winged trail
I've made a video listing the issues myself and many other players have with the current state of esports in KARDS and offered a series of solutions, inlcuding the complete rework of OCC qualification into a league format. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the matter and thought it would easiest to collect it in a thread here.
https://youtu.be/0I21ZSM3j_Q
abstract vine
gleaming heron
I've watched the video and I agree with your points. Especially for extending the rewards to the top 8 players in OCC and having more support for tournament spectating in the client.
Since I'm part of a small private community where we do tournaments, being able to spectate our games would do wonders to improve engagement both for us and for external spectators.
1939 is missing out for not implementing such small changes that would benefit THEM as well! And they really need to open up to some feedback, at least engage with the players, that is the most important thing of all I feel.
ornate sable
Thank you for your OPEN letter, I loved hearing your ideas about KARDS Esports ! Indeed the biggest thing that has to happen is bring back the KARDS OPEN once every other month. You can drop the OCC prizepool from $1500 to $1000 and add a $1000 KARDS OPEN every other month. This is a no-brainer, it has to happen. Top 16 in the OPEN should be best-of-5. In the past, only top 4 was best-of-5.
I believe the current OCC qualification method is the best it has ever been with 6 spots determined by swiss rounds rather than ladder finish. The current OCC qualifier is a mini Officer Club League with a full relegation system where top 34 ladder finish is required every month to participate. While a full OCL would be better, it seems like a huge step that I'm not too confident to see be made.
For the first month of the OCL, it would be good to split the open qualifier into two open qualifiers, each for half of the league, in case some people are busy on a certain date.
I'm also in favor of extending the OCC prizepool to top 8
winged trail
Thank you for your OPEN letter, I loved hearing your ideas about KARDS Esports !...
the Opens were changed to be Bo5 for the entirety of top 16 in the last few
thanks for your thoughts
ornate sable
1st : $350
2nd : $200
3rd : $150
4th : $100
5-8th : $50
This could also be the payout for the KARDS OPEN, unfortunately 9-16th won't be paid
fleet rapids
I think another point worth making in regards to Opens is that a large part of cutting them was the dwindling numbers of participants. I would say that could have been reflective of a lot of things (meta stagnation) and I would not expect that trend to continue, especially with over all player count numbers doing better and better
shy hull
Excellent video and suggestions. 1939, please watch the vid @solemn loom please let them know
As a player who finishes regularly in the Top 100, but never Top 34 (highest was 35) there is just not enough time to grind the ladder all month. I agree there needs to be an alternate way of entering the OCC without the grind. As jking points out, this gets some fresh players and playstyles into the OCC, and keeps players without time to grind engaged (instead of just quitting)
While the idea of a league is a good one, and I think should be a medium-term goal (can put it on the roadmap), a simple monthly Open tournament might be a good stepping stone:
-Any Saturday, Swiss Format to Final 4
-That Sunday, stream the Final 4, can be Best of 5s, no 3rd Place Match
-Prize Pool:
-1st: $250 - Spot in the Monthly OCC (as the 3rd Seed)
-2nd: $150
-3rd/4th: $50 each
The Monthly Open engages New players, as well as players short on time, can be a good way of introducing new decks, and provides an alternate way into the OCC
Ladder would still run awarding Top 2 finishers as 1st and 2nd OCC seeds, and the Next 32 finishers fighting for the 4th-8th Seeds (5 places)
solemn loom
Thanks for the ping @rugged star ! We do actively monitor this forum and are happy to receive feedback and suggestions on competitive KARDS. Some of the ideas mentioned are things we would like to explore but are not feasible for us at this point in time. When we announced a break from KARDS Opens last year, we kept the door open to bringing these, or other similar open style tournaments, back down the line. We continue to support and encourage both official and non-official tournaments and are actively exploring further possibilities in this area. We look forward to sharing more about some of the ideas we currently have in conception phases in the coming months.