Matchmaking Seasonal Prizes

@insidiousnoob said in Matchmaking Seasonal Prizes:

Long-Term Activity Grind: Unlike a tournament, where players are highly active for just a week, this system encourages sustained engagement and long-term participation throughout the entire season.

The benefit of tournaments is that they are likely to bring inactive players back, for a brief period of time. If the tournament is enticing enough they will practice a bit beforehand, play the tourney, and maybe play a little after before returning to inactivity. Another benefit of tournaments is that people like to watch and cast the games, which results in good content to support the community and potentially attract new players.

A ladder event is probably not enticing enough to bring inactive players back. It will just make the existing ladder players play more games. People also don't seem that interested in watching or casting random ladder games, since many of them will be low quality, so you don't get the content you would from a tourney.

It would seem that even the $600 Summer Invitational was not enticing enough to bring back inactive players though, so if FAF has extra funds they might as well be used for ladder events if there are no better ideas.

I don't really know if encouraging people to grind ladder is all that beneficial. Other games want you to grind because they want lots of daily active users to impress shareholders and sell cosmetic items to. People should play FAF for fun because they are intrinsically motivated to do so, not because someone manipulated them with a division system and possibility to win $50 after months of grinding. However, there does need to be a minimum amount of activity in the matchmakers so that people who want to play games can find them reasonably quickly. I would personally feel like an unethical psycho if I spent $600 to make people grind ladder though.

Thank you for your feedback. I want to clarify that I’m not downplaying the importance of tournaments at all. I love tournaments too—I’ve participated in several and even hosted the "High Rated 2v2 Tournament" a few months ago. My mention of tournaments was purely for comparison. In one of my previous comments, I referenced the King of Seton 2v2 Tourney from January, which was great but also highlighted how we’ve been focusing heavily on certain repetitive formats. My point was that perhaps, instead of funding yet another Seton tournament, we could explore something new, like the Matchmaking Seasonal Prizes.

Regarding the concern that a ladder event might not entice inactive players, I believe it’s important to innovate and try different approaches rather than always focusing on bringing back old, inactive players. Of course, it’s great when they return, but we also need to keep our current player base engaged and excited. You mentioned that people aren’t as interested in random ladder games, but if you look at Gyle casts, Tactical Takeover, Strategic Launch, and even BRNKoINSANITY back in the day, these casters often cover random ladder games and draw a lot of views. The appeal often lies in how the games are presented and who is casting them.

You said : I don't really know if encouraging people to grind ladder is all that beneficial.

As for the concern about encouraging people to grind ladder, I respectfully disagree. Ladder is where the true FAF experience lies, and I believe you understand this too, given that you’ve played around 6,000 ladder games compared to 2,063 custom games. It’s not about manipulating players—it’s about providing an opportunity for those who take the game seriously and play it daily to experience healthy competition and have something to strive for.

Why not offer a chance for these dedicated players to enjoy some friendly competition with a tangible reward? It’s not about turning FAF into a grind, but about recognizing and rewarding the commitment that some players already demonstrate. I don’t see it as unethical or manipulative—we’re simply exploring ways to keep our beloved game alive and engaging. The goal is not to force anyone to play but to enhance the experience for those who are already invested.

Again we are not Trying to Manipulate anyone to anything or do anything unethical psychos here you can also have a season off without the seasonal prices with how the season are now you can do a season with prices and one not. I am a player myself and i have no role in FAF so this has literally no benefit for me! This is just a Suggestion from me which i am ready to defend and convince you or get proven wrong!

Why don't we take the top ~16ish ladder players/teams, and shove them into a bracket tournament? Then we get our Matchmaking incentive, AND good content for casts.

Thoughts?

I agree that involving the top players in a tournament could be exciting, but it’s crucial that they actually want to participate. The best events happen when players are eager to compete, not when they’re compelled to do so.

After some thorough discussions and a deeper dive into the details, I've decided to put the idea of the Matchmaking Seasonal Prizes event on hold for now. The event aimed to reward the top 3 Grandmasters based on activity and skill, but the current FAF rating system doesn’t support this format well enough without significant changes.

Implementing the necessary adjustments to the ranking system would require extensive work, which may not be feasible at this time. I’ll keep it in mind for the future, especially if the FAF team is open to revisiting the ranking system and exploring potential adjustments. However, for now, I’ll have to discard the idea.

Thank you for your interest and understanding.

hold the top 16 rated players at gunpoint and force them to play a massive tournament