Tournament anyone?

[RC1985]

Glad that there's active talk on multiplayer strategies, which leads me to the next topic - why not a tourney? I like it that the community is relaxed, the people don't take losing too hard and have no issues in doing 1-vs-1 matches, though to be honest it seems to be lacking in competitive spirit... i'm a strong believer in competition, it's the very force that strengthens the community and brings in new players.

 

I heard from Lovehandles that a tourney was held some years back but they didn't complete it.. I don't know how it was back in 2012, though hopefully the level of activity now might be sufficient enough to try holding at least one.

 

Why a tourney helps

- it gets more players to be online at a certain time. i think this is the most immediate benefit that may lead to the other benefits below. waiting for a game can be quite a drag; a tourney immediately solves this.

- increases competition; it's no secret that a strongly competitive environment brings any game to new heights. people want to win so they are motivated to explore new tactics, when these tactics prove effective other pros will use it and new players will imitate it, so the skill level of the entire community rises instantly.

- strengthens bonding (i hope). it feels awkward that many players don't know each other and the game room is very quiet. based on personal experience what motivates people to continue playing isn't just the game itself but its social element.

 

Suggestions

- do a small map with limited money (something like [MN]Heavy Metal) cos TD games, even 1v1, can take really long and plus it seems that many pros don't like money maps.

- try to get at least 12 people to say yes. there usually will be a 10-15% no-show on tourney day so at least we have 10 people to carry on. the active players i can think of are jacko, white, cn2mc, mattattack, jakub, sepiroth, benocide, gotenks, groefaz, myself....there are probably more I don't know yet. Lovehandles and Many are seldom seen but we could get them to be online at this one particular time.

- who goes against who can be done via challonge.com, the usual cncnet tourney hosting site.

- time: based on past events, a saturday or sunday afternoon in western hemisphere time works best.

- someone can stream the matches and make a 'LIVE' button at the lobby, as per usual tourney practice. matches will be recorded and uploaded to cncnet's youtube.

 

Would love to hear what you guys think, both positive or negative

 

[MattAttack]

Well, I can only speak for myself.  I think it's a great idea, however I know it's virtually impossible for me, these days, to devote a whole day to uninterrupted c&c'ing.  I might be able to commit to a couple of games a week at like 2am (-7hrs GMT, I think?)  Of course this would stretch things out over a longer period of time.  I'd love to do anything to help increase the momentum of TD; that's why I started making all those MP vids a couple of years ago.  heh heh maybe I could at least help by busting out my old screen printing shit and making a "2015 C&C/TD World Champ" T-shirt for the 1st prize winner.  I'm really curious to hear everybody else's opinion on this stuff.  Even if I couldn't participate I think it's worth trying!

 

[AchromicWhite]

I was thinking this might happen soon. But yeah, trying to do it all at once is a bit hard. Previously, we just had a knock out event, where the players just found a mutual time between themselves where they could come online and play their best of 3 matches and then mail in the outcome to the tournament holder, to be matched up with the next round.

It was never finished, as some matches were never played (the community was not as tight then, either. This website has helped a LOT over the years).

I think recording it would be a great idea, maybe pick a few maps to play on, some open and some more closed, but I do think that limited resources and a good amount of NON tiberium area between opponents is a must, as no troops means everyone will just play as Nod.

Some sort of thing as I said with a map being too open, it's means people will pretty much all just play as Nod. Maybe make each match a best of 3 and have a series of random maps or something. Or maybe each person gets to pick 1 map from the pool of tournament maps (pre-decided by the competition holder) and then 1 other random map.

 

  -Liam

[AchromicWhite]

Speaking of recording the matches, I should hound Funky about getting a spectator mode for TD setup

  -Liam

[RC1985]

Matt - I guess joining in for as long as you can will still make a difference to the tournament, and plus you'll have fun

 

White - you just reminded me that there is no spectator mode in TD -_- but no worries if funky can't get it on time an extra player just gets it and resigns, that's how it used to be in RA.

 

You also brought up a good point about the difficulty in having all players come together at the same time (though this is the objective). The thing about tourneys is that everything has to be done continuously to maintain the excitement. Postponing the action to even just 2 hours later will kill the mood. For this, the best way I can think of is probably to poll the majority's availability and decide a time; getting people to book a slot beforehand in their calendar usually works.

 

As for the maps, I agree with your point about empty space between bases, and we'll leave it to you pros to decide which map to play. I'm not certain if changing the maps works though - all previous tournament I've seen are based on one map and this allows players to practise and prepare well before the tournament. And if there is a re or tiebreaker, the players would certainly want to play on the same map. Also there is usually some inertia and people might not be too keen to do something they don't know (especially in a tourney when there's winners and losers).

 

As for streaming, twitch tv works well and I could help do it when I'm not in a match.

[MattAttack]

what do you think about everyone having to pick "???" as their side?  The randomness might mix it up a bit and I think the best players can excel at either faction...

[AchromicWhite]

Interesting idea... but it would mean that people might often win, just because they get the team they're better with.

Yeah, with the 3rd player resigning thing, it becomes an issue if it's any 2p map.

 

Personally, for a map, I'd rather see something like Twin Peaks, Fjord or Iron Valley etc.

 

  -Liam

[cn2mc]

For me, an ideal scenario would be 16 players in 4 groups (a la World Cup qualifiers) with the 2 best players emerging from each group for the round of 8, essentially quarter-finals. I believe this number of players is achievable, and also it will get more games in for all players, even if they do not make it past that stage, as everybody in a group will get three games in, against the three other players (either single game or 2/3). Also, people who stream/record will generate more youtube content that way.

 

About maps, I think there should be at least three. Maybe one for the group stage, one for the elimination and a third for the final itself, maybe even a surprize (GA, heh). Perhaps the initial stage, when there are many players and many games, can be, as you say, on a smaller map with less resources so the games are faster. But I see nothing wrong with longer plays on bigger maps later on.

 

About sides, I think it would only be fair if people choose a side from the start and stick with it. It would prevent a lot of issues.

 

But yeah, the biggest problems remain, time zones and free time.

[AchromicWhite]

Yeah, start with a pool round, that'd be good. Stops silly early eliminations too (if the two best players go against each other in the first round, etc).

Great for new players also, as they get a chance to face a few opponents and see different play styles.

Yeah, indeed, if you want to hold it all at once, you're looking at a tough situation, heck I'm from NZ

  -Liam

[cn2mc]

Well, we could use time zones for groups at least. NZ, Aussie and East Asia is one, Europe is another, and then there's North and South America.

[Jacko]

thats stretching it a little bit. The World cup idea is nice, except the Asia/Australia/NZ area will be formed of like two people. Stretching it over a couple days is a decent idea (as white pointed out) to account for timezones.

 

I *suggest* maybe holding it around the end of August, mostly for the 20th anniversary of the Launch of Tiberian Dawn (and my 19th birthday )

 

Making everyone pick ??? would be a cool way of mixing it up imo. Get those Nod-only spammers to think differently.

 

Also about the map spec problems, certain maps have everyone spawn middle (like Adjacent battles), specs can work on those maps.

[MattAttack]

Making everyone pick ??? would be a cool way of mixing it up imo. Get those Nod-only spammers to think differently.

My thinking exactly.  A true champ should be able to crush no matter what faction they're assigned. 

And for maps, I'd also suggest Blistering Sands / Steppes of War / Method of Destruction / Mountains of Tiberium

 

I suppose Electric Avenue is considered too open?  As long as we know there's no pathing problems in them.

[Jacko]

I can recommend cn2mc's twin peaks as a great 1v1 map.

 

Also I can GDI on electric avenue no problem, theres lots of money on that map without it being all over the damn place

[AchromicWhite]

Yeah, it's not terrible, though, it could be better. I did think about your point on all middle spawning earlier, Jacko, but Elec Ave is the only map I can think of which is nice and well balanced, and has that.

And yeah, Twin Peaks actually rocks.

Can someone hit funky up and get him to make spec mode!? xD

(you all want me to do it?)

  -Liam

[RC1985]

Stops silly early eliminations too (if the two best players go against each other in the first round, etc).

 

No worries about this, the tournament can be double-elimination style with a loser bracket, meaning that a pro who gets knocked out early will move on to the losers' bracket and progress all the way until he meets the player at the end of the winner's bracket to decide who is 2nd and 3rd.

 

I *suggest* maybe holding it around the end of August, mostly for the 20th anniversary of the Launch of Tiberian Dawn (and my 19th birthday )

 

That's cool, though you gotta be real confident - it would suck if you got owned on your birthday haha!

 

And if most people prefer a few maps in the tournament instead of just one, then let's do it

 

Assigning random GDI/NOD might be a fun choice to test a person's skills, but I'll have to agree with cn2mc that it'd cause issues, mainly for players who wish to compete using their strongest advantage, and also relatively unskilled players who may wish to join in. It'd be a very good theme for later tournaments; for the first one perhaps we should make it a more player-friendly experience.

 

Time-wise, I'm currently polling everyone's usual online time, not too sure if I should make a new thread for this (advice needed). Matt suggested a good way of instant communication via Skype to make organising easier, am setting it up and perhaps we could exchange contacts (game account could be setup if privacy is an issue). I can also be reached via my game FB https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008393951727