competitive clan & league

well, it's pretty clear that i've got a lot of vocal opposition in the other thread about the league, but i'm going to offer these suggestions anyway:

1. Clan Standings: To offer everyone the opportunity to get to the top of the clan charts, have the clan scores count from January 1st to December 31st and only allow a set number of games per clan. That will give you two things... first, you'll have a new champion every year and clans can crow about being "the champion clan of 20XX"... second, by having a maximum fixed number of games, no clan can complain that other clans are outplaying them. If they want the title, they have to work for it.... and if people want to play a LOT more games, then they join a smaller clan, so they get a bigger percentage of the allotment for the year... that will also mean that clans won't HAVE to recruit all the time because small clans have the same shot large clans do... but it means that the leader's ability to set competitive matchs means A LOT. No more throwaway games.

2. Clan Leagues: To give any clan a fair shot at winning a clan league, provide a maximum average rating for each team.... if you want to follow the division make-up, then have lower divisions use lower maximum averages... that way, say a clan in the second division wins and moves up to the first, they can bring in a heavy hitter or two to compete... and by the same token if a big clan moves down, they have to be more flexible and rely upon lower-rated players to pitch in and push them up again. Once again, it puts the onus on the leader to demonstrate some actual leadership... instead of just begging a half dozen GMs to make them look good.

There. A way to make the clan system more interesting and the league system more competitive. Now what's wrong with that?

Originally posted by Decanter
well, it's pretty clear that i've got a lot of vocal opposition in the other thread about the league, but i'm going to offer these suggestions anyway:

1. Clan Standings: To offer everyone the opportunity to get to the top of the clan charts, have the clan scores count from January 1st to December 31st and only allow a set number of games per clan. Th ...[text shortened]... an system more interesting and the league system more competitive. Now what's wrong with that?

Both are very good ideas but first we have to give a try to Clan League,it's not even started!

Russ has made Leagues to please the ones who wanted a more ''fair'' system than the actual one which rewards only the gameload of a clan:there's no time now for proposing other more fair systems,let's see Clan Leagues first,then we'll judge.

I'm of the opinion that the clan challenge system is played out and there's little point trying to reform it. Clans are still free to challenge each other and play their games so everybody gets a chance to play. A maximum number of games wouldn't mean anything anyway; you'd still choose who you play and everybody would play different schedules so no valid comparision between the clans could be made. Play your challenges, goad a bit and have some fun with it; just don't pretend it's a valid competition cuz it ain't.

Russ has put a lot of work into the clan leagues and I'm willing to see how they work now that it seems too late to make changes. Russ has said he's willing to tweak the leagues if problems develop and people here aren't shy about suggesting changes, so let's see what happens. Maybe there should be a 2 league limit for each player, maybe clans should be required to place everybody with a shield on one team before allowing a player to be put on a second team, maybe a lot of things will be suggested once I see how it works. I suspect the leagues will work out in practice very much like clan challenges do now: high rated players will play each other, intermediate players will play each other, etc. They'll be at least 3 leagues in the 3 and 7 day leagues and they represent all skill levels. If things don't work out, we can fix it, but let's give it an honest shot. And I hope not season, Geoff, every clan will compete in at least one league, even yours. There's a sense of excitement on the clan forums now that the leagues are going to start that we haven't had before; too bad so many aren't going to participate.

I am quite happy with the clan leagues the way they are. Even though the Legendary Knights don't stand a chance of winning or even coming close.

We will battle away with the teams who have a similar level and be happy taking part which is what really counts.

I do however share your concern voiced in another thread about superclans and weaker players getting left out, but I don't think it is an issue yet and hopefully won't be as I believe most clan leaders (with a few notable exceptions) are actually quite nice and fair people.

The clan challenges can be improved by just providing more stats. That is what is sorely missing at the moment, and I will be adding these soon - some which span just the last 365 days.

As for the leagues, remember, the competition will be divisional. Yes, the clans with the heavy hitters will be battling for league 1, but the lower divisions will have their own divisional battles themselves. The prize for winning might only result in a short stay in the division above, but surely that is part of the fun, right?

Anyway, all input it always appreciated - but there will not be further tweaks at this late stage.

-Russ