Introducing lower tiers/re-introducing old gens to WCoP exacerbates regional imbalances. With either of those (or even worse – both), the pool of potential winners shrinks, making the tour worse for everyone except those who are on the right teams.
Here's why:
Spectators will watch whatever official match is going on. Take note of how many people during SPL complain about RBY matches while religiously watching every one of them. I'll never understand that behavior. If you hate watching too many SS games, don't watch all of them.
How is player burnout an argument for this? Only individuals can feel burnt out. It could happen for SS, RU, or RBY players all the same. I don't see how switching to a multi-tiers format helps with burnout. The only thing that'd help would be to make the tournament shorter.
Also, ideally, we want to turn spectators into players, and CG OU is the best tier for that. Anyone can open PS, load a sample team, and immediately start playing CG OU. Lower tiers? Yeah, that's doable too (to a point). Old gens? Good luck with that.
Here's why:
- Old gens have a huge barrier to entry. It takes lots of time to get good at an old gen because of the time gap — you're going to face people who have been playing them for years. Resources are scarcer, the ladders aren't as active, and there are less people to talk to. It's harder to grow into a great player in old gens compared to CG. Plus, older teams have more means to help each other in older gens. This makes younger teams unviable, reducing competitiveness.
- Lower tiers change too often to have a place in WCoP. We talk a lot about building a legacy and have consistency with the teams/formats, but that's impossible with lower tiers. They penalize smaller teams that don't have access to big talent pools.
- Expanding to 10 slots, again, punishes smaller teams, and it's hard to justify any format with 10 slots. 5 SS OU means that only half of the games will be in the flagship tier. Lower tiers are of 0 interest to anyone who doesn't play them. SM is fine, but ORAS, as I said in my last post, is starting to become ancient.
Spectators will watch whatever official match is going on. Take note of how many people during SPL complain about RBY matches while religiously watching every one of them. I'll never understand that behavior. If you hate watching too many SS games, don't watch all of them.
How is player burnout an argument for this? Only individuals can feel burnt out. It could happen for SS, RU, or RBY players all the same. I don't see how switching to a multi-tiers format helps with burnout. The only thing that'd help would be to make the tournament shorter.
Also, ideally, we want to turn spectators into players, and CG OU is the best tier for that. Anyone can open PS, load a sample team, and immediately start playing CG OU. Lower tiers? Yeah, that's doable too (to a point). Old gens? Good luck with that.