Hello everyone,
I've been thinking for a while now about a handicap tournament. As a proof of concept, let's say this was limited to 8 players to begin with.
The format of the tournament would be a single elimination seeded bracket (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final). The twist is that the eight players would be 100 ELO higher than each other (I.e. seed 1 = 1000 ELO, seed 2 = 1100 ELO ... seed 8 = 1700 ELO). Stick with me here...
Players would then compete, but with handicaps. The ELO difference for all first round games is 100, so handicaps will be mild. Handicaps will be decided by the admin, and shared with the higher ELO player only. During some preliminary testing, I found this made it a bit fairer, because if the lower ELO player knows the handicap then it can be very easily countered. An example of a mild handicap would be you have to send your opponent 5 of your starting sheep. (Also note that a suitable 100 ELO handicap between a 1600 and 1700 is likely to be different to a suitable handicap between a 1000 and 1100).
As the tournament progresses, ELO differences will widen and handicaps will get more crazy. Some fun ones we tried were forcing the higher ELO player to build 10 barracks in dark age before clicking, monks + petard only, picking Sicilians etc. (just kidding about sicilians haha)
Hopefully, this tournament would produce some pretty wild games and also be fun for the players and viewers - I am 1200 rated and I found it very enjoyable to play both receiving a handicap and facing a handicap.
Notable pros/cons:
Pros:
-Unique games practically guaranteed, novel gameplay and adaptability showcased with creative gameplay highly rewarded
-A wide range of talent on show which is good for some sections of the community that may feel underrepresented
-Not too complicated logistically (no new accounts required, games can be played live or recorded)
Cons
- Boring handicaps = boring games
- Ensuring the right level of handicap is pretty much impossible, so there are likely to be a few very one sided games
- Avoiding smurfs is technically impossible (although aoe2.net will really help in avoiding smurfs)
- I've got absolutely no tournament hosting experience! 11
Please let me know what you think!
I've been thinking for a while now about a handicap tournament. As a proof of concept, let's say this was limited to 8 players to begin with.
The format of the tournament would be a single elimination seeded bracket (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final). The twist is that the eight players would be 100 ELO higher than each other (I.e. seed 1 = 1000 ELO, seed 2 = 1100 ELO ... seed 8 = 1700 ELO). Stick with me here...
Players would then compete, but with handicaps. The ELO difference for all first round games is 100, so handicaps will be mild. Handicaps will be decided by the admin, and shared with the higher ELO player only. During some preliminary testing, I found this made it a bit fairer, because if the lower ELO player knows the handicap then it can be very easily countered. An example of a mild handicap would be you have to send your opponent 5 of your starting sheep. (Also note that a suitable 100 ELO handicap between a 1600 and 1700 is likely to be different to a suitable handicap between a 1000 and 1100).
As the tournament progresses, ELO differences will widen and handicaps will get more crazy. Some fun ones we tried were forcing the higher ELO player to build 10 barracks in dark age before clicking, monks + petard only, picking Sicilians etc. (just kidding about sicilians haha)
Hopefully, this tournament would produce some pretty wild games and also be fun for the players and viewers - I am 1200 rated and I found it very enjoyable to play both receiving a handicap and facing a handicap.
Notable pros/cons:
Pros:
-Unique games practically guaranteed, novel gameplay and adaptability showcased with creative gameplay highly rewarded
-A wide range of talent on show which is good for some sections of the community that may feel underrepresented
-Not too complicated logistically (no new accounts required, games can be played live or recorded)
Cons
- Boring handicaps = boring games
- Ensuring the right level of handicap is pretty much impossible, so there are likely to be a few very one sided games
- Avoiding smurfs is technically impossible (although aoe2.net will really help in avoiding smurfs)
- I've got absolutely no tournament hosting experience! 11
Please let me know what you think!