Hey everyone
As promised I'll be detailing some ideas and changes that'll be coming to CEA this year. I have put a lot of thought into some of these, and tried not only to bring something new to CEA, but also different to most academies to set us apart. At the same time I have tried to think of things that many can relate to with other games they play, and have a system that'll be more detailed, more accurate, more aspiring, and overall just better. The difficult part is how to do all this without putting a lot of strain on the staff and requiring too much effort to maintain.
With that being said, these are some of the ideas I'll be trying to implement over time, as well as some changes that'll happen immediately.
First let's start with one of the biggest changes... there will no longer be dorms on CEA as most of you have heard. With this, there will no longer be any tests required to get into events, and with that, there will be no Teacher staff position. These will not just be removed however, but replaced, and not just directly, but with a more complete system that will factor in other sections and activities on the forum. But we'll get to that soon...
There will no longer be a Game Master staff position. It'll now be an Assistant position to remove the limitation on the role itself, and instead make it a more versatile role both in what it entails, and the effort required. This position will encompass more of the forum and lend to some of the other staff positions. Already you'll notice two new additions to Assistant... Valkyra and Icingsugar.
To accommodate some of the other changes, there will be a new RP starting, and before anyone rolls their eyes, this will be different. It will be both better managed and maintained, and it'll be something I think many will be interested in. At the same time it won't rely so heavily on the activity of other participants as RP's have in the past, so I'm very interested to see how that turns out.
Many might start to wonder what will happen to the academy side of things and the role of Teachers. I do still like the idea of getting new players into the game, as well as decent players into great ones. Since this is a forum with content, and a place one can learn from, I do not want to lose that. So... instead of a Teacher role, there will be a mentor system that I'd like to try implement. The biggest improvements I've ever seen in players have always been from learning from an individual they looked up to, and in most cases also taught them. I'm still trying to work on the details of this, but if successful I think it'll yield far better results to personal improvement of duelists.
That won't mean that the content on the forum will change. There will still be regular deck guides, card reviews, tips, and general playing guides. I would also like to put some attention on having video deck reviews with commentary, and maybe even replays or live duels with commentary that will be either streamed, or uploaded, or both.
Now we get to the main system that I have in mind. I do not like the idea of their being only 3 labels for duels, Slifer, Ra, or Obelisk. Not all Obelisks are the same in terms of skill, and more than anything, every other academy does this. I would like to take this chance to set CEA apart and implement a system many will be familiar with. I would like to do a ranked league, with a ladder system. Each league will almost be like a different dorm, it'll also be coloured differently for members names, but more than that, it'll give distinction for duelists within each league. It will be like 2 members being in Obelisk, but one having a rank of 1st place, and the other a rank of 12th. What's more, instead of having someone test you, and dealing with all the issues that come with balancing, disputes, skill of testers, personal opinions, available testers, and the work involved... now it will be like testing yourself essentially. You are responsible for your placement in which league, and what rank thereof. Instead of big leaps of going from Ra to Obelisk, now you can see your improvement within your league by climbing the ladder, and eventually the step where you go up a league. This makes for a deeper, more rewarding, and more accurate system, and one where the results rest solely on the individual.
Ok that was a mouthful. It is a very simple idea, but yields only benefits when I think about it. However, this raises the question of HOW the league will work. Well, we already have a system that we can build on for this, and that is Arena Duels. Just like you will have match-making systems in games and go up or down based on your wins and just how big of a win it is, so the same will apply here. I am still thinking of some finer details of rewards between same league players and cross-league players to make it also fair and as rewarding as it needs to be, and vice versa.
So now how this will look. There are no longer teachers, no longer test reports to see scores and progress, and BA reports with only a profile field for information is not quite satisfying for something that will be this big, and I agree. So we will be making our own ladder system that will be displayed on the forum, interchangeable between different leagues, and names will be added as soon as the have done their first ranked duel. This will be automated, and rank players according to points dependant on the match difficulty and the results. Promotions will also be awarded based on points as well as consistency of wins and within certain difficulties (just like any game with a ranked system).
I am still thinking of what to do for colours, and how many league distinctions there will be. At first I thought either bronze, silver, and gold, or... bronze, silver, gold, diamond, master. I'll likely get some input from members about what they like and would want to see, since the colour of your name is the first thing someone will notice when they see you online, so as trivial as it is, it is still important.
One of the biggest benefits with this system, is that the bulk of the work is software, and thus frees up staff to not have to work so hard for ever single member on the forum regarding tests, and no blame can be thrown around. I feel this is important because it'll reduce drama on the forum, and just overall make more people happy, including the staff and their decision to help on the forum. It is not something that I want to be a burden, and so many of the changes I have in mind is geared towards freeing up responsibility while adding new things and changes, instead of increasing it.
As for events, there will be some additions. There will be a second Weekly Bash set on a different date for those that can't always make the one on Monday. There will also be a small twist, it will be a non-meta Bash for all those that have complained about not wanting to enter on account of being forced to use meta. So there will be a best of both worlds now both in times and preference. I will also go through with adding the Highlander event, I really like the idea behind this event and I think it'll be a lot of fun. I am also considering having another major event like YCC only a big smaller, since YCC is every 6 months but we'll see about that first. Another thing I've been considering in light of recent in real life Yugioh is implementing a type of draft tournament, where decks are created on the spot from a set card pool.
So that's it, there are a few either minor things that'll change but I don't list them because I am still working out the logistics, things such as a revision to the forum currency and rewards within duelling. I hope many of you will like these changes and can see the benefit that will come from them.
My hopes are not only for a better system but to separate CEA from being like just any other academy
PS: OH I almost forgot lol, I'll be making a portal so that any news, acknowledgments etc will be going there, which means the chatbox will be available at the top of the forum again
Subject: Upcoming changes for CEA 2014 
Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:34 am
