This is bound to be a hot topic. This is by no means a definitive solution, but rather a place to discuss and propose ideas given the recent current problems we've been facing in regards to Vetoes.
The goal of this post should be to reach a middle-ground most people can agree with. The solution to this problem is complicated, and simply "removing Vetoes" or "leaving things as they are" don't seem like sensible actions to be taken.
PD; The proposal was written by me. It is not meant to be a call made by the whole team. Those two carry different weights, so consider this —you, the reader— a personal proposal and place to discuss as a group!
The Problem
Community sentiment on Vetoes, in League of Legends terms, is pisslow.
Based on the multiple comments I've seen around other threads and modding discussion, this problem seems to stem from several places. One big one that I myself think is the biggest one so far is the impotence the community is faced when a map is Veto'd.
The Goal of Vetoes
The goal of Vetoes should be:
- Resolve impasses to avoid discussing things Ad Nauseam.
- Uphold mapping standards. Which maps does the community collectively believe that should be Ranked?
- Collective common consensus. Vetoes transform an individual's subjective opinion into an intersubjective group consensus.
- As a Trump Card to impose personal demands.
- Willingly going against the community's opinions.
- As a tool to skip discussions.
This proposal mainly aims to comply with the 2nd and 3rd goal. The system is built on trust. We trust Beatmap Nominators to be able to leverage their power and responsibility to make these kinds of judgement calls. However, the system cannot reliably gauge or prove whether these demands are really for the betterment or the game, or have the community's wellbeing in mind.
While I wholeheartedly trust in the usage BNs have given to the tool insofar, and I am not willing to throw anyone under the bus here, this proposal aims to bring the opinions of both the general playerbase and the Beatmap Nominator group closer together through quantifiable means.
The
What if users where able to vote on the outcome of Vetoes? What if there was a way to quantify their voice as to have an impact on the result of any given Veto? We trust in our Beatmap Nominators, but is that enough to make a judgement call on the behalf of the community?
A solution and answer to these questions would be to let the community vote on Vetoes, just as beatmap Nominators do.
There's a lot of asterisks here. I don't believe a system like this would work if a BNs vote Vs. a non-BN were weighted the same weight. Given the current system, BNs should still have the bigger say, especially on calls as big and impactful as Vetos are.
Therefore, having a 20%/80% split (Numbers can change) between users and Beatmap Nominators would seem like a precondition for a proposal like this to ever be implemented. An undetermined amount of users could vote on the outcome. But the total weight on the final result would be limited. The rest, would be the result of the BN votes.
Note that we shouldn't discuss the implementation right now. Discussing the implementation without first discussing whether the proposal is reasonable will probably lead nowhere. We should first try to narrow down what kind of system would be needed for the proposal to work in practice.
Alternatives/Things to Discuss
The thread should focus on finding a way to bring both sides of the coin together. How can we weigh in the opinion of the community without undermining the power and responsibilities of the current BN group?