October Ball Draft Mini-Tourney (1 Day Event)?

[Threevenge]

With the new crop of players arriving since Altitude is completely free to play I've been contemplating running an event in October to give some who might be interested in seeing the competitive side of Altitude a chance to sample the level of play. This will also fill the gap of time before the next Sky League which DN will not start until at least January.

The current thought is to have everyone interested join a designated server with a large room. For those who are interested in being captains I will choose between 4-6 based on player turnout. Players with SL experience and a friendly personality (we will be playing with some beginners after all) who will represent the community in a positive light will be more likely to get picked. Teams will consist of ideally 8 players to account for disconnects. ALL PLAYERS MUST PLAY AT LEAST 3 GOALS FOR EACH GAME. This isn't about winning, it's about the experience. I'll try to hold captains accountable for managing this. I'll have a simple round-robin schedule arranged beforehand and map pools picked for previous SLs.

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I know it's football season but maybe we can still get something figured out for a Saturday or Friday.

[Nosneros]

Cool idea! I've not played in SL, but I'd be interested in playing. Saturdays are no good for me though...

[VAN1SH1NG]

I think it is a bit too early to plan anything with new players actually playing. Most of us vets played pubs for at least several months before we were no longer completely terrible at the game. Ideally we'd be able to get them interested in just watching ladder, tournaments, or league videos for now to see what there is to look forward to.

It would have to be near the end of October at the earliest to give them enough time. Yes, I realize that you are talking about a less serious tournament but they won't get much out of it if they can't contribute at all.

Also a draft format is a little tricky when you are inviting new players to play. We probably wouldn't know anything about the new players so how would we draft them?

The best thing for them is for clans to reach out to them and try to teach them competitive altitude. Or you can help on more of an individual basis as well... friend them, talk to them, and invite them to watch ladder, scrims, or tournaments. Stay in contact with them and give them tips. In a month or so start letting them get some time in scrims. I can almost guarantee that not many will show up to a tournament unless it is heavily marketed to them. Hardly any will talk in game and I'm sure even less visit this forum. I have been keeping a close eye on the new players since Altitude went free and will continue to monitor them.

And if there is a tournament in the near future involving new players, I believe it should be a new players only tournament with veteran coaches. At their skill level they will enjoy playing against other new players more than getting mixed in with vets of many years. The skill difference will just be too great for awhile to mix together. A new players only tournament would give us a chance to see them play, get to know them, and discuss getting some experience within a clan. It would give them the experience of playing in a more structured and competitive environment with coaching even if they still don't really know what they are doing.

If we can manage to get enough players sticking around I could host a new player only ladder.

[Threevenge]

Some strong points Vanishing and a few of them I had been thinking about. The idea of a new players only tournament would be ideal. I was unsure though what kind of a turnout we may have for such an event and thought a more open invitation might help.

Perhaps it is time to try to revive that mentoring program that lasted for a short while again. There's a couple of us who do enjoy teaching the game to those eager to learn. I'm unsure if we could get a new player only ladder but I do recall doing some sort of scrimmaging or captain's teams with some players in Mumble talking them through why certain decisions were good or tips here and there.

[VAN1SH1NG]

I was thinking even if we got only two teams of new players it would be better. I have no idea how many new competitive players might come from going free. Could be only a few or might double what we have now.

I don't have super high expectations, but if we can get back to where were a couple years ago it would be nice. I think what is important is right now is people try to friend them and stay in contact. If they feel welcome and as part of the community they are far more likely to keep playing. It is not easy because a lot of them don't seem to talk and a significant portion of them that aren't fluent in English.

We also need to make it easier to watch more competitive gameplay. I think ideally there would be scrims (or tournaments) every weekend on non-password protected servers where they can easily join and see the higher level gameplay. I have been debating removing the password from ladder servers. The only real concern is people getting upset over the new players not using team chat. I think it is worth the trade off though. They still would have to be either level 45 or 60 to play ladder. Current level is 45 but might need to put it back at 60.

A lot of the new players don't know how to throw the ball, drop bombs, land on bases, or even use afterburner but some do seem to be learning quickly.

Anyway a draft tournament would still be nice whether or not new players play or only watch. I prefer a more extended tournament or three to four weeks, especially with next SL being so far away. However, if it makes it easier single day events are good too.

From my experience it just gets very messy trying to get everyone organized, on teams, and then have a full tournament on the same day.

[Clam]

I think if you want to continue to have (relatively) high quality games in ladder, making it a pub kind of defeats the purpose. You already suggested hosting a new players server - that seems like a much better option. If we had a separate new player/tourny server, we could have tournaments open to the public without opening veterans' ladder. Otherwise any one of the dozens of new players are liable to come in, unbalance games, and make people rage.

Or you can change/remove the pw just for tourny days.

[VAN1SH1NG]

Again they can't play until they reach level 45/60. They can only watch.

[darknietzsche]

I think having shorter events might be better, I am not willing to hold an apl tournament due to lack of interest but a smaller 1-2 week tournament is feasible.

I am still behind a ball draft tourney if people can rally everyone up. I would again only allow older players (i.e. people who have already played ladder this season or known veterans of the game). Ideally I would like to have a 3-4 weeks mini-season if people can stand playing on these teams long enough. I also don't mind organizing a new player draft tourney with maybe 2-3 veteran per team able to help coach them.

My main problem is that new players aren't probably even aware of the competitive side of altitude yet, so it is better to probably hold an event with old veterans as a chance to display this.

We can do an old style US vs the world competition as well in both tbd/ball.

[Tekn0]

Originally Posted by Threevenge

Players with SL experience and a friendly personality (we will be playing with some beginners after all) who will represent the community in a positive light will be more likely to get picked.

That pretty much rules out 90% of the altitude 'competitive' community.

[Dougie]

I'd be happy to help organize another USA v World match again if people are interested. Last time we did it, we had captains nominated, and the top 6 ranked player for their respective teams had first option of playing. The captain was also able to nominate 4 other players (including themselves if not in the top 6). Seemed to work well last time!

I also like the idea of setting up some kind of new player clan scrims, with veteran players aiding/managing the players. But I agree that no veteran players should be playing, as one pro player can dominate a team of new players quite easily (top randa players especially)!

One way I was thinking of trying to keep ball active over SL off season was to do some kind of ranking system just for clans. I think Van might have already been looking into setting up a "clan ladder", so I don't know how viable it is. But ideally, it could work similar to FIFA rankings, just to give a bit of added interest to friendly scrims.

[Tekn0]

Can I be part of the EU team?

EDIT: I'm top 10 among EU ballers currently, not top 6…

[Slender]

In regard to DN's post about APL.

http://altitudegame.com/forums/showt...?t=7994&page=2

[Clam]

Originally Posted by VAN1SH1NG

Again they can't play until they reach level 45/60. They can only watch.

Again there are plenty of terrible people above that level.

[Clam]

The point is there are plenty of people already who are above level 45/60, who get into ladder games, and don't play competitively, ever. This very directly ruins games, even more so than when I play. That's significant. Why wouldn't it be better to set up an open tourny server or whatever else I suggested rather than vastly increasing the number of such people in competitive ladder?