So, love it or hate it, the update is here and i've been trying to figure out exactly what the developers want to see. From what i can tell they believe that the ranking system should be organized in such a way that TH11/TH10's will be in the majority of the top trophy pushers, and as you fall in trophies you should see a progression of TH levels that are near each other in progression. They even make this a point in the PBT message, that if you dont get a shield you should try climbing in trophies.
The fundamental flaw to believing that the player base will fall into this arrangement is choice. IF i can farm more loot in a lower league for a higher profit and faster, derailing my attacks with a PBT will annoy me, but it is a knife with no point. That is to say, if given a choice, i will still continue to play the game in such a way that advances my base the fastest while also fitting my life style. Now, some people have different goals and lifestyles, and different opinions on what leagues are best to achieve them. I might be completely wrong and farming silver league and gold league was not the fastest most convenient way to do this, but the point is i have the option to do so and i will.
People will make all sorts of different decisions and it will be impossible to anticipate exactly what people will do with trophies and how they farm. This is a large amount of freedom, however because the vision of this game is incompatible with this freedom i propose a monumental change to this game.
The largest flaw i see is because of choice, the developers are helpless to direct the players into a play style that fits this vision. We all seen the TH10 exodus to silver league, a place, according to the devs, they should NOT be. By having a fusion of rank and matchmaking contained within the trophy system, they have given people the freedom to play the game outside of its intended format.
What i propose is drastic, however i think it will be the only way to make everyone happy. I understand that many clashers are happy with the update. I also understand many are not. Im not here to argue about it. Im a very pragmatic person and in an effort to assist the developers with the growth of this game, i have devised a solution.
Divorce matchmaking and trophy count. You can arrange matchmaking in the format you wish, in such a way that TH9vsTH9 is the norm, TH10vsTH10 is the norm, ect. Some tweaks would be necessary to how bases are weighed, in contrast to war. First, to prevent unfair defenseless exploitation of the system, all TH levels will be grouped together. People that are early low weight TH9/8/7 ect would fall near the bottom, to attack other early TH9 bases and SOME max TH8 bases. When you start getting further along in your development, the presented bases will be higher in progression and offer more loot. Towards the end you can even attack upwards of your own TH level, say a max TH9 vs a early TH10 if the loot is viable.
This would allow the vision of the developers to be reached completely, and would honestly be a fair system. You only attack bases that are near your own stage of progression, and people wont be getting beaten down by high level town halls using cheap attacks to crank more profit.
This would also mean the ranking system would be the same near the top, however the entire trophy system would be scrapped in favor of a new system, the difficulty-reward system. Essentially, each attack would be worth an assigned point value. The harder the base, and the higher percentage reached in an attack, the more points awarded, of course relative to the attackers point count. This would maintain high level players domination of the ranking system while still keeping it highly competitive and fun. A lower level TH still has a chance to climb in the rankings, they will just need to attack more often than those above him to maximize his points per attack. Attacking upwards of your own TH level, would also provide a bonus to the point system, and lower, like the loot penalty, would be discouraged by imposing a point penalty.
The shield system could retain the changes implemented, defenseless accounts and .5 accounts will not have a strategic advantage, and a master ranking system based off, but different than war weight would keep everyone attacking people they are supposed to attack. Stars would be worth a bonus point percentage in an attack, and it would eliminate every single cloud problem people have.
Leagues would have to be highly modified, as no trophy system is in place. However, most of what is established could just be copied from the trophy system. After x amount of points, you rank into a new league with that league bonus awarded.
Now onto defense. A lot of how it functions now will be retained. Your current point value would be relative to the person attacking you. People in higher leagues with tons of points would need to attack more often than people in lower leagues that are trying to climb. What figures and variables would need to be extensively tested and balanced, however much like how it is now, a base would be worth a set value based on weight. Variables that would modify this would be attacker point count, attacker weight, and attacker TH level. Notice i separated the TH into a separate variable because its important to maintain balance so that defenseless accounts will not have a severe advantage. The status quo would remain, however better attacks get a better reward, people with highly progressed bases will maintain domination, while giving the rest a fair chance to compete. Gems will be spend as much as always, if not more, because the more you attack and the higher the percentage you get the better your rewarded, thus meaning stronger bases and better armys (that usually take longer to train) will prevail over attacks that are built around getting a 2 star.
The biggest issues i see with this arrangement is point offers and loot offers. It would be theoretically possible to be stuck in dead zones of low loot or low point offers. However much like a war search, an variable could be implemented into the next feature so that after x amount of nexts, the search will expand outside of given parameters. Again, extensive testing and balancing would be required, but i think this idea would accomplish a fair and competitive environment that the developers can be happy with and the clashers will enjoy.
Im sure i have not thought of conditions that would be detrimental to this idea. So i would be happy to receive your feedback regarding what you think of this.
Given all the information i have read, and getting as much of a grasp of what the developers want to see, this is the only solution. Penalize the choices people make, and they will still make those choices. Remove the choice and you can now anticipate much better how updates and changes will effect the game. I see no other option for the developers, given what I perceive (and i will admit i could be wrong) to achieve the goal the wish without divorcing matchmaking and leader board rankings as the system is now.
I look foward to your feedback.
Originally Posted by EliC
