Inter-University Tournament Suspended amid COVID-19 Epidemic|清大.交大梅竹賽 51年來首度因疫停賽

The 2020 Meichu Games has been officially suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The game, which has been running for 51 years, consists of a number of sports competitions between the National Chiao Tung University and the National Tsing Hua University. Luckily,students from the Computer Sciences Department had set up a video game to allow students to still be able engage in some form of competition, online.


The familiar scenes at the Meichu Games where students from the National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) compete against each other's teams will not take place this year. The annual Meichu Games has been canceled this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

Some of the games involve large groups of students competing in close quarters. There are risks (of potential spread of COVID-19) when thousands of people congregate in the same area. We are concerned about the situation, and we don't know how the epidemic will develop, therefore we've decided to suspend the game this year.

The NCTU and NTHU have been holding annual sports competitions every year since 1969. The annual sporting event is a major traditional activity between the two universities. This year, the event has been canceled due to the ongoing viral outbreak. In order to dampen the disappointment, students from the NCTU's Department of Computer Science have designed a video game that plays similarly to Pokemon. It allows players from both universities to collect virtual coins that can be used to attack the other team and to heal members of their own team, and the last team standing would win the game. Many believe this has brought the Meichu Games onto the internet.

I like the competitive atmosphere between the two universities. However, this year's game has been suspended. This new video game allows us to continue our competition on the internet.

I've always liked the interaction between students from the two universities. Therefore, we've designed interactive elements in the video game.

We allow the players to play games in a virtual environment. That means students from both universities can duke it out in a virtual tournament.

The game's design team has pointed out that the game does not have a limit on the players' physical location. This means no matter where a player is physically, he or she can cheer for the home team and witness the final win.



球員們在場上拼勝利，觀眾席上則是加油聲不斷，但這個場景今年恐怕是看不到了。每年清大交大兩校所舉辦的梅竹賽，如今因為疫情的關係，今年將取消舉行。

梅竹賽籌委會總召 汪妤真表示：「畢竟有幾個項目，是真的很多人會群聚， 幾千個人聚在一起，那個風險還是一定存在，再加上我們會擔心，不知道疫情的發展，所以我們今年就決定先停辦。」

從民國58年起，清大和交大之間，幾乎年年都會舉辦對抗賽，是兩校重要的傳統活動，這次首度疫情影響，無法照常舉辦，為了讓同學也不用太過失望，交大發揮創意，設計出一款類似「寶可夢」的遊戲，只要透過到各地收集虛擬梅竹幣，攻擊敵方或幫我方補血，最後由血量多的陣營獲勝，號稱另類的線上梅竹賽。

學生表示：「很喜歡兩校競爭的感覺，結果現在因為停辦，但是有下載這個遊戲，就還是有清大、交大，互相，一起對抗的感覺。」

交大資工系學生 林芳妤表示：「感覺梅竹氣氛兩校互動很棒，所以就想在我們的遊戲裡面，可以設計一點點，讓兩校互動的小遊戲。」

交大資工系教授 陳志成表示：「用虛擬的方式，大家玩這個遊戲，然後清大跟交大兩校，一樣可以在虛擬的地方，決一死戰。」

設計團隊指出，這款遊戲沒有限定範圍，不管在世界的哪個角落，都可以即時為自己的一方加油，最後哪方會勝出，大家都在拭目以待。