You say 600 get to enjoy the event that is in fact true. However its typically the same 600 people,because they use the same stat to narrow down the field so we usually get the same teams or guilds in the GST.
I understand why they do that,and I'm not trying to argue that. I just don't like that it doesn't leave much room for other guilds to be able to get in the tournament. I know some will argue that if ppl want to do that they should become a no lifer and actively spar year round.
You can't tell me that people couldn't come up with new tournament types or formats, and ways to determine who is able to enter that limits the field so it doesn't take more than a couple hours to do.
For example: "War Games" It would take place in a larger room like the practice spar room in battle arena that would be full of obstacles to run around like barrels and fences,ect. You would have to have a minimum of like 2500 pks to enter. Each match would have like 15-30 ppl in it and you would just pk each other until there is one person left standing and that person would move on. I figure if there is larger groupings for each match it wont take long to get through even if there are a large amount of entries. And if time was still an issue you could always allow each player to start out and use a set number of bombs and/or arrows to speed up the killing. That would be chaotic,fun,and allow a larger player base to participate each time. Imo that would be much better for a larger portion of the player base than just the usual 600 that get to be in the GST every 4 months.