Squad system review

TeaLeaf · February 03, 2003, 09:39:02 AM

One of the most appreciated and welcomed benefits of the squad system was that people knew that on their squad night they had a good chance of playing. It would be nice if whatever system we agree on could maintain that benefit.

Are we saying we want 2 or 3 squads? We have comments for both above. I personally don't mind which.

It is apparent from all of the above comment that we should make the squads mixed ability - split the hardcore regulars, backfill (to quote someone) and then rotate people on a regular basis to keep the mix fresh.

The above suggestions also proposed that in addition to the squads, where we play cups or knockouts the 'best' squad be picked irrespective of squads.

I think we can take it as read that like the current system, whichever squad match it is, where that squad cannot fill all of the slots, that other players be picked form those other people available. So flexibility (mud/putty) can be maintained.

In practice the current system has proved fairly flexible and I see no reason why the above should not also maintain that adaptability.

We need to bring this to a close fairly soon to provide feedback to the members. So may I propose the following deadline?

Deadline: 10.00pm Wednesday 5th February

TL.

TeaLeaf · February 03, 2003, 09:43:16 AM

OK, I have tried to summarise what everyone has said above in the proposals:

1. Keep a squad-based & SL-based system.
2. Abolish the 'Best' & 'the Rest' squads
3. Create 2 new and evenly skill-balanced squads.
4. Instigate a 'refresh' program that moves players from squad to squad over the months.
5. Keep a 'Best' squad recorded somewhere for Cups/Knockout Tournaments.

Does that summarise the general view fairly?

TL.

Stryker · February 03, 2003, 10:07:43 AM

nah-hah I pointed out that mixes should be picked anyways WHILE maintaining squads....

we should pick A league (as in singular) where we want to make our fragmonkey mark and join the other 99.999999% of clans.... then all other leagues/matches etc are played with a mix.

On the "guarenteed better chance for a game theme" my being one of the mass un-washed and a defeatest is the main reason for not putting my name down.... my time really is that scarce so booking a slot to attend a game and not getting on is NO go.... the old pick team in order of registration of interest was the best for me..... at least I knew I was playing....

in fact eureka.... thats exactly why I cant play now... this whole random picking deal has thrown it for me.

TeaLeaf · February 03, 2003, 05:51:42 PM

Quotenah-hah I pointed out that mixes should be picked anyways WHILE maintaining squads....

Colour me a daft prat if I am missing something painstakingly obvious here, but why maintain the current squads AND pick'n'mix? :? They are mutually exclusive are they not? In any case, the single most prevalent answer from the member comments was that they wanted to get rid of the current 'best' and 'the rest' squads and make the squads mixed ability. The new squads would maintain the same "if it is your squad's match then you'll get preference over any member of the other squad" selection policy, but members would be rotated to ensure that all members get to play with all other members.

Quotewe should pick A league (as in singular) where we want to make our fragmonkey mark and join the other 99.999999% of clans.... then all other leagues/matches etc are played with a mix.

This would banish your so called 'popular' players to one match per week and never again playing with other members of the clan - something that the members did not want to see happen. The suggestion was that for our Cup or Knockout matches, that we select purely on a 'frag-monkey' basis to put the best squad out there to compete for dMw, leaving normal league or ladder matches to the squads.

QuoteOn the "guarenteed better chance for a game theme" my being one of the mass un-washed and a defeatest is the main reason for not putting my name down.... my time really is that scarce so booking a slot to attend a game and not getting on is NO go.... the old pick team in order of registration of interest was the best for me..... at least I knew I was playing....

This is the single most popular benefit of the squad system. You have a much better chance of playing on a night where it is your squad's match. Our experience to date has shown that if you were a Ghost (the great un-washed) you had a solid-gold guarantee of a game as every match needed Zombies to make up the numbers - so you should have put your name down :wink: Anyway, the SLs have been doing their best to make sure that all peeps get a game and if you are only available on a limited number of occassions then that would have been taken into account in the match selection policy - although to date it is only Zombies who have been missing out on a game.

Whilst the availability page idea is a good one, it does discriminate against those who have no work web access or who are out on-site for the day. As an 'early-bird booker' myself I recognise the same group of people who like me always book early and therefore would always get a game under that system. In any case though, (a) the webbie does not always reflect the order you register as available for the game (I have seen it happen to me on a number of ocassions as my name slips down the order

, (B) it has yet to make any difference to Ghosts and © I cannot recall the match selection policy EVER having operated on the basis of who registered first on availability? Perhaps Oldie could confirm?

Quotein fact eureka.... thats exactly why I cant play now... this whole random picking deal has thrown it for me.

As has been shown, if you had put your name down you would have had a copper-bottomed guarantee of a match as I cannot recall a single match where the 16 person Ghost squad managed to field the 5 or 6 man squad on their own without Zombie assistance. This may be unfair as I have not been there for every match myself, but this is my recollection.

Jeez, I'm living up to my Problem Child name aren't I :cry:

TL.

Stryker · February 04, 2003, 11:58:25 AM

heh, it seems there may of been a fair few peeps on ghosts who didnt turn up for the same reasons so ghosts ended up being short of players.... OW... that'd be the irony.

I get the impression we'd be complaining about the number of players turning up for a match if it were not for the squads... I dont remember who suggested it but a rotating squad rota (I dunno, quarterly re ordering) of mixed ability may be the way to go. I'd certainly have three squads at any one time, as you rightly pointed out, there are always peeps ready to fill any vacant slots so 3 squads or 8-ish would prob suffice.

OldBloke · February 04, 2003, 01:39:23 PM

I'm still mulling all of this over but something I think we need to know is:

How many matches would each member ideally like to play each week?

If we organise three matches a week (one for each of the three squads we're considering) and there's 8 people in each squad then there's a good possibility that members *may* play less than once per week.

If, like me, members are looking to play competitively more than once a week then we need additional matches organised.

Is it worth running a quick poll to find out if one match a week is acceptable?

TeaLeaf · February 04, 2003, 06:04:45 PM

QuoteI dont remember who suggested it but a rotating squad rota (I dunno, quarterly re ordering) of mixed ability may be the way to go.

Me.

I think we do need to assess how often peeps want to play - although you could draw your own conclusions from the normal turn out. Maybe a quick 2 day poll would tell us all we need to know?

TL.

smite · February 04, 2003, 07:39:57 PM

So would we build 3 teams for 3 matches seems logical but wont we still have the same problem of not making a full squad every week??? Or is this not a problem?? am i just being a little over dramatic about the fact we wont have a stable team to leanr how each other play?

Shall i get my coat and be quiet :? :?

/me walks toward coat and looks back longingly

TeaLeaf · February 08, 2003, 11:14:01 AM

Having thought about this a bit more, and from a practical perspective, it is going to be a hell of a lot easier to run 2 squads rather than three. If you look at the number of matches we usually play in, the nights that peeps can or can't play then you can see that 3 squads is one too many. Especially when you factor in the significant number of peeps who do not play in matches.

Two teams seems the way forward,
Mixed ability,
Rotated on a regular basis,
With SLs and 2ic for each squad.

Agreed?

TL.

(desperately hoping to bring this thread to a conclusion :roll: )

OldBloke · February 08, 2003, 11:32:04 AM

I agree. 2 squads of mixed skills is the sensible approach.

I'd add that we should arrange 2 ED and 2 CB matches per week. Again, to stop the divisive nature of squads, these should be shared as one of each for each squad.

I would also add that if the availability continues to be a problem then we should consider either increasing the membership to 30 or replace inactive members with new blood. Personally, I'm not in favour of kicking anyone out solely on the grounds that they don't play matches for dMw. We are a PCS clan that also play matches. Our focus shall always be PCS and we should recognise that some of our MH regulars want to join our clan as a badge of community and not neccessarily to play competitive matches.

Stryker · February 08, 2003, 04:41:51 PM

guys I'm really tryin to take a more active role.... damnit I've invested the money by buyin me a much needed decent pc of my own (current decent pc is the wife's :-)

Like I've said, an automated reminder email of the morning and say 1hr before the match would be a life saver for me.

I'm not fussed if playing to win or playing in a regular league match.... ok we're supposed to play to win all the time, however I personally have enjoyment playing 90% of the time and then the breaking a sweat and hurting wrists games play

TeaLeaf · February 08, 2003, 05:12:42 PM

I take it that was agreement to the 2 squad system we just mentioned, eh? :wink: It sure would be nice to have you onboard again Stryker....

I guess the email thang is another matter, but can I take it that we are generally happy to change the squads as outlined above?

TL.

smite · February 08, 2003, 07:17:19 PM

I concur
Votes Smite, Tealeaf, Oldie (Add additional by edit)

OldBloke · February 24, 2003, 08:50:16 PM

After listening to all the points made in discussions regarding the squad system, TeaLeaf and I would like to propose the following for ratification by the dMw admins.

Two squads of mixed ability. Ghosts will play Sunday (ED) and Wednesday (CB). Zombies will play Monday (ED) and Thursday (CB).

Ghosts:

OldBloke (Squad Leader)
Albert
Benny
BlueBall
DonkeyCheeseGrater
FatBob
Gandalf-LOJ
MAD_ness
Rad_Man
SecretSquirrel
Sheepy
SLoWHaND
Tutonic

Zombies:

TeaLeaf (Squad Leader)
Aga
Armitage
DogMeat
Flibber Meister
FrEnZy!
JonnyAppleSeed
MisterEggs
Sadako
Smite.Thee
Squ0nk
Stryker

We feel that these balanced squads playing in both ED *and* CB will go a long way to eliminate the divisive nature of the squad system.

Assuming there's no strong objections we propose that we announce the new system to the membership on Wednesday 26th Feb.

We intend holding regular reviews of the system to, amongst other things, enable people to move between squads.

So. Any objections? Thoughts?

smite · February 24, 2003, 10:08:04 PM

Not from me
Only that the zombies playing on monday and thursdays are a bit of a problem atm as that is the nights i struggle most to play.

I also know that this isnt the place to mention this but currently im going through a stage of thinking about giving up on CS and internet gaming all together but i dont want anyone else to know about this im just gona be away for a while (might pop in from time to time to see if im still bored of it)