PurpleChest
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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STOP
Really. Don't just launch in, grab a brew, settle first. it's a long one, and there arn't many jokes.
This thread is to be both a review of the year, and also a first look at the schedule for next year. At this stage the only fixed point being the warpstone open dates. So feel free to provide feedback, and even constructive criticism.
As always though, this is not a democracy, you are trying to influence me, and persaude me. Not to apply for my job, or radically overhaul the entire system. if either of these is your desire, please apply in writing to Christer.
Here follows then my views on what happened last year, and what i currently plan for this.
General Policy
The rule stating no team, in a major, may play more than 3 games between the last game of a qualifier, and the first game of the finals themselves, once drawn, will become permanent for all majors.
The new site messaging system is to be used for all Official tournament related bussiness. Admins SHOULD NOT be sent new PM's explaining issues, it is easier and will become official policy for them to be invited into the 'arranging conversations' that will already exist. Feel free to invite your admin into your 'scheduling chat' at any time.
The FUMBBL Birthday, and its relation to Official Tournaments will get a ruling as soon as we know what the Birthday has in store for us.
A possible move of the official Tournament 'end of week' from midnight bbtime wednesday to earlier, a lot of tournament helpers have gotten annoyingly demanding lives and this change would see some key staff able to help once more.
The ten-pm (Tournament Elite Ninja-Pirate monkeys) group could do with some new blood/desperate help, so if you think you got what it takes to organise and run an official tournament, apply in writing to me.
The new ability to start Tournaments with numbers other than powers of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16 etc) opens the possibility of starting some Tournaments, notably XFL, Tour and FUMBBL Minors with less than a 2 power number, giving some teams (randomly chosen presumably) a bye into the second round. i am interested to hear peoples views on this as it would make the Tournament admin teams life considerably easier, though we would still prefer, and try, to run full tournaments. i would forward starting a 16 team tourney with no less than 12 and a 32 team with no less than 24.
The Tournament pages and links have been considerably improved over the last year, with up to date fluff and better clarity over most things. you have all seen the new clickable links to your Tournament Admin and i hope those still prove useful in these 'add an admin to your chat' times. Feel free to raise any issues of clarity or presentation with me by PM, as if things can be improved, in an obvious and easy way, i'd love to hear.
The Majors
The Warpstone Open
The Warpstone Open i felt was OK on balance. The 13 Groups, followed by a lottery to determine 3 wildcards (1 losing qualifier finalist, and 2 others) set up a 16 team final. People seemed excited by the lottery idea and motivated to re-enter, it didnt seem to overly confuse.
The downside was the hard line taken over qualifier winners not applying to finals not being applied by admin and forced into the finals. i felt, and still feel, that that hard line had to be taken, and we havnt seen such issues since. hopefully we will not again. It was a shame though that many an excellent and qualified team didnt make into the finals.
This year the qualifiers will be restricted to 8 teams each for the 13 qualifiers, the format i see no need to change but am going to anyway, the lottery will run again, and the prize pack remain as stated with the sole change that the roll for mutations becomes flat profile, with 1-2 =1 mutation, 3-4 = 2 and 5-6 = 3.
The big headline change is using the new 'King of the hill' Tournament system in both qualifiers and finals. this means your next round opponent will not be known until ALL games from previous rounds are completed. The warpstone seems the ideal place for the 'random draw' concept to find a home. though it will clearly have an impact on thos tjhat like to play ahead, and on any extensions.
Qualifiers will open for applications on the first Wednesday of january, that being the 6th January. The qualifiers will be drawn and commence on the 13th, with the finals starting as soon as the qualifiers end on Febuary 3rd.
The Ulthuan Open
Seemed to run fine. The brand is strong with the light/dark lanterns always generating fluff and interest. This year we saw the debut of the Dwarves in the light qualifiers and the Dark Elves in the dark. yet both races seemed to do ok in their new homes, and oddly the world didnt crack open, and we didnt all die.
So they stay as they were this year, unless a huge mob riots and storms the internet with torches and banners proclaiming 'let our DE back into the soft side'
March will see the UI run, the prizes will be lower powered than at some times, in line with last year. As usual though the exact items available will be announced nearer the time.
The Grotty Little Tournament
Fumbbl's second most prestigous tournament felt that way this year, the new upgraded prize seemed popular and generated debate, and the mutiple entry system made its long awaited return to almost total approval. Some people did get confused, some catagories were subscribed to in very different numbers, but in the mian i thought it went extremely well.
This May we will hope lightning does strike twice and run with the same format. The 3 catagories of high CR, high TR and Old teams seem likely to return and should probably be seen as mainstays of the Tournament. 'Forlorn Races' seemed to catch the imagination and may well be the 4th group again this year, but there are other options and i dont wish to rule it 100% done deal just yet.
The Lustrian Challenge
The Lustrian Challenge of august has proably seen the most changes, in the quest for a personality, and while some worked, some didn't.
I think Flat Entry proved too difficult for people to understand. I want to persist with it (in case tournaments have to migrate to a LRB5 or like enviroment), but in another format, not a major. it penalised some races but didnt massively change the profile of the races doing well. If you think this is a mistake, persuade me now.
The 'challenge stage' didnt quite create the excitement and 'event' of the lottery, but unless a better (and actually implementable) idea comes forth, the challenge stage will remain. the massively toned down, and newly temporary TCG, will also stay.
I warn you now i am toying with making the qualifiers 'group seeded' so the 8 biggest teams in together, he next 8 biggest in qualifier 2 etc. etc. My worry is people will powergame their TR (innevitable) and maybe reducing the drama and quality if the finals.
The FUMBBL CUP
(whistles)
Was all fine, wasn't it?
Of course it had the usual 'fumbbl cupness' of a couple of people quitting in round 16 of their game and then retiring all their teams, and a few too many people upset at being banned after not playing their game and being amazed I hadn't read their and their opponents minds to determine fault and allocated the game the 'right' way. Hopefully the new Pm system will sort a lot of that out.
I'm sure there was something else...
Oh yes. them.
Well, we (mainly not me) caught them and sorted them and banned them and dropped them out of the FC and dropped the last they cheated back in and no one even noticed right? right?
I can not guarantee such shenanigans will never happen again. but i can promise we are looking out FAR harder. but that is a duty we ALL share. this cheating came to light thanks to the detective work of one user, followed by an exhaustive investigation by staff. Next time be the guy that tips us off, be the one that doesnt just think 'thats odd' but that files a support ticket about it. If its cool, the admins are not going to mind. If its cheating, it WILL get sorted.
I do not believe the integrity of the FC was impaired. i belive we still found a good champion worthy of the name. So congratualations Beernatics and hard luck Dirty Little Dinos.
The 332 entrants made this the second largest BB Tournament ever run on the 'net. Next year i hope it can be larger still. The format will remain the same, if you apply, you will be in.
The Minors
In general i feel the minors did well this year. One Tr200 Minor was actually forgotten and not run, but a bonus TR225 minor was run in the summer, so all in all, a lot of Tournaments were run this year and all formats seemed popular. i feel tweaks rather than revolution is required here also.
To make it easier for people to know when to expect Tournaments, i am proposing a shift from a week based system to a monthly system. this will see 6 Tour event and 6 Minors events run, and XFL dovetailing with the majors. this is a very small step back from what we have had in the last year, but should make it easier to understand for all. Basically a Tour or Minor will open recruiting first wednesday of every month, then start the 2nd wednesday.
The Tour
The Tour proved popular once again, the new seeding system seemed to be a good new wrinkle and certainly i can atest (having been in a few top seeded Tour draws) that it does provide for a great standard of competition. the yearly Champion is Circular_Logic and he will be awarded the prize: he will select a team that has competed in at least 1 Tour event and 3 players chosen randomly will recieve the Pro skill. He will also be invited into a special 4 player tournament with that same team and 3 fillers, this will create a lasting entry on his coach profile page. Finally, we all should all point and stare at him a bit, as this, combined with him topping both r and b rankings this year surely means he wins at internetz. Big Up Respec' going out to Circ.
Moving forward:
I am proposing a change to 6 Tour events yearly, alternate months with minors.
I propose to run 2 events each at TR 150, 175 and 200.
The first will run unseeded. after that we can seed the other 5.
I think Tour events should run at 16 teams, a move down from 32.
I think the Tour points need looking at, and am welcoming input.
The Tour will continue to attract no Gold prize.
In an ideal world I'd love a server side solution to the Tour points tracking.
FUMBBL Minors
The Minors were well attended in 2009, with some huge clashes at all levels and Flat Entry proving more interesting with a TR cap than in a Major. they do seem to be establishing an identity seperate from the Tour and do allow some experimentation, with both flat entry and 225 tournaments debuting in 2009.
For 2010:
6 Minors, alternating months with Tour events.
125, 150, 175, 200 and 225TR
A 6th minor at TR undecided, possibly a forum poll?
Maybe using Flat Entry for 2, and randomly redrawn rounds for 2.
Minors retain dynamic gold.
Minors run at 32 teams still.
XFL
XFL continues to thrive. providing the slightly wierd mirror matches and beatdowns it always has. It will continue to run in months when majors are less active.
FUMBBL Smack
Smack continues to be a lot less active than in its golden years, with a lot of smackers drawn away to [.b] and seemingly never to return. Smacks do still run, and at this time the format seems popular and stable, just slightly yesterdays news. Like Google.
Scheduled Smack
Have been wildly popular this year. This pressure has meant that both Shadow46x2 and Rijssiej, two of my top tournament admin staff, have had to join the team and re-inforce the staff there. mostly they have run to time and started in a timely manner, we will continue to attempt to maintain the level of service here and improve it when possible.
It helps considerably if people do not use any applied team until the next morning, sometimes we search quite hard to find an 8th person and start a tourney, only to find someone has played with their team in the meantime.
BIG SHOCK NEWS: Rookie Scheduled smacks are to end. They are the breading ground of powergamers, sharks and pickers, home to some of the most disreputable titles ever won. Few are using them to start teams, a lot are using them to prey on starting teams with trimmed down low TR specialists. they will end. Rookie teams have RRR anyway, and experienced scheduled smack range will extend down to 0TR, so the same teams can still enter a smack if they choose.
I am aware the same type of play will likely simply move to Experienced Scheduled smacks.
Royal Rookie Rumble
This 2 week a round, 16 team oddity continues to mine its niche effectively, providing a proving ground for new teams in veteran players lest favoured races, and also oftena genuine shot for a new player to get instantly competitve games at a slightly relaxed pace.
RRR will always stay solely avaiable to teams with 0 games played.
I think 16 teams is the right number.
I am tempted to reduce it to 1 week rounds, but it is nice to have something running at a different pace.
I am hopeful that 2010 will see them run slightly more rigorously, but think they really are already doing pretty well.
Speed Freak Challenge
Ah, the ugly ginger step-child of the Official Tournaments. A few did run this year, and while they are tough to admin, and tougher still to play (imho) i see no need to prohibit them.
Except for birthdays, they will never again run on birthdays. never.
Blackbox Tournaments
Blackbox tournaments will have their own 'Review and Future' thread in Blackbox forum, please head there for ideas and comments.
Suffice to say here they will have 9 B Minors and 3 B majors, meaning 1 a month. i am looking at starting them mid-month to offset them from the R official tournament start times and give each 'their air'. |
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Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor illis -Ovid
I am a barbarian here because i am not understood by anyone
Last edited by PurpleChest on %b %03, %2010 - %17:%Sep; edited 1 time in total |
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Catalyst32
Joined: Jul 14, 2008
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Dec 09, 2009 - 05:55 |
 
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Great work PC.
A few questions/suggestions/complaints... all intended to improve things.
Byes... teams that get them are randomly chosen by a dice roll yes? Unless there is an interesting fluffy way to seed teams for the byes like... all Goblins get a bye in the GLT as an example. (I could care less if that happens for the Gobbos in the GLT... just an example.)
Why the limit to 8 teams in the Warpstone Qualifiers?
Has it been too tough getting 16 or is it the King of the Hill format?
(I love seeing that format used for the Warpstone btw.)
I would like to see a Swiss Style Tournament set up like the FIFA World Cup.
Drawing groups of 4 that play a round robin and have a winner advance (or 2 like the World Cup).
Perhaps the Lustrian Challenge could adopt this format to give it distinction from other Majors?
A minor complaint about the GLT...
The GLT qualifier groups seem to discriminate against coaches that are new to the site and to discourage them from entering the tournament. For example...
I have been here just under 18 months and play quite often and have yet to play 500 games total, build many TR200+ teams, or acheive a CR over160 (though close, CR158-ish these days).
A coach arriving new to the site would be hard pressed to qualify for 75% of that field.
What's more newer coaches would seem less inclined to play Forlorn Races well.
It would seem that this category is designed more to encourage experienced users to enter here.
Letting them know that they can play their Humans (or whatever) without running through a Gauntlet of Orcs and other scary monsters.
I don't worry about myself here. I have Orcs and Humans I can get into most any tournament.
I just feel like all categories favor coaches with 3 or more years under their belts.
Perhaps a draw for newer coaches less experienced than I will be at the time of the next draw?
I will be just under 2 years here at that time so perhaps 2 years is the number.
I can even be excluded from that group, in fairness, since I brought it up.
I would hate to see the "Forlorn Races" or "Old Teams" group to lose their slots.
I'm not sure how much difference their is between the pool of applicants for the "High CR" and "High TR" pools though.
So... take any of those ideas you like and run with them and throw out the rest.
Either way I think you are doing a great job.
I will be doing my best to prepare for and enter all tournaments that I possibly can. |
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Ameranth
Joined: Aug 08, 2005
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Dec 09, 2009 - 12:54 |
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Regarding Rookies...
You only mentioned Scheduled Smacks will end, so I assume normal Rookie Smacks will keep going?
Also, instead of banning them completely, you could just change the rules for Rookie, something I've been advocating for years...
1 - Flat entry. No more Count + 11 linos.
2 - 0 games played, with a possible exception for flings and gobs. No more 100 TR 10 player teams where 4 have DP. |
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James_Probert
Joined: Nov 25, 2007
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Dec 09, 2009 - 12:58 |
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| Ameranth wrote: | Regarding Rookies...
You only mentioned Scheduled Smacks will end, so I assume normal Rookie Smacks will keep going?
Also, instead of banning them completely, you could just change the rules for Rookie, something I've been advocating for years...
1 - Flat entry. No more Count + 11 linos.
2 - 0 games played, with a possible exception for flings and gobs. No more 100 TR 10 player teams where 4 have DP. |
+ 1 for both, but extend the gobbo and fling exception to both rules |
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Ameranth
Joined: Aug 08, 2005
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Dec 09, 2009 - 13:14 |
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| James_Probert wrote: |
+ 1 for both, but extend the gobbo and fling exception to both rules |
Agreed. That was an oversight on my part. |
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arw
Joined: Jan 07, 2007
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Dec 09, 2009 - 13:27 |
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| Catalyst32 wrote: | Great work PC.
I would like to see a Swiss Style Tournament set up like the FIFA World Cup.
Drawing groups of 4 that play a round robin and have a winner advance (or 2 like the World Cup).
Perhaps the Lustrian Challenge could adopt this format to give it distinction from other Majors? |
A good format indeed and one that makes a difference.
/seconded
btw: The links to the Tour / B Minors / the Fumbbl Cup on the coach pages are doing a good job- would be nice to extend this to a "ticker" always telling you when the next major *and* the next minor(s) start.
Oh and one last thing: Is there any cooperation with koadahs Rookie Tournaments or any way to have them played in A like a Smack in R? Just an idea but I could imagine that to work out well- if koadah himself likes the idea that is ^^
Now the even more "system overhauling" aspects: an A -> R transfer option would be a magnificent price for an A tourney winner (@least for CR150 tourneys). |
Last edited by arw on %b %09, %2009 - %13:%Dec; edited 1 time in total |
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Cloggy
Joined: Sep 23, 2004
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Dec 09, 2009 - 13:41 |
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I'd say the tourney scene had a good year and agree with all your points except:
Don't change the schedule for RRR. Having a tourney format that allows a bit more time to get games played is important for people who don't live online 24 hours a day 
You might want to consider changing the RRR to a flat entry formula to stop idiots like myself and Rijssiej entering with huge cash balances.
On the topic of fillers: I have been using them in XFL since they became available, and have used the same minimum entry criteria you proposed. I like it so far. |
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Proud owner of three completed Ranked grids, sadly lacking in having a life. |
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CircularLogic
Joined: Aug 22, 2003
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Dec 09, 2009 - 18:37 |
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OK, while we are at it and because the spectator award of the FC has brought it up:
Re-up the power of the major prizes. Just look at the fluff and excitement that has been around the TGC and the BeastofNurgle on the dwarves. Big prizes are what makes a team unique and sets them apart from other teams of their race. they are something to brag about. I know, alot of others will now pitch in how unfair those players are for those who have to play against them. Granted, it`s not easy. But if you look at 'Stompy' all those ST5 orcish blitzers that seem to appear everywhere and other stats freaks, it`s not that bad anymore. On the plus-side, the generate alot of excitement and make a team special.
Just make it a rule, that a coach has to play 3 matches inbetween one major and the next. With the abundance of legend schedSMACKs there should be no problem to play those game and they offer a nice opportunity to cause some attrition.
I mean just look at the prizes - currently, the Lustria Challenge argueably has the best price of them all with the Temple Guard Champion. The only contender there is the FC and that means you have to create a star first to raise him properly. The UI already falls under the category 'I won a major tourney and all I got is a freakin skill' as does the Warpstone Open. Mutations on players are nice but a more or less random mutation on a random player and then you might end up with only 1 skill? Come one. That`s on par with the GLT prize. Look at the mighty prize gained this year. A high-elf lino with the pro-skill. Everyone really shuddered in fear of meeting him - Sam Greenskin, who ended his carrer as LOS fodder after a few games. At least he might have been somewhat useful compared to the choices and elved team probably would have taken: A dorf to put on the LoS right from the start. Seriously - I don`t have to win a major for some line fodder.
In short - bring back the prizes, that makes your mouth water just when you think about having them. I can give examples and suggestions if desired. But the current state is abit lame. |
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Frankenstein
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Dec 09, 2009 - 19:11 |
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| PurpleChest wrote: | | The new ability to start Tournaments with numbers other than powers of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16 etc) opens the possibility of starting some Tournaments, notably XFL, Tour and FUMBBL Minors with less than a 2 power number, giving some teams (randomly chosen presumably) a bye into the second round. i am interested to hear peoples views on this as it would make the Tournament admin teams life considerably easier, though we would still prefer, and try, to run full tournaments. i would forward starting a 16 team tourney with no less than 12 and a 32 team with no less than 24. |
What I would propose here:
1) Seed teams by team ranking (TR)
2) in case of byes, teams with highest TR are privileged
3) TR is determined by points which can be collected in official tournaments (Majors, Major-qualifiers, Minors, XFL, Tour - discount SMACKs in order to avoid abuse)
4) Points expire after one year
5) No bonus gold for games in a preliminary qualifying round (i.e. a round with byes) |
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Frankenstein
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Dec 09, 2009 - 19:30 |
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An idea for majors:
Pro-skill for players leading in one of the following categories (only considering games played in the respective tournament, of course):
- Touchdwons
- Casualities
- Completions
- Interceptions
Leader skill for the player who earned most SPPs during the tournament.
(Tie-breakers:
1. SPPs earned over the course of the tournament
2. Team-success in the tournament
3. Random
In case of R.I.P./retirement: bad luck)
No compensation, if the player has one (or both) of these skills already. In that unllikely case he simply met expectations. |
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CircularLogic
Joined: Aug 22, 2003
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Dec 09, 2009 - 19:42 |
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| Frankenstein wrote: | | PurpleChest wrote: | | The new ability to start Tournaments with numbers other than powers of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16 etc) opens the possibility of starting some Tournaments, notably XFL, Tour and FUMBBL Minors with less than a 2 power number, giving some teams (randomly chosen presumably) a bye into the second round. i am interested to hear peoples views on this as it would make the Tournament admin teams life considerably easier, though we would still prefer, and try, to run full tournaments. i would forward starting a 16 team tourney with no less than 12 and a 32 team with no less than 24. |
What I would propose here:
1) Seed teams by team ranking (TR)
2) in case of byes, teams with highest TR are privileged
3) TR is determined by points which can be collected in official tournaments (Majors, Major-qualifiers, Minors, XFL, Tour - discount SMACKs in order to avoid abuse)
4) Points expire after one year
5) No bonus gold for games in a preliminary qualifying round (i.e. a round with byes) |
Would be nice, but who would track that score? And it woud also mean, entering that score as tourney score after application, so that you can seed by score. All in all, too much coding/work for too little gain IMHO. |
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PainState
Joined: Apr 04, 2007
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Dec 09, 2009 - 19:51 |
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Swiss style tournament Agree, good idea.
Beef up the prizes for the winners Agree...WO..three random mutations that the coach can place on his players.
UI champion...three magic items + the ring of ages: placed on a player and he never has to roll ageing for as long as he is alive. (great idea from last year on a wish list for last years Fumbbl birthday prize)
GLT: massive cash prize, +5ff and can pick any player to join his team, the old FC prize that was phased out.
Lustrian: Keep the Temple Guardian
FC: Healing Scroll and a Healing potion...IMO the most coveted of all prizes.
Scheduled SMACKS:
As a North American player I feel that the majority of coaches in North America are left out of this action. The vast majority of SMACK action takes place, and gets formed up, when we are all at work. And joining a scheduled SMACK also means that North American players have to play only on the weekends or twist our work schedules/lunch breaks to play.
Make a Scheduled SMACK sign up list for North America and even Australia. That way any coaches in those regions can get in on SMACK action. It should increase participation because now coaches can play SMACKS when they get home from work and play at a normal hour of the day, 6PM-12Pm, and not have to bend over backwards to play. THIS IS ONLY FOR SCHEDULED SMACK ACTION.
Not saying coaches from outside those regions could not join up but the intention is that if you join the North American SMACK lets say the intention is that games would be played at normal North American times.
So no more bending over backwards and having to play games at 4AM to get in a dang game...OK I SAID IT! Iam not wanting to bend over backwards to get in games with Euro players because my schedule/timezone would make them have to actually do something to play me. I will do it for Majors but it has to end somewhere!
that is it.
Good Job PC and keep it going. |
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Comish of the: 
Last edited by PainState on %b %09, %2009 - %19:%Dec; edited 1 time in total |
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PurpleChest
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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i am VERY interested in any ideas that can further enfranchise our American timezone and australian timezone brothers. |
_________________
Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor illis -Ovid
I am a barbarian here because i am not understood by anyone |
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Frankenstein
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Dec 09, 2009 - 19:56 |
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| CircularLogic wrote: | | Would be nice, but who would track that score? And it woud also mean, entering that score as tourney score after application, so that you can seed by score. All in all, too much coding/work for too little gain IMHO. |
FUMBBL had team rating once. However, former TR would be prone to abuse, a straightforward point system would do the trick.
Coding/work should be similar to a tour points tracking system (if that will be feasible, you won't need too many modifications). I for one would certainly prefer epic clashes to appear at later stages of a tournament and wouldn't consider that "too little gain".  |
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CircularLogic
Joined: Aug 22, 2003
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| Posted:
Dec 09, 2009 - 19:58 |
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I also want to bring up a suggestion (inspired by SillySod), to give the Lustria Challenge a profile:
To go further with the sacrifical theme, each time a team advances, it has to sacrifice its best player. Before a game, both opponents start a PM thread including the tourney admin and name one player of the opposing team that will get sacrifices (=retired). If a coach had one of his players killed in the match before, he doesn`t have to sacrifice (as the gods are already pleased). To compensate, the dynamic gold is increased, so that teams can replace the sacrificed player. The prize not only includes the TGC for the winner, but also one revival scroll for each sacrifice made during the tourney. Not that the scroll will only revive and not cure any other injuries. Those scrolls have to be used immediatelly after the tourney.
I know - the format is crazy, but for one, stats-freaks, legends etc. are at high risk. Also, it favors evenly build teams over one-trick-ponies and the prize favors old and venerable teams that have suffered alot of clean dead players that they can use the revival on. |
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