Blade & Soul uses community sales of item packs to fund its tournament prize

The tournament for Blade & Soul is getting ready to kick off, but it needs a prize. That’s where the community comes in, because the prize isn’t just being tossed into the ring arbitrarily by NCSoft, it’s being funded by the community. Players who purchase the Heart of the Golden Lotus pack or the Golden Lotus chest will contribute more money to the prize pool, with the ultimate goal set at a $400,000 prize for tournament participants.

The funding also has stretch goals; the more funds are raised during this period, the more costumes will be unlocked after funding is completed on July 19th. So purchasing the Heart of the Golden Lotus pack gets you some costumes now and the promise of more costumes once everything is said and done. There are even more milestone costumes if funding manages to exceed its target; it’s currently sitting at 26% funded, so you’re invited to make your own predictions about how high it’ll go.