Introduction Hey guys, it’s time for the third announcement. First off, I’d like to announce that the grace period of double MBR points and the old MBR system is finally over! We’ve locked all the threads and moved it to old MBR system - we hope you enjoyed it. Now, it’s finally time to talk about the anticipated rework to the MBR point system! New Focus of the System We canceled the previous one because most people joined Maplemation for the MBR… only to be disappointed by what it was. Yes, I am making the bold claim that the old MBR system was pretty bad. We had a lot of issues with it like forfeits, rookie crushing, etc. But the biggest disappointment was that it wasn’t competitive. People MBR for the sake of being competitive and showing they got the skills to prove, yet the points awarded do not incentivize that. You can only get a name change and whatnot, but that’s it. So what we did is reshift the focus to a more competitive MBR scene that takes notes plagiarises from competitive video game modes like Overwatch, Street Fighter and League of Legends. Let’s go over the rework. Reworked Points Your MBR points have been changed to MBRQ points, all your old points will be transferred to it. To get more of these, you do MBRQ’s. This is because MBR points have changed into a completely different currency. Points are now determined by a win and a loss. You and your opponent will battle and one will lose and one will win. The winner will gain 15-30 points and the loser will lose 10-20 points. Wins are determined like normal - where people vote for a winner. The team for the respective MBR type will discuss their points distribution (e.g. A gets 20, B loses 15) and an average is taken from these. The team leader will post the point ratio as well as a small analysis from each team member that determined this. So the people decide the victors, the teams decide the points distribution. Also, we are no longer doing polls as they are easily abused - instead we are manually counting comments with a clear point at the end saying who you are voting for. The posts can’t be something short like “this is cool” or something. It needs to be something lengthy that genuinely shows your opinion and isn’t a hive mind or generic. A statement that genuinely expresses your opinion and isn't just a surface level observation or repetition of something someone else said with no new information being provided - it will not be counted as a vote otherwise. This doesn't mean you need to give cnc or a deep analysis, this was never a requirement at all - just justify why you voted for who you did. Penalties (Unfinished, Forfeits and Extensions) Penalties exist for forfeits and unfinished animations. Let’s take a scenario where one or both submit(s) unfinished animations to an MBR. Unfinished animations will simply deduct points off like a critique point or a flaw. Forfeits, however, are a different case. If one or both forfeits, you will lose 30 points and be barred from MBR’s for 2 weeks. If the other made something - it will be judged as a normal MBR on its own merits. We will critique and give you points based on your performance. If the animation barely has content so it's 2-3 second compared to a full animation, where nothing can be said about it - it is automatically a forfeit. Extensions will be handled differently as it is easy to abuse. Bear in mind, you will still determine your own initial due date. Using the forums, you need to create a three-way conversation between you, your opponent and any member of the team (e.g. Animation Team for an animation MBR). If you want to request an extension - you will get a flat 2 weeks. If you want a second extension, you will get 1 extra week - however, you will get points deducted off your total like an unfinished animation if you use the second extension. But let’s say only one of you needs the extension, the opponent that finished needs to post their finished animation to the team member to verify that they won’t need deductions for the second extension. Minimum time duration for an animation should be 20 seconds Tiers Your points will accumulate and your points will determine what rank you get. Like in many competitive games, this MBR system will have ranks, thresholds will determine the rank you are in. To start with - here are the following thresholds and points needed to reach these ranks as well as the emblem to show what rank you are: (For the MBR system, because animation is so time-consuming and the numbers are considerably less, we will cap it off at Diamond and will have the tier ranges be like so) Bronze - 0-49 Silver - 50-99 Gold - 100-149 Platinum - 150-199 Diamond - 200-250 *To prevent rank camping, we’re introducing a tri-weekly decay of 15 MBR points but only in the highest tier, diamond. This is frozen when you are in an MBR. You may MBR anyone above any rank but you cannot challenge anyone below your rank. Take a Silver challenging a Gold in which the Silver wins because they know they are Gold. The Silver will get a large number of points that will jump them up a rank (like 30) and the Gold will lose points normally with no real penalties - the Silver was good, the Gold was not bad. DO NOT VOTE FOR THE SILVER IF YOUR BASIS IS “THEY IMPROVED”. VOTE FOR WHICH ANIMATION IS BETTER. The exception to this rule is if you are diamond due to how low the pool will be, so they are able to challenge the rank below, Platinum. Seasons and Themes Seasons are being introduced much like other competitive games, in this - we will provide a set 10 themes for you to do in these seasons. This first one will last for 1 month and a half with a few days of off-season (no MBR’s). This lets us do a few things: It allows for breaks between seasons and rest for both the teams that organise it and people that participate in it, lets us monitor issues with the season and rectify it for the next one, it will let us cycle in different themes for seasons and will also allow a reset in your rank (more on this in MBR profiles and demos). As for themes, we are introducing 10 themes per season to choose from. Doing these themes will earn you the full 15-30 points. However, if you do something that isn’t in these themes - you will limit the points you earn down to 10-15 (e.g. Freestyle). We do not want to endorse a lack of creativity. MBR Profiles and Demos So how do you even get a rank? Well, this is with the revamped profiles. You will make an MBR profile with this format: Name: MBR Demo(s): Current Rank-Points: Character Biographies (Optional): Hitlist (Optional): Availability: Season Record (Season 1): End of Season Rank-Points: Season High Rank-Points: Battle Record: You may look at the current profiles available for an example with greater clarity: Shulkle: http://maplemation.com/threads/shulkles-mbr-profile.35645/ Min: http://maplemation.com/threads/mins-mbr-profile.35647/ Drew: http://maplemation.com/threads/drews-mbr-profile.35644/ Your demo will be assessed by the team like an MBR and an average point is given for the animation which will be the baseline rank you can start climbing from. This will be reset per season - so if you climbed from Bronze to Gold but along the way you improved and made an excellent animation - that will be ranked on its own merits and may land you in Platinum. You will be making a new profile for each season (we will have thread folders such as Season 1 profiles). You choose to enter a rank. You will not be ranked if you do not want to enter the season, this means you will not participate in MBR’s but you may still do MBRQ’s (this is separate). Your demo needs to be made within a year of posting your profile and needs to either be complete or 20 seconds as a wip (minimum). No demo reels, full animations only, please. MBR's have a minimum duration of 3 days and a minimum time of 20 seconds. End of Season Rewards By the end of every season, we will make an end of season ceremony threads celebrating the best of each rank, most climbed, a showcase, etc. We will also give you MBRQ points by the end of season depending on which rank you end up with (check the season 1 page for more info.) We plan to do more stuff like a prize entry, etc. MBR Format This will be handled very differently. To challenge someone, you need to first contact a member of a team with your opponent and make a pitch in this format so they can confirm if you are in the same rank or one rank above and below as well as note the due date to confirm extensions, etc. Format: MBR Theme: Due Date: Time Limits (min and max): Current point and rank for each: Profiles for each: When the MBR is over, they will edit your post and at the bottom - put in the team analysis and point distribution as discussed earlier and announcing the winner, etc. Obviously, this will be followed by a team member making the final post and announcing the winner while noting that the post has been updated for points distribution. Profiles are Opened! MBR’s are still not opened just yet, that will be the next announcement that will come in a few weeks. However, you can make your profiles right now and get your rank! Let’s MBR! MBR's will debut with the release of mine and Drew's long awaited MBR (which will coincide with the fourth and final announcement). P.S. PLEASE LET @Pizzaman432 HOW MANY MBR POINTS YOU HAVE, SO HE CAN UPDATE IT TO MBRQ POINTS.
New system sounds awesome. Just curious if you're continuing MBRs for the other mediums (maps, sprites, art, etc.). If so, will they be following the same renewed format? Will these mediums have their own ladder? Cheers!
I was actually hoping that some sort of punishment system would be implemented since the first announcement, and the new voting system looks very interesting. The ranking system is also something I would love to see, as it can give people a reason to do MBRs. Everything looks good so far. Can't wait for the next announcement some time later within the following weeks. Edit: Also thank God that smurfing would not be that much of an issue here.
Are these 10 MBR Themes gonna have themes for other genres of sprite animation aswell? For example, If i wanted to animate using Vegeta and Goku instead of maple characters, or something.
If you want to have the theme of the MBR determine the sprites you use, that's fine. However, you can animate non-maple sprites as well as having a separate theme. You were always able to have non-maple sprite MBRs. If you weren't, you can now. The theme shouldn't affect this unless you want it to. Hope this answers your question.
So its been few weeks and fourth and final announcement is still not here but being patience is my strength.
Make take a few more weeks! Expect it early April, we're still waiting/working on a few things to make sure it's slated for release.
Yes on early April that will perfectly fit since Drew last post MBR vs Kayas teaser on April 20th 2018
