A ShoutOut To All High Level Deck Steemmonsters Players

in #steemmonsters5 years ago

You got to admit it: the first edition of the 'Novice' tournaments today was a big joke.


Source

Unfair

Today, the first of a series of @steemmonsters tournaments for novices took place.

In the announcement post you could read the following paragraph:

This tournament is specifically meant for players who do not have a lot of funds to spend on cards or who have just recently discovered this addictive game which has us all hooked. This is your opportunity to get some liquid funds to spend on the market and level up your cards!

However, when looking at the list of participants, there were ony few novices to be found. What caught my eye was the long list of well-known, big players who were all playing at least Diamond league.

The Last Chance

Initially, I did not want to sign up, but seeing so many top players entering, I saw only one opportunity to get the prize money to the people who deserved it: I joined with the intention that in case I would win any prize money, it would be distibuted among the people who could really need the financial support if they ever want to grow their deck.

Unfortunately, my level 6 deck didn't make it past the first round...

I hope you are starting to see my point...

Differences

Let's be honest here: if you are telling yourself that everyone has the same chance of winning when all cards are capped at level 1, you are lying to yourself.

First of all, there is something like experience. It seems like a lot of people forget that there are new players coming in daily. These are people without a lot of experience. Those of you who are playing in the top leagues- myself included - have been playing for weeks.

This difference in experience alone makes it unfair to join a tournament that is meant to give low level deck players a chance to grow their account.

But there is more...

All you top players own a complete deck: all epics, all legendaries, and of course a maxed dragon set.

I've been giving away starter decks I paid for myself to people who couldn't even afford to buy one. If they can't afford a starter deck, how on earth would they have the money to add for example a Hydra to their deck - let alone some dragons?

That's the second reason why this whole thing is unfair.

Is It Goodwill? Or A Promo Stunt?

When I first read about the Novice tournaments, I was delighted. Finally someone who was willing to look after the little guys.

That feeling changed when I found a personal invitation to join the tournament in a Discord DM, sent to my strongest alt account.

That's the moment I started to get suspicious...

If you genuinly care about the smaller accounts, and want them to be able to grow their decks, what's the use of inviting a level 6 account that has already won a couple of silver tourneys and got pretty far in some Gold level tourneys?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but to me, this doesn't feel like a logical action...

Tomorrow's 'Novice' Tournament

Curiousity is my middle name, so I couldn't keep myself from taking a peek at the list of participants who signed up for tomorrow's 'Novice' tournament.

I don't think the screenshot below needs to be explained. you can judge for yourself:

Most people on that list are the same people you see on the lists of silver and gold tourneys, and they are by far not the people who are supposed to be benefiting from this tournament series.

Which new player, with a probably incomplete level 1 deck, would ever be able to beat people like @the01crow, @cranium, @abh12345 or @rentmoney - just to name a few?

Right. That's exactly my point...

My Suggestion

I know these tournaments offer good prize money. And everybody knows that when there is money involved, people tend to behave at their worst.

How about this for an idea:

Let's stay true to ourselves and take a step back. There will be plenty of other tournaments that will pay out a good sum of money. Tournaments in which beginners don't stand a chance.

Are we really willing to take away their chance to grow their accounts? Just because we want to squeeze every penny out of every tournament?

Those of us who live in the so called first world have the luxury to take everything for granted. $10 for a starter pack, and a couple of hundreds to grow our accounts. We don't even have to sacrifice anything to get that high level deck.

But what about all those people living in countries like Venezuela, India and other countries that are not as rich as ours? Don't they deserve a chance? Don't they deserve to have fun and play @steemmonsters with a chance on growing their deck?

From what I've seen today, you don't seem to think so. I truly hope I am wrong about this.

So here's what I'm going to do:
once I finished this post, I'm going to unregister myself from every 'Novice' tournament in the series.

And I genuinly hope that all players who don't really need the money to be able to complete their single level 1 deck, or maybe create a level 2 deck, will follow my example.

I'm not that naive to think I will be able to change your minds. But the least I can do is try.

Because, like it or not, taking away the chances of the less fortunate because we are greedy, isn't going to benefit the game at all.

In order to stay motivated, and to keep playing, people need to have the idea they can make progress somehow.

By taking over every 'Novice' tournament with our extra experience and extra cards, will demotivate people with incomplete or low level decks to join. Why should they? There's no way they can win.

If I only hade a level 1 deck and would look at the people who registered, I wouldn't even bother anymore... and if this would go on and on, I'd probably stop playing. Without the idea of being able to grow your account somehow, even if you don't have cash to spend, it is all pretty useless.

I hope from the bottom of my heart that a lot of you are willing to understand my point of view, and are prepared to let the 'Novice' tournaments to the novices.

Would it really feel like a victory if your experience and amount of cards would keep someone else who could really use the money from getting it?

My decision is final. and I do hope the 'Novice' tournaments will reach the goal they are meant to have.

Aren't we supposed to be a community in which we take care of each other??



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Thanks for your openness, I completely agree.
We announced to not check the decks because they could switch to sockpuppets then, and we hoped for your understanding to be more widespread - I actually know of a few higher league players who abstained.

We briefly talked about it again, and as the endgames were completely dominated by legendary cards we decided to ban those from the upcoming tournament, and probably keep it like that for the rest. This levels the field some more.

Awesome, @pharesim. We had been talking about how level 1 tourneys without legendaries would level the field more ourselves. I'm curious if this will change the outcome, and some real newbies will actually be able to win some prizes. I'll surely follow the tournaments, without joining.

Thanks for your willingness to try different ways :0)

There is allot of misinformation in your post but before I address any of it I will say that I rarely read the descriptions of the games I sign up to. I sign up and if I am online / in discord when they play then I get any info needed from the discord chat or sometimes If needed I read the description then.

  • That being said, those who level up don't do so to just play the level they have reached. They do so to play the level they have reached an every level below it. While I think your heart and direction are in the right place I think you let emotion get the best of you in this post.

If you remember on your last rant about SM I suggested a newbie tournament that would only allow accounts 30 day old or younger to enter for the exact reasons you mention in your post, so newbies can play newbies.

  • Someone who is playing at level 6 or max level or any other level does not have any advantage on anyone in the novice league as the SM system automatically sets all our cards to level one for the duration of the tournament.

Teams in the higher levels that are successful don't always translate well to the lower levels and vice versa. The only legit complaint you have (imo) is that players with higher level cards are likely to have a fuller set of cards to choose from then ones just joining the game or ones who can't / don't want to spend on more cards. To me that isn't a very strong complaint for various reasons such as SM has provided a way to get cards for free.

  • You're right about needing to take a step back. We all should take a step back and be happy that we have tournaments running at all. They are all run manually and can be time consuming for the host to put on. I wouldn't judge too harshly on these rendition of tournaments that are limited to the challenge feature. Enjoy them for what they are .... an early edition of what is to come.

I also think you are reading too much into the description. To me it reads as a description that is urging the lower levels to join. It doesn't read as a description trying to keep players out. Of course I could be wrong and if the game was truly intended for those who only have level one cards then I have no problem with backing out(I may not be able to make it regardless). Perhaps the tournament host can come clear this up.

Edit : I just went to the announcement post and the host clearly stats that anyone can join the game. There was no restrictions placed on this game aside from using level one cards.

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Hi Mike

I registered for that tournament yesterday but fell asleep with the laptop on my legs :)

Having played and done OKin bernies tournament last week, I was interested to spread the word and take part in the 'cuddles' tournament. As you state, I have a 'high level deck' but it was not enough to match the competitors in the 'gold level' rules last week. So I'm wondering where I stand.

And I'm also wondering what else the hosts could do other than limit the level in the SM interface to try to give accounts a fair chance? Yes we can ask stronger players to abstain, but I feel that is like asking bloggers that attract decent rewards not to post - seems unlikely to happen.

I know your heart is in the right place with this, but I don't think the fault lies with the hosts and feel that they have done what they can to try to promote the game and offer a chance to all, with the tools/settings they have available to them.

Of course, these are still early days and I'm sure their will be other mechanisms brought in to try to level the playing field and separate the players out fairly in the future.

I never meant to point my finger at the hosts, not at the higher level players. I just hoped to trigger some common sense.

And it seems to have worked, lol. They will be banning the legendaries from the rest of the novice tournaments to level the field a bit.
I don't know whether this will be enough, but I'm very grateful for their willingness to give the little guys at least a chance that is a little more fair

If it would have just been 'novice level', I don't think I would have felt the same. Maybe I wouldn't even have thought about all this, who knows? But the fact that it was announced as a tourney

for players who do not have a lot of funds to spend on cards or who have just recently discovered this addictive game which has us all hooked. This is your opportunity to get some liquid funds to spend on the market and level up your cards!

made it seem totally wrong for all the higher level decks (and even more important: players with loads of experience) to sign up an go for the prize money.

Like I said in my post, I signed up too, but with the intention to donate the prize money to the real novices.

As you state, I have a 'high level deck' but it was not enough to match the competitors in the 'gold level' rules last week. So I'm wondering where I stand.

I know how that feels. Although my deck is leveled enough to play gold tournaments, it's never enough to match my competitors there. I'm stuck to silver and bronze, although I keep trying in Gold. The guy I can't get passed - can't remember his name for now - will have a bad day eventually , and maybe I can beat him then and move higher up in the tourneys. :0)

Understood.

Banning legendary's is something that should have been considered and implemented as a 'novice' tournament, perhaps the hosts missed this (I had no clue) as I believe it's their first attempt at hosting too.

So, if I had stayed awake and played, do you think it would have been unfair considering I have a lob-sided deck and have only entered one tournament before? I'm still undecided :)

Perhaps if i'd played and won 'easily' , then I would have paid the prize forward to some of the novice entrants, but without knowing what tournaments I can compete in and where I stand in the ranks, I'm a bit lost still.

Anyway, I think i've found my level in the season league now, 100 cards and 3800-3900 will have to do!

I couldn't say, since I don't understand what a lob-sided deck is, lol.

I'm very grateful people are taking it upon them ro organize tourneys, but imho, too many mistakes are being made. That's why a couple of us are going to host a couple of TP-only tournaments, to find out what can go wrong and be prepared. Also, it wil give the TP players who have little experience in joining tourneys, a chance to find out how they work.
No huge prizes for the winners, but just gaining experiencing and discovering the fun of playing tourneys in a safe enviroment.

Posted using Partiko Android

I agree completely and hope that the more senior players take into account this point when they play. The goal is to encourage people to play, not "stomp" them and somehow feel good. I don't mind people that are good at the game playing, but please get in the league that fits your skill level... beating up on novices is only going to ruin the experience for many.

I've only played in one tourney so far (I found using a 3rd party site a bit too clunky for me), but would there be an opportunity to run an invitation only event and target novice and bronze ranked players?

Posted using Partiko Android

It might be a way to keep the tourneys clear from the high level decks, but I don't have a clue on how to run an invitation only event and still be able to reach a good number of players

Yeah, reaching the players would be the hardest part, particularly if they have only come on board for Steem Monsters, they may not have discord, nor be particularly savvy with how to use Steemit or the other blogging apps either. Hopefully when Tournaments are integrated into the game itself it will have that functionality

Having a lvl6 team, you shoudn't blame too much of others attitude I agree with you that experienced players shoudn't play these "novice" tournaments but you did exactly the same.

I didn't mean to blame anyone. I just saw something I considered to be an injustice and tried to set it straight. And indeed, I did join. I joined when the tourneys were just announced. Then later, I unregistered. But in the end I registered again, because I saw all those names on the list. At that point, I had the intention to make sure that if I would win anything, I would make sure the prize money would go to the people that needed it.

There's nothing stopping you from taking an entry fee, rejecting what you consider to be "experienced" players, and organising your own tournament based on:

  1. Proof of Novice
  2. Proof of non-smurf (alt account)
  3. Proof of what cards the individual has in their collection.

As a very experienced player myself; there's a danger in the tournaments, especially those that are single elimination - a novice, as you call them; are able to completely blindside an established meta that you think will stomp; as there is not much experimentation or deck variance at the higher levels of play.

In a world where all cards are limited to the same level (say, bronze) - the only limit is the depth of one's cards library, and an entire bronze level collection costs less than what a bottle of booze costs in my country.

There's plenty of opportunity out there. :)

I'm working on it. Not on the entry fee part, but on a tournament with a strict selection :0)

an entire bronze level collection costs less than what a bottle of booze costs in my country

Unfortunately not all people live in countries where the circumstances are the same. Some people simply can't afford to spend that money on a game.

And I realize that it doesn't make the game any easier when you're used to playing monsters with all kinds of abilities and then suddenly all those abilities are gone. Been there, done that, lol.
I even set up a separate level 2 account, so I don't forget how to play without double blasts and stuff :0)

Interesting @simplymike and a well written post. I will be on the Sidelines Watching................

I wish I could stand there with you, watching, lol...

Posted using Partiko Android

Thanks for taking the time to write this post. I must agree that it was frustrating to me in the other tournaments and thats kind of the reason why I didnt sign up again the past week. I hope people will try to keep it fair after reading this :)

Posted using Partiko Android

You should sign up, @anouk.nox.

I'm not putting my hopes up, but at least give it a shot, you never know.

Ik heb mijn bedenkigen bij de hele zaak, maar ik heb voorlopig even genoeg keet geschopt. Ik hou er niet van dat mensen mijn woorden verdraaien zodat ze ze tegen me kunnen gebruiken. En dat ze het gewoon niet wíllen zien. Ik word er zo ontzettend moe en gedemotiveerd van...

Posted using Partiko Android

I don't know.. For now I'm happy to finally have a day finishing my quests and quite smooth today..

Ik snap het teveel schoppen werkt ook averechts vaak. Ik ga morgen even kijken of ik een beetje op schema loop en wellicht eens een toernooitje doen. Me voorgenomen eerst weer eens echt tijd in een post te steken :) Fijne avond/nacht :)

Posted using Partiko Android

Jij ook.
Waarschijnlijk doen we morgen, ten laatste overmorgen een paar kleine test-toerrnooitjes binnen TP. Om er gewend aan te raken, zonder mensen van buitenaf. Ook zonder waanzinnige prijzen natuurlijk ((we hebben ondertussen toch al 20 steem aan prijzengeld verzameld), maar gewoon voor de lol.
Zo kan iedereen al eens ondervinden hoe het in zijn werk gaat, terwijl ik, bashadow and crypt kunnen leren hoe je zo'n toernooi op een deftige manier kan organiseren. We proberen te leren uit alle fouten die andere hosts maken (en dat zijn er wel wat, lol).
Ik hou je op de hoogte :0)

Ok ik ga t proberen te volgen tussendoor. Al denk ik dat ik er op novice level zo uit lig haha.

Posted using Partiko Android

There should be a way to take your current rank into consideration for the tourneys.

Posted using Partiko iOS

What do you mean by current rank ?

Our league rank .....

If so that won't work as not everyone will be league players once tournaments are around.

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