On April 3rd, 2022, season 2 of PNWRL came to a close with the Little Giants beating the Ball Chasing Dogs in an exciting bracket reset finale. With Season 2 officially in the books, the admin team came together to discuss the overall direction of the league and how it will be moving forward into the next season.
Going into the meeting, the admin team prepared to address an array of varying topics including the following:
- Were the rule changes from Season 1 to Season 2 effective in increasing parity?
- How long will the offseason be?
- Streams/Commentating
- Formatting for any offseason events/maybe season 2.5?
- Final Thoughts
Were the Rule Changes from Season 1 to Season 2 Effective in Increasing Parity?
In the first topic, the admin team decided that the following rule changes were indeed key contributors to increasing parity. The main reasoning behind this decision was that there were less blow out games and more lost series for the top end of the league. The rule changes are as follows:
- Teams may not roster a player that is Grand Champion 3 or higher.
- Teams may not roster more than one Grand Champion player when the team is first formed.
- Teams have up to 30 points to spend on their roster. Points will be applied as follows: 12 points GC2, 11 points GC1, 10 points C3, 9 points C2, 8 points C1, and 7 points for anything below Champion.
As an admin team, we came to a consensus after Season 1 that the league had become top heavy. With all the GC players in Season 1 split among the top 3 teams, fair competition was not upheld for all the teams in the league. We needed to equalize the competition and return to a place where everybody could feel like they had a chance if their team put in the work.
League admins, Micro and I, put forth this point system to help ensure that some degree of parity and equal competition exists inside the league. While somebody will always have to be on the bottom and on the top, PNWRL is about team/personal improvement and fostering a strong community of ball chasers, boost guzzlers, and mechanical wizards. Having a good competitive environment for our community is absolutely imperative for the league.
If you feel differently on the rule changes, make sure to reach out to a member of the PNWRL admin team, or during the next player meeting on April 20th, 2022.
How Long will This Offseason be?
The admin team will be following a similar format to all previous seasons and will be taking around a 2 month break. A tentative start date for Season 3 will be around the middle of June.
Streams and Commentating
As many of you probably noticed, we had significantly less streams in Season 2 than we did in prior seasons of the PNWRL. This issue is one the admins are aware of and is one of the main subjects we are hoping to address by the end of the offseason.
Back in Season 0 we had Obrocho and Hoekie, two legends behind the mic, casting our games. Due to work and personal reasons, both legends had to start taking a step back midway through Season 1.
After Season 1, most of the admins team focused on getting the league back to a more competitive and healthier environment. Regrettably, we failed as an admin team to walk and chew gum at the same time, and address this as well in Season 2. We will strive to do better on this issue going into Season 3.
As an admin member, I would like to thank all the players and members of the community who took the time to stream matches and commentate during Season 2. You all rock, and we couldn’t have done this without you!
Formatting for any Offseason Events/Will there be a Season 2.5?
Offseason events have been far and few between in the PNWRL. Outside of Season 1.5 and the Pre-Season tournaments for Season 0 and 1, we have not done much in the offseason.
This offseason we are looking to change that.
The first thing we are looking to do is bring back a potential draft Season 2.5, or a new tournament system. This will be a topic of discussion in the players meeting on April 20th. (Make sure to check the #Announcements section in the discord for more details.)
We are also going to do our best to bring back the Pre-Season tournament for the beginning of Season 3. The Pre-Season tournament was a staple of our league in Season 0 and Season 1. While we did not have one for Season 2, we believe it to be best to bring this back for Season 3.
If you have any further ideas for Offseason activities or things that you would like to put on in the discord, please reach out to myself or any member of the admin team.
Final Thoughts
As a community, PNWRL has grown significantly from where we started in Season 0. There have been so many great moments over the history of PNWRL, and I look forward to enjoying many more with all of you. The admin team cannot thank all of you enough for how great you have made this league and community.
I am hopeful that we can continue to grow and get better as individuals in the game and in the community. See you all on the pitch!