I've hosted a couple of tournaments for players ranked Sergeant or lower.
"ENLISTED 16 - Australia" http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179480
"ENLISTED 16 - Luxembourg" http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=180560
The concept is that friends and family I've invited to CC and others like them might enjoy a tournament designed for people that are new to CC.
These tournaments have been "Freemium friendly" in that participants can play their games one-at-a-time.
But I'm thinking there are really 2 different groups of people that have been playing the tournaments.
And it might be better to split up and offer 2 kinds of tournaments:
ENLISTED 16 - premium
ENLISTED 16 - new2CC (new to Conquer Club)
The premium version could feature more "complex" maps and maybe 5 games per match (to make it less of a luck-of-the-drop thing who advances).
It would be premium only.
These tournaments would be designed for experienced players with scores under 1600. The rationale is that tournaments are often created for players above a certain rank, but there aren't many for this bracket. Making a category separate from the freemium version would make the tournament faster since you wouldn't have to wait on people to finish their 1-at-a-time matches and we could play 5 game matches (which appeals to me as more fair).
The "new2CC" version would probably feature simple maps (Doodle Earth next?). It would allow freemiums and give them the option of 1-at-a-time.
It would be limited to players with LESS than 200 games played (for example).
The idea is that rank isn't a very reliable indication of skill - especially with experienced players.
New players are at a distinct disadvantage, but would enjoy competing in a tournament.
So the "new2CC" category "protects" those new players by matching them up against people with a similar level of experience and rank.
But I'm concerned that experienced players with free accounts could get gypped.
Any other problems you see?
If you're interested in participating let me know what maps you would like.
I'm thinking the next 2 tourneys would be:
ENLISTED 16 (premium): Determined by vote?
ENLISTED 16 (new2CC): Doodle Earth
I think I'll ask players to vote for the map in the premium version. Should it use FOG? Lots of great maps out there if this is something people want to do.