Board Game Arena

Would be nice if we could make arena into 2 player

I’m pretty sure none of the top elo players will play 4p as it’s much higher variance and the incentive to pick on the best player increases that effect

Most players play 7 cube with void, I like totally random maps

Ideally there could just be separate arena ladders for different player counts (both for this and other games...). But if the system only allows it to be one, it would make much more sense to be the one that most of the high level players who actually play the game regularly use.

I don't care too much about the specific configurations outside of the player count, but I have no interest in arena mode as long as it is 4p.

I agree. I like 2 player, large map the best. It also takes forever to get 4 players together for a game. I have tried a few time to play an arena match. But gave up because I had to wait too long for players. 2 player would make more doable.

I just discovered this discussion now that Arena has come back to 2p. I'm sad about it as I really dislike this mode, which just allows a player to snowball off initial victories.

I understand that it is a popular mode in competitive playing, but I will no longer play in Arena Quantum while it is so.

My opinion is in line with Ratburntro44's that 2p has too much snowballing.
Quantum's balance comes from having players choose to attack based on who helps you win. I personally (in arena mode) do not attack based on ELO. In early game I might make decisions around who I am worried about scaling up too fast. But barring blowouts, Quantum should hit a stage where everyone is trying to keep the top player down while advancing their cause.
I will say 4p is a bit slow (to play, to get a game). I am personally a fan of 3p.
I do admit if there are people out their whose strategy is attack the highest elo player it would be rough, but I did not find that to be an issue last season.
I propose 3p as a balance of adding the necessary balance to quantum while reducing the time to get a game and how long they take.

Jakee wrote: ↑08 July 2020, 19:47 I propose 3p as a balance of adding the necessary balance to quantum while reducing the time to get a game and how long they take.

I agree, I like 3p. 3p and 6-or-7-cube maps (new map option) would be my preference.

One thing I noticed about 4p is that I play against new opponents more frequently. I would prefer to go with the option that keeps the Quantum community thriving here. I'd like to see more players, new players and a community that welcomes interest. 2p can be oppressive and one bad experience could turn a gamer off Quantum for a long time. I would suggest 3p or 4p for that reason.

Acetylsalicilique wrote: ↑07 July 2020, 16:45I understand that it is a popular mode in competitive playing, but I will no longer play in Arena Quantum while it is so.

Arena is all about competitive playing, is it not?

I'm the one who bugged the admin to change it to 2P, and I'm surprised to see so much support for 3P / 4P. When we were just playing for ELO, I'm pretty sure none of the top 20 players ever played anything else than 2P. But that might be because of the ELO system which discourage that very much.
I only play turn based and 4P games often take weeks while 2P usually take a couple of days at most. I think realtime 4P games are more than 1 hour, are they not?
Maybe we can ask the admins to try 3P next season.

I still like 2 player and will probably not play if we change it back to 3 or 4 player.

galehar wrote: ↑11 July 2020, 18:07 I'm the one who bugged the admin to change it to 2P, and I'm surprised to see so much support for 3P / 4P. When we were just playing for ELO, I'm pretty sure none of the top 20 players ever played anything else than 2P. But that might be because of the ELO system which discourage that very much.

I can only speak for myself, but I just don't like the game very much in 3/4p, regardless of ELO. I'll continue not to play arena if isn't 2p (but I'm not really attached enough to arena to be very mad about that; I'm happy to just play 2p rated games instead). Switching player count on a seasonal basis might be a reasonable compromise.