Honestly, I prefer less random. I am much more in favour of allowing a team to prep for a map.. I do think, however, that some randomness.. maybe in situations of tie breaks. I also like best of 3 but I understand the constraint with casting. Maybe a mix, Bo1 for divisions then for the champisonship, Bo3 then the finals being Bo5.
Teams will know their maps, opponents, and times for the entire regular season from day 1. When I say that the schedule will be released by the Wednesday prior to the first day of matches, I mean a complete regular season schedule.
Tie breaks only factor in during playoffs. Otherwise games end in a draw. I think I said somewhere earlier, I want to preserve the option for all playstyles, while running to a schedule. Want to run a sniping match? Go ahead. If you haven't gotten to 5 kills when time runs out, the game is called (win, loss, or tie) and we move on. I'm not asking for 5 kills.
I originally considered extending to Bo3 and Bo5 for playoffs and finals, but every team will still be in one of the playoffs, and I want to run the playoffs in a single day each. with 2/3 of the teams n the Silver playoffs, there will still be a regular season day's worth of games in the one day. There continues to be time constraints even then.
But say we extend the playoffs to run multiple weekends for each playoff. Ignoring that the event is now growing uncomfortably long, it can be debated either way.
Running with the sports analogy and looking at championship finals,
- American Football - Constrained by player fatigue, so playoffs do not run best of 3. Maintains atmosphere of the regular season: it is not necessarily the better team advancing, but the one who does better that day. Freak plays can change the game, and the underdog has a better shot. Played on a neutral site.
- Basketball - Best of 7. Less player fatigue, so the finals can run longer. Endeavors to determine the best team. Matches are split between the home stadiums of the 2 teams. Initial matches may be of less interest.
- Baseball - Best of 7. Pitcher fatigue/reserves give each game a different flavor as the pitching changes. Endeavors to determine the best team. Matches are split between the home stadiums of the 2 teams. Initial matches may be of less interest.
American football is played at a neutral site, helping eliminate the need for multiple games to cancel out home team advantage. GoIO is played on one of 5 maps, which may provide a "home" advantage to one team.
+1 to Bo3/5
Initial matches in Baseball and basketball
may be less interesting simply due to the games not determining anything final. This puts less pressure on teams to perform at a high level every game.
+1 to Bo1
Underdog has a better chance in American football simply because a single game may not determine the
best team, just who happened to come out on top.
+1 to Bo1
Since we are locked to the rules provided by the game (I would love to set a time limit on a match and just say fight until time runs out, or set the win limit to 10 instead of 5) the decision is really whether the championship can fairly rest on 5 kills.
During the playoffs, I support best of 1, with the higher seed having some input on the map selection. Not an overwhelming input, but some sort of say to reward them for earning the higher seed.
The finals are strongly up for debate. I like the
concept of it still being Bo1, but with only 5 kills ending the season, it seems frighteningly high stakes. But that would be viewing heaven as well.
