Suggestions to make the next tournament even better

DrD

Originally posted this on reddit, but wanted to re-post it on the forums to get input from more of the community. I've copied the contents below, or you can view the reddit post here.

I've spent several hours and a little bit of money on these 2 tournaments, but certainly nowhere near what others have. The result has been two top 100 finishes and a 4* Shoretrooper, which is nice, however in both tournaments I got burnt out on day 2 with a sense of futility and limped to the finish. In both cases, the next reward tier seemed unreachable and by that point all my battles were serious grinds for minimal points. The difference in rewards between 11-25 and 26-100 was also almost nothing, especially in the second tournament where I only needed a top 1000 for a 4* Shoretrooper but would have needed a top 5 for a 5*. Ultimately I feel like the structure is moving in the right direction, especially with the switch to ally points, however there are several things I'd like to see changed for the next time it comes around.

1. Please shorten the tournament to 2 days. Similar games I've played do 2 days for such events, as 3 is just unnecessarily long and grindy.
2. In line with #1, please run the tournament over a weekend so that people aren't forced to choose between work and being competitive.
3. Please reward only shards instead of full character + shards. Makes the math easier and prevents the second tournament offering less rewards for those who participated in the first.
4. Please add support for remembering the last X squads you've used and letting players swipe left and right on the squad select screen to switch between them. This is an enhancement I'd also love for all other modes, but it's especially applicable to the tournament and would reduce some of the tedious work between battles.
5. Please rework the reward tiers so that players always feel like they have something realistic and rewarding to shoot for. Having 75 players from each bracket of the first tournament in a top 1000 for 4* or top 5 for 5* situation for the second tournament is very disheartening. #3 would help with this.
6. Please rework the matchmaking and point system. Right now, the minute your break into the top 500 or so, all the teams start looking the same, and they're all selected to be the most difficult and annoying to beat. Makes the enjoyment factor drop off really fast, especially when combined with the fact that point values get much lower as you go. What I'd like to see is a tiered system that I'll elaborate on below.
7. Please remove the Refresh button. I can't count the number of times I press that button between battles in the hopes of seeing a team I can beat. It's extremely tedious. If you do #6 as I suggest below, it shouldn't be needed any more.

Elaborating on #6, here's my idea for how a tiered matchmaking system could work:

The first screen should offer 3 tiers that you can click a button to enter. Tier I will allow any character, Tier II will require 6*, and Tier III will require 7*. The kills and survivors point values will be fixed for each tier, with each offering more than the one before. So Tier I might offer 3/7 (max 50), Tier II might offer 6/14 (max 100), and Tier III might offer 12/28 (max 200).

Once inside the tier, you will be presented with 10 randomly chosen Defense teams based on your rank and the tier level (ideally done so that there's some variety if possible). You can battle up to 5 of these teams, with each being removed as an option after you battle it. No Refresh button needed.

Once you reach complete the 5th battle, you will be taken back to the tier select screen, where you can enter another tier or pay ally points to re-enter the same tier. The re-entry cost will scale as you go, with each tier costing initially more than the one before. So Tier I might go 50x3,100x3,200x3,... Tier II might go 100x3,200x3,400x3,... Tier III might go 200x3,400x3,800x3,... There could even be a cap on the number of tier refreshes or at least the scaling re-entry cost.

At the end of the first day, all tier re-entry costs would be reset to free the same way the character use costs are. Then, assuming the tournament is shortened to 2 days, it can become a race to the finish.

Obviously the numbers I've thrown out above can be tweaked, and perhaps the character use costs can be reduced to compensate. Regardless, I believe this system would solve the following problems with the current system:

1. Allow you to continue to participate and earn some points, even after hitting a wall or getting tired of facing the same difficult teams, by going back to an easier tier
2. Provide a place to use your weaker characters beyond the first several battles, allowing you to feel like your entire roster has a place to shine even on day 2
3. Allow you to lead with your best teams by tackling tier III first if you desire instead of being forced to use up your weaker characters first before your opponents get too difficult
4. Prevent players feeling dejected as difficulty goes up and points go down
5. Prevent players having to spam the Refresh button to find favorable match ups

Very curious to hear what the developers and others in the community think of my proposals. Please feel free to expand on them or share your own ideas.

Thanks.
-Dan

pac0naut

All of this. +1. Work day screwed me. I was at #6 and dropped like a rock out of the top 25.

IN_DarthJarJar

These are all great ideas. The only other thing I'd add - if you already have 7*'ed the character being offered as a reward, you're not eligible to play - similar to how the Yoda event is run.

DrD

RebelBass wrote: »

These are all great ideas. The only other thing I'd add - if you already have 7*'ed the character being offered as a reward, you're not eligible to play - similar to how the Yoda event is run.

Maybe instead of making them completely ineligible, there could be a separate champion's bracket for those who won the first tournament. Instead of shards, it could offer more of the other rewards (plus bragging rights).

Nastynas91

Here's how you fix the tournament:

1. Better server set-up
2. Limited refreshes
3. Useful defense teams
4. Inability to select opponents
5. Point values remaining constant

I like the changes they made, but this tournament set-up is not fair. I have guildmates with better rosters than me with less points yet better rank. Maybe the devs should be a little more transparent on the set-up of these servers.

Kyno

Nastynas91 wrote: »

Here's how you fix the tournament:

1. Better server set-up
2. Limited refreshes
3. Useful defense teams
4. Inability to select opponents
5. Point values remaining constant

I like the changes they made, but this tournament set-up is not fair. I have guildmates with better rosters than me with less points yet better rank. Maybe the devs should be a little more transparent on the set-up of these servers.

The combination of you 2 and 5 mean you will see a bunch of the same score.

4 would be interesting as it would be what really separates the guppies from the whales, but it would make many f2p not competitive. Especially with 2 in effect.

holyjoe

i have a suggestion to make it better. get rid of it.

Goldy

Completely agree with the OP.

Durathvaul

Keep the point values constant instead of regressive. 5hrs left and points have dropped to 4 and 10 for 70 with no losses. Forcing you to use more points to keep fighting with diminishing rewards.

NicWester

I don't have any particular objection to any of those, but I also don't really care for the either.

The only thing I know I want for sure is a limited number of refreshes per character per day (scaling cost is fine). I'm not really a fan of leaving things open ended, I prefer to know that I've done everything I can on a given day.

Just my two cents.

Slewfoot

Dont let people use their defense toons on offense, maybe every single team wont be wiggs then. The tournament just feels to boring, its a neverending string of wiggs vs wiggs.

And also, rotate the starting and finishing days and times, not everyone has the same work schedules.

Palanthian

The weekend is when I have the least free time. Just saying, not everyone has the same situation (i.e. parents who have young children don't get weekends to do their own thing).

MasterMasterTimelord

Are you DoctorDreedo? If it's so we are of the same guild. What a coincidence LOL

MaCody

This tournament sucks, a player in my guild isn't even a level 80 and has shoretrooper, why should he have a better chance at get him them me. I'm sure you will fix this but by the time you do it will be to late and that character will be useless

Max10

How about make it an actual TOURNAMENT. Novel idea, I know. Maybe pit guilds against one another. Guild with most wins advances to next bracket, loser goes to the toilet bowl in hopes of getting the phantom Chewie shards from around the Modgate timeframe. Guilds have to strategize who will attack who in hopes of outwitting the other guild. 24 hour timeframe to complete a bracket. Wouldn't take much time either.

Snake2

I would suggest that the selected toons on the defense squad be unavailable for offense. That would help with opponent diversity dramatically

Rotor

Only thing is I use a 5* character in my arena team and still make top 5 on a slow day. Usually hover around top 15. So that would limit my participation on the 7* tier. But definitely need a break from the Wiggs Teams.