Suggestion about the schedule

[Zeke]

Hey everyone! I just read those posts about the Grand Tour S2 and it's really excited to see such tournaments. Well done all the community team members! However, I also find a point about the schedule of the UU cup. It is quite intense actually.

As a player, you have to play at least 5 games to reach semis and at least 7 to the finals (by one time). I believe the top players need some more time to adjust and prepare for the later high level games.
As an observer on Twitch, it is again quite a long time to watch the entire tournament, which lasts about 6~7 hours. I believe no one would like to watch a so-long-stream in only one day.

My suggestion is to split the tournament into two parts and play on two days (or maybe morning and afternoon in one day?). Finish all rounds before semis in the first part. Play semis and finals in another time. By doing this, the performance of the players as well as the feeling of viewers can both be improved. Also, please help poor guys from a different time zone like me. Could you imagine my feeling when finding this great tournament to watch but it starts from 11PM to 5AM in your local time? Just so sad...
(I guess I can stand to 1AM, but definitely not 4 or 5)

[Cometk]

Hey @Zeke!

The tournament schedule is something I've considered a lot. It's definitely troubling since AoE3 is such a worldwide game. For that reason, some concessions have to be made for all players. 15:00 GMT (3 o'clock UTC) is close to the sweet spot for the tournament start as it's somewhat reasonable any player coming from the EU/NA/SA region. (morning for NA West, brunch for NA East / SA, afternoon for EU West, early evening for EU East). Unfortunately the group that gets the short end of the stick in this situation is Asia, who has to play really really late. This is usually ends up being the case with ESOC events because Asia represents the smallest portion of players. It sucks, but changing the tournament schedule might mean making it difficult for even more players.

Likewise, with splitting the event over multiple days, it would mean that players have to fully commit two days instead of just one to be able to compete, which becomes another complicating issue. Add in the additional time for admins & casters and it becomes even harder. I know this might be kind of a disappointing reply, and I don't really have a positive side to it, but either way, I'm really happy to see you competing again!

[Cometk]

@Zeke tournament this weekend will start a bit earlier at 14 GMT. it's a small change, but hopefully this is a bit better for ya. if reception is good we might just make 14 GMT the standard start time for these tours

[Riotcoke]

Most players are in Europe so it makes sense, it sucks for someone on the west coast of the US or in Asia due to being -8 and +8 respectively, however i think it's the only way to have a one day-tournament.

[zoom]

Would it help if these weekly events featured a smaller bracket of players? You could have mostly invites (based on seeding) and then some spots for qualifiers or wildcards.

[zoom]

@Zeke tournament this weekend will start a bit earlier at 14 GMT. it's a small change, but hopefully this is a bit better for ya. if reception is good we might just make 14 GMT the standard start time for these tours

That's a good start!

[Cometk]

Would it help if these weekly events featured a smaller bracket of players? You could have mostly invites (based on seeding) and then some spots for qualifiers or wildcards.

wouldn't work as part of the grand tour (because the intrigue should be that anyone can qualify for the playoffs, provided a selection of quality performances [bwinner]), but this is a great idea for future invitationals! i can already see it now

[Vinyanyérë]

@Zeke tournament this weekend will start a bit earlier at 14 GMT. it's a small change, but hopefully this is a bit better for ya. if reception is good we might just make 14 GMT the standard start time for these tours

If you do this I will start a tournament for west coast players only and you won't be allowed to play.

[zoom]

Would it help if these weekly events featured a smaller bracket of players? You could have mostly invites (based on seeding) and then some spots for qualifiers or wildcards.

wouldn't work as part of the grand tour (because the intrigue should be that anyone can qualify for the playoffs, provided a selection of quality performances [bwinner]), but this is a great idea for future invitationals! i can already see it now

Ah, yes. My bad!

[Zeke]

@Zeke tournament this weekend will start a bit earlier at 14 GMT. it's a small change, but hopefully this is a bit better for ya. if reception is good we might just make 14 GMT the standard start time for these tours

Wow, I really appreciate this change. Was a bit busy for several weeks and just found your post. Every little change would help, especially for me it starts at 10PM instead of 11PM.(Though I will soon be in EST ) Hope we can find a time for most people eventually!