An Update for Season 10

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Stevens

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I tried to sum up as best as I could the informations from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_conference) and a short article http://dearsportsfan.com/2014/08/04/conference-sports/

Conference format was born thanks to geographical restrictions (sports teams don't want to travel too much during a season to save time and money) and sports organizations history (some sports organizations were in the past separated but then merged while each keeping a conference).

In Mario Kart none of these factors exist.
But our transatlantic friends want to prove (unintentionally or not) that they have the best format on earth.
a format's birth bares no relevance whatsoever on its validity
 

popuko

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I tried to sum up as best as I could the informations from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_conference) and a short article http://dearsportsfan.com/2014/08/04/conference-sports/

Conference format was born thanks to geographical restrictions (sports teams don't want to travel too much during a season to save time and money) and sports organizations history (some sports organizations were in the past separated but then merged while each keeping a conference).

In Mario Kart none of these factors exist.
But our transatlantic friends want to prove (unintentionally or not) that they have the best format on earth.
BDZAIrf.png
 

Teeples

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I tried to sum up as best as I could the informations from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_conference) and a short article http://dearsportsfan.com/2014/08/04/conference-sports/

Conference format was born thanks to geographical restrictions (sports teams don't want to travel too much during a season to save time and money) and sports organizations history (some sports organizations were in the past separated but then merged while each keeping a conference).

In Mario Kart none of these factors exist.
But our transatlantic friends want to prove (unintentionally or not) that they have the best format on earth.


Pay also doesn't exist in Mario Kart. In all of these leagues that run like WCL in real life even if teams are getting slapped and are irrelevant after 15% of the season, all the players still try their hardest because they can get a pay raise and raise their own stock for their own career. I'm not sure if trades happen in European Leagues but if they do as well it would raise that individual's trade value to get onto a better team.

We don't have that here. These formats help more teams stay in the competitive circle for a longer time if they are struggling. This keeps motivation up for those teams. The new format is also objectively more entertaining and hype than the old format and anyone that says it isn't is just lying to themselves. Half of the Divisions were decided after 80% of the season and nothing mattered in the end. There's always a storyline to follow for some team in this format and the playoffs have made some of the most entertaining and hype Mario Kart.

I'd suggest you read Rookie's post if you haven't, as he explained the reasons to every question you've brought up besides linking a wikipedia source.
 
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Jack

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format validity is also based on its constraints so there is relevance

The whole reason they are trying this format is something new/better for scheduling etc. It might not be good, but that chance is just as good as the possibility of it being a good format.

As Teeps said, you should read Rookie's posts, or at least the parts that concern you.
 

Devoty

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The whole reason they are trying this format is something new/better for scheduling etc. It might not be good, but that chance is just as good as the possibility of it being a good format.

As Teeps said, you should read Rookie's posts, or at least the parts that concern you.

he just doesn't want a team to win before the end of the tournament but it's just what a team deserve when they crush everyone else
 

Nizer

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Let's not turn this into a EU vs NA thing again. We all know North Americans like their conferences and playoffs while Euros like their WCL style seasons. And that's fine. Both systems have their merits and drawbacks for MK8 in particular, though.

Essentially, the NA system is trying to get the maximum out of any current season, favoring exciting individual matches and results over fairness and consistency, making it the ultimate goal for teams to have a shot at winning the whole thing for as long as possible. The EU system has more focus on fairness, but it inevitably loses a lot of the possible rewards for teams in that very season. Instead, the rewards are connected to the upcoming season, because your previous placement will affect which competitions you get to participate in the following season. Take soccer for instance, where like the top 2 teams get to play in the Champions League, 3rd and 4th get to play qualifiers for the CL, 5th and 6th get to play Euroleague, 7th gets to play qualifiers for the EL, etc. And then of course you have a working relegation system, something completely absent from the NFL and the like for instance.

That said, most of the benefits of the American system can be applied to MK8 league as well, such as the excitement about the playoffs, upset wins, etc. However, the reward system of the EU system really doesn't work very well with MK8. There are no KO-tournaments with huge prize pools that you can qualify for by getting say 3rd in a 6-team division. In a community where teams are fluctuating so heavily during and between seasons it's just not serviceable to try and pay out the rewards for a season in the season after, because so much could change by then. We do have sort of a relegation system, but it's really more of a general seeding system that merely uses last season's placement as one factor to determine the seedings of teams.

Personally, I'll always take fairness over anything else and I much prefer the EU league structures over the American system (except I love the draft system, though that doesn't actually affect the season structure itself). But objectively the NA system fits MK8 more.

Despite that, I'll still prefer WCL style over anything else as long as the latter forces me to play more than one match per weekend, though that's a different topic and it doesn't really have anything to do with the league structure as such, so don't mind me on that one.
 

Devoty

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Let's not turn this into a EU vs NA thing again. We all know North Americans like their conferences and playoffs while Euros like their WCL style seasons. And that's fine. Both systems have their merits and drawbacks for MK8 in particular, though.

Essentially, the NA system is trying to get the maximum out of any current season, favoring exciting individual matches and results over fairness and consistency, making it the ultimate goal for teams to have a shot at winning the whole thing for as long as possible. The EU system has more focus on fairness, but it inevitably loses a lot of the possible rewards for teams in that very season. Instead, the rewards are connected to the upcoming season, because your previous placement will affect which competitions you get to participate in the following season. Take soccer for instance, where like the top 2 teams get to play in the Champions League, 3rd and 4th get to play qualifiers for the CL, 5th and 6th get to play Euroleague, 7th gets to play qualifiers for the EL, etc. And then of course you have a working relegation system, something completely absent from the NFL and the like for instance.

That said, most of the benefits of the American system can be applied to MK8 league as well, such as the excitement about the playoffs, upset wins, etc. However, the reward system of the EU system really doesn't work very well with MK8. There are no KO-tournaments with huge prize pools that you can qualify for by getting say 3rd in a 6-team division. In a community where teams are fluctuating so heavily during and between seasons it's just not serviceable to try and pay out the rewards for a season in the season after, because so much could change by then. We do have sort of a relegation system, but it's really more of a general seeding system that merely uses last season's placement as one factor to determine the seedings of teams.

Personally, I'll always take fairness over anything else and I much prefer the EU league structures over the American system (except I love the draft system, though that doesn't actually affect the season structure itself). But objectively the NA system fits MK8 more.

Despite that, I'll still prefer WCL style over anything else as long as the latter forces me to play more than one match per weekend, though that's a different topic and it doesn't really have anything to do with the league structure as such, so don't mind me on that one.

If you really think teams are playing to qualify for CL only, I think you never watch football.

Also in MKU S8, HD won their 3rd place thanks to JBZZ's forfait. I guess it was a better reward than in a league format for you.

And a relegation system isn't out of place for a normal league format if you really want teams to play extra matchs when they deserve it.

Still funny I almost predicted the 8 teams change last year with a post explaining the same ideas but that no one wants to understand.


If you want to have a fair and "linear" format you have the leagues (without conferences).

And if you really want a ton of emotions and set your new views pic record on your Twitch channel during a final, just run another single or double elimination bracket tournament, I think we need more of them.

Sorry but tournaments are not like milkshakes, put something of league format here and something of bracket format there with spicy conferences added won't make a delicious cocktail but more of a toxic one.
 

Geddy

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It amazes me that Nizer and Rookie are laying down the law and people like this dude above me still don't listen. Conference play is fine, just win.



Option 1 is the way to go. 1v4 2v3 match up is clean.
 
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