Maps by Week

Frozen

edit: Well this is already how it work except they do two maps per week -.- I still think it should be one, so unless someone feels like deleting this thread, my bad!

I opened a discussion on the ENSL forum about the format of choosing maps in matches.

http://www.ensl.org/topics/910

Please provide your thoughts on it

As the title says, I'd like to discuss why the ENSL isn't using the weekly map format for matches.

I feel that the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages (I can't think of a disadvantage)

Here's my two biggest points:

1-By having a set map each week, it allows teams to practice solely on this map throughout all their scrims that week. This creates and intense and highly rewarding environment for teams and spectators. Having maps by choice each week gives an advantage to a team that may have practiced that map specifically more than the other. This is not necessarily an awful thing, but no one is benefiting from the random nature of it.

1-In addendum, and this opinion is less grounded, but if we play a map twice each week for the matches, the admins can set spawns ahead of time for each playthrough. In NS1 I loved random spawns, but I am not a fan of it in NS2 where the teams rotate around the maps, there is far too much random advantage thrown around due to this randomness. Again, take this comment with the grainiest of grains of salt, but please do consider it. We already are for Tram


2-Custom map playability. Think in the current format if we were to add ns2_tanith to the rotation, which I am VERY much for. A team will choose this to try to gain advantage over another team because they may have practiced it. Or simply because both teams don't know the map, the better team loses their advantage, which is well deserved.

2-In this format, map by week, custom maps in desperate need of testing can be introduced. If teams have a week to practice the map, and every single other team wants to practice the map, the map will be learned by the next week to a significant degree. It's nothing that pubbing and scrimming for 200 hours on a map will do for your memory, but it will be enough time to be comfortable for the match.

2-I like to mention that the most balanced map NS2 can offer comes in 2 flavors. 100% marine advantage, and 100% alien advantage, both of these scenarios ending with a tie (perfect balance). So if we are afraid of playing these maps because a supposed advantage to one side, we will never learn how to play the map from the disadvantage. After all, if you can beat a team from the highly disadvantaged side whether through brute force or careful practice, you truly deserve the win.