The Observatory Season 6 discussion

[roncli]

First of all, here is the finalized schedule for Season 6.

Qualifier 1 - Saturday, October 28, 2017
Qualifier 2 - Saturday, November 11, 2017
Qualifier 3 - Saturday, November 18, 2017
Finals Tournament - Saturday, December 9, 2017 <--- UPDATED DATE

All are 5 PM ET/2 PM PT

Next, I wanted to bring up a number of points that were brought up throughout the season:

=== Qualifier Home Level Selection ===

Currently, the way home level selection is decided is on a per-event basis. You start with a 50/50 chance of getting one or the other, and then what you get is based on prior games. ie: if you're due a home level and your opponent is due an away level, you get it. If both pilots have had the same amount of home or away levels, it becomes 50/50 again.

The down side that was brought up to this is that, between events, it can give players the same players a home level in the same matchup over and over.

The up side is that you are extremely unlikely to have to have 4 consecutive games home or away. 3 and 1 is possible, but ultimately you'll get your day once you play enough games.

The suggestion has been to consider the home levels within the matchup in past events, and not give a player home or away multiple times in a row against the same opponent.

Personally, I'm very uninclined to change this. The complaint from one pilot was that they got the same side in 3 consecutive matchups, a 25% chance of occurring in any given matchup. The fact that it has come up in the top tier is notable, but to me it's not significant enough to warrant a change. Such a low sample size - 3 games - is not really something I feel comfortable acting on that will affect the entire competition. Your home match will come up eventually, and you will probably even get a streak of your own the other way at some point.

I am willing to hear counterarguments. I just don't feel like we've had sufficient data to decide to change this. Does anyone have examples where this is happening, and how much of a difference has it made for you?

=== Duplicating of Primaries in the Wildcard Anarchy ===

There was a concern brought up among the wildcard pilots in the past anarchy that there would not be enough primaries to go around.

Personally, I hate it when there aren't enough primaries in an anarchy game, as level 1 lasers and concs can only do so much against someone going on a rampage with a fusion cannon.

From a competition standpoint, this can easily turn a close anarchy game to one that becomes a blowout. Now, this season, I think we all expected the blowout we got given that the only gold+ pilot involved was a diamond pilot, but with a closer set of pilots, this could be a difference maker.

I'm inclined to change this, but I really don't know how to address it. I'm thinking that when you select the level, you should select an appropriate primary multiplier. But what if a pilot DOESN'T want duplication, and throws Io no X's into the pool? Should primary duplication be required?

=== Finals Tournament Length ===

6 1/2 hours. That's what our first season's tournament was, and we had 8 matches in that one. I love watching and calling the competition, but I really think we need to start talking about ways to trim down how long the tournament itself is taking.

Part of the reason for this is that the competition has gotten amazing. Every match seemed like the losing pilot could have won at some point. I love this, and don't want to lose the competition we have.

My suggestion is to reduce the points required to finish one leg of a match to 15. You still get a longer match than a standard 1v1, but we're reducing the points required by 25%, which should shed between 1 1/2 to 2 hours off of the time of the event. I think 5 hours or less is reasonable. Anyone have other suggestions?

=== Anything Else? ===

I'm open to discussions on how replacing a level went this season, how the wildcard worked out, and anything else you want to discuss this season. I feel like I'm missing a talking point from the regular season, so hopefully whoever had the concern will voice it here.

I *LOVE* doing this, and hope to keep doing this into next year and beyond!

[LotharBot]

[Maestro]

I personally think weapon duplication in the wildcard should be a vote among the players. Maybe if there's a tie, the person who chose the map gets to pick? Situations like this past playoff, where everyone wanted x2 primaries but nobody got it, just don't make sense. I think this is important even in games that aren't necessarily "close".

For me, there are three kinds of games that can be enjoyable. The best are games that are both fun and competitive, and it goes without saying as to why. Games can also be good if they're not very competitive, but still fun (i.e. why I ever play Birdseye) - even though you don't expect to win, you can get some good plays and enjoy yourself. Games that are competitive but not outright fun are still okay because at least it feels like you're in it, and the adrenaline can push you through what might feel like a slog otherwise.

But the danger zone is when you end up in games that aren't fun and also aren't competitive, and for me at least the playoff fell into that category. Sure, I didn't go into it expecting to win, no matter what the level was. That's a given when the game is with Mark and 3 silver/bronze pilots. Then the level came up as Athena, which can fun enough but pretty clearly doesn't fit my style as a primary-centered player. I'll still play it, sure. But when the game was made to have stock primaries only, directly against the wishes of all of the players, that really killed it for me. It took a factor that's already a heavy angle against me, and doubled down on it. I get that it might be fun to watch everyone line up with Laser 1s to get slaughtered by Mark, but it sure isn't fun to be the one in the cattle chute. I almost withdrew from the tourney when that decision came down, and if it happened again I would withdraw without a second thought.

So if the logic is that the playoff was a throwaway game because it wasn't going to be close anyway, that rather overlooks the point. I don't play these tournaments because I think I'm going to win, or because I have something to prove, or because I think people have some special desire to see me flail my way around various maps. I play because in general the games are fun and I like the commentary. If the games are arbitrarily restricted to the point where they aren't fun, I have no reason to play anymore.

This isn't really a threat, as hardly anyone would notice if I didn't show up to the next Obs (hardly anyone here would notice if I got creamed by a semi truck on my way to work tomorrow, either, but that's beside the point). I don't expect to leverage you with my presence. I'm just stating how I feel, and how I think certain other players feel as well.

[Jediluke]

I agree with all that Tom had to say.

One add:

as it relates to his final comment I would think that if the level is a CORE level that someone wants to change to then it's reasonable to assume that everyone involved is familiar and prepared in it.

[Jediluke]

on a side note:

I got Mark's home 3 times in a row and Melvin got my home 3 times in a row

[melvin]

i don't think jedi has played in my home (outside of home and home finals) but once (twice?) in 5 seasons, fwiw. lotsa wrath x5 logic x5 pillbox x5 going on.

maestro and lothar make compelling points.

[Sirius]

Home level selection: Not going to be overly dogmatic about this - a few different good suggestions have been made - however I do recognize that when roncli changes stuff, the bot has an increased chance to break next season. (This is partially because he doesn't test his code. )

Wildcard anarchy: I agree with LotharBot, I think they should make suggestions, but then you pick the level, and you pick the Xs.
I also think the wildcard anarchy should decide the last two slots in the draw, not just one. (You know, NFL-style.) In the general case this makes it more fun for more participants, because you have a more realistic shot at breaking in even if there's a Mark392 in the game. Last season it might not have helped much because it would have put me into the wildcard game, though it would at least have added some drama at the top.

Tournament length: Both suggestions so far seem interesting to me - I think LotharBot's 10/10 idea should be tried at least once (for the first round) to check whether it works. It's potentially a very different game at that point, but it does save time. And if it works out, we get to save the full games for the semis and finals, which are hopefully the really good ones.

[birdseye]

I think simplifying the wildcard game makes sense -- just have roncli pick the level or roll random from a set of levels and 2x the weapons. As for a random set (just ideas) Vamped, Nocturnal, Logic, Crimson, Flea all play nicely with 4 people and everyone knows them. They have mostly balanced weapon sets (vamped has one fusion, but with 2x fusions its not bad), aren't too missile heavy/light for a FFA and will play quickly. All players know these maps and I can't imagine anyone having a serious complaint with any of these. If we're trying to save time then deciding on a FFA level, discussing it, etc takes time. Not having a 'random roll' level set is also fine with me, with Roncli just picking the map w/ 2x primaries. I think the only issue was the lack of primaries last time (as Maestro pointed out, that was the players only complaint), so not a big issue overall as long as that is taken care of.

From both a competitive & viewership standpoint I think it makes sense to try to keep track of how many times someone has played someone else's home, however it can be made fair without messing with the slotting would be great. While you make good points Roncli, I think the argument that trumps consistency is just variety/excitement of viewership. We saw several Jedi/Mark matches in Forte NM -- and while they were great matches, I remember thinking during the 2nd or 3rd one that it would have been more exciting to see things in Jedi's sphere. Repeating the same games for the view isn't as exciting, and a big part of Obs is entertainment.

15 points sounds good, and was something I thought about during the marathon. Maybe the finals could be 20, but possible sticking with 15 overall is good.

[Lee]

The guys above have covered the main points and I'm pretty happy to play as it was or as now proposed. One minor suggestion: maybe insist on setting games to be "Restricted" as opposed to "Closed" or "Open", so you can jump in if the game hasn't been setup as it should.

[Jediluke]

15 seems better than 10.

Don't fully eliminate 2nd half Jedi!