Had some discussion this past week with Afda. Here are my thoughts on some things:
Bonus points
-Overall, way too many bonus point opportunities dilute the actual benefit of bonus points
-War bonus for generals and Brawl boss is fine
-WM bonus is fine
-War bonus for soldiers is way too high for soldiers from winning teams. Just because you were lucky enough to be on a good team and maybe show up for most of your duels does not mean that you deserve more points than a General who probably put in countless more hours of work and finished lower in the standings. Soldiers should get at most the same amount as the last place general. Based on the current ruleset, that would be 2 instead of 4.
-Same thing for brawl bonus
-Trials participation should not be awarded equally. Currently, losing 3 trials and winning 6 consecutive trials get awarded the same bonus...completely illogical. Perhaps change to 0.5 point for trials participation with max 2 points, and 1.0 point for each mastership with max 4 points.
Phase 1
-Waste of time for masters. Many may disagree with me, but trials IMO is about finding suitable challengers, not retesting masters with time-consuming BS. Why do masters have to repeatedly prove their worthiness when they've already done so multiple times. Phase 1 is more "Prove your activity level".
-Not a fan of selecting tasks based on elements to use in Phase 2, especially if you don't know your off-element opponents yet
-similar issue with available upgrades for phase 2. Just drastically increases likelihood of illegal decks
-Personally, I think phase 1 should just be tossed. Or at least award a flat number of points for completion, no graded scale.
Phase 2
-i'm not a fan of off-element duels. Often not facing same opponent, and sometimes not even the same elements. Reducing the amount of duels will benefit everyone.
Phase 3
-fine as is
Phase 4
-change up the deckbuilding and/or bans rules each year
Other thoughts
-Get rid of the "points" system altogether. Master and challenger have same amount of upgrades in final battle, except for bonus point difference
I disagree with many of these suggestions, and I'll make an attempt to argue why I prefer the current system to them.
Bonus PointsI think that many soldiers (though certainly not all) do contribute in meaningful ways to the success of their teams, especially those on the most successful teams. It takes a team effort to build, mindgate, test, and so on, and it isn't just playing matches. Likewise, a Brawl Boss is rarely uniquely responsible for the success of their team.
I'm completely ok with revamping the Loyalty Bonus, and giving past masters more points than losing players could make sense. I do think, however, the intent of the bonus is to reward players for sticking to a single element, rather than to reward them for past successes, so I can also see a case for keeping it as is.
Phase 1I don't think that the existence of Phase 1 exists only to prove a player's activity, or to actually even prove worthiness. Perhaps the name of the round could be changed. The point of the round is to give players a chance to think critically about aspects of the game and their element other than just raw playing skill - designing events, cards, and more. It adds something to keeping Mastership as being more than just another PVP title. Since a serious contender should in theory be able to complete any of the tasks, allowing players to choose which tasks to complete based on available elements and upgrades unlocked adds an aspect of macro-strategy that shouldn't be discounted. This is Trials, not some extended version of a weekly tournament.
I also think that adding the graded scale added some relevance to the tasks, which had previously been free-2-ville, and I think that's a good thing. We want to encourage the most unique aspect of Trials to actually matter, and skill ought to be rewarded!
I could certainly see some benefit to knowing opponents before Phase 1 is completed, but that necessitates adding a phase 0 for signups.
Phase 2Players within an element are supposed to have a common list of opponents, and the only exception are the Warrior matches. Reducing duels isn't needed, but I wouldn't be against increasing the time limit for the round to help ease whatever burdens might exist.
Phase 3I also have no issues with Phase 3.
Phase 4Some variation in deckbuilding and bans from year to year can't hurt, though I hesitate to stray too far from what makes Trials what it is. I like the existence of the points accumulated turning into your upgrades, as it makes EVERY round and match and vote along the way matter for more than just being in the top 2, and playing with an upgrade advantage or disadvantage has an impact on both deck selection and banning strategy in a meaningfully skill-testing way. The advantage is earned, not given, so it seems hardly unfair.
