A proposed revamp of TWL, would like staff input

[Creature]

Simply put, TWL is in need of massive changes. More eloquently put by Ease in the other thread, I'm going to present you a proposed solution instead of the massive clusterfuck of no purpose discussion everyone else is talking about. While there are some good points raised in a bunch of threads, there needs to be more changes than the simple ones raised by Ease, or the completely insane ideas raised by other people.

I didn't just come up with idea in one second and gave it some real thought, and only ask that people discuss this with the full intention of implementing it. Please give your real thoughts and make them professional, I don't want your trolling bullshit here. If you don't care about change, at least don't be a dick and get in the way of people who are trying to make a difference.

I'm happy to work with staff to submit a complete proposal for action. In fact, I'd ask that staff provide next steps for them to consider this as an actual potential resolution to our shrinking population size for TWL next year.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
- Increase player base activity
- Encourage training new players into TWL system
- Maintain competitive atmosphere
- Match population/staffing size with TWL cadence/schedule

TWO TIER TWL SYSTEM:
- Run 3 times a year
- Top 7 squads in TWD get TWL
- Highest 4 squads in TWD at the date of TWL week 3 (hardlock), become the 4 TWL Amateur league squads

TWL
- Regular season 6 weeks long
- Soft lock week 2
- Hard lock week 3
- Reduce # of squads in TWL to 7 in LD/LJ/LB
- Playoffs for top 5 squads
- Make roster limit 10 for one league, 16 for two leagues, 20 for three leagues

TWL-Amateur
- Season starts @ hard lock (twl week 3) and then run concurrently with TWL
- Regular season 3 weeks long
- 4 squads in LD/LJ/LB
- Make roster limit 10 for one league, 16 for two leagues, 20 for three leagues
- Playoffs for all 4 squads, seeding determined by regular season standings
- Playoffs are done in 1 day/week to determine winner and to align with TWL playoffs
- Winner of TWL-Amateur league receives #6 seed in the REAL TWL Playoffs

Preemptive answers why this idea was created as thus:
1.) Smaller TWL and shorter season makes easier staff scheduling/running
2.) Less squads in TWL matches lower population count
3.) Tighter squad roster limits + smaller squads will FORCE squads to pick and choose their players wisely (encouraging people to be ACTIVE)
4.) TWL Amateur league makes the jump from complete n00b to playing in TWL powerhouse squad much easier and displays new talent on a higher pedestal

Answers to inevitable "OMG amateur league is dumb and they shouldn't get into playoffs":
1.) People are in this game for instant gratification and satisfication. Do you really think a new player is going to want to waste 1 year "proving" themselves before getting a shot at the big leagues?
2.) The amateur league starts at hardlock. This allows people who didn't make the TWL cut to join amateur league squads.
3.) The incentive for amateur leagues/squads is a shot at REAL glory in TWL. If the 1 seed in TWL can't beat the best amateur squad in TWL playoffs, then that amateur squad clearly deserves to be in TWL playoffs.
4.) "what about the other TWL squads that didn't make playoffs?" - too bad, you suck if you didn't make playoffs. Why don't you try to make amateur league #1 and just lose. I have no sympathy if you are in TWL and you are the shittest squad in TWL. Only two squads are getting cut, and if you're one of those two....suck it up because you lost games. The whole entire point of TWL is putting forth the BEST squads in TW. Plus, why the hell do deserve playoffs if you can't make the 5 squad cutoff? You don't.
5.) This promotes TRAINING talent and gives people more reason to actually CARE about the lower tier squads. Nobody wants to be stuck on a shit squad if you're a good player (even if you're a new good player). Now with a carrot in front of making it to the real TWL playoffs, you all of sudden have a reason to log in if you're kicking ass in the Amateur league (vs. normally you would just come on for virtual amateur league glory? who cares.)

TL;DR Summary:
- TWL and TWL Amateur league
- TWL Amateur league winner gets to attend TWL playoffs as #6 seed
- Smaller # of squads, (7 in TWL, 4 in Amateur League)
- Smaller squad size limits (10 for 1 league, 16 for 2 leagues, 20 for 3 leagues)

[Aura]

I like this.

[menomena]

Im gonna demote Flared rite now

[kthx]

Heres my problems.

5 out of 7 squads that play in twl make the playoffs, whats the point of even playing the season, it makes the regular season a joke. Allso having that many leagues a year is going to make the leagues a joke, we get a once a year population boost from TWL currently and I can't imagine people bothering to show up if there were three TWL champions crowned a year.

The idea I suggested several years back makes much more sense.

Any active squad that wants to play in twl can play in twl, make the regular season 9 weeks long, put the squads that are in TWL into three tiers (1/2/3 one being the best), make sure every squad in twl plays atleast one of each of these tiers in the first three weeks, and cut the lowest (lets say 15 twld squads) 3 squads, three more weeks, 3 more squads gone, three more weeks, three more squads gone, that leaves you with the six best squads for the championships while also systematically removing the worst squads from the leagues and making the games after each cut better.

[the_paul]

Parts of this I like a lot

[Ricko]

I like this a lot, but the only real issue i'd have with this is that it should be run twice a year, not 3 times (3 times would pretty much mean twl was permanently running, and we know the zone gets even more inactive during twl).

Another issue could be idiot squad hoppers (people like rasaq) who will intentionally leave their squad before softlock/hardlock as they think they'll have more chance making playoffs by winning the 'easier' amateur league to get their spot in to twl playoffs as opposed to winning enough games in the regular twl season to make the playoffs if their current squad isn't looking too strong by the time twl gets started. Or people actually intentionally not qualifying for twl and waiting to push for qualification to the amateur league as an easier route to the playoffs.

This is honestly a great idea, i've been a fan for bringing in some sort of lower/amateur league and this is probably the best way to implement it effectively with the current population of tw, let's do this....twl needs a breath of fresh air. P.s Creature gtfo D3 and get back in tw

[Infrared]

Slack off and get into amateur league on purpose -> only have to play 3 reg season games -> ez playoff spot

[Jones]

if you really wanted some staff input you should've spammed nigger in public

[Engineers]

I like your ideas, but I also agree with Kthx's first paragraph. 5/7 doesn't seem competitive at all. Why not increase the number of squads in the higher tier while keeping the playoff # at 5? If you think there aren't enough squads in tw for that, then decrease the number of squads that make playoffs. Either way, you need to balance between being competitive and being attractive to newer players. I don't think having more than 2 tiers would be a good idea though, it's a lot more confusing. And, as Ricko said, implementing a "cutting out a squad" method might lead to some people taking advantage of the situation by hopping (yes I know hardlock is proposed at week 3 but still).

[Money]

[Harder]

I'm down for 3 TWLs a year, twl playoffs this year was during exams for us Canadians.

I have more time in the summer we should run the next one (July = qualifications)

Minimum games limit should be 15.

And we can pick how many squads are in each league depending on what the ladder looks like at the end of the month.

[Aura]

We are looking into this thoroughly. We just don't have an official response yet.

[Creature]

Heres my problems.

5 out of 7 squads that play in twl make the playoffs, whats the point of even playing the season, it makes the regular season a joke. Allso having that many leagues a year is going to make the leagues a joke, we get a once a year population boost from TWL currently and I can't imagine people bothering to show up if there were three TWL champions crowned a year.

I'm fine with reducing to two TWLs a year (I leave this dependent on staff, what makes sense to get enough staff support) but really think it should be 3. I don't see anything wrong with having 3. It's not going to reduce people who show up...if ANYTHING it will simply make it so MORE people get to play in a high visbility league. This week isn't as long as well....one of the biggest retarded things is that our TWL season is literally 14 weeks long. Who the the fuck can devote 14 Sundays in a row to playing TWL?

As to your first point, I can see 5 out of 7 not being competitive upon reconsideration. In that case, let's make it 8 squads...if we have the population to even support that. I don't think we should really go any less than 6 (due to playoff size structure).

We are looking into this thoroughly. We just don't have an official response yet.

Thanks. Looking forward to hearing your guys thoughts.

[Pressure]

More strict roster limits should be implemented.

[mtine]

If you guys are scared of squadhoppers moving squads prior to hardlock, then just do the Amateur League before the regular TWL season. Let's say first 7 squads on TWD ladder qualify for TWL instantly while the other remaining squads battle it out in a Tournament-like Amateur League to determine the best-of-the-rest who goes to play TWL later on. Just an idea. Oh, and people can't change squads once they qualify.