Here is CC Auto Tournaments advice and my comments in Red. For Tournaments running THOUSANDS of games per month, CC optomising the site to support them is a must.
Maybe CC will look to improve what is here already:
Auto Tournaments
Setup
Auto Tournaments are set up by Conquer Club Admin or the Tournament Team.
Types
Currently all AutoTournaments are Elimination, meaning that players get allocated opponents in each round and play a series of games against those same opponents. When the round ends a certain number of players will progress based on results. Once eliminated from a round there is no second chance.
Problem 1: "When the round ends a certain number of players will progress based on results" - This does not allow for a Tournament to Progress until ALL games in the previous Round are complete. Very Slow when you want to run a MASSIVE Tournament.
Problem 2: "Once eliminated from a round there is no second chance." - So, onlyKO's can be set up. Unless you want to run lots of small Tournaments and try to pass it off as one big Tournament. What is here is okay for the most basic of Tournaments. But, in my experience, players want more.
Players
Each Tournament is configured for a certain number of players and will start after that many players have joined. Auto Tournaments are initiated by background processing on an hourly basis.
Problem 3: Maybe this is why Tournaments start with 8, 16, 32 runners? It doesn't help if you want to attract as many players as possible.
Games
Auto Tournaments can involve every possible type of games, with the exception of Team Games and Bot Games. These are being considered for future integration. Some Tournaments may use the same game settings throughout, others may change the settings, or choose random settings.
Schedule
An automated may have a scheduled start time, which will be indicated in Conquer Club Time (CCT). The tournament will not start before this time. If the tournament is full at the scheduled time, it will start. If it is not full, it will revert to being an unscheduled Auto Tournament. If the tournament is a Speed Auto Tournament you should plan to be online at the scheduled time or your games will start without you.
Problem 4: Automated start times of Tournaments is good. But how about Automated start times of Tournament Rounds? Because, without that, you can't automatically run HUGE Tournaments in a League format.
Entry Rules
Tournaments can have a variety of entry rules to restrict entry to different types of players. They may be restricted based on Membership Type, Score, Rank, Games Played, and more. The Entry Rules are applied at the time of joining the Tournament. Note that it is possible that after joining the Tournament player may stop meeting the Entry Rules, however the Entry Rules are only applied upon joining.
In addition to the Entry Rules of the specific Tournament, if you do not qualify for the type or quantity of games being played at the time of joining, then you will not be allowed to join. If you join a Tournament legitimately then become unqualified for some of its games before it starts, or while it is running, then when a new round starts you will be precluded from entering any of those games you are not qualified for. Those games will be played with 1 less player or awarded to the remaining player if only 1 player remains.
Players that have been inactive (not logged in) for 7 days at the time of the tournament attempts to start will be dropped from the tournament. The tournament will then await for additional players to join.
Entry Price
Tournaments can have a price for entry that may be a combination of Inventory items or Credits. Any such price will be withdrawn from your player account upon joining. Any entry cost is refunded if you unjoin the tournament.
Rounds
Tournaments proceed in a series of 1 or more rounds.
Each round has its own rules for Draw Type, Game Settings, how many games each player plays and how many players progress to the next round.
After each round players are eliminated according to the scoring system described below. Each round allows a certain number of players to progress based on their ranked Scores after all games are complete.
The next round will start when every game from the proceeding round is completed. Players not qualifying for the next round will be eliminated.
Scoring
By default scoring is based on number of Game Wins over the entire tournament. However, individual Rounds may Reset the scores, so that the scoring will begin again from that round. When the first round of the Tournament is seeded by score, the player's score at time of joining the tournament is used in that round only. Players that have been inactive (not logged in) for 7 days at the time of the scoring will have their score zeroed.
Problem 5: No scoring system available for League situations
Ties in Score shall be broken by the following rules, applied in order:
Percentage of wins in the tournament as a whole
The cumulative number of Game rounds required to win the games they have won in the tournament (since the last point reset, or the start of the tournament if no point reset has occurred). Note: winning in less rounds is better.
The order in which the player joined the tournament (first player to join wins)
Draw
Matchups for each Round can be:
Seeded by Score: Players are ranked in order of their Score, which will be their Player Score in Round 1, then their Tournament Score in subsequent Rounds. Tournament Score is based on the number of game wins in the Tournament. Ranked players are then matched using a simple algorithm. For example in a 4 Player Round the matchups would be: Seed 1 v Seed 4 and Seed 2 v Seed 3.
Random: Players are matched up randomly.
Play Order
When each game is generated the Play Order is randomized.
Problem 6: Let the Organiser dictate who goes 1st in Tournaments.
Prizes
Prizes may be issued for Auto Tournament wins after the Tournament is completed. Every game must be completed before prizes are issued, even if the winner is already decided from the completed games. There are currently the following types of prizes:
Medals: A Conquer Club Medal, usually a Tournament Achievement Medal.
Credits: Conquer Credits.
Entries: Entry to other Conquer Club events such as The Championships, The Conquer Cup or Community Run Tournaments.
Inventory: Conquer Stars and other items of inventory.
Automation
Some things for Auto Tournaments are updated as they happen, for example Scores changing. Major Tournament transitions in regular (non-speed) Tournaments such as Rounds starting and ending, the Tournament ending, and prizes being issued are handled by background processing that generally runs hourly. A few things, such as prizes for Entry to certain events, may be handled manually at a later time.
Problem 7: Have automated Scoreboards and League Tables for each Tournament. A lot, not all current Tournaments that players have no idea at which point or position of the Tournament they are in. It doesn't make for good Touraments.[/color]
Some people will say, ah but he is running a Tournament where 16,000 games have Completed in 4 Months and just wants to change it for his own benefit. That's not the case at all. I want to see fun Tournaments for players to play in. Huge ones that offer complexity. Without some of the changes above, this remains a huge challenge for any Tournament Organiser looking to do so. It's time for CC to step up to the challenge!
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