Dance - Can you please start a feedback thread for the new July tourneys?

HoneyRider, on Jul 15 2016 - 10:55, said: Thanks, Dance   RE Skirmish Format:  Yes I was referring to the most recent version of Skirmish.    RE: Tourney Feedback - I see that feedback forums often degenerate into off-topic discussion but that could simply be controlled by more selective moderation and simply deleting those threads.  Anyway, I think the larger discussion should be about first agreeing on the purpose of the tourneys. If it's partially to provide an experience that captures the interest of a larger segment of the player base and using tourneys to retain and expand your player base (which in my opinion SHOULD be part of WG business model) then a feedback forum is useful.   I have played Skirmish format tourney since you first introduced them and have played the all the various incarnations of them.  The most recent version is the best incarnation you have done and reaches a broad section of the player base.  I don't have actual stats but you'll remember a time when Moguai and I posted Skirmish results nightly and from what I can see currently since I have returned to the game, it's still the same segment of the NA server that takes home the gold. And yes, I agree, it isn't and shouldn't always be about the gold, but it helps as an incentive.  The problem with tourney competition on this server as an esport is that the population is not large enough to do what ALL other sports do which is segment competition based on skill level - football, baseball, soccer, etc - all have division levels based on skill level so that we don't have highschool teams forced to compete with the Super Bowl champs.   WGLNA, byt virtue of bronze, silver and gold, IS tiered by skill level.  But all other competition here is not.  So what ends up happening in tourneys is essentially the uber clans and top level teams seal clubbing their way to prizes.  The majority of the NA server, I hazard a guess, doesn't bother with tourney competition simply because they have no hope of successful outcomes and is not an enjoyable experience to continually lose.  I think the WG has a great opportunity to expand player base and tourney involvement by simply providing some kind of play that seeds teams by skill level.  In the absence of that, the current Skirmish format was the best vehicle.   And get that this is competition and should be competitive, but again, all real life sport team play is tiered by skill level and there is a natural progression to become a top player.  I continually come up against argument that one will not become better unless one has to play against better teams.  I don't disagree, but being seal clubbed in the first 30 seconds of a match by a team that is so leaps and bounds better teaches nothing.  Playing against a team that is marginally better at least allows the play to progress so that a strat has time to unfold and the teams can learn to flex and react.   However, if the purpose of tourneys here is simply to continue to appeal to the best of the best, then it's really pointless to gather any further feedback as is such a small percentage of the server who really cares? lol.