Splinterlands | Ways To Make Tournaments More Popular!
The Reason Tournaments Are Not Popular!
The way I look at the situation, it is very easy to explain why nobody really plays tournaments and it comes down to the ridiculous Pay2Win aspect. Just imagine Poker Tournaments where some of the best cards like aces or kings are only part of the deck for a very selective number of players leaving all the others with a big statistical disadvantage. It just would just not make sense for anyone who has a statistical disadvantage to ever play these games and the entire setup would be considered a complete joke.
This is pretty much the situation with Splinterlands Tournaments only players with a close to complete collection (which is crazy expensive) can comfortably play them knowing their skill level makes a difference while they also get a big pay2win advantage. This is the main reason I (and I guess most other players) don't join tournaments as they are not fun and put me at a disadvantage over other players by default (even though I have a big collection)
Solution: Leveling the Playing Field!
Getting to a situation where every player is able to join a tournament 100% at a level playing field making only Skill and Luck factors I believe is vital in the success of Tournaments in Splinterlands. It would make them fun, challenging, and most of all fair to all players. Of course, this is easier said than done because in the end there need to be reasons for players to hold cards. Some Ways it potentially could be done:
Variable Entry Fees: If collection power is taken as a base requirement in order to enter a tournament, the entry fee could be cheaper for players who do own more cards and a bit more expensive for players that don't own as many cards (based on specific metrics). Giving everyone access to the same cards at least creates a fully level playing field in the tournament itself with the cheaper entry fee being the pay2win benefit for richer players.
Variable Price Distribution: A system where everyone gets access to the same card with part of the winnings from the tournament of players that used cards that they don't actually own being redistributed to players that played and actually did own those cards could work.
On the Spot Renting: A system where it is possible to do instant card rentals just for 1 match at a specific price for cards with the fee going to the players in the tournament that own this card based on specific metrics.
Countdown Timers
Talking for myself, one of the reasons I'm not entering tournaments is because of confusion on their starting time with different time zones and the AM/PM. If there was a countdown timer showing on each of the tournaments it would make it so much easier to instantly see when they are starting it would already make a world of difference.
Tournament Player Rankings
If there is a way to level the playing field (at least on part of the tournaments that are organized), it would be really cool to also have player rankings with the best tournament players out there based on a ranking that is actually representative. The competitiveness factor would be so much more interesting and similar to all other e-sports games out there, anyone who is willing to improve their skill given that they have at least a certain amount of Collection Power has the ability to climb. Having more top players that somewhat become personalities because of their skill level is something that also helps as a way to promote the game.
Conclusion
Having a system where there is actually a level playing field one way or another is in my view vital to the success of tournaments and as long as that is not the case, Tournaments will just remain another way to just distribute rewards to those that have the biggest collection sucking the fun out of the game to everyone who can't compete on this end. The same thing also goes for ranked battles by the way even though I do understand that part of the game needs to have pay2win mechanics to make it all work.
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