Make the setup for the queue, or pick a queue for the setup?

callforjudgement · Post Post #0 (ISO) » Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:37 am

So, there's a setup I've been working on for a while. Through most of design, it was planned to be a Mini Theme, and was being designed with 13 players as a result.

I realised yesterday that the game would be much easier to balance if I could add a fourteenth player (I'm reminded of the time-honoured "just add an extra VT" school of setup design). The problem there is that it pushes the game into Large territory, and it feels a bit like I'm cheating the Queue system to run a 14-player large in a game slot that would usually take many more players than that (and thus works around things like the four mini rule, the one moderated open/mini at a time rule, etc.).

So my question is: is it frowned upon to run a 14-player game, especially if it was originally designed as a 13-player game? Or is running a 14-player game reasonable if that's the most balanced numbers for the setup to be at?

Alchemist21 · Post Post #1 (ISO) » Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:54 am

The important thing is making a good, balanced setup for your game so the players will enjoy it, then putting it in the appropriate queue. If people don't like having a 14-player game in the large queue, that's an indication that site policy needs to change, not an indication that you're doing anything wrong.

Zachrulez · Post Post #2 (ISO) » Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:11 am

If your game works best at 14p, large queue it is. You're probably over thinking this.

Psyche · Post Post #3 (ISO) » Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:31 am

setup is everything; queues are incidental

Untrod Tripod · Post Post #4 (ISO) » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:07 am

In post 0, callforjudgement wrote:So, there's a setup I've been working on for a while. Through most of design, it was planned to be a Mini Theme, and was being designed with 13 players as a result.

I realised yesterday that the game would be much easier to balance if I could add a fourteenth player (I'm reminded of the time-honoured "just add an extra VT" school of setup design). The problem there is that it pushes the game into Large territory, and it feels a bit like I'm cheating the Queue system to run a 14-player large in a game slot that would usually take many more players than that (and thus works around things like the four mini rule, the one moderated open/mini at a time rule, etc.).

So my question is: is it frowned upon to run a 14-player game, especially if it was originally designed as a 13-player game? Or is running a 14-player game reasonable if that's the most balanced numbers for the setup to be at?

run a better game rather than trying to force it into a specific queue

imo 14-18p is a great size for a theme game
19-23 is ideal for a "big" game
everything over 25 gets incredibly unwieldy and hard to actually design

Antihero · Post Post #5 (ISO) » Sun Apr 24, 2016 1:45 pm

In post 3, Psyche wrote:setup is everything; queues are incidental

Equinox · Post Post #6 (ISO) » Fri Apr 29, 2016 1:02 pm

The world needs more small Large Themes.

RadiantCowbells · Post Post #7 (ISO) » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:07 pm

In post 6, Equinox wrote:The world needs more small
singleball
Large Themes.

vonflare · Post Post #8 (ISO) » Sat Apr 30, 2016 7:46 am

In post 1, Alchemist21 wrote:The important thing is making a good, balanced setup for your game so the players will enjoy it, then putting it in the appropriate queue. If people don't like having a 14-player game in the large queue, that's an indication that site policy needs to change, not an indication that you're doing anything wrong.

this is exactly correct