Finals are boring. Pt. 1: Slow Play

Another thought: Suppose in the preliminary standings there is a tie for 1st place. Some random means will then determine who has the choice of seating, but is it also fair that the randomly determined "top seed" also wins the event if there is a tie at the end of regulation time? I don't think this contingency is accounted for in the tournament rules. Perhaps it should be.

I feel style points should be the tie breaker. B-)

"You actually played becoming of ennoia before rushing cross table out of turn with Lutz via madness network, punching for one, playing armor of caines fury @ pre, and disarming?" That should be worth a tournament...



(Especially if your deck runs those cards and MADE finals)

Or at least stop the game at the end of a table turn so that everyone gets to play the same number of turns.

johannes wrote:

We clearly need a penalty shootout in case of timeouts. Everyone gets a turn, and whoever does most pool damage wins.

If you want a shootout, then I'd suggest something like the following changes:

3.1.1. Round Time Limits
Each round in the tournament has a time limit. The minimum time limit used in V:TES rounds is two hours. The time limit must be announced before play begins. The final round may last longer than the preliminary rounds, at the judge's option. The final round must be the same length as the preliminary rounds.

For the preliminary rounds, when the round is over the judge will direct all players to put their cards down. All play must immediately cease. For the final round, a "sudden death" system will be used to determine the winner(see 3.7.5).

Then, change this:

3.7.5. Final Round Scoring
The player with the highest total of Victory Points from the final round only who achieves a Game Win is the tournament winner. In the event of a tie, the players' rankings at the end of the preliminary rounds will be the deciding tiebreaker. The rest of the finalists tie for second, with no additional criteria considered to attempt to break that tie. If there is no player with a Game Win when the final round ends, the players will enter "Sudden Death". Play will continue as normal until a player ousts his or her prey, at which point he or she will be declared the winner.

Several things are achieved here:

• removal of extended time limit for final round, which has been shown not to work
• change from distasteful "most VPs" to standardized "Game Win" in order to win the final before time is called
• more incentive given to achieve a Game Win before the time limit is called
• removal of distasteful "tiebreaker" rule being connected to preliminary round rankings when time is called
• creation of a "shootout" system which rewards the game's primary goal
• removal of ability of "top seed" not to play for the Game Win

I like the idea of a Sudden Death Shootout. It may not be a perfect idea, but it is good enough, I think.

Of course, I haven't seen a finals that timed out in all the events I have attended, but something like that is definitely better than what we have now.