MTGPQ Seasons? Discuss

jtwood
jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
edited May 2020 in MtGPQ General Discussion
From this month's Q&A answers:
Oktagon_Support said:
6. Would you consider implementing seasons for coalitions?
Answer: Yes, we would consider that. There are however no plans for now, nor the near future. We probably would like to hear first from you and the player community about the expectations, how a feature like this could look like.
They offered to listen to feedback. Let's not disappoint them.
I'm not going to jam a poll on this post. Just try to offer two things please:
  1. Would you like to see a season-type structure in place? If possible, just answer yes or no
  2. Follow up your yes or no with some description of why you feel that way
I don't have anything juicy to seed this conversation. I haven't given this massive consideration yet.

Comments

  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    I have always thought that introducing seasons would be a good idea. 
    Reasons:

    1)  Seasonal rewards would help offset the increasingly poor individual event rewards

    2)  Seasonal coalition rankings would help filter out dead coalitions as well as showcasing new ones who are very competitive but don't have the historical backlog of points

    3)  Seasonal rankings would help coalitions track scoring, making it easier for whoever is currently doing it manually

    4)  Seasonal rewards would be a great motivator for people who aren't going to place super high in one event once they hit progression, since now the extra points can still pay off later.

    5)  As my coalition proved, having an overall competition really does a lot to motivate people to play and try to optimize decks.  Without it people are much more ok with coasting through, especially older events.

    Some issues I foresee though:

    1)  What events count for the season?  If its "all of them" that's way too much with the current event schedule.  If it's "coalition events only" then we'd need more coalition events to be run, or a longer season (since a "season" of 2 months would only have 8 events in it right now)

    2)  What kind of rewards will we be getting?  If we're being ranked vs every other player in the game the reward brackets need to be pretty large outside the top, but the rewards still need to be good.  We can't have it like a lot of events where everyone out of the top 100 (or 1000 if its just everyone together) gets 100 runes.

    3)  Will there be seasonal progression rewards?  And if so, will they all be free?  A lot of games do this where as you gain season points you unlock rewards, but paying players get more stuff at each level.  They do usually backlog rewards if you pay for it later, which is something that might not work if its tied to VIP here, but would also be objectively terrible if they don't do.
  • Firinmahlazer
    Firinmahlazer Posts: 417 Mover and Shaker
    Can someone ELI5 or TD;LR seasons to me? 
  • Heartstone
    Heartstone Posts: 233 Tile Toppler
    Firinmahlazer said:
    Can someone ELI5 or TD;LR seasons to me? 
    Tl;dr: they want to hear what we think
  • GrizzoMtGPQ
    GrizzoMtGPQ Posts: 776 Critical Contributor
    Firinmahlazer said:
    Can someone ELI5 or TD;LR seasons to me? 
    A season is a fixed period time during which performance is measured. Currently we only have "all time" and "this event" as tracked progress. A season would be "this month" or "this week" for tracked progress and would encompass some set of events during that period. 

    Mburn was worried that all events would be tracked during a season including all of the TOTP events and the legacy events. It's a lot to do all of it and some players that suffer from OCD might be overwhelmed thinking they were missing out by not doing everything. But maybe those people are already suffering?
  • Poppy99
    Poppy99 Posts: 7 Just Dropped In
    edited May 2020
    6. Would you consider implementing seasons for coalitions?
    Answer: Yes, we would consider that. There are however no plans for now, nor the near future. We probably would like to hear first from you and the player community about the expectations, how a feature like this could look like.

    I see seasonal leaderboard(s) as a solid opportunity for coalition visibility outside of the ever-static top 10, and rewards as excellent motivational gravy on top of weekly coalition events. And who does not like gravy!?  

    For a Coalition seasonal leaderboard, the frequency should be bi-monthly or quarterly. Eight to twelve coalition events & bi-monthly to quarterly results/payout is long enough for a chase but short enough to see the payout and have a chance to start over if a coalition falls off. It is also short enough for the PLAYERS involved to make a run for it together.

    To equally weight events, an alternative scoring approach is needed instead of "ribbons" based point totals. Otherwise a RotGP 1460 ribbons perfect would outweigh the total of all other events in that season.

    I suggest this be "Trophies" earned based on event reward bracket achieved, something like the below.  All current coalition events appear to have a standard set of brackets:  
                                      
    1-2 = 25 Trophies  
    2-10 = 20 Trophies  
    11-25 = 15 Trophies
    26-50 = 10 Trophies
    51-100 = 6 Trophies 
    101-250 = 4 Trophies
    251-500 = 2 Trophies
    500-1000 = 1 Trophy


    Keep this simple, and roll it out sooner!  Coalition Seasons based on Event Brackets has straightforward ties into the current event rewards system. This will also give a solid boost to the "Join a Coalition" campaigns

    .  
  • Poppy99
    Poppy99 Posts: 7 Just Dropped In
    Mburn7 said:

    2) <snip>  If we're being ranked vs every other player in the game the reward brackets need to be pretty large outside the top, but the rewards still need to be good.  We can't have it like a lot of events where everyone out of the top 100 (or 1000 if its just everyone together) gets 100 runes.


    I strongly disagree with anything beyond a Coalition Seasonal Leaderboard.

    The original post was regarding Coalition Seasons, so I am unclear how Player seasonal leaderboard would (or should) come in.  Some reasons to avoid going there:
    - Single player event brackets and pool sizes are all over the place, and balance will be an issue.
    - Quarterly or even bi-monthly will be very long for this.  A Player 'top spot' should rotate more rapidly, I suggest "Player of the Month".  Who would want to grind for 2.5 months and have a single down week cost them all that effort??
    - Ribbons is again a poor mechanism, the 'bracket' = # trophies approach could work, but some events only have 5 brackets, others 7+.
    - Events would need to include a selection of PVP events, some weeks have two 'bracket based' events, others none.
    - Complexity with Player leaderboard should NOT derail a Coalition Season Leaderboard...so I would hope this whole aspect of the conversation is moot, and hope we get something easier to implement along the lines of my prior post.

  • bk1234
    bk1234 Posts: 2,924 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2020
    I fully support a seasonal leaderboard, preserving the All-time leaderboard.  
    I’m not as personally concerned about the small details, though I’m enjoying reading your thoughts, as I am about the larger picture: 
    Coalitions who have worked hard for the past almost 4 years to build their rank should continue to enjoy that position on the All-Time leaderboard. It’s a great achievement and also very fun when we see changes because they are so few and far between. 
    However, many coalitions perform at high levels and the All-Time leaderboard doesn’t reflect the hard work, engagement and dedication these individuals show to each other and MtGPQ. A seasonal leaderboard alongside the current one is appropriate to reflect the current achievements and hard work that these teams give to our game. 

    tl;dr: Recognition is never a bad thing and should come in as many forms as possible. It makes people feel connected. 
  • Avahad
    Avahad Posts: 296 Mover and Shaker
    edited May 2020
    Maybe a bit controversial here but why are people mentioning rewards for seasonal placings? We don’t get rewards for our place on the leaderboard right now. 

    I see seasons as a form of visibility and competition. The events give the rewards. 

    Also if there were rewards and I was in a top 10 coalition but for some reason couldn’t play an event so had to drop out to protect my teammates overall score how would I be rewarded? 

    Or are we thinking that the coalition would gain a badge or the such like that anyone within it while it was held would get the benefit?  
  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    Avahad said:
    Maybe a bit controversial here but why are people mentioning rewards for seasonal placings? We don’t get rewards for our place on the leaderboard right now. 

    I see seasons as a form of visibility and competition. The events give the rewards. 

    Also if there were rewards and I was in a top 10 coalition but for some reason couldn’t play an event so had to drop out to protect my teammates overall score how would I be rewarded? 

    Or are we thinking that the coalition would gain a badge or the such like that anyone within it while it was held would get the benefit?  

    Usually Seasons in other games give some kind of rewards, either for progression rewards during the season or end of season rewards for your final placement (and often times both).  The difference between that and rewards for all-time placement is there is a start and an end where you can measure rewards, as opposed to just the general "best"

    But you are correct, they could implement seasons as just a better way to sort coalitions and as a way for newer coalitions to be spotted on the leaderboards.  And that would be just fine too!
  • bk1234
    bk1234 Posts: 2,924 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2020
    Avahad said:
    Maybe a bit controversial here but why are people mentioning rewards for seasonal placings? We don’t get rewards for our place on the leaderboard right now. 

    I see seasons as a form of visibility and competition. The events give the rewards. 

    Also if there were rewards and I was in a top 10 coalition but for some reason couldn’t play an event so had to drop out to protect my teammates overall score how would I be rewarded? 

    Or are we thinking that the coalition would gain a badge or the such like that anyone within it while it was held would get the benefit?  
    I would think the glory and recognition is reward enough. 
    But the entitlement culture of this game is one in which people want a lot of free stuff. 
    My idealistic principles of being proud of a job well done are not very popular.   
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2020
    bken1234 said:
    Avahad said:
    Maybe a bit controversial here but why are people mentioning rewards for seasonal placings? We don’t get rewards for our place on the leaderboard right now. 

    I see seasons as a form of visibility and competition. The events give the rewards. 

    Also if there were rewards and I was in a top 10 coalition but for some reason couldn’t play an event so had to drop out to protect my teammates overall score how would I be rewarded? 

    Or are we thinking that the coalition would gain a badge or the such like that anyone within it while it was held would get the benefit?  
    I would think the glory and recognition is reward enough.

    But the entitlement culture of this game is one in which people want a lot of free stuff.

    My idealistic principles of being proud of a job well done are not very popular.   
    Conversely, I'm from the school of people who don't care much about rankings and only care about getting something for my time. I'm a pretty darn good tennis player, and I play in competitive leagues where my team routinely wins our district. But I don't much care about that final ranking. I am happier when they give me the free umbrella and hand towel (better not be a trophy).
    I don't need much. Just something I can use when I walk away. :smile:
  • bk1234
    bk1234 Posts: 2,924 Chairperson of the Boards
    Opperstamper said:
    Yes, I'd like to see Seasons roll in too. 

    Rewards? Would be nice. The big win is in current coalition visibility. I also think it shouldn't end at top 10. If all participating coalitions can be found, that helps (new) players find their way to active teams. 2 flies in 1 punch. 
    ^^^ This. All leaderboards should be fully scrolling. @Oktagon_Support, surely this is a change that wouldn’t take a lot of time or effort on the All-time leaderboard? 
  • fiirst
    fiirst Posts: 438 Mover and Shaker
    edited May 2020
    I would love to see the season in mtgpq.
    Cant wait to see reward for top placement.

    Assuming the reward will be more than HoD or Boft or Quick battle.
    So, the season will be super competitive.



    Then, fix all the freeze/bug first.
  • Firinmahlazer
    Firinmahlazer Posts: 417 Mover and Shaker
    GrizzoMtGPQ said:
    Firinmahlazer said:
    Can someone ELI5 or TD;LR seasons to me? 
    A season is a fixed period time during which performance is measured. Currently we only have "all time" and "this event" as tracked progress. A season would be "this month" or "this week" for tracked progress and would encompass some set of events during that period. 

    Mburn was worried that all events would be tracked during a season including all of the TOTP events and the legacy events. It's a lot to do all of it and some players that suffer from OCD might be overwhelmed thinking they were missing out by not doing everything. But maybe those people are already suffering?
    Thank you. I've seen it used in other games that I don't play so I never really understood what it was. 
  • Gabrosin
    Gabrosin Posts: 259 Mover and Shaker
    I would love to see a seasonal leaderboard for coalitions.  I'm proud to be part of a top ten all-time coalition but I constantly wonder how a new coalition is supposed to gain any traction when it's nearly impossible to find any information about them in-game.  Running the coalition events as a season every 2-3 months and providing better tools to see the whole leaderboard of all participating coalitions would provide a fun new avenue of competition among the coalitions, one which doesn't rely on having a long-established history for your team.

    I definitely agree that some standardization of scoring across coalition events would be great, regardless of whether it's done for the sake of seasons or not.  Ideally all coalition events will have the same core properties (total duration, starting charge counter, charge refresh timer, points per node, total number of nodes).  Having to keep track of the quirks of the event each week (how soon do I have to get started to avoid missing charges? how much of my weekend time do I have to budget for this? when am I gonna do my final charge?) is an unnecessary hassle with absolutely no benefit to it.

  • bk1234
    bk1234 Posts: 2,924 Chairperson of the Boards
    critman said:
    Were seasons the reason they originally included the player profiles or was that for something different?

    What WERE the player profiles supposed to be for?
    Profiles were rolled out after tiers to reward players for mastering cards. 
  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    bken1234 said:
    critman said:
    Were seasons the reason they originally included the player profiles or was that for something different?

    What WERE the player profiles supposed to be for?
    Profiles were rolled out after tiers to reward players for mastering cards. 

    No @critman is correct, they were initially introduced as a gateway for something more.  Here are some of the old posts I found (although there are probably more buried in comments somewhere)




    All of them say that the Player Profiles were the first step toward Seasons and more large-scale changes and rewards.  Of course it is possible the absolute disaster that was the original level system and/or other more pressing issues (like the bug avalanche that came soon after) convinced the team to scrap these ideas, but as far as I know these are the last official announcements we have had on the topic that I can find.

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