Apnea
Legend
Sit down and have a read boys and girls. This is my observation of the problems with 19s as of current.
Ego. There's way too much nut-flexing and insecurity in this bracket. Everyone is so quick to call everyone else trashbags, only to turn around moments later and create a poll asking for people to vote for them as the best. We have guys running around in every thread posted trying to bring attention to themselves - "Am I good?" "Will I be in your video?" "Will you list me in your next popularity poll?" "Guys look what I did today!" Everyone wants so much to be liked and to be "in", to be remembered as one of the greats. Everyone wants to grasp for that 'of the Horde/Alliance' or 'the Bloodthirsty' title, as apparently only the best of players are worthy of such honors, and they do so at the cost of their fellow players and comrades.
AFKing. This is one of two (or more) things that ruin games without a doubt. How competitive can your team be if half of them AFK the battle at the first sign of a tough fight? Nobody in this bracket wants to lose. "The big names" in the bracket treat every loss like it may be their last breath, and by AFKing the game before losing, they're convinced that they've dodged just one more bullet that might have killed. If the going gets tough, get the hell out of there right? Nobody likes a good fight anymore. I thought this is why we embraced the experience-off brackets, so that pug games could be good fights, back and forth for 25 minutes with an uncertain winner down to the last second. Gone are the days of farming levelers with crap gear for 3 hour games.
Farming. In order to obtain the aforementioned illustrious twink hero title, players have to kill other players. The problem with most that have achieved the title in recent memory is that it has come at the cost of many soured twink experiences for many players. Nobody likes to be farmed. Don't try to justify it, there is no justification. It's low, it's boring, and it hurts the bracket. In the end it equates to a number and achievement that means nothing to almost everyone outside the community. Veteran players should be welcoming and teaching new players, not driving them away in exchange for a few more notches on the Bloodthirsty bedpost. Guild groups looking for competition don't often find it, and an organized semi-premade group of players is going to run over most uncoordinated pugs. Instead of ending this quickly and moving on to the next game in hopes of more competition, the groups exploit this and farm the losing team.
Competition, or lack thereof. There's a severe lack of premade games in this bracket, and most of the veteran players here are quick to say that's the best part of the bracket. There are more than enough people in enough guilds to make premade games happen. This ties in with the bit on egos from above. Nobody likes to lose, so unless guilds are 110% certain they have a polished, amazing team that cannot be beaten, they avoid premade games. There is no room for improvement it seems. It's either show up and win, or leave embarrassed and disband your guild, only to reform under a new name some weeks later. Guilds need to just sack up and play. Lose some games, learn some things. Just play. Only have 8 of your "A-team" available to play? Call up 2 more from the ranks and fill them in. The next Waw Tawent can't rise up if they don't put in the work to get there. The next Saxxon or Dayman could be waiting to shine with some practice. Everyone is so afraid of losing, that they would simply rather not play than be seen losing a premade game.
We're all here for a reason, because the 19 bracket offers us something that 85s don't. It offers community. It's fun to queue into a game and see players and names that you know and recognize and have a good time playing with or against them. It's about fun and competitive pug games, about organizing premades with and against those friends. Win or loss - stop arguing, stop trying to prove that you're better than the guy next to you, stop trying to exploit the bracket for your own benefit and just play. Have fun, enjoy the community and just play damn it. If the bracket carries on as it has been, I don't think there will be much of one to look forward to in the future. I've seen it happen to 2 separate twink brackets. Let's keep this from being the third time charm.
Ego. There's way too much nut-flexing and insecurity in this bracket. Everyone is so quick to call everyone else trashbags, only to turn around moments later and create a poll asking for people to vote for them as the best. We have guys running around in every thread posted trying to bring attention to themselves - "Am I good?" "Will I be in your video?" "Will you list me in your next popularity poll?" "Guys look what I did today!" Everyone wants so much to be liked and to be "in", to be remembered as one of the greats. Everyone wants to grasp for that 'of the Horde/Alliance' or 'the Bloodthirsty' title, as apparently only the best of players are worthy of such honors, and they do so at the cost of their fellow players and comrades.
AFKing. This is one of two (or more) things that ruin games without a doubt. How competitive can your team be if half of them AFK the battle at the first sign of a tough fight? Nobody in this bracket wants to lose. "The big names" in the bracket treat every loss like it may be their last breath, and by AFKing the game before losing, they're convinced that they've dodged just one more bullet that might have killed. If the going gets tough, get the hell out of there right? Nobody likes a good fight anymore. I thought this is why we embraced the experience-off brackets, so that pug games could be good fights, back and forth for 25 minutes with an uncertain winner down to the last second. Gone are the days of farming levelers with crap gear for 3 hour games.
Farming. In order to obtain the aforementioned illustrious twink hero title, players have to kill other players. The problem with most that have achieved the title in recent memory is that it has come at the cost of many soured twink experiences for many players. Nobody likes to be farmed. Don't try to justify it, there is no justification. It's low, it's boring, and it hurts the bracket. In the end it equates to a number and achievement that means nothing to almost everyone outside the community. Veteran players should be welcoming and teaching new players, not driving them away in exchange for a few more notches on the Bloodthirsty bedpost. Guild groups looking for competition don't often find it, and an organized semi-premade group of players is going to run over most uncoordinated pugs. Instead of ending this quickly and moving on to the next game in hopes of more competition, the groups exploit this and farm the losing team.
Competition, or lack thereof. There's a severe lack of premade games in this bracket, and most of the veteran players here are quick to say that's the best part of the bracket. There are more than enough people in enough guilds to make premade games happen. This ties in with the bit on egos from above. Nobody likes to lose, so unless guilds are 110% certain they have a polished, amazing team that cannot be beaten, they avoid premade games. There is no room for improvement it seems. It's either show up and win, or leave embarrassed and disband your guild, only to reform under a new name some weeks later. Guilds need to just sack up and play. Lose some games, learn some things. Just play. Only have 8 of your "A-team" available to play? Call up 2 more from the ranks and fill them in. The next Waw Tawent can't rise up if they don't put in the work to get there. The next Saxxon or Dayman could be waiting to shine with some practice. Everyone is so afraid of losing, that they would simply rather not play than be seen losing a premade game.
We're all here for a reason, because the 19 bracket offers us something that 85s don't. It offers community. It's fun to queue into a game and see players and names that you know and recognize and have a good time playing with or against them. It's about fun and competitive pug games, about organizing premades with and against those friends. Win or loss - stop arguing, stop trying to prove that you're better than the guy next to you, stop trying to exploit the bracket for your own benefit and just play. Have fun, enjoy the community and just play damn it. If the bracket carries on as it has been, I don't think there will be much of one to look forward to in the future. I've seen it happen to 2 separate twink brackets. Let's keep this from being the third time charm.
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