Season 24 has drawn to a close, and what a season it was, with betrayals, uprisings, and devastation all round. So congratulations to season winners Druyds, One Gin, and POLSKA GUROM, and without further ado, let’s take a look back at the events of this most dramatic Guild Season.
Albion Americas
Season 24 started as many before it on the Americas server, with the IFures coalition in control and looking to push for another season title, but with the BOBER coalition a constant thorn in their side.
With battles between the two coalitions raging at 18:00 and 20:00 UTC, The Lonely Men were able to keep themselves in the shadow of the IFures and Druyds guilds at the top, spending most of the season in third. But things were about to come crashing down for IFures on the final Invasion Day, when all territory points are paid out as Season Points.
Druyds, who had been working with IFures for many seasons, now felt betrayed by their partners and the leadership of the coalition, as IFures prepared to deny them a season victory and claim it for themselves despite Druyds having put in most of the work this season and last. The lack of respect was felt keenly, and led to one of the most dramatic betrayals we've seen on Albion Online in many, many years.
Druyds and IFures were just 20,000 season points apart as the final Invasion Day began. Druyds’ leadership proceeded to reach out to the BOBER coalition, who they'd been fighting for many seasons now, to make a pact to deny IFures their third season victory – and for Druyds to claim it for themselves.
Three major territories were in play: Runnelvein Sink, Razorrock Gulch, and Deathwisp Bog. These three territories held roughly 170,000 season points in total.
Druyds were gifted Runnelvein Sink from the BOBER alliance, while the main zerg forces battled it out and pushed IFures coalition back from the surrounding zones of Razorrock Gulch, which also fell into Druyds’ hands. But it wasn't all plain sailing, as IFures and their forces were able to wipe the enemy forces within Deathwisp Bog and claim it for themselves. After that it was a pure scramble for leftover Season Points, with both sides running around the Outlands securing any territories that offered points.
But as the dust settled, it became clear that Druyds were successful with their backstab, and emerged victorious to claim Season 24 for themselves.
FAX Wave Farewell
As Season 24 came to an end, though, it wasn't all laughter and smiles as the Americas server bid farewell to a long-standing guild: FAX.
After three long years, with FAX rising from a group of friends to become a powerhouse within the Outlands and the political landscape, Dazroun announced that FAX are calling it a day.
FAX were a guild who did what they wanted, and weren’t afraid to do what some considered impossible. They threw themselves into countless wars over the years, and were a ZvZ force to be feared... at least when Dazroun could actually land a Hand of Justice engagement.
But with that being said, we wish Dazroun the best of luck with whatever comes next, and to the members of FAX, we hope you find a new guild to call home for Season 25 and beyond.
o7 FAX.
Albion Asia
With three season victories under PLAC’s belt, all eyes were on Peony Flower for Season 24, with Fuckcall's leadership looking to push them to season victory. But the SQUAD alliance, led by One Gin, had other plans.
The first two weeks saw the once-powerful PLAC coalition crumble, and with the SQUAD coalition taking control of key territories throughout the Outlands and destroying Hideouts along the way, it was soon clear that SQUAD were too strong and Peony Flower didn't have what it took to keep pushing for top spot.
Fuckcall then announced that he was stepping away for Season 24, which allowed One Gin and their coalition a smooth ride for the rest of the season, which saw One Gin break Albion Online’s all-time Season Point record!
So congratulations to One Gin, not just on their Season 24 victory, but on writing themselves into Albion’s history books, with a final total of 1,397,546 points!
Albion Europe
The second season on Albion Europe was by no means a quiet one. The season began with Sex and Flex pushing for the title, and at first it didn't seem that there would be much contest. As the weeks passed, however, a certain group called the BOBER alliance (not the same as the BOBER alliance on Albion Americas…) started to creep up the season rankings, closing a gap that at one stage stood at over 250,000 Season Points.
Then things exploded. BOBER formed a coalition and declared war on the FFlow coalition, stating that POLSKA GUROM would be taking the season title. Battles spanned across multiple timers, day in, day out for nearly two whole months. It was a bloodbath for all sides, with thousands upon thousands of players dying in battle every day.
But as the weeks went on, FFlow’s lead slowly shrank, with their territories raided nearly daily and ownership changing hands constantly. It seemed that FFlow didn't have the strength to counter attack BOBER at 18:00 UTC (BOBER’s main timeslot), so as FFLow's territories failed to generate Season Points, BOBER’s strongholds were pumping them out without fear of a counterattack.
After two months of fighting, FFlow conceded their challenge, and both POLSKA GUROM and Take Care overtook Sex and Flex on the season leaderboard. After that, it was a slow and painful death for Sex and Flex. With their territories lost to the enemy and their Hideouts destroyed, the only thing left was their Headquarters, which became a prime target and soon fell after the Power Level required to maintain it was breached.
It was a bloodbath of a season on Albion Europe, and congratulations are due to POLSKA GUROM on their victory, with their allies Take Care finishing second and coalition members APE coming in third.
Phew, we need a break after all that. But there’ll be no such luck, as Season 25 begins on November 2! And there’ll be a very special event to kick us off, as the AlbionTV crew will be broadcasting live from the Sandbox Interactive studios. Tune in to https://www.twitch.tv/albiononline at the following times to see the action from each server:
- 14:00 UTC on November 2: Albion Asia live from Albion HQ
- 18:00 UTC on November 2: Albion Europe live from Albion HQ
- 01:00 UTC on November 3: Albion Americas
For a full rundown of the Season 25 schedule and changes, see this forum post.