I have
participated in trials when I was quite new to the community, I have also
been a TrO. I value both of these experiences, and they both shaped my view of the event. I feel it important to weigh in on this issue because of how important I believe Trials is, and because I value the community members involved, and do not think we should be alienating passionate newcomers as we try to convey why Trials is the way it is. I know I am not the most faithful, longest tenured, or most decorated community member. But I care a lot, and Trials is special to me.
I think a large portion of this disagreement is the two competing fundamentally different perspectives on Trials that have always existed:
1) This is a PvP event that I want to win to prove I am worthy of being a Master - I will call these Provers
2) This is a community event designed to reveal who is most worthy of being a Master- I will call these Revealers
Spoiler for Prover's stance:
For the most part, newer passionate members of the community, often those who display a great deal of skill in PvP events, fall into the Prover camp. This is a big PvP event, draws a lot of community attention, and is a chance for them to test themselves against experienced members with high stakes. They believe that winning Trials is proof that they are worthy, and so competing in the event is important, AS IS the event being as level a playing field as possible. If someone with an upper hand wins, that DID NOT prove anything.
So Provers are generally against "historical" bonuses. Why should participating in a previous War, or Brawl, or even being the current master convey an advantage in a PvP event? That makes it unfair, and invalidates the results to the degree the bonuses affect them. Past Trials should be irrelevant to the current Trials, and the current Trials is more important than any future Trials.
To a Prover, the current Trials is arduous, over complicated, and unfair.
So the Provers generally voice the same simple requests: make the playing field flat and let me play regardless of my experience, if I win it proves I am really worthy.
Spoiler for Revealer's stance:
Many longtime community members view Trials a part of the lifecycle of the community. They have been here through Trials and Wars and Brawls, they participate in the events they want to, and pass on others. They have an idea of how they stack up against other long time players, so they don't feel compelled to join this large event to prove anything in most cases. Their motivations could be that they want to lead a team in War, or they want to be immortalized on the list of Masters for an element, or they think they are the best person for the job so they have some small duty to step up to the task.
Most people in this camp recognize that being a Master is not a trophy they won under their name, it is a position of leadership they signed up for. To this end, Trials is about Revealing who is most worthy of being a master, and the Trials rules were designed to capture as much as possible of what that meant. Trials includes community involvement and community service through creative tasks and quirky challenges and interacting with community members as these things are accomplished. It involves opportunities for community members to ask questions and read your answers and get to know you, and a vote where they can put a voice to who they believe has been revealed as the best candidate.
It also involves playing PvP matches, because this community is built around a competitive card game, and leading war requires PvP skills. And ultimately to become a Master you have to win. But it's bigger than that, and more than that. And being a Master isn't about being the best PvPer in an element. It is about representing that element to the community, and ideally leading the element into war. Building a team of other community members and a vault of cards and leading them into battle where they have to win matches, not just you.
Being in the community for longer helps with many of these aspects. It builds relationships, it helps others learn to trust you, and helps you learn who you want on your team. That's why there are bonuses you accrue over time for participating in other events. That's why their is a community vote. And some of those things are flavored to fit into the bigger themes and stories we build around this card game. TrOs have tried to make them make sense, and be balanced, but ultimately Trials and War were about creating an environment to keep the story of Elements alive.
To a Revealer, a simple PvP tournament could never show us what we need to know to determine the best masters.
Revealers generally voice these requests: we want as many aspects of the community to matter to the Trials as possible, we want to reward those who have contributed to the story of elements and the Trials in the past, and we want a voice in deciding who all the Masters will be. The process will be more complicated, but through the process, the best candidates will be revealed and we shall honor them with the title of Master.
Spoiler for my appeal to the Provers:
Provers, you have to understand that over time, the requirements have diminished greatly(!!!) to enter trials, and the Revealer's have not been happy about it. Each change to the entry requirements feels like a huge concession. "People used to sit out trials because they didn't have 200 posts, why aren't the new people now happy that they can participate?"
"I had to play a final battle against someone with 7 loyalty upgrades, and now it's only 4, these new players are whiners."
With each of these changes to the process, their accomplishments or defeats (and the grand history and story of Elements) feels diminished, slipping towards being forgotten. Your request to "make it fair" is calling their carefully crafted process "bad" and telling them that their "legacy" is "trash". So yeah, they get pretty defensive about it. You need to have a little patience, give it a try as it is. After you have been here a while, it will make more sense. Participating in War gives such a different perspective on what being a General is, and why Trials is designed as it is. The flow of the community is SLOW, I get it, but it was always designed that new people participate in War, then Brawl, then decide if they want to join Trials to become a Master. (and why after winning Trials and leading teams in War, so many vets disappear (missing Brawl) until the next Trials). Showing up right before Trials makes it feel like you are left out, and no one likes being left out, I get that. You haven't had your chance yet, and this one is right here. If it's so important why are all the vets still missing and nonchalant about it?
It isn't as special to them as your first Trials will probably be to you. It isn't the first big chapter of their story, and they are also a little tired probably. They've been on this adventure for a while. I can't speak for all of them, but I think you'd get something like that if you asked most of them.
Spoiler for my appeal to the Revealers:
Revealers, the new players, especially skilled and active ones, are the lifeblood of this community. We have to help them understand they are joining into a long tradition, an epic story, and that over time no great player has gone unnoticed. We want them to compete and show their skills, and we should help them with that, especially as fewer and fewer find their way here. I think that lowering the entrance requirement as the TrO's have is reasonable, as is slightly reducing the bonuses for phase 4. But as this is the more prominent side in the community, we can't just tell them "accept it or GTFO", we gotta work with them. We have to work with them if we still want to have entrants for each element by the time the next Trials rolls around.
I probably would prefer to chat with people that feel strongly about it, instead of trying to respond a bunch in this thread. Turn-based giant text blocks are less conducive to listening and cooperation than real time conversation. I just felt it important to give this discussion some framework and try to appeal to both sides. Maybe there are people on some other position I'm not considering, and I'd be glad to talk with them too.
