Races and PvP should take a page from Magic the Gathering: Online

Part Two: Application to Path of Exile

First of all, player rewards. Both MtGO and PoE have competitive events that are meant to separate the best of the best from the regular herd; and both MtGO and PoE have player rewards programs that give players alternate-art goodies for participating in said competitive events. However, MtGO has the sense to make the rewards participation-only, and not tied whatsoever to any system that estimates player skill. We need to separate player rewards entirely from the current race point system. I propose two separate point systems:

• Race Participation Points are given every time the player gains a level in a race event; making it to Lioneye's Watch would (probably) be enough to get your first point, and even players who are not very good should expect to get nearly as many Participation Points as pros on a per-race basis. Rewards would start early: I'm thinking 5 points for the first alternate-art (that's level 6 in a single race). The only reason I'm not going on a pure "1 point per race" basis is that players could just spawn at Twilight Strand to get the point, then log out, and I'm trying to counter such exploitation.
• Race Ladder Points would be an estimation of player skill. You wouldn't be able to get these points merely by reaching a certain level; the only method of acquisition would be dominance over other players by being at the top of the event rankings. Furthermore, not every race would even give Ladder Points; many races would be casual affairs, just for fun. This would free up the schedule for competitive racers by allowing them not to compete in every single event, while still offering races for players to participate in to try them out.

That last point is important enough to get its own section: competitive racers should not be forced to compete in every event to have a shot at a solid end-of-season ladder ranking. Some events should be "Premier Events" -- races that matter from a competitive standpoint. Other races should be null from that perspective, with other options that make them attractive -- perhaps prize support, perhaps fun new race rules, perhaps just an opportunity to rack up some Participation Points. In other words, they'd be more like "Daily Events" or perhaps even queues...

Path of Exile should offer a queue system for players to start events on-demand -- simply get the required number of players to indicate they want to play, and the event starts. Once you dispel the "all races must give Race Ladder Points" belief, there's no reason why someone who wants to play in a One Hour Solo should have to check a schedule to find an opportunity. With queues in place, time-zone complaints would be quelled and, due to the pseudo-random nature of opponent selection in small queues, solid racers who don't stand a chance against pros might even eek out some first-place finishes, giving them the reinforcement they crave.

There's no reason why these concepts can't apply to PvP too. Compared to racing, GGG has given PvP the short end of the stick; this should change. Institute a PvP season ladder. Give out both PvP Participation Points (with rewards you can't get from racing) and PvP Ladder Points. Create both Premier and Daily PvP events. Institute new rules to make some PvP events different from others -- actually, Turbo and Lethal would both work just fine. Make PvP queues to allow players access to PvP tournaments on demand.

It's also very important that all events have concrete prizes handed out to the top spots. Right now, the only rewards for winning a race are glory and ladder points, both of which are far too unsubstantial. Events should have a small currency entry fee that varies from events to event -- some events should take Alterations, some Fusings, and a few rare events should take Exalteds. And I'm not suggesting that GGG keep 15% like Blizzard did with the Diablo 3 auction house... the point of the entry fee is player-funded prize support, with currency in roughly equal to currency out. Quick example: 16-man event, prizes to top 4, entry fee is 1 GCP each, 1st gets 8 GCPs, 2nd gets 4 GCPs, 3rd and 4th get 2 GCPs each. Race and PvP queues would accomodate both a range of game types and a range of currencies.
Lastly: create an end-of-season championship event for the players at the top of the ladder rankings at the end of the regular season; essentially, the season playoffs. Extensive online coverage, including official GGG live streaming of the event, and rewards in cash. This type of event would draw a huge new audience of professional gamers (and wanna-bes) to PoE, as well as giving it lots of interesting press. Naturally, the prize support for this event would be a donation unless microtransaction entry fees were implemented for the smaller events, and thus likely outside of GGG's budget if they elected not to do so.

That is one hell of a good suggestion.

I support this.

I like the whole concept. I do however dislike the addition of micro transactions onto all events, no matter how small or large.


It would mean that I'd have to pay for

-cosmetic effects
-Increased Stash functionality (almost a necessity)
-Pay to play races


I'd rather pay a upfront sum (the cost of a normal game) and be done with it. Unlock all cosmetic effects, a fairly comprehensive stash and the ability to play any race at any time. Adding a cost to races just seems to cross the line for me, especially being that it is a major portion of PoE's appeal and re-playability.


"I'm thinking more like: 8-man queues would have an entry fee of 1 micro-transaction credit (cheap!), and a payout of 4 credits to first, 2 credits to second, and 1 credit each to 3rd and 4th."

- So essentially it would be gambling, will i be queued with 7 other noobs, or hardcore racers - will my odds of coming first and gaining 4x my investment be high, or shal i not even bother attempting to race at all?
- If i wanted to gamble, I'd go to a casino or do race betting online.


"Lastly: create an end-of-season championship event. This would be invite-only and based on top ladder rankings at the end of the regular season"

- Excellent, idolize a very very small minority and leave the majority out in the cold. NO THANKS

"

"Lastly: create an end-of-season championship event. This would be invite-only and based on top ladder rankings at the end of the regular season"

- Excellent, idolize a very very small minority and leave the majority out in the cold. NO THANKS

The events that would get you to the top of the ladder rankings would naturally be open... invitations would be entirely performance-based. I'll reword that line for clear that up.

Incredible, this might actually get me interested in racing again.

BUT, I think you are off with the microtransaction stuff and missed an easy one. Rather than having a buy in with points, meaning people will have to pay to play, regardless of how much it costs and also the idea of giving out cash is meh, have the buy in with orbs.

This way you can gage what level the races are. Have the buy ins range from 1 alch to 10 exalts, payouts based on how many people enter. If you need an idea of how payout structure should work check out how the online poker sites use to do it.

1 alch is not at all going to hurt someone's stash but if you sneak out a win you'll be rolling in alchs because everyone enters the cheap tournaments. Someone who isn't confident in their ability (or rich enough to throw the currency away) won't be putting up 10 exalts and the winner has (probably) gone against the toughest competition the server can offer.

I also like the "race when you want" idea, only catch is I would suggest a time frame, like you have from Monday 1200 to Wednesday 1200 to complete the event or you are disqualified, Wednesday at 1201 the results are released so the only way people know how everyone did is if they tell people or stream it. This way someone doesn't wait until the last minute knowing exactly what they have to do to win. Also make it so the buy in must be completed before the event starts so if someone has a stellar race early on people don't just bail knowing they can't win.

Jesus, some great ideas though.

Not a big fan of the queue or cash/microtransaction ideas. Other than that, good stuff.

Figured I'd dig up the tournament payout thing to make it easy

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker/tournaments/payouts

It's amazing how much of my poker knowledge I've used in feedback for this game in 1 week.

You seem to miss my point;

Having a end-of-season championship is a moot point for a vast majority, as a minority of HC racers will consistently cover the top portion of the ladder. That's not to say that it's impossible for some new/other players to rank in the top - it just isn't likely to happen.


I understand why you would like such a implementation, but it needs to be tweaked. I feel that all players should at least have the ability to be involved in all events in some form or another (i do not included spectating as being involved) and not be excluded simply because they weren't good enough/didn't play efficiently.




- A compromise is to have several championships;


Championship A/1 - top 10 players ; will be the only championship to include media coverage
Championship B/2 - Players ranked 11 - 50
Championship C/3 - Players ranked 51 - 200
Championship D/OPEN - Players Ranked 201+

Note: numbers provided are just for sample and would be adjusted according to GGG's desire

This will

+allows the average Joe to still be involved,
+provide a greater incentive to achieve a higher rank next season
+doesn't discourage players from trying



Also Moosifer;

Love your idea, would like to expand:

Have a similar system to online poker (different buy-in levels):

premium race - 10 exalts
Race A - Exalt orb
Race B - GCP
Race c - Regal
Race D - Chaos
Race E - Alchemy
Race F - 5x transmute, 5 x alterations, 5 x augmentation (numbers to be adjusted)

- I understand that this is what you meant, but the buy-in still needs to be low enough so as not to discourage casuals from getting their feet wet.

You all have great ideas, but you need to tweak them so that its accessible for the MAJORITY and not a minority. Moreover, having a large choice of orbs to choose from, one could in theory, play select races in order to gather orbs that they are in short supply of.

NOTE# I bet at least 50% of HC players would not risk a exalt orb for a race , its likely that they dont even have one.

Interesting, very solid ideas presented here.
I must say the main reasons I don't race (competitiveness, reward, times) are mostly covered off here.