Weekly Post #24: Tournament League Play, And General Improvements
Hey guys! I have some news regarding the future of tournament play in IW, but first I have an announcement to make.
So far we have had good success bringing in Largenuggets and Hacker as Community Moderators. They've been a big help overall, and we're ready to add one more player at this time. Please join me in welcoming ES to the team of Community Moderators! ES is known for his high-level PVP of course, providing some solid insights on strategic play as well as understanding the metagame. It is also fitting to note for this particular post, that he wins a lot of our tournaments. We're proud to have his assistance as we move forward.
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Tournaments have the potential to be a sort of "lifeblood" for certain game genres that have a large PVP following. They can be very competitive or casual friendly, depending on the models used. A tournament can be a very important end-game option for PVP-oriented players, too.
The short version of this update is to say that tournaments for Infinity Wars are receiving a general overhaul in how they are maintained and scheduled. Prize rewards will be increased from what they have been previously. We're also getting close to the point where we can test a new tournament -hosting platform, one that is far less bug-prone than In addition, the format and rules will be refined to be more competitive. Starting with some trial events I've been planning alongside our awesome Community Mod Largenuggets, we are teaming up to bring you the beginning of league play in tournaments.
We're testing out a few different formats and styles for the month. On Saturdays, we will be testing different formats and point scoring systems with exhibition events, and simulating how they scale over the course of a few weeks. On the outside they will be pretty usual to what you've come to expect for a Saturday event, except with richer prizes. Beyond that, the weekend events this month will be part of a benchmark for a finalized season/league format beginning in October.
Sundays will revolve around a format proposed by Largenuggets in a month-long rotation cycle. The initial plan is to run three Swiss tournaments as a "qualifier," three Sundays in a row, and on the fourth Sunday have a final "invitational" of the top 16 players based on those three qualifying events; the finishing event will be an Elimination. Players who enter one of these qualifying events will not be obligated to show up in any of the other Sunday events, however we hope to attract players who are interested in scoring high enough to return for the monthly finale. It will include largely boosted prizes from the qualifiers, and be pushed as one of our most prestigious events in recent history. If all goes well, we can push this as a recurring monthly format for competition in Infinity Wars.
Weekday events are being considered as an alternative test for league play, otherwise there will be less weekday events that would be exhibitions. Variety events will continue but we prefer to focus on standardizing competitive play before branching out again. We're looking for player-run events to sponsor as well, and free up Thursdays and Fridays to see what players come up with.
A good example would be Benionin's Iron-Willed Chef Tournament that was held in July.
Basically rewards are getting boosted across the board. This Saturday we're giving away a few more IB cards for the top-placing competitors along with LP, packs and Rift tokens. The leading downside to generalized rewards is that they don't equally benefit players who do/don't have a full collection of cards, or players who do/don't care for premium-borders.
I will be speaking with our Community Mods to discuss ways to balance this out, such as offering "lean" options where if you prefer package B, for example, that package has more Rift Tokens and less Penta-Packs. This way, players who need a fix for rift runs can compete to skip the IP grind, while other players that are just short on cards can opt for a prize package focused on Penta-Packs. Or maybe even getting an LP-focused package so you can choose what you want, but with a slight value penalty for having "the skeleton key" of choice. The operative idea here is to make sure that prizes are actually worth something. It's not enough that they're "bigger." While creating a standard is important, the prize needs to be useful to specific individuals with varying preferences.
Giving rewards to streamers will now be a standard, and we're experimenting with some new methods. This Saturday, players who stream for as long as they are in the tournament will not only receive two Penta-Packs and two Rift Tokens. Should they place in the top 8, the player's LP reward will be increased by 25%. More will be done in this area going forward, as we really value our streaming players who promote the game in doing so.
Anyone who has seen a tournament cast of mine knows that, while I try to do a good job, a few realities are in play. A. I'm not the best caster in the world, and B. we should have a variety anyways.
New hosts are being sought out. Largenuggets and I won't be enough in case one of us becomes ill or otherwise tied up in the real world. We're looking for extra hosts who can assist at our usual event timings on the weekend. The objective here is to provide a variety of personalities to the audience, while giving these new volunteers some extra tournament experience without having to design the rules, or worry about handing out prizes. In bringing this mutual benefit, I'll see what I can do about giving rewards to players that help host events on a one-off basis. For anyone who comes to enjoy performing this role, it would be great to have such players on the host rotation semi-regularly with further benefit - perhaps some kind of recurring thank you in rift tokens, LP or something else.
Co-casting / Co-hosting is also paramount. As part of my interest in player spotlighting, I'd like to invite players to join me or another given host in a skype call and provide commentary for tournament matches being casted. This is an inclusive effort, and while all hosts of official events will be required to have some solid knowledge of card plays and the metagame, the guest can be anyone from a seasoned veteran to a newer player who is just getting started. They'll be joining in the cast commentary for matches, and will be spotlighted a bit while waiting for a new match to be available for casting. Send me a message if you'd like to participate in this capacity! I'll also be sending out invitations over time to several players.
It's in our interest to assist players in organizing tournaments. Whether you just want to try it once or more, whether you're already experienced or not: we can sponsor a few events each week at this time. What does that mean, exactly, to be sponsored? Yodomare will provide a small amount of prizes to help boost the attractiveness of your tournament, so that you are not stuck draining your collection of high-value cards. In addition, if you stream your event Twitch we can use the Host function they provide, to get your event some additional viewers, as well as social media advertising.
If you have an interest in getting some sponsored prizes or advertisement for your event, please contact me, DrewUniverse to discuss. Let me know if you're pretty well set and just need some prize support, or if you're new and inexperienced.
-----------------------
If you made it through the entire post, thank you for reading! Let's build a great tournament experience together~
So far we have had good success bringing in Largenuggets and Hacker as Community Moderators. They've been a big help overall, and we're ready to add one more player at this time. Please join me in welcoming ES to the team of Community Moderators! ES is known for his high-level PVP of course, providing some solid insights on strategic play as well as understanding the metagame. It is also fitting to note for this particular post, that he wins a lot of our tournaments. We're proud to have his assistance as we move forward.
---------------------------------
Tournaments have the potential to be a sort of "lifeblood" for certain game genres that have a large PVP following. They can be very competitive or casual friendly, depending on the models used. A tournament can be a very important end-game option for PVP-oriented players, too.
The short version of this update is to say that tournaments for Infinity Wars are receiving a general overhaul in how they are maintained and scheduled. Prize rewards will be increased from what they have been previously. We're also getting close to the point where we can test a new tournament -hosting platform, one that is far less bug-prone than In addition, the format and rules will be refined to be more competitive. Starting with some trial events I've been planning alongside our awesome Community Mod Largenuggets, we are teaming up to bring you the beginning of league play in tournaments.
Scheduling for September
We're testing out a few different formats and styles for the month. On Saturdays, we will be testing different formats and point scoring systems with exhibition events, and simulating how they scale over the course of a few weeks. On the outside they will be pretty usual to what you've come to expect for a Saturday event, except with richer prizes. Beyond that, the weekend events this month will be part of a benchmark for a finalized season/league format beginning in October.
Sundays will revolve around a format proposed by Largenuggets in a month-long rotation cycle. The initial plan is to run three Swiss tournaments as a "qualifier," three Sundays in a row, and on the fourth Sunday have a final "invitational" of the top 16 players based on those three qualifying events; the finishing event will be an Elimination. Players who enter one of these qualifying events will not be obligated to show up in any of the other Sunday events, however we hope to attract players who are interested in scoring high enough to return for the monthly finale. It will include largely boosted prizes from the qualifiers, and be pushed as one of our most prestigious events in recent history. If all goes well, we can push this as a recurring monthly format for competition in Infinity Wars.
Will tournaments still happen on weekdays, and what about variety events?
Weekday events are being considered as an alternative test for league play, otherwise there will be less weekday events that would be exhibitions. Variety events will continue but we prefer to focus on standardizing competitive play before branching out again. We're looking for player-run events to sponsor as well, and free up Thursdays and Fridays to see what players come up with.
A good example would be Benionin's Iron-Willed Chef Tournament that was held in July.
Prize Adjustments
Basically rewards are getting boosted across the board. This Saturday we're giving away a few more IB cards for the top-placing competitors along with LP, packs and Rift tokens. The leading downside to generalized rewards is that they don't equally benefit players who do/don't have a full collection of cards, or players who do/don't care for premium-borders.
I will be speaking with our Community Mods to discuss ways to balance this out, such as offering "lean" options where if you prefer package B, for example, that package has more Rift Tokens and less Penta-Packs. This way, players who need a fix for rift runs can compete to skip the IP grind, while other players that are just short on cards can opt for a prize package focused on Penta-Packs. Or maybe even getting an LP-focused package so you can choose what you want, but with a slight value penalty for having "the skeleton key" of choice. The operative idea here is to make sure that prizes are actually worth something. It's not enough that they're "bigger." While creating a standard is important, the prize needs to be useful to specific individuals with varying preferences.
Giving rewards to streamers will now be a standard, and we're experimenting with some new methods. This Saturday, players who stream for as long as they are in the tournament will not only receive two Penta-Packs and two Rift Tokens. Should they place in the top 8, the player's LP reward will be increased by 25%. More will be done in this area going forward, as we really value our streaming players who promote the game in doing so.
Casting, Commentary & Hosting
Anyone who has seen a tournament cast of mine knows that, while I try to do a good job, a few realities are in play. A. I'm not the best caster in the world, and B. we should have a variety anyways.
New hosts are being sought out. Largenuggets and I won't be enough in case one of us becomes ill or otherwise tied up in the real world. We're looking for extra hosts who can assist at our usual event timings on the weekend. The objective here is to provide a variety of personalities to the audience, while giving these new volunteers some extra tournament experience without having to design the rules, or worry about handing out prizes. In bringing this mutual benefit, I'll see what I can do about giving rewards to players that help host events on a one-off basis. For anyone who comes to enjoy performing this role, it would be great to have such players on the host rotation semi-regularly with further benefit - perhaps some kind of recurring thank you in rift tokens, LP or something else.
Co-casting / Co-hosting is also paramount. As part of my interest in player spotlighting, I'd like to invite players to join me or another given host in a skype call and provide commentary for tournament matches being casted. This is an inclusive effort, and while all hosts of official events will be required to have some solid knowledge of card plays and the metagame, the guest can be anyone from a seasoned veteran to a newer player who is just getting started. They'll be joining in the cast commentary for matches, and will be spotlighted a bit while waiting for a new match to be available for casting. Send me a message if you'd like to participate in this capacity! I'll also be sending out invitations over time to several players.
Sponsoring Player Events
It's in our interest to assist players in organizing tournaments. Whether you just want to try it once or more, whether you're already experienced or not: we can sponsor a few events each week at this time. What does that mean, exactly, to be sponsored? Yodomare will provide a small amount of prizes to help boost the attractiveness of your tournament, so that you are not stuck draining your collection of high-value cards. In addition, if you stream your event Twitch we can use the Host function they provide, to get your event some additional viewers, as well as social media advertising.
If you have an interest in getting some sponsored prizes or advertisement for your event, please contact me, DrewUniverse to discuss. Let me know if you're pretty well set and just need some prize support, or if you're new and inexperienced.
-----------------------
If you made it through the entire post, thank you for reading! Let's build a great tournament experience together~