EVE Alliance Tournament Discussion

Most people know that Skill Points aren't everything in PvP. Superior player skills, tactics, hard counters, numbers, luck, etc... can have a major impact on the outcome of a fight.

That's true on Tranquility anyways, but the players in the Alliance Tournament are usually the best each competing alliance has to offer and have prepared religiously for the tournament. (I don't mean they've all said a prayer lol, I mean they've devoted a lot of time to practicing!)

Under those conditions, significant Skill Point differences can make it hard or impossible for new players to compete on a level playing field against 10 year vets. This is in direct contrast to pretty much every other game out there. Being different and standing out can be a good thing, but not when it limits the ability of newer players to compete in tournaments.

I propose the establishment of a "Minor League" or "Rookie Rumble" competition that follows all the same rules as standard Alliance Tournament, but with a Skill Point limit of 10 million on all competitors.

This would go a long way towards leveling the playing field for newer players without penalizing long term players (there's nothing to stop a 10 year vet from rolling a new character and training it up to 10 mil SP).

This tournament would not necessarily need to be broadcasted like the "Major League" is, but I imagine there are a huge number of newer players who would love a chance to represent their alliances on a level playing field. (They would however, have to settle for much smaller prizes given that they're not playing with the big boys). And let's admit it everyone... we'd all like to see more competitive EVE videos on youtube :)

Nice idea in theory, but I can see it being easily abused by vets starting new characters, having focused training plans and then steamrolling the true newbies.

I think you're on to something here. Just would need to be fine tuned a little to prevent this from happening.

Certainly a valid approach. Technically pirate battleships are T1 hulls though, so I'm not sure it would be as effective at leveling the playing field.... It also penalises people who might have trained directly into T2 frigates and still be under the "Rookie" SP limit.