Would some sort of competitive "mercenary" group be viable?

[Luxin]

I've been noticing something recently in tournaments. For every empty space in the bracket come check-in time, there's at least one team who wants to enter, but can't because they don't have four members available at the time the tournament will run. I'm also sure that many teams who choose not to enter a given tournament have at least one member who still wants to compete, but can't because they don't have a team. I recently had the idea to create a registry of players who often find themselves in the latter situation, so that squads in the former one can find a temporary member for the tournament, thereby giving as many people who want to compete the chance to do so.

I propose we create a Squidboards group comprised of players who are already members of competitive teams who are willing to play for another group for a weekend. Members would supply a bit of information about themselves (rank, weapons/playstyle, NNID, availability, etc.), which would then be compiled in something easily accessible by the community like a Google Doc. If a team needs an extra player or sub for a tournament since one of their members is unavailable, they can look for one of the registered players to temporarily fill the spot. If information is entered correctly, a team looking to request the services of a mercenary will be able to see whether or not a given person is already competing in the tournament, and who is able to fill the role they need. I think that a Discord server would also help as a way for teams to communicate with prospective players, and an easy way to try them out with voice chat beforehand.

So, what do you think about the idea of having such a service for tournaments? It doesn't matter who you are, player, captain, TO or otherwise, I'm interested in opinions from various aspects of the community. I am interested of having at least a minor leadership role in the group if it does become a thing, so any feedback or concerns are appreciated. Thanks for your time and happy splatting!

 

[Zwei]

As a player on a team that hasn't gotten around to playing in a tournament, I personally don't think this would be a flawless system. Teams would be reluctant to pick these people, because lack of expertise or no prior knowledge of call-outs can be detrimental, and that could affect their record and power-rank, which teams shouldn't really care about much, but I'm sure a few do.

I understand the intent, as kinda someone in your target of "people to help", but for the above reason sub-ins will likely hardly occur. I think it's a good idea, but human nature is bound to find a way to ruin or ignore it. Not to forget, this list would get long and often only 1 or maybe 2 members could be subbed in for tournaments, so very few people would actually play, and the rest would be kinda left behind. I feel that I would be in the left behind, as I am only A+, while most of the players on the actual teams are A+ or above. Basically, the rest of us would be promised the hope of playing on a team in a tournament, but for the most part are bench warmers. Not to forget, mains may be an issue. To my knowledge, very few skilled charger mains exist compared to other weapons, and have mostly been grabbed up by other day. What few charger mains there are more likely to get subbed in, compared to my main, the .52 which basically anybody with good positioning can play well. I'd likely frequently be told that someone else was picked instead of me, and for good reason.

If the team and the person subbing in are already familiar and squad with each other, then maybe subs could be allowed, but I don't think a list of team-less "mercenaries" wishing to play on a team is the way to go for the reasons outlined above.

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

I think it's a good idea. But making a group for them wouldn't be ideal. I would've thought that the TO's of the tournaments could just keep track of members who are willing to play for another squad. Then if a squad needs one more then they could go through that list that the TO's made.
More work on the TO's tho. and of course only the top players will get picked.
So it won't help the lower levels, so I wouldn't say that more ppl get more playing time as it'll probably be the same ppl every tournament tbh. but that's fine since teams want to do really well.

 

[Zwei]

I think it's a good idea. But making a group for them wouldn't be ideal. I would've thought that the TO's of the tournaments could just keep track of members who are willing to play for another squad. Then if a squad needs one more then they could go through that list that the TO's made.
More work on the TO's tho. and of course only the top players will get picked.
So it won't help the lower levels, so I wouldn't say that more ppl get more playing time as it'll probably be the same ppl every tournament tbh. but that's fine since teams want to do really well.

I actually have the opposite opinion. The squad getting a sub should have some say in what sub they get, not entierely on the TO. For example, I'm pretty sure CB would be fine with having boo (S+99 underrated blaster player) sub in, but perhaps not the best with someone like me. There can be options where it is the flipped, and the team would rather play with the lower rank, so just taking top player may not work as well.

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

I actually have the opposite opinion. The squad getting a sub should have some say in what sub they get, not entierely on the TO. For example, I'm pretty sure CB would be fine with having boo (S+99 underrated blaster player) sub in, but perhaps not the best with someone like me. There can be options where it is the flipped, and the team would rather play with the lower rank, so just taking top player may not work as well.

hmmm interesting. well the TO can just keep track of a list of who is available to sub in. The only thing i don't like in the OP is that ppl that register to this group won't necessarily be available that weekend. So it could be annoying if no one is actually available, you know? but it could definitely work tho. Again, it's the idea of asking a group of like 100 ppl and only having 2 ppl respond which annoys me.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

It's called, "stand-ins." You don't need a group of them, just rules for them. Such as, you are not allowed to stand-in for any team, if you are already entered in that tournament with your team. Meaning, if the team you officially belong to, is not registered in that tournament, you are allowed to be a stand-in for w/e team. It may even be in said team's best interest, to make it so, that players can only stand-in for that team, for the duration of the event; it would make no sense for me to just, stand-in for 5 teams in the same tournament, let alone more than one. In addition to that, any team using stand-in(s) should be limited to x amount of stand-ins, for any given game; two would be the max, but it would be better to limit it one instead, so the whole dynamic of the team can remain "somewhat" intact.

I can easily see the ability to use "stand-ins," being abused however. As a player with a high skill level can carry games for weaker teams, and give them wins they don't deserve. If people want to regulate stand-ins, so something like this is less likely to happen, be my guest.

Community Callouts would make standing-in, much, much easier . Whether or not the Splatoon Community has that, I dunno.

 

[scarth]

no prior knowledge of call-outs can be detrimental

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

It's called, "stand-ins." You don't need a group of them, just rules for them. Such as, you are not allowed to stand-in for any team, if you are already entered in that tournament with your team. Meaning, if the team you officially belong to, is not registered in that tournament, you are allowed to be a stand-in for w/e team. It may even be in said team's best interest, to make it so, that players can only stand-in for that team, for the duration of the event; it would make no sense for me to just, stand-in for 5 teams in the same tournament, let alone more than one. In addition to that, any team using stand-in(s) should be limited to x amount of stand-ins, for any given game; two would be the max, but it would be better to limit it one instead, so the whole dynamic of the team can remain "somewhat" intact.

I can easily see the ability to use "stand-ins," being abused however. As a player with a high skill level can carry games for weaker teams, and give them wins they don't deserve. If people want to regulate stand-ins, so something like this is less likely to happen, be my guest.

Community Callouts would make standing-in, much, much easier . Whether or not the Splatoon Community has that, I dunno.

soooo your saying we should or shouldn't have a group where ppl can go and ask for stand-ins?

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

There is no need, for a group of stand-ins. Just get better connections.

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

There is no need, for a group of stand-ins. Just get better connections.

the problem that the op is trying to solve is that some teams sign up and then at the last second they only have 3 members. that's the main issue