Tournament Server: The Many Paths to Victory

Greetings, Commanders!

Our team has been hard at work preparing for the Tournament Server.  To say that we’re excited about the server is a vast understatement.  Being less than two weeks away, we want to review the significance of the Tournament Server and detail the ways in which players can achieve victory.

What’s the big deal about the Tournament Server, anyways?  

To the team here at Solid Clouds, the Tournament Server isn’t just any other server launch.  This is the culmination of our efforts in Alpha to iterate and improve upon Starborne. We’ve been busy working behind the scenes to make the Tournament Server a truly amazing experience.  It will be the server that sets the bar for the future of Starborne.  

The Tournament Server is a proving ground on a couple of different fronts for us:

One-Off Servers

We’ve previously mentioned that we want to create one-off (or “themed”) servers- much like “league” or “season” mechanics used by other games.  These servers will be closed environments to test new mechanics, map layouts, ui designs, and rulesets. This Tournament Server is our first trial run with that concept- introducing a new building planner, changing up the rules, and vastly shifting the meta.  Community feedback and ideas have been vital to our efforts for this upcoming server.  

Critical Mass

We’ve seen plenty of big events happen across the various phases of Alpha: backstabbing, dysons getting annihilated, political maneuvering; just to list a few.  However, these events mostly happened between only two or three powerhouse rivals with little other competition.

The Tournament Server is going to be in a completely different league.  Expect to see thousands of players and groups of all sizes competing for victory.  Every single player can make an impact, earn rewards, and make a name for themselves.

Stellar Game Masters

The Tournament Server is our send off to the alpha version of Starborne. We will be introducing a lot of exciting new mechanics that will give our players a taste of what is to come. As with every ambitious release there is a chance of bugs being present. However, with the competitive nature of the server there will be a zero tolerance policy with exploits.  Our utmost priority is to ensure that the Tournament Server is fun, competitive, and fair.  As such, we will be utilizing multiple Game Masters in the Tournament Server that will remain as unbiased spectators.  Their role will be to address any bugs, unforeseen effects and exploits that may provide an advantage or disadvantage to any group.  

The Game Masters will be announced prior to December 1st.  We are very serious about the competitive nature of this server, and intentional abuse of bugs or exploits will result in immediate expulsion from the Tournament Server.  

Victory Conditions

Alpha 8 and Alpha 9 have shared the same requirements to achieve victory: join an Alliance, claim a Dyson Sphere, and secure as many Victory Points as possible.  The coalition with the most Victory Points is declared the victor. This victory condition can have drawbacks to many players. It requires working with multiple active alliances, and catching up to other coalitions can feel like an insurmountable task.

The Starborne Universe is huge.  It certainly affords opportunities to achieve victory through a variety of means.  The Tournament Server upholds this by introducing the next iteration of Victory Conditions.  All players will be able to target and achieve different paths to victory.

Note: The following Victory Conditions are being balanced and are all subject to change.  

Coalition Victory Conditions:

• Podium: 1st, 2nd or 3rd place based on Victory Points at server end
• Coalition Ranking: 4th+ place based on Victory Points at server end

Personal Victory Conditions:

• Participate on the Tournament Server 
• Survive until the End 
• Complete an Individual Achievement before server end

Individual Achievements will be detailed prior to December 1st

GT Per Capita:

• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place based on GT Per Capita at server end

GT Per Capita is GTs Held / Players in Coalition

If GT holder is not in a Coalition, use Alliance instead.  If GT holder is not in an Alliance, divide by 1.  

Alliance Victory Conditions

• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place based on Alliance Points at server end

Alliance points are awarded to alliances each week based on various objectives.  Alliance Objectives will be detailed prior to December 1st. It will be difficult for Podium Coalitions to also have Podium Alliances.

Tournament Server: Glory Awaits

Spectators and participants should expect to see groups of all sizes vying for the victory conditions on the Tournament Server.  We can’t wait to see what tactics players will use to get a leg up on their competition. Every player will be put to the test; survival is a victory of its own.  Help usher in a new era for Starborne by joining us on the frontier on December 1st, 2019.

Fly Safe, Commanders!

-Starborne Dev Team