Cactus Game Design Message Boards

A lot of us play Redemption for the fun and fellowship, and I love that. However, there definitely is a competitive aspect to it, which a lot of us also enjoy.  It seems that quite a few people think the competitive side of things is often belittled. We have 45 minutes to finish a game, and whoever has the most points at the end wins.
Speed isn't only popular because it nabs it's cards the fastest, it's popular because it is good against the masses and doesn't time out. It is the best way to get the 3 points.
What if we extended the time limit to an hour for T1? It would help the balanced/defensive decks, while also giving people a bit more breathing time to think over their moves. It also discourages stalling (which is frustrating to no end).
Obviously this would hurt time a bit. 8-9 would be reasonable, and we probably won't have 10 rounds every nationals. That leaves an hour for lunch/supper and 6 minutes in between rounds to report scores, find pairings, and shuffle.
With the extra time, we may need to do top cut after 6 rounds in order for the younger ones to get home and to bed. Isabelle can tough it out with the rest of us.

Do I think this will hurt speed that much? No. But it will encourage defense and more strategy.

Credit to Matthew Sinclair for thinking of the ideas and applying it. I think it could be a good idea. It doesn't have to be for locals and districts, but at least for nationals would be nice.

I support the idea, since I previously mentioned that all my tournaments have one-hour limits for T1-2P and hour-fifteen limits for T1-Multi. These are the numbers posted in the Tournament Guide. My players would be at a disadvantage if they left from Southeast Regionals with those times and had to compete at Nats with less time. There should be uniformity with the printed guidelines.

I have never been to Nats, so I don't know what it's like day-of, but if there is only time for 45-minute rounds, then the Tournament Guide needs to be changed for consistency and fairness.

I believe you're misinterpreting what the tournament guide says. The table that explains how long a tournament should be is describing the length of the entire tournament, including pairings, shuffling, etc.; it's not each round's play time takes an hour.

I support this suggestion, by the way.

I don't support this.  Some tournaments take all day already, we don't need to add 2+ hours.

You have one flaw in your logic though.

Cactus doesn't do top cuts. and if they did do top cuts it would need to be Bo3 like other games to decrease the luck factor.

Best of three.

I've always run 45 min, but like YMT said, I've been to nats.  I agree that the guide should be rewritten.

Quote from: Chronic Apathy on November 02, 2011, 06:01:03 PM

I believe you're misinterpreting what the tournament guide says. The table that explains how long a tournament should be is describing the length of the entire tournament, including pairings, shuffling, etc.; it's not each round's play time takes an hour.

Why is it me that is misinterpreting instead of you? Nowhere does it say "total time." The chart says how many players, how many rounds, and time limits. Why does the time limit have to include pairings and shuffling? It does not say that in the Guide.

The bottom line is that the Tournament Guide gives the impression that each round is one hour. If that is not what players get at Nats, then the guide should say 45 minutes. Most of you are used to 45 minutes because you went to Nats. Without that prior knowledge, there is no reason not to interpret the guide exactly as it is written.

Simply put, the standard time limit for rounds is 45 minutes, not an hour. That's why it's you misinterpreting it. I'm not disagreeing that the host guide should be clearer, however, I've always known the time limit to be 45 minutes, as that's how the first tournaments I ever played in were, and every tournament I've played in since then (and I've played an uncountable amount of locals, a state, a regional, two nationals, and oddly enough, no districts). It comes naturally to me right now, because that's what the rule is, the same way it comes naturally to most other people who regularly attend tournaments. Should the guide be more specific? Yes. Is this a big issue? Nope.

Is this a big issue? Nope.

Yes. It is a big issue. I started hosting tournaments on my own. I downloaded the guide and did what it said. I have always done it that way since, including States and Regionals, without anyone telling me otherwise. Since Rob, Roy, John M. and the like have all been to my tournaments, it would seem to be an affirmation that my time limits were appropriate.

The issue here is that my players are used to one-hour time limits, and build their decks and strategies accordingly. Having them then go to Nats and have less time could easily disrupt their strategy, and put them at a disadvantage.

The Guide needs to match the Nats expectations. It is that simple and that important.

The host guide is a guide not a rule,

And yet 45 minutes is the rule not in the guide? 

But, but, random numbers are people, too!