How can you talk about using real world data sources and then write a post that has no concrete suggestions on how to move from X to Y to make things more efficient. In a real world consulting report, that would get you fired.
There is nothing here about improving my managing of TDs, there is nothing here about improving the design of LotS, there is nothing here about improving matchmaker team, and there is nothing here about utilizing better data points in my decision-making than what I already do.
The first I don't even know what you expect me to do. I couldn't be more off hands unless I just started giving money to people saying they were entertaining the idea of making a tournament. I also couldn't be more available to give input on tournaments unless I was an auto response spam bot.
The second what is the solution here? Do you want me to make LotS a 4 player tournament so TDs can simply go to bed after a hard 3 hours? BO1 games are not an option in a major competitive format so the only option available for you here is to lower the tournament player pool size. But you also want to encourage players that are at lower levels to play the game and reach higher levels, so how is that going to happen when LotS is open to the same 8 people year after year?
Matchmaker team I also have no idea what your problem or solution is supposed to be. Is the problem that me nor arch are mappers? Is being a mapper more important than understanding the game and how map structure impacts game behavior? Is it the same? If so, does that mean you need to be both a mapper and a high level player in order to design ladder pools? Do you recognize that restricts the pool of members to like 3 people which aren't even interested in working together let alone on ladder? I'm already having a tough time getting active players to help with matchmaker, how would adding MORE restrictions improve anything.
What data am I supposed to use from the real world for my decisions, genuinely curious. I look at tournaments in other games to gather input on how to improve FAF tournaments. I utilize FAF data dumps and polls when they're necessary for FAF decisions. Am I supposed to email Blizzard or Microsoft for their player data so I can make better decisions here or what?