Neebler
Veteran
EDIT: Double-posted this on accident, please ignore the other one.
Hello everyone. Today I thought I'd take an opportunity to review how Retail twinking has been going for the past 1-2 weeks. A lot has gone on but I think it's been a huge success so far and worth posting about. While a lot of aspects of BFA as a game are just in a good spot right now, this is also a triumph of the community itself.
THE COMMUNITY:
First I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in these games. Without you guys physically logging onto your toons and playing, none of this would be possible at all. Despite some of the drama between players in the twinking community over the years, there is no question that we are a dedicated group of players willing to show up and play.
Specifically, however, I'd like to thank @Quackbesteu for his effort in communicating clearly and frequently with players, scheduling games on days that work for the most people, and trying to ensure games are balanced. While these games would be impossible without people wanting to play, having someone put in the effort to make playing possible is important. Think what you want about Quack but there is no denying the fact that his efforts were really valuable here.
I'd also like to thank @Troncat for her efforts in similarly communicating game scheduling and helping to ensure that players are online and ready to play. Helping spread the word and showing others that you care motivates people to play and creates important momentum in the community.
What this proves is that we are able to organize games even with popular community leaders such as HB and Pizza taking a break (at least from the BFA scene.) No matter who you are or what team you belong to, this bracket belongs to all of us. I hope this shows that anyone has the individual power to make things happen if they want them to happen.
THE GAME:
For those of you skeptical about joining BFA twinks right now, whether you haven't twinked in a while or are focused more on Classic atm, BFA is in a really good spot right now in my opinion. Games are more mid-focused, super fast paced and explosive thanks to modern stacking and time limit mechanics, as well as the insane burst damage capabilities of various classes. New item additions and the buffing of blue quality PvP gear has reduced the necessity to painfully bet on epic upgrade RNG.
Furthermore, if you miss a specific Warsong pop, you are virtually guaranteed to get into the next game by staying in queue and waiting for the current game to end. This actually works really well and stops players from hogging roles, however it can also sometimes result in wonky comps. Ultimately, this system is very beneficial to giving everyone a chance to play.
The reality is people wouldn't be playing BFA if it sucked. Now it's become very clear that it's an excellent alternative to Classic twinking, if not a replacement. Fortunately, games have been scheduled to only happen 3x a week, so you don't have to choose one over the other if you don't want to.
IMPORTANT TRENDS:
Lastly, let's talk about things that should keep happening to retain momentum.
1. Limiting games to a 3 days a week is critically important. Burnout can reduce people's interest in playing and ultimately diminish the community. This should not change.
2. We should AVOID a tournament. The fact is, even with renewed interest in Retail, tournaments are not compatible with a small community size. Tournaments destroy the ability to play PuGs, and without PuGs, there is no bracket. Furthermore, tournaments also create a lot of drama that can make players frustrated and ultimately lose interest. Let's strive to keep PuGs consistent and semi-competitive as the standard, as that seems to be working very well at the moment. (Not to say there will never be games that are more intense/competitive than others.)
3. We should continue to consistently post scheduled times on XPOff and in the BFA 19s Discord. This simply reminds people to play and retains momentum.
4. Class restrictions should be in mind, but not heavily enforced. It should bother people if a comp has too much of one role, and people should make alts to make games more fair. However, people should also be allowed to play what they want to play. It will be a balance of fairness to others and promoting reasonable comps for a healthy bracket without feeling individually pigeonholed into playing something you don't want to play. Work with others, but make sure you're still having fun.
5. Toxicity is at a more or less reasonable level right now. Shit-talking and drama make the bracket interesting to an extent, but excessive amounts can turn people off to playing, or make them unwilling to join the opposing team if balancing needs to occur. We don't live in a fairytale land where everyone is nice all the time, which is fine. I think right now toxicity is at an acceptable level, so let's let people have fun and joke around without also making people feel as though they are unwelcome to play. I'd encourage everyone to be an approachable and friendly person, but that is up to us as individuals to decide.
6. Sharing information, what's BiS, class tips and tricks, strategies, and so on has always been an awesome part of this community and should continue. Not much else to say about that.
7. Improvement should still be on everyone's mind. While these are casual games a few times a week, there's still a lot for many of us to learn. As players improve, so does game quality. I'd encourage everyone to ask themselves what they could have done better after every game, or strategize with their team to smooth out the kinks.
8. Discord communication is really important. It's frustrating when people aren't in call especially with how quickly a game can swing. Please, if you are playing in a game, try to join Discord with your team if you can. Mute if you don't walk to talk, but at least be there to listen if you are able.
That's all I can think of for now. If anyone else has further input, that would be great. Thanks again to everyone playing and I hope these games continue to be consistent and fun.
- Neebler
Hello everyone. Today I thought I'd take an opportunity to review how Retail twinking has been going for the past 1-2 weeks. A lot has gone on but I think it's been a huge success so far and worth posting about. While a lot of aspects of BFA as a game are just in a good spot right now, this is also a triumph of the community itself.
THE COMMUNITY:
First I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in these games. Without you guys physically logging onto your toons and playing, none of this would be possible at all. Despite some of the drama between players in the twinking community over the years, there is no question that we are a dedicated group of players willing to show up and play.
Specifically, however, I'd like to thank @Quackbesteu for his effort in communicating clearly and frequently with players, scheduling games on days that work for the most people, and trying to ensure games are balanced. While these games would be impossible without people wanting to play, having someone put in the effort to make playing possible is important. Think what you want about Quack but there is no denying the fact that his efforts were really valuable here.
I'd also like to thank @Troncat for her efforts in similarly communicating game scheduling and helping to ensure that players are online and ready to play. Helping spread the word and showing others that you care motivates people to play and creates important momentum in the community.
What this proves is that we are able to organize games even with popular community leaders such as HB and Pizza taking a break (at least from the BFA scene.) No matter who you are or what team you belong to, this bracket belongs to all of us. I hope this shows that anyone has the individual power to make things happen if they want them to happen.
THE GAME:
For those of you skeptical about joining BFA twinks right now, whether you haven't twinked in a while or are focused more on Classic atm, BFA is in a really good spot right now in my opinion. Games are more mid-focused, super fast paced and explosive thanks to modern stacking and time limit mechanics, as well as the insane burst damage capabilities of various classes. New item additions and the buffing of blue quality PvP gear has reduced the necessity to painfully bet on epic upgrade RNG.
Furthermore, if you miss a specific Warsong pop, you are virtually guaranteed to get into the next game by staying in queue and waiting for the current game to end. This actually works really well and stops players from hogging roles, however it can also sometimes result in wonky comps. Ultimately, this system is very beneficial to giving everyone a chance to play.
The reality is people wouldn't be playing BFA if it sucked. Now it's become very clear that it's an excellent alternative to Classic twinking, if not a replacement. Fortunately, games have been scheduled to only happen 3x a week, so you don't have to choose one over the other if you don't want to.
IMPORTANT TRENDS:
Lastly, let's talk about things that should keep happening to retain momentum.
1. Limiting games to a 3 days a week is critically important. Burnout can reduce people's interest in playing and ultimately diminish the community. This should not change.
2. We should AVOID a tournament. The fact is, even with renewed interest in Retail, tournaments are not compatible with a small community size. Tournaments destroy the ability to play PuGs, and without PuGs, there is no bracket. Furthermore, tournaments also create a lot of drama that can make players frustrated and ultimately lose interest. Let's strive to keep PuGs consistent and semi-competitive as the standard, as that seems to be working very well at the moment. (Not to say there will never be games that are more intense/competitive than others.)
3. We should continue to consistently post scheduled times on XPOff and in the BFA 19s Discord. This simply reminds people to play and retains momentum.
4. Class restrictions should be in mind, but not heavily enforced. It should bother people if a comp has too much of one role, and people should make alts to make games more fair. However, people should also be allowed to play what they want to play. It will be a balance of fairness to others and promoting reasonable comps for a healthy bracket without feeling individually pigeonholed into playing something you don't want to play. Work with others, but make sure you're still having fun.
5. Toxicity is at a more or less reasonable level right now. Shit-talking and drama make the bracket interesting to an extent, but excessive amounts can turn people off to playing, or make them unwilling to join the opposing team if balancing needs to occur. We don't live in a fairytale land where everyone is nice all the time, which is fine. I think right now toxicity is at an acceptable level, so let's let people have fun and joke around without also making people feel as though they are unwelcome to play. I'd encourage everyone to be an approachable and friendly person, but that is up to us as individuals to decide.
6. Sharing information, what's BiS, class tips and tricks, strategies, and so on has always been an awesome part of this community and should continue. Not much else to say about that.
7. Improvement should still be on everyone's mind. While these are casual games a few times a week, there's still a lot for many of us to learn. As players improve, so does game quality. I'd encourage everyone to ask themselves what they could have done better after every game, or strategize with their team to smooth out the kinks.
8. Discord communication is really important. It's frustrating when people aren't in call especially with how quickly a game can swing. Please, if you are playing in a game, try to join Discord with your team if you can. Mute if you don't walk to talk, but at least be there to listen if you are able.
That's all I can think of for now. If anyone else has further input, that would be great. Thanks again to everyone playing and I hope these games continue to be consistent and fun.
- Neebler
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