Normal Game Announcement - Halloween 2023 Update
Hi, everyone! If you didn't know already, I'm the new listmod for the Normal Queue. I'm very happy to take over this role, and I'm hoping to get the chance to improve this queue over time and help this site thrive. In my years on the site, I've enjoyed playing in the Normal Queue a lot, and I've seen it change a lot with the times as well. Particularly in recent years, there's been a shift in the meta of Normal games. People have always enjoyed pushing the boundaries of what is considered 'Normal' and trying to make unique and memorable setups. However, over time, the idea of what's Normal has expanded quite a lot, and the end result is a situation where people signing up for Normal games often don't have a clear idea of the kind of setup they'll be playing. This challenges the original purpose of the Normal queue as a place where people can sign up to play standard and straightforward games. The change hasn't been all negative - some users do enjoy more complex Normals due to their creativity while not diverging from a traditional mechanical structure.
But with the sunsetting of the Newbie queue, I think the problem becomes a lot more important to address. Newbie setups (e.g. NewD3, 2d3, and Matrix6), provided an environment where new players were introduced to the site with a limited set of power roles for them to learn, making the learning curve easier. The Normal Queue will never quite be that, but I think a lot of Normal games don't provide a Newbie friendly experience, even though the Normal queue (along with the Open queue) has now become the entry point for new players. Additionally, there are a lot of more experienced players who would like to know what kind of 'Normal experience' they would be signing up for, if they were to join a game.
Since I became the Normal listmod, I've been thinking and discussing with the Normal Review Group about ways we can address these issues. The result of this is something I'm going to call the Compartment System. There will now be three 'compartments' for Normal game designs.
All Normal games will have to be designed as Simple, Regular, and Complex, and all these compartments have different requirements. This will introduce some complexity on the administrative end, but I think we are capable of handling it. And I think for a new user, the process of signing up for a simple game, checking the wiki link provided by the moderator, and understanding the potential roles that could be in the game will be easier than the current system where we have 53 roles, and many more modifiers (of which roles often have multiple). I think this will also allow players to have a better idea of what they are signing up for when they join a Normal game.
Here's a list of what the intention behind all three compartments is:
Simple
- Roles and modifiers which are basic and easy for new players to understand.
- Limited role list for the purposes of simplicity.
- A standard game which fulfills the traditional idea of a Normal game.
- Absence of Mod WIFOM or curveballs.
Regular
- Roles and modifiers which are straightforward and not too challenging for new players to understand.
- Moderate role list to provide a Normal experience.
- A standard game which fulfills the modern idea of a Normal game.
- Limited Mod WIFOM or curveballs.
Complex
- Roles and modifiers which are fundamentally Normal.
- Expansive role list for the purposes of creativity.
- A more experimental game which is similar to many complex Normals ran today.
- Mod WIFOM or curveballs should be expected.
And here's a detailed list of the new system, which will also be available on the wiki:
The Experimental Role List has no substantial affect on gameplay, but indicates roles that are being 'trialed' - they are allowed in Complex games, but this should be expected to change at any time if they are found to have some kind of negative impact on the meta or be poorly suited to Normal games. Ideally, over time, all roles should be removed from the list eventually - either because they are deemed to be appropriate and no longer need to be on the list, or because they are deemed to be inappropriate and removed from Normals altogether. Roles may be added to indicate that certain roles in the Complex compartment are potentially problematic and could be removed in the future, or when totally new roles are added to Normals.
There is some degree of flexibility here - I don't think, if your game contains Regular roles or modifiers, you should be able to run it as Simple, and so on. However, if you want to run a game as more complex than the roles and modifiers would suggest, that's up to the reviewers. I think it's possible to create a game in the Regular system which a reasonable person would classify as Complex, especially if you're actively trying to do so, although I also think the system naturally lends itself to less complex games.
This will also involve minor changes to moderation requirements for Normal games. First-time moderators will not be able to moderate Large or Complex games. They can choose to moderate a Simple or Regular game of Micro or Mini size.
On a practical level, this system will apply to any game which is not already in review. The current backlog of games will go ahead as planned. However, when you /in to mod in the future, the system will apply. Please don't specify which you are choosing publicly - do it privately, in a PM alongside your setup that you are submitting for review. This way, if it is decided to switch your game between compartments during the review process, it won't lead to speculation later.
The most important thing is making sure this site and this queue has a solid foundation to build on for the future, and that's the main goal of this overhaul. This is a subject where many people have strong opinions, but I hope most people will find that this change makes their experience of Normal games better, and that it will help new players to feel welcome on the site. If you have any feedback or questions, please post in this thread or contact me. I'm especially interested in hearing about the experiences of players who have recently joined the site, and how they feel this change affects them.
Thank you for reading,
-Ausuka
Update: Hi - I've made a form which allows players to request new roles and modifiers for the experimental list of Normal games. If you're interested, please fill it out!
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