Warrior General Games

Please let me know your thoughts on this overall restructuring idea:

Teams play 30 league games (no more ladder games)

Have one Global League with divisions of 8 teams each

Divisions are numbered 1 thru 10 (or whatever)

Tier limits are team based instead of division based (e.g teams start with a Rookie limit, then next season they have a Soph limit, etc. so they can’t sign players higher than their Tier limit)

Start with teams assigned to divisions based on their Tier limit:
a) The better teams are in the higher divisions (e.g the best Vet teams are in Div. 1)
b) The better lower Tier teams fill available spots in higher Tier divisions
c) Rookie CPU teams fill available spots in the last division
d) Carry over the final divisional seeding into the following season (all teams slide up in seeding to make up for drop-out or resetting teams)

After every 7 games (you play each team in your division once) the top three teams move up a division, the bottom three move down.

After the 3rd and final division realignment, you will play 9 games where the final 3 of those games are the playoffs (1v8, 2v7, etc. here’s the playoff tree: https://imgur.com/jbDWxSv.jpg)

Trophies: Gold=Div.1 champ, Silver=Div.2 champ, Bronze=Div.3 champ, Green=every other Div. champ (the number on the trophies indicates the division you won).

Benefits:
You’ll play teams based on skill level not Tier level for more exciting and competitive games.

There’s no incentive to tank and win in a lower division because the ultimate goal is the Gold trophy.

Really good teams can move up 3 divisions in a season and not be limited by their Tier level.

Because of the playoff structure, each season you’ll have a final standing (e.g 4th place Div. 7) so you can track your team’s progress through the seasons.

CPU teams would always only be Rookie level.

So no developmental tiers?

Originally posted by _OSIRIS_
So no developmental tiers?

I have to admit, I have no idea what the Developmental Leagues are. Can you explain what they and, I guess, the Legend Leagues are? Is there currently some kind of cross over between those and the Standard Leagues? If not, could they remain as is or, maybe, they too could be changed as I described above?

Thanks for your help!

No age tiers. No developing players through assigning SPs and SAs as the seasons progress.

When we were in pro during our last run there were 4 human teams in the entire tier. Would we just play the other three teams over and over?

Originally posted by _OSIRIS_
No age tiers. No developing players through assigning SPs and SAs as the seasons progress.

It sounds like those leagues are a separate entity and could remain as is even if the Standard League was restructured. Or, am I missing something?

Originally posted by _OSIRIS_
When we were in pro during our last run there were 4 human teams in the entire tier. Would we just play the other three teams over and over?

No, all divisions would have 8 human run teams but they may not all be of the same Tier (there would be no CPU teams except for the last division if there aren't enough human teams to fill it). And, with the divisional realignment, you would have six new teams to play after every seven game period. So, it won't get monotonous.

To get an idea of how this might look go to the Global Ladder and mark off the teams from the top. The first 8 would be in Division 1. The next 8 would be Div.2, etc.

At present Hawaii Bulls would be in Div.2 even though they are a Pro Tier team among Vets. Dream Team would be in Div.3 even tough they are Soph Tier among Pro teams. Lorlea Beach would be in Div.4 even though they are a Vet team.

So, all teams are human controlled and all divisions would have teams that are about the same skill level regardless of their Tier level.

Well, one standout is that people in general are pretty mad about playing against teams of their skill rather than their tier.

Secondly, it seems like it's aiming for a lot higher userbase than we have. League sizes generally need to shrink with a shrinking userbase, expanding league size seems not great.

But honestly, it just seems like an overly convoluted global ladder. Shifting divisions mid season? How does a record translate between two teams where one moved up into another tier and the other stayed in the previous tier? There's no permeance and season record becomes meaningless.

Originally posted by Corndog
Well, one standout is that people in general are pretty mad about playing against teams of their skill rather than their tier.

That surprises me because I'd rather have closer, fun games than blow-outs (either for my team or against my team). I don't find blow-out games fun.

Originally posted by Corndog
Secondly, it seems like it's aiming for a lot higher userbase than we have. League sizes generally need to shrink with a shrinking userbase, expanding league size seems not great.

No, that's the beauty of it. As the user base fluctuates there are just more or fewer divisions. Right now there are 75 human teams so that would mean we would have 10 divisions in the league. You can then increase or decrease that number depending on how many users we have season to season.

Originally posted by Corndog
But honestly, it just seems like an overly convoluted global ladder. Shifting divisions mid season? How does a record translate between two teams where one moved up into another tier and the other stayed in the previous tier? There's no permeance and season record becomes meaningless.

You're right in a way. It's an enhanced global ladder. You keep your record when you move divisions and your final record will be over 30 games like it is now (15-14-1, for instance). Remember, you're not moving Tiers you're moving divisions. So, divisions can be made up of teams of different Tier levels.

For instance, Division 7 might be mostly Sophomore level teams but have a great Rookie team and a couple bad Journeyman teams. As long as they're all about the same skill level and are playing competitive, hard fought games that's all that matters.

The ultimate goal is to develop your team and win the Gold Cup in Div.1, however, you're still competing for divisional championships along the way.

Tiers are there for a reason, there's a big SP gap between them. Having to constantly face overmatched teams would get tiresome for coaches. Not rewarding to be a .500 team for months before you reach Vet level.

Originally posted by Corndog
Well, one standout is that people in general are pretty mad about playing against teams of their skill rather than their tier.

Right now when we move to next season we'll still be facing BSB, NW Mix, etc. and we'll still get pounded and this will happen season after season because we signed up at the same time. Luck of the draw.

Look at the Firecracker league where there are only 3 human teams.

Wouldn't it be better if BSB and NW Mix could move up throughout the season and play in higher divisions against Sophomore and, possibly, Journeyman teams who are at their level?

Wouldn't it be better if the three teams in the Firecracker League got to be in a division where they could play against higher and lower Tier human teams and make their season more interesting?

We had great scrimmages against a number of lower ranked Soph teams that were a lot more fun and competitive than the blow-outs we endured because we're unlucky enough to be in a Tier with some other very good teams.

Wouldn't it be better if, instead of just scrimmaging against those Soph teams, we were all in the same division because we're the same skill level and have great, competitive games and playoffs?

I'm just asking.

Originally posted by Ace of Spades 7

Wouldn't it be better if BSB and NW Mix could move up throughout the season and play in higher divisions against Sophomore and, possibly, Journeyman teams who are at their level?

Rookie teams would get smashed against Sophomore teams. It's far better for BSB & NW to be rewarded for being the best of their tier....as opposed to losing by 50+ to a Sophomore team. I just don't see the upside for them.

Originally posted by BoDiddley
Tiers are there for a reason, there's a big SP gap between them. Having to constantly face overmatched teams would get tiresome for coaches. Not rewarding to be a .500 team for months before you reach Vet level.

But, Tier level doesn't determine skill level of a team. We're Rookie but have beaten 4 Sophomore teams in scrimmages.

If given a chance the top teams in Rookie (not us) would be highly competitive if they were to move up a division or two. If they're not and they lose then they just get moved back down a division.

With divisional realignment during the season we allow teams to find their own high water mark.

Let's break away from the current, rigid Tier system where, if you're Rookie, you can only compete against Rookie teams. Because, let's face it, a number of Rookie teams can compete at the Sophomore level so why limit them?

Originally posted by BoDiddley
I just don't see the upside for them.

The upside is more consistently competitive games and moving up the divisions faster to try and win the Gold Cup in Div.1 sooner.