Small Teams and SOTAC
Jun 12th, 2011 | By ChaosRocket | Category: Featured Article, Guest Writer
0Hi! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Chaos. I was a regular poster here last year, as well as the year before that. This is my 6th year with Team Darigan Citadel. I reached All-Star for the last two years in a row, and levels 18 and 16 the two years before that, so I’m trying to do well this year, but…
Well, I’d planned on posting here more often, but honestly, I’m not quite as into the Altador Cup this year as I usually am. Because of the new YYB. Now, I know many of you are probably tired of complaints about the new YYB, so I’ll just say this: aside from the game being frustrating and simply NOT fun, it really hurts my hand and wrist to play it. Seriously, I played 10 games in a row during the practice phase, and my hand hurt for 5 hours afterwards! And I don’t even usually have a problem with keyboard-based games. But with most keyboard-based games, you get some kind of break from holding down the keys. Either you’re just tapping the keys, or else you hold down the keys to move but you stop frequently to do other actions in the game. With the new YYB, you’re just constantly holding down the keys- for hours at a time, if you play like I used to- and frequently holding down more than one key at a time, and quickly having to switch between keys.
So even if I could deal with the broken auto-switch…and the broken goalie…and the fact that sometimes you can score super-easily by just walking up to the goalie and shooting the ball directly into the net, while other times you can’t avoid the other team stealing the ball and bouncing it all around the field, causing you to wander around the pitch for an entire minute as the insane auto-switch tries to prevent you from reclaiming the ball…even if I could deal with all that annoyance, the game still hurts my hand too much for me to be able to play it. So even if I wanted to play, I couldn’t do it without injuring myself. And it doesn’t help that, even with the timer fix, the game still takes significantly longer to play than the old YYB, because you have to watch the cut scenes for longer before you can hit a key to skip them.
OK, I promise this has a point beyond just me ranting about the new YYB! It actually relates to the performance of teams this year.
As I mentioned, I’m a loyal member of DC. I’m also a member of a DC chat group where you can only be an official member if you’ve reached All-Star at least once for DC. Here’s my point: it seems like a very large portion of our All-Stars physically cannot play YYB this year due to pain from the keyboard controls. Many of us have various disabilities or old injuries, or just can’t handle the strain. Some people simply refuse to play because they hate the game, but most of us literally cannot play. It’s so bad that our entire chat group is now officially qualified as “semi-retired,” because most of us aren’t playing YYB this year. And we’re arguably the most YYB-heavy chat group in the (formerly) most YYB-heavy team in the AC.
So I’m not surprised that we’re not doing too well this year. Sure, we currently still have a high ranking, but that’s because we started out with an easy schedule. And now it will be worse as we wear ourselves out going up against one tough team after another.
I didn’t want to say anything before because I didn’t want to jinx it or talk down my team, but I didn’t think we could be beat KI, I didn’t think we could beat VP, I didn’t think we could beat TM, and I don’t think we can beat TY today. Because I knew the situation- that most of our All-Stars aren’t playing YYB this year. For those keeping track, DC lost to KI and VP, and drew with TM. And if we draw with TY today, I’ll be happy.
Now, I’m no freeloader, and it’s not in the nature of people in my chat group to be freeloaders either. Which means most of us are focusing on sides. Specifically on SOSD and MSN, as those games now take the shortest amount of time to rank up in- they’re faster than YYB for ranking up. So it also doesn’t surprise me that we’ve got a pretty good record with both MSN and SOSD, with only one loss in MSN and only one loss and two draws in SOSD.
Of course, SS is largely being ignored- those capable of playing YYB are focusing all of their energy into YYB to try to pick up the slack for those unable to play, and those who have turned to side games are playing the fast and easy side games, which would be MSN and SOSD. So nobody wants to bother with SS, which takes even longer to play than YYB yet is worth only half as much in terms of rank points.
I imagine the situation is similar with other large teams. None of them are doing very well this year, with the major exception of KI. Sure, we all expected LD to fall, due to the winner’s curse and the loss of SOTAC, but did anyone expect them to fall this far? They’re now sitting at the bottom of the 4th tier. LD is below FL and KL in the standings. Can we take a minute to process this? Lost Desert is beneath Faerieland and Kiko Lake in the standings.
And RI being in 10th place? Last year, they recovered and made the top tier! Meanwhile, SK and MI have failed to recover from their relatively poor performances last year, and seem as if they may do even worse this year.
The large teams are falling, while some small teams are ruling, with TY and VP being in the top tier, and TM currently holding 6th place above the 7th place KI.
I do believe that one factor is the new YYB. Here’s the thing about small teams: they’re better able to organize and create strategies, because they are small and are therefore more easily able to get in touch with the majority of their members. In past years, small teams could create strategies to focus on a particular side game, thereby taking points away from a large team. The large teams weren’t as focused on the side games in the first place, and were less organized anyways due to sheer size, so a small team which could convince most of its members to go all out on a particular side game could pack a big punch. In the past, TY did it with SS, and VP and TM did it with SOSD.
And now? Now, large teams aren’t as focused on YYB. Large teams are more split, with many members focusing mostly on sides while others stick to YYB. And they’re still not as able to be organized or create cohesive strategies, because there are so many members.
Small teams can now focus their efforts into YYB and take a YYB win from a big team, in the same way they used to be able to focus their efforts into SS and take an SS win from a big team: because many members of the big teams just aren’t playing those games much, so a concentrated effort from a small team can hit hard.
Of course, groups like SOTAC also have an impact. For those unfamiliar, SOTAC stands for “Secret Order of the Altador Cup,” and they’re a group of All-Stars who switch teams every year. They came into being as a group of RI All-Stars in AC3 (though they weren’t yet called SOTAC at that time)…and RI won that year. The next year, in AC4, SOTAC migrated to SK. And that year, SK came in second, while RI- with the loss of the SOTAC members- fell further in the standings than any other previous winner had ever fallen. In AC5, SOTAC went to LD, and LD won, while SK fell further in the standings than ANY other team, winner or not, had ever fallen before. This year, SOTAC has gone to medium-sized team Kreludor…and KD is currently in first place, while LD seems poised to take the record from SK for farthest fall.
But SOTAC is no longer the only team-hopping group of All-Stars. This year, a group called the Stealth AC Group- itself an offshoot of SOTAC- has joined VP. Most people expected that after VP’s performance last year, more All-Stars would be joining the team. In fact, some All-Stars had already joined VP last year because of VP’s excellent performance in SOSD in the previous year. But this year, in addition to that, VP has also gained a group of former SOTAC All-Stars who have split off from SOTAC and formed their own group.
At the same time, a group called Dream Team 2011 has formed. Former SK All-Stars who were disappointed both with SK’s performance and all the drama that embroiled SK last year, they formed their own group and elected to join TM this year. Again, some people expected that TM would gain All-Stars this year, seeing as how TM’s performance in SOSD in AC5 was similar to VP’s SOSD performance in AC4. But TM has also gotten a SOTAC-like dedicated group of All-Stars.
When joining small teams, these groups of All-Stars can make a major impact…especially when the large teams are split down the middle with a major portion of each large team unwilling or unable to play the new YYB.
I think the new yooyuball is really matter of adapting it. I don’t see playing yooyuball be any more harmful than typing for a long time is. Anyhow.. I agree with your point in that message and it’s good to see some DC insight.
It’s really not the same as typing at all…with typing you’re quickly clicking different keys, never having to put pressure on any one key for an extended amount of time. With YYB, you’re constantly holding down the same two keys for hours. It’s really stressful on the hand and wrist to just exert that pressure for such a long time. If it’s not painful for you, then that’s good, but it genuinely is painful for a lot of us, and we can’t really “adapt” to being in pain.
I just want to add that I’ve had no pain from new yyb at all because I’ve been using a ps3 controller
sure my gpg has suffered with the new game and yes I started out playing more sosd than yyb but after a few hundred games I’m able to tolerate playing more each match :)
I just wanted to say please dont feel so bad for our team, we’re darigan- we adapt
though you have valid points just remember that when we lose an allstar there’s usually a brand new player to take their place, I’ve seen a lot of new players or of freeloaders really belt it out for us in yyb this year.
just try to stay positive chaos
Yeah, if they don’t add mouse control next year, I’ll probably go out and buy a PS3 controller and use that to play YYB. I’m a total Nintendo fangirl, so I only have a Wii, so I don’t have a PS3 controller. I guess I could buy one this year, but I’ve already kind of dedicated myself to seeing how high a rank I can get solely through sides, and I find the game annoying anyways. And I have some hope that they might add a mouse option next year since so many people want it. But if not, yeah, I’ll go buy a controller next year.
if you do buy a controller its cheaper to just get a pc controller =)
as long as its usb you’re fine
ps3 is a little harder to set up because you need drivers to make it work with a pc + the xpadder program to map the keys
xbox one is easiest that or a basic pc gaming controller (about $15 )
Great article. It definitely explains some things.
I think people are overblowing the ‘Dream Team 2011′ though. We didn’t get hoards of all-stars. Only a few.
KD is the only traditional powerhouse still at the top of their games
Wow! I wasn’t all interested in the article at the beginning because Ithought it be all just rant on the new YYB. But then I read further. When I read further it really opened my eyes to all the SOTAC-like teams going against each other and making all the teams rise and fall in the AC. I had no idea how much of an impact it made. I had just realised what SOTAC was by reading this article. But now I’m worried that when the SOTAC-like teams rotate out of VP (the team I’m on) we will start to tumble downhill. But I also have hope because of how we did last year before there was any SOTAC team in VP. Because we did superb last year compared to all the years before.
I’d like to point out that before SOTAC, KD went into finals in first place on our own. Twice. We got second on our own. We’re in first, yes, and SOTAC joined us, yes, but we might have been even if SOTAC didn’t join us, though now we’ll never know. I’m not saying that SOTAC isn’t helping or whatever, but I really hate that SOTAC joins teams that are already good and people seem to forget that these teams were good in their own right, before SOTAC.
I have a peculiar preference for KD, too. But I’m not all too worried how KD is being perceived this year, (most are awed by VP and TY, while they generally perceive MQ and KD as old, established powerhouses now), but rather what is going to happen to the team after SOTAC left, whether or not with the winner’s curse at the same time. KD should do some work to keep its original all-stars, but even this may be inadequate.
LD went to the finals twice before SOTAC joined, and people still credited them for our win, and our fall.
I’m not sure if you ever read my posts here from years past, but I’ve always said that KD is a strong team, and they’re probably my next favorite team after DC. So I’m not saying SOTAC is entirely responsible for KD’s performance- KD was certainly a good team before this- just that SOTAC is a factor. Especially in a year like this when a lot of other players are playing less YYB or no YYB, I’d think that a group of dedicated All-Stars probably makes an impact. Same thing for LD- they definitely have power of their own, and part of the reason they’re falling this year is the same reason other large teams are falling, but I’m sure SOTAC has been a factor for them.
what if there was a secret orginization that joined KD that we didn’t know about thats been on there the last to years?
What if a giant unicorn tore down TNT’s office and told them to make KD good or it’d give them death by rainbows? :P Everything is a possibility but it isn’t likely, so we don’t mention it.
And KD’s core members really aren’t worried about what happens next year. The members that have been here for years (and yeah, tend to be allstars) are going to stay win or lose. Those that we do lose… Well, if they’re leaving because we’re going to fall, we aren’t all that jazzed about keeping them anyway. Our older members aren’t so set on winning as everyone assumes, we just do our best and get caught up in the competition. If we’re going to suck we aren’t going to cry about it, especially if it’s pretty much inevitable.
And I know, you aren’t saying that SOTAC just jumped onboard and completely changed our team… it’s just really frustrating that our hard work and our own personal improvements are overshadowed because a famous group decided to throw their lot in with us. SOTAC tends to join teams on the rise, and I honestly haven’t seen any proof anywhere that they actually do make a difference. If they joined AL next year and AL jumped to first-second tier, I’d be a believer, but short of that, I leave them out of the equation.
you see its stuff and orginizations like Dream Team and SOTAC that piss me off. they really ruin the game by choosing one team and no one can beat that team. why not let other teams have a little fun? and also because of these groups that teams like LD and SK and RI are low teams i mean LD under FL? REALLY? i hope that the nerds that reach ALL STAR on day 2 max out soo hard that theyre arms break and their computers explode. ok im not that mean but they piss me off!!!!
Dream Team didn’t join TM. It was the effort of my fantastic sister that brought in 7-8 AllStars from SK, LD and MQ to our team. Then we all named ourselves the Dream Team. I takes more than just a bunch of All-Stars to win the Cup, it takes the grand effort of every single member of a team.
Don’t get jollyoldroo if you think these teams are the reason for their success. Sure, it’s a part of it, but if you’re hating just because they chose a team, then so be it. That’s their choice and not yours.
Kreludor has been a strong team from the beginning really. They’re a small team that doesn’t attract too many “freeloaders”, and they have many good players including several all-stars. If TNT does use the system of (points scored-computers scores)/(people who played that day) for each team, larger teams are at a HUGE disadvantage. Especially when groups like SOTAC join these small teams. Hard playing members on large teams then have to pull the weight of the greater people that play only a couple of games that day. And really.. these all star organizations dont even need to join the team most likely to win. They could all go to some random small team, say, kiko lake, and bring them from the bottom to the top in one year, easy. That’s probably the deal with Tyrannia this year (although, they had many great players to begin with). The game doesn’t seem as balanced now.. :P
This article just all seemed like a rant to me. From the new YYB to smaller teams getting stronger. I feel like big teams got weaker not because of secret groups, but because a lot of the all stars from big teams are moving around to other teams (LD). I also think that because they make a bigger difference on smaller teams, the appeal is there to move to these teams. The article was good, but it felt more like a player from a big team complaining about smaller teams just my opinion though.
I have no problem with small teams getting stronger, so I wouldn’t say I was ranting about it- I just pointed out SOTAC-like groups as a factor for why they’re rising. And I pointed out several other reasons for why big teams are falling (less people playing new YYB, winner’s curse, less ability to create strategies with a large team.)
But yeah, I’m ranting about the new YYB. I greatly dislike that game for a number of reasons, which I mentioned in the post, and which I think are valid reasons. There are some games TNT remade where I like the new game way better- Ultimate Bullseye, Volcano Run, Advert Attack- but the new YYB definitely is not one of those games. It’s genuinely worse than the old.
Haha okay maybe I was just getting the wrong impression if that’s the case then that’s fine :).
It’s exactly as I predicted when NYYB was unveiled. That ACVI would be the year of the small teams, that possibly, we’re entering a new era of the AC, one where the small teams have a major advantage over everyone else, especially if these All-Star groups join them. The only large teams that will stand a chance are the ones that either have a massive All-Star base (DC, KI) and the ones that are insanely good at strategy (MQ, although they probably have a rather large All-Star base, too).
Sucks for SK, then. :/ Those All-Stars are probably never coming back, and the people on the boards are too stubborn and attached to the old ways to strategize like MQ.
Seriously, thanks for writing this. This is my fourth year on Roo Island, and while I haven’t made it to All Star, I made it to gold shield status. However, this new yooyu ball is killing me. When I expressed how sad I was that I could not play, I was both disgusted and uplifted by some of the responses I received as a disabled person. Some of my own teammates told me I was being an idiot, and that I was ruining their fun by mentioning my pain. Also, I was told that I was making it up, because if I can type, I can play yooyu ball. I was truly disheartened by the responses I received on the Roolingans boards. The responses received from other disabled people let me know that I was not alone, and even non-disabled people are aching from the game. Roo Island lost a few All Star players due to inability to play the new game, and I am sure that is contributing to our less than stellar performance. I have lost much interest playing this year, because of how TNT responded to requests for change and because of how my teammates responded. I thought four years of dedication meant something, but suddenly it means nothing. I am not sure what to really think or feel about this, other than left out and alienated. Perhaps I should join a team next year that appreciates side game effort.
Take a page from the book of one of my team mates. She’s almost 50, has Multiple Sclerosis, made it to all-star on purely side games last year. Currently playing New YYB because it actually caters for her disability, regardless of her pain. She’s determined to make it to all-star with Yooyuball this year.
I have to agree with you on this idea, LD, the same thing. We had a TON of all-stars leave (curse, blah, etc.), SOTAC left, and most of our All-Stars can’t play yyb. I think that’s why we’re taking this hit so hard, we don’t have that support that we once had.