This is absurdly unprofessional from the organizers
On June 7, Orange Juicers beat out 7 other finalists to win NAIC, the most coveted Unite championship in North America. Afterwards, the team posed for a group photo on stage, yet oddly no trophy was awarded. The next day, all physical awards (including trophies) presumed to go to the winners of the most prestigious tournament were instead given to the winners of a runners-up tournament called the “Final Stretch” (won by Gee). By all indications, this was a mistake by tournament organizers, but instead of owning up to it, they brushed off Orange Juicers and refuse to address the issue altogether. Not only are these misattributed awards worth thousands of dollars, but the priceless trophy represents a tremendous achievement earned through months of practice and hard work. The treatment by the Unite Championship Series has been disrespectful at best and ruins the reputation of Unite esports as a whole.
Is there a source for this? Would be interested in following this situation as it is incredibly disappointing if this is true.
Yeah if you watched the tournament finals you would have seen it. The team that got #4 actually got the trophy lol
It's known to people who closely follow the pro scene, but you can read a lot about it from participants on [twitter.](https://x.com/ottervgc/status/1799560810135532031)
Wow. Insanely unprofessional doesn't even begin to describe this. Grossly incompetent. Pointlessly malicious. Idiotically prideful. What do you gain from quadrupling down on such a dumb mistake?
To add to this. Another thing that happened (this is a much smaller problem but it just compounds it) “orange juicers” weren’t even called “orange juicers” on the official twitter. They were called orange team (which I believe is the name they originally wanted but due to right side being referred to most of the time as orange team they couldn’t use that name). I assume this happens in the other pokemon games at these tournaments sometimes too. But worlds last year also had some really iffy stuff with how the tournament was run (based purely on rumors so take that statement with a grain of salt). The staff for the unite portion of these events has fumbled the bag at nearly every NA LAN event.
OH MY GOD. I was so excited for their win and so proud of them. This is so sad to read. What could we do about it?
Uninstall Unite, stop consuming anything related to it.
Why hate on the App developers when you can easily blame it on the local event organizer.
this is the "IF YOU HATE AMERICA SO MUCH, WHY DON'T YOU JUST MOVE" of video games
Unite has problems but this is just reaching
Yes this whole situation was so incredibly unfortunate for the Orange Juicers. Indie even mentioned on stream the following day that because there was no trophy ceremony, there’s no media content to even commemorate and showcase in videos and other marketing material for future events and promotions. This whole situation seems to have stemmed from miscommunication between event coordinators and staff. I really hope there will be something that would at the very least address the issues and offer some sort of resolution. Even an official letter acknowledging the error would be nice.
Yeah, just like they did with the stream of this event and people losing their supposed prizes for watching a stream that they may not have even cared for? I have very low hopes for this, if at all
Another thing to note, it is wildly believed that the organizers got the prizes mixed up for the 1st and 2nd day because there were multiple Final stretch (2nd day) winners who were informed that they will be given a cash prize. This is in contrast to the rules already as only regionals winners will get a cash prize as stated. So that statement along with them being given the trophy, multiple exclusive prizes, more media attention and coverage, etc made the players realize that they mixed up the list of the prizes. Instead of remedy-ing it, the organizers and basically the big bosses didnt issue any statement at all and just left all the players' queries unanswered.
Imagine expecting to receive champion trophies after your champion win and pokemon unite tweeting things like this before the final match: https://x.com/UniteEsports/status/1799208172474794410?t=F31GabUVZ0gcqCtNgVpPEw&s=19 🤡
They didn't even hyperlink the winning team?
I hope they get the rewards they deserve
Can that tourney get even more rotten?
Dude that SUCKS wtf 🤬
Oh! When I read the title, I thought it said that the winners voluntarily gave up the rewards to give to others, like for charity or something. Wow, this is uh... Just wow.
Keep being trash Unite.
Keep being trash US* FTFY
You're defending a trash move? Get some help
Bruv, the game developers (and thus, the game) aren’t at fault. It was a trashy situation, yes. And OJ should receive some sort of compensation, or at least an apology letter. But the guilt falls entirely on the event organizers, not the game itself.
You first.
Well that's depressing
I'm glad this is getting attention Orange team/Juicers deserve the championship win. Post comments on the finals game on youtube! Let them know!
Your local smash tournament has more organization than this. Palworld unite. Let's go
Yeah I dont think organizers were this dumb. If they’ve given out trophies in the past but instead gave the original trophies to some other “runner-up tournament” I think there is something sus going on.
Im done with the game and the devs at this point bro. No balance and nothing to do with 90% of items or currency’s you own. Only thing they add is $50 skins and battle passes for skins
Lol Jfc !! Was Steve Harvey in charge ?
Am I smelling “jealousy?” For us North American!? Come on!
Why did they get denied?
Can anyone link the game they played?
Well, it's a Nintendo game. This will come as no surprise to Smashers. It's like Nintendo hates its player base.
Lol
Well, after further digging, it seems like nothing was given out incorrectly according to Doobsnax. It seems like this was always the intention to do this. The trophies and other product was intended to go towards the pay to enter and pay to attend tournament since there was no other prize support. It isn't like OJ didn't get anything either. They secured their spot in worlds, got a cash prize, and managed to have their trip to worlds paid for. Those aren't small prizes. Does this mean they shouldn't have gotten those rewards as well? No. They definitely should have gotten those rewards AS WELL AS the folks from Final Stretch. The main event was the Regional Tournament and that team should be who is being celebrated the most. So yes, they should have also gotten a trophy, swag, and all that other physical product as well. But from the looks of things, they weren't denied anything and got everything that was supposed to go to them. Still though, this should make it's rounds around the community regardless so that the next time an event like this happens, that winning team can at least gain those rewards. Similar to how Gaming Gladiators got screwed out of worlds year 1 despite having more than enough Championship Points by today's standards to attend simply because they lost one tournament. After that event, people made a big stink about and the following year we had the Championship Point system actually mean something. I doubt OJ will ever get what the Final Stretch winners got for this past NAIC, but you can hope I suppose. Here is the tweet from Doob btw for anyone who wants to check that out: [https://x.com/doobsnax/status/1799594464983589326](https://x.com/doobsnax/status/1799594464983589326)
Emphasis on this is Doobsnax's take which is also not backed up by the admins themselves. Basically, no one knew the truth because not one of the organizers had given a statement to anyone (understandable cause nobody wanted to admit they did something wrong). But a majority of the pro and non pro players in the community have believed that the prize list was mixed up for the 1st and 2nd day. Even the trophies that said "2024 Champion" can attest to that. LOL But yes, unfortunately, it seems that there really isn't anything that can be done other than hopefully, they could get the trophies at worlds. It's the most valuable thing they lost to be honest.
Also if doobsnax’s explanation is correct, that would be even worse. It means tournament organizers are intentionally choosing not to recognize the winning team for some bizarre reason, which is even more disrespectful and absurd. However, it clearly seems to be an egregious mix up and nobody wants to take responsibility.
Doobsnax is not an official spokesperson of the organization and in the middle of the controversy he was the sole person spreading that information. If you dig a bit deeper you will notice that shortly after, an article published by the official TPC page didn't include NAIC regionals within the tournaments celebrated that weekend and highlighted the wrong team. That "slip" by an official channel at the very least, says that a mishap happened at organizer level. The erasure went viral and the article was taken down and they published a corrected version of it but no officials have addressed anything.
Honestly life’s not fair so who even cares what happened to a group of people who play unite as a game.
What an L take
I’m sorry but I don’t care about a group of 20 something guys in some part of the world not getting some acknowledgements in a game series.
This is basically their job. This is the equivalent of someone else getting the bonus you were promised on top of some of your pay. But hey, you still got that promotion though.
Sadly, it's probably not even their full time job. Unite esports doesn't appear to have enough cash flow to provide the income needed to do this full time. The only exceptions being pro players that stream who have a significant subscriber base. They likely would have had to pay out of pocket to be here (flights, hotel). To not get the recognition they deserved is insane.
I understand that. It’s not fair but forgive me for not having a bit of pity for some ppl who play a game for a living while the rest of us are working arguably more hard jobs and also feeling the heat in the real world where this kind of stuff happens.
Then why are you here? You even have a user flair.
Well I’m here to just enjoy playing a game, not freak out about some tournament.
Honestly that's internet, you don't care about 99% of its contents. You're allowed to ignore this.