TWDT Draft Sunday January 13th

[Henry Saari]

TWDT Draft will be on Sunday January 13th at 3:00PM EST. Notice one hour earlier start time than previous years!

Draft order will be randomized at 2:00PM EST and will be most likely streamed too.

We will be drafting at ?go TWDT come watch if you like!

[Mythril]

Commodo volunteering to cap was the final puzzle piece to reviving the game. We're now greenlighting the draft and the TWDT season this Sunday. We have 137 signups. We're on pace to have the most signups since 2015, and the current date says 2019.

This game is back. ?go base is alive daily with disgusting levels of trash talk. Public Assassin just told me he has Sundays off. Got em. Jessup is taking every single fucking twjd to overtime. Let's go. Ogron and Heaven have declared they're both pieces of overrated shit. Yes. This is what we needed. Rab just added another player to ?ignore. Fuck yes. Steadman just won his first twjd vs zidane and ease. #litty. Beam told me I'm a faggot for making him a 7* jav. #overruled

THE GAME IS BREATHING

SHOW UP FOR THE DRAFT. We're doing livestreams with live draft commentary like last year. We might even turn it into a podcast for you to jerk off to. I'm gonna make sure trivia is hosted during the draft. The nerds love that shit. I'm going to have pee pee sock teach us how to play rock paper scissors during the draft. Fuck it.

We're back. #TWDT2019

[Rab]

Are we going to be using the TWDT website for this season?
https://twdt.trenchwars.com/

[Ricko]

what were all of the previous years' draft signup numbers out of interest?

[Henry Saari]

According to spreadsheets, signup numbers from previous years, including free agents.

TWDT 2016 (Winter) - 250 players
TWDT 2016 (Fall) - 226 players
TWDT 2017 (Winter) - 210 players
TWDT 2017 (Fall) - 146 players
TWDT 2018 - 163 players

TWDT 2019 is one shy of 140 signups right now.

[Afri]

I nominate Mythril for head of propaganda dept.

[Mythril]

lmao I was given false information (by the man who just posted concrete numbers). Best turnout since 2018, I'll fucking take it my brothers.

The game is back. You know how I know it's back? Because Tiny just signed up and he fucking hates this league. ugandan sniper just signed up and he played 0 total games last season. It's go time.

#TWDT2019

[Ricko]

I definitely checked the previous years' signup sheets after posting that question and realised you were completely wrong, but I didn't want to highlight it :laugh:

[Mythril]

I definitely checked the previous years' signup sheets after posting that question and realised you were completely wrong, but I didn't want to highlight it :laugh:

The number came from me wondering if we needed a 7th team after watching the signup sheet blow up. I asked henry how this compared to last drafts and he said we might have the most signups since 2015. And that's actually true, but only if we continue the ridiculous pace we're on.

TWDT and the zone itself was pretty much dead in the water less than a month ago. The community really stepped up and we've been averaging 35+ signups a week for several weeks now. It's been incredible to watch. We'll probably end up with around 180 by the FA draft, which is the most in 2 years. But that wasn't really my point.

The community went from a ghost town to finding 100+ members to commit to playing another TWDT league in just 3 weeks. The players are still around. It might be possible to run a TWL after this season if we capitalize on this activity.

You should come back Ricko, game could use another elite warbird and baser if you have some free time Sundays. And please do not fact check me ever again.

[ogron]

It might be possible to run a TWL after this season if we capitalize on this activity.

I would respectfully disagree.

I cross-referenced the TWDT 2019 ratings list with the TWL 20 stats. I chose TWL 20 because it is what many consider the last passable season of TWL. It is also the last season with Fierce, and the last season featuring at least 8 teams in all three leagues, among other things.

75% of the players from TWL 20 are gone or not signed up for TWDT 2019. Of the 200 players who played TWL that year, only 50 are playing.




There are 10-12 players who are of TWL quality that did not play Season 20 like Burnt, Bacon, Bram, Attacks, Children, Lockdown, Ra, Lofty, Rab, and Solace. That only brings the number up to around 60.

That still means that 70% of the talent is gone. I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't want to play in a league calling itself TWL and being a joke full of ?go base lines. Disrespectful to all the prior players who competed and won TWL, too. 9 and 10 Stars were benched, you had to fight for spots within your own squad, and you had to beat lines chock full of legends who had won Seasons 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. and acted as the final boss.

It's not an issue of just "fine, we'll just call it something else". I've tried to assemble enough lines for a TWL-type league, and there just isn't enough talent.

I think what you're possibly yearning for (and I am too) is being able to play with your friends and people you actually like in a league, instead of being forced into a random assortment of players like TWDT. I would very much like that as well.

The only solution I see is a half-and-half league.

You start with a core of 2 or 3 players who you want to play with in WB and Jav, and then draft the rest. Maybe 3 or 4 in Base. Might also be a good idea to reduce games to 4v4 and 7v7.

Even then, it's a stretch. I tried making 3-man cores for warbird and javelin, and 5-man cores for base, and the results are not inspiring. This is pretty much all the elite talent signed up for TWDT. 3-man cores for WB don't work. For six teams, you'd probably have to have 2-man cores in WB/Jav. You could maybe do 4-man cores in base, but 1 shark max. Sharks are too important and too sparse. So 1 terr, 1 shark, 2 spider cores.

So, 6 teams in a half-and-half league, with two-man cores in WB, two or three-man scores in Jav, and three or four-man cores in Base -- elite players who want to play together -- then drafting the rest of their teams and playing in a league with no star limits.

I think that's the only way a league that wants to be more like TWL works.

[afghan]

That?s some good data ogron but I still think that it?s underestimating the potential of having an altered TWL. I think TWL would only work if twld/twlj were separated from twlb in order to spread out the teams and competition. Your list of the players from twl has like 15+ strong players in red that have played in the past year (from basing league and twdt 2018). If the current signups stuck around and the announcement was delivered appropriately and effectively then I think more of those players would come back. Also, there are 38 players on that list that played 3 or less games so it?s not like they were a huge part of twl. Obviously this is all hypothetical as I have never played twl but I don?t think it?s unreasonable. Plus a competitive league like twl (similar to egfl) tends to draw people back.

[Jessup]

I always thought if TWL came back base division should allow double squadding in order to reach limits needed. Claus' idea of player cores with a mix of draft is one I've mentioned myself before too though I said if that happened it should NOT be called TWL. I've also suggested lowering player limits to 4 vs 4 for wb and jav divisions. It would be cool to see something happen again with players having some choice where to go but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves until we see how this twdt season plays out a bit though.

[zidane]

TWL can work, the big thing is TWLB can't be run at the same time. As soon as you take TWLB out of the discussion it becomes a lot easier to imagine TWL happening again, if the LJ/LD go well and there's enough interest, gogo LB right after.

Lets focus on having a fun TWDT and see what the zone activity is like during this DT season to see if it's possible first.

[Wirah]

Are we going to be using the TWDT website for this season?
https://twdt.trenchwars.com/

I'll fix this up in time for Week 1