Arena Decathlon

[FSKFSK]

I like the idea, to motivate players to try new games. I've thought of a multi game tournament mode, but the objective is the same

Yeah, a multi-game tournament would be fun too. I like the Decathlon idea simply because there's not really any organising to do. No registration required, no format discussions or point weightings, no headaches when people abandon. If you want to take part, just start playing the ten games and get to Elite - simple!

Multi-game tournaments probably could be supported without too much extra effort. Maybe a swiss system where the game alternates every round? I.e., play 4 rounds of Splendor and 4 rounds of 7 wonders, alternating.

[msclark]

Still possible to participate even when not answering to the poll?

Yes, definitely - the poll was just to get an idea of if anyone was interested. To take part, all you have to do is play the ten games in Arena and work your way up to Elite. You'll then be ranked at the end of the season.

[Meeplelowda]

1. Guildes
2. 7 Wonders Duel
3. Caravan
4. ToeShamBo
5. Hugo
6. Lords of Xidit
7. Insert
8. Quetzal
9. Nippon
10. Palace

Well, I've played half of these, and hit 100 ELO in three, and made elite in one. I think getting to elite in all of them would be quite a grind. Kudos to anyone who does it.

[Vandaley]

1. Guildes
2. 7 Wonders Duel
3. Caravan
4. ToeShamBo
5. Hugo
6. Lords of Xidit
7. Insert
8. Quetzal
9. Nippon
10. Palace

Well, I've played half of these, and hit 100 ELO in three, and made elite in one. I think getting to elite in all of them would be quite a grind. Kudos to anyone who does it.

I agree with this, but maybe have points for various tiers as well?

I would suggest a base score plus 10x your level in that score.

Diamond: 900+10x
Platinum: 800+10x
Gold: 700+10x
Silver: 600+10x
Bronze: 500+10x (minimum 1 arena game played)

This still encourages everyone to try all of the games but if you don't like a game or are just bad at it, you are not forced to keep slogging away at it.

[msclark]

I would suggest a base score plus 10x your level in that score.

Diamond: 900+10x
Platinum: 800+10x
Gold: 700+10x
Silver: 600+10x
Bronze: 500+10x (minimum 1 arena game played)

This still encourages everyone to try all of the games but if you don't like a game or are just bad at it, you are not forced to keep slogging away at it.

The problem with this is that instead of looking through just the Elite players at the end of the season to see who's eligible, we'd potentially be looking at thousands of players all the way down to Bronze. Perhaps that's possible, but it's a lot more annoying.

If people do find this is too grindy, another option could be to draw 12 random games instead and only your best 10 count. Then if you really hate two games you can ditch them completely.

[Vandaley]

I assumed we were self reporting scores. If people self-report then really you only need to check the top 10 scores or so to make sure that they're accurate.

[msclark]

Just to clarify, if you don't complete all ten games then you'll still be ranked by the number that you do complete. See how many you can get Elite in, even if you can't finish them all.

[msclark]

Congratulations to steve5332, who is the first person to reach the half-way point, getting Elite in 5 of the 10 games: Guildes, ToeShamBo, Insert, Quetzal and Palace!

There's someone else on 4, me on 3 and a few people on 2, so we're hardly tearing up the season but hey - I'm enjoying myself at least.

One thing I've noticed is there are a couple of games where it's quite hard to get games going. Take Nippon, where the games fire fairly infrequently, the players are all pretty strong and it takes a long time to play. It's going to be tough to get to Elite there, even though you only have to fight through Bronze. So next season we should probably specify some minimum popularity, just to give us more of a fighting chance.

[Meeplelowda]

One thing I've noticed is there are a couple of games where it's quite hard to get games going. Take Nippon, where the games fire fairly infrequently, the players are all pretty strong and it takes a long time to play. It's going to be tough to get to Elite there, even though you only have to fight through Bronze.

I've played it a few times and enjoy it, but it's hard to put in the volume that would be needed for all the reasons you mentioned.

[msclark]

One thing I've noticed is there are a couple of games where it's quite hard to get games going. Take Nippon, where the games fire fairly infrequently, the players are all pretty strong and it takes a long time to play. It's going to be tough to get to Elite there, even though you only have to fight through Bronze.

I've played it a few times and enjoy it, but it's hard to put in the volume that would be needed for all the reasons you mentioned.

Yeah, you live and learn. I'm sure "purely random" would work ok if there were 50 decathletes eagerly playing all the games, but until that day it's probably best to stick to games that have at least a bit of popularity.