Man from Modesto wrote:
I appreciate this comment, Duke. It is what I hoped for... because, I want to open a discussion about what game load makes it interesting to pursue a monthly challenge. In this case, it is too high.
Three games a day doesn't seem very high, especially when Assdoodles usually finish if five minutes or less.
Man from Modesto wrote:My second thought when I saw this was, “This is a point grab by whoever set this up.” Freestyle, speed, assassin... those three are all subsets of the CC community. There are a few players who will clean up on those settings with little effort. Those players will achieve the objective, while most players who participate will just lose points.
On a larger map I would tend to agree with you. However, the reason Assdoodles used to be so overwhelmingly popular is that on the tiny map it's basically luck-of-the drop. Either you end up next to your target and win or you don't. There's very little skill involved, so the advantage that the speed freestylers enjoy on larger maps is minimized. The best player on earth can't win one of these if he gets a shitty drop.
When I started on this site, there used to be hundreds of players playing Assdoodles all day and all night. The attraction, I think, was that they were super-quick, super easy games, and you could knock off dozens of them in a day. In this case, we are only suggesting you knock off three a day.
As far as losing points, you can say that about any luck-driven games. Given that everyone pretty much has an equal chance to win, if you're a high-ranker you'll tend to gain points, if you're a low ranker you'll tend to gain points. You could say the same about any tournament or contest. I think you've been around long enough to know that points come and points go. I was a colonel two months ago, I was a lieutenant two weeks ago, now I'm back to major. No points are permanent on this site. Unless you're currently pushing for Conqueror, I don't think you need to worry. The points you lose one month you'll gain the next month.
Man from Modesto wrote:So, the idea I want to convey to those who do the heavy lifting in setting these up is this: I want to play. But, the objective should seem possible in terms of game load and equality of opportunity across the spectrum of CC players.
Thank you for reading to the bottom.
Thanks for taking the time to offer input. Over time, we do try to cover all bases. No single Challenge can possibly please everyone. We've had many difficulty levels from incredibly hard to incredibly easy. If this really is something you loathe, then by all means skip this month. With a bit of luck next month's Challenge will be more to your liking. However, keep in mind that the primary mandate of the Challenges program is to get people to stretch beyond their usual limits. Too many people get stuck in a rut playing the same maps and settings all the time. The entire point of the Challenges is to help break people out of their ruts and try new things. I'll tell you right now that I'm a person who hates speed and hates freestyle, but I'm going to be attempting to reach beyond myself and I'm trying for this Challenge! Maybe you should give it a chance too; you might find it's not as bad as you think.
