Is there a solution to this problem?

[ChiefPointThief]

I was reading some sushi go arena players go back and forth and decided to make this thread. Every arena season settings are voted on and I’m sure every season there are unhappy players. A few of the games I am aware of that have disputed settings are ttr, catan, sushi go, and terra mystica. I stopped playing terra mystica several seasons ago because the number of gurus who didn’t like the settings I wanted were greater and now this will be the 13th straight season with no additional factions even though there’s a large number of players who would like a change. The other games I mentioned are about # of players.

Are either of these ideas plausible for popular games with disputed settings?

1. Have 2 completely separate arena seasons.

2. Have both settings available in the same arena but players could adjust their settings to be in games with their preferred settings.

I know #2 has counter arguments and would work better depending on the game and what the two setting

[ChiefPointThief]

Also where can you find either the amount of games played or # of participants for an arena season? Would multiplying a game that was reduced from 4p to 2p by 2 be a correct calculation?

[jmcl99]

where can you find either the amount of games played or # of participants for an arena season?

Each game has a halloffame page which you can get to from the main page of the game in question. For example the page for Terra Mystica can be found at https://boardgamearena.com/halloffame?g ... &season=12
This gives both bits of info and you can follow links to look at earlier seasons too (though the "See season's rules" has never worked for me).

Would multiplying a game that was reduced from 4p to 2p by 2 be a correct calculation?

Unlikely. There are, IMO, a lamentably high number of games that are best for 3 or 4 players but which have a 2p Arena. Playing these games 2 player is not of interest to me and I suspect that others may have a similar opinion. Conversely, others prefer two player because it makes it easier to get an Arena game going. YMMV.

Having dual seasons for the same game seems interesting. I think that option 1 would be more likely to be accepted because otherwise arguments would arise on the difficulty or otherwise of the different settings.

[ChiefPointThief]

where can you find either the amount of games played or # of participants for an arena season?

Each game has a halloffame page which you can get to from the main page of the game in question. For example the page for Terra Mystica can be found at https://boardgamearena.com/halloffame?g ... &season=12
This gives both bits of info and you can follow links to look at earlier seasons too (though the "See season's rules" has never worked for me).

Would multiplying a game that was reduced from 4p to 2p by 2 be a correct calculation?

Unlikely. There are, IMO, a lamentably high number of games that are best for 3 or 4 players but which have a 2p Arena. Playing these games 2 player is not of interest to me and I suspect that others may have a similar opinion. Conversely, others prefer two player because it makes it easier to get an Arena game going. YMMV.

Having dual seasons for the same game seems interesting. I think that option 1 would be more likely to be accepted because otherwise arguments would arise on the difficulty or otherwise of the different settings.

Ty. Just looking at some numbers I would say the top 25 games have enough players to support having two arena seasons if there is a dispute. Ticket to Ride for example had 9500 players in its opening season and 10,000 this season. The player pool is even greater considering the players who refused to play either season due to settings. With 400,000 games played combined in both seasons. It will still be competitive and there will be a lot more players pleased with a 2 arena season format.