So, I was thinking of making another series of events. Let me go ahead and explain it. Concept: These events will consist of commanders selecting pre-determined squads, playing on a map with a handful of "gimmicks". Squads: Squads have to consist out of 5 members in total, also there has to be a squad leader. The squad leader has to make sure that all the members of the squad can attend each event. If all members can play, you will have to reply in each upcoming event thread that you are able to play. This way, if one of your usual players can't attend to one of these events, you can switch him/her out. Commanders: Commanders will also have to sign-up in each event thread. Now this might get a bit complicated. The more commanders we have, the more rounds we will play, up to a maximum of 3 rounds because of time limitations, that is why I cannot allow more than 6 commanders currently. < 4 commanders = 2 rounds 5-6 commanders = 3 rounds Each commander will have a pre-determined opponent, so squad selections can become fair. We will have squad selections ATLEAST a day before the event starts so you can organize plans with them. This will happen with both commanders and me in a sitting of either steam or TS3, whichever both prefer. Gimmicks: In each event I will announce certain gimmicks or handicaps to be used in every round. To have an example, I could announce certain squad layouts (i.e., Scout, Rifleman, Engineer, etc.) or specific vehicles you can only use during the rounds. If the gimmicks are not being followed I will have to come up with some sort of punishment for each violation since I cannot restrict such things. That is all, we will be holding these events on the VIPER servers, if you have any questions about this, go ahead and ask. The first event is still going to be determined, I will have to check my schedule.
what do you mean with gimmicks? also if only squads (of 5) are allowed to apply you might end up with less players then without this limit. why dont flip a coin and do a 1-2-2-2-... picking like we did for football/soccer as kids?
Explained above. To have actual squads instead of scrambled eggs. Anyone can start a squad by themselvs and sign up for each event. This way I ensure that you have 4 people who you like to play with to be on your side instead of 4 random players. Also reduces setup times a lot for commanders.
the hell i didnt see that? :eek: and yes i get your point about squads, still think you get less players this way though.
Can't wait to command every round, for once I'm actually enjoying the experience. Or lead a squad, but I think you will have a harder time finding commanders then squads.
My opinion is this is bad. We need more events focused on new players. Not more events that exclude them. Example idea Vets verses unknowns People like stacking any way. So make an event out of it. But add in handicaps. Vet team get less tickets, less resources, and longer research times.
Why on earth would you split teams based on whether they were experienced or not. Thats like having a team of blind people & a team of guide dogs. If you want events for new players then just make a pug and play with them like you would play with anyone else. I'm pretty certain the difference between known/unknown players is only because "vets" only ever play events anyway now so after a certain point in time pretty much everyone is unknown on account that there isn't really a playerbase.
I'm signing up as a squad leader. Gotta ask Raider, BlueSky, Zoom and Xellos first, but I think I also have a full squad.
How does this event exclude new players? If some new player managed to get 5 people into one squad OR get into one of those squads, you have all the rights to join these events. I wouldn't mind new commanders either although I would definitely have to help with the picks to ensure fairness. Don't forget we still keep hosting open PUGs, 2 regular ones (Mini-PUG-Wednesday AND T.N.E.P.) to give them some practice and experience. Keep organizing your squads, I think the first event will start off on the 15th August on a saturday but I have yet to open sign-ups. It might happen tommorow.
I think your should just forego the squads and just do a gimmicks pug. It would only be feasible if, you know, Empires had more than 50 players. Because new players don't know anyone or even know about the event? Despite being such a plug 42 has a point for once.
That is something I can't do, I have no way of forcing gimmicks. I just have to hope that people will follow those terms, also balancing and fairness is better this way, that is why having an open event is a bad choice. I can't inform completely new players about events such as these. They will just have to ask people if there will be something in the future, or look up threads in this forum. It is not like we are trying to hide these.
I could have sworn they would happen sooner, guess I was wrong. Actually I'm fairly certain that the finals are next week.
The signing up part.. Like for the scrim a few new people got turned away. I know for the most part mostly the last scrim they was told they could play and that they could join the groups after. Just maybe for the most part have set squads but allow newer people to join in. Nothings sucks more then finally seeing people playing and finding out the only server populated is locked. I really don't think a letting a few randoms play would hurt anything. But allowing them to play could help populate Empires more.
Look, we already have so many events supporting new players, like I said we have Mini-PUG-Wednesday and T.N.E.P., also weekends are still populated due to our recent activity. Just because we have ONE event forcing some organization to be done before, doesn't mean we are going to lose every single new player immediately. For this event to become open for everyone, I would need some sort of "match options" to enforce gimmicks, which we do not have.
