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+--- Thread: Trophy Pushing? (/showthread.php?tid=461)
Trophy Pushing? - Zooks - 08-12-2014
Hey team,
Mr. Evo and I were chatting a bit the other night about boosting our team rank with a Trophy push. I like the idea of trying this as it adds measure and promotes the teams growth. Giving the team additional goals to work toward can be fun as well as rewarding, but I don't want players to feel "stress" about maintaining levels either.
For those of you not familiar with the term "Trophy Push", it basically means we focus as a team on raising trophy's vs. focusing primarily on loot collecting (farming). The second of which often involves "dropping" of trophy's in order to find easier attacks or more plentiful rewards. I don't have much experience on the subject (none in fact-lol), but from what I've seen others doing, the more organized/competitive teams set some sort of "Farming/ Trophy Push" schedule which involves cycling between the two disciplines on a weekly or seasonal basis
Since we have never implemented a formal "team push" before, lets look into how best to approach this from both a goals and scheduling point of view. Ideas??
I'm interested in hearing general feedback from you guys on the topic too. Love it? Hate it? Ideas on how to do it? Etc.
Thanks everyone! I'm really happy to see you all so involved and supportive of the Teams growth. Keep communicating ideas and lets keep this ball rolling!!
-Z
RE: Trophy Pushing? - _SilentScreams_ - 08-12-2014
Im in for a trophy push... Ive slowly been working higher... it'd be nice to see more people push
RE: Trophy Pushing? - Zooks - 08-14-2014
TO PUSH, OR NOT TO PUSH? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 
In response to recent talks regarding the start of a Push/Farm program, I've devised the following plan for a 6-week trial run. At the very least, I think it should get us off to a pretty solid start.
NOTE: for the purpose of this document, the use of the word Trophy and Cup are interchangeable.
It's important to note that I'm constructing this based on general perception and have no real experience or authority in constructing a plan of this type. That said, (<--favorite lead-in phrase of the month), if anyone has any input, or even better, experience; please don't hesitate to add input. Suggestions and comments are always welcome and appreciated.
PUSH/FARM PROGRAM OUTLINE
1.) Set a start date. Enough time should be given prior to the start date to allow players to reach their start thresholds. Initially, this will be equal to their record trophy count. This number is listed in the player profile under the "Sweet Victory" achievement.
[i] *We will consider "Player-1's" in an example. His current "Sweet Victory" record is 1200 . Therefore, minimum cup threshold for his initial push is equal to 1200
2.) The "push" phase of the Push/Farm cycle with last 1 season (2 weeks). All players will aim to increase and sustain their trophy record by no less than 200 trophy's.
*Player-1 will set a minimum goal of reaching 1400 cups by the end of the 2 week period.
3.) The "push" phase will be immediately followed by a "farm" phase. At this time players may find it beneficial to drop cups in order to increase the odds of pairing attacks that are likely to result in greater loot rewards. The goal of the farming period is to gather enough resources to initiate one or more upgrades by phase end.
4.) At the conclusion of the farm phase, players are required to possess no less than their new minimum trophy threshold which is equal to that of their previous threshold +100.
*Player-1 must possess no less than 1300 Trophies at the start of the next push "phase".
5.) Initial push/farm Program will have a duration of 6 weeks, concluding after the second push for evaluation and reassessment.
*Per-player and team progress will be recorded weekly and displayed on a fancy-dancey spreadsheet for the purpose of progress tracking and player ridicule.
INITIAL INCREMENT GOAL (200 CUPS PER PUSH)
This is initial goal is an average increase of 14 cups per day. At the absolute minimum, it is suggested that players aim to gain 30-40 cups per daily push session in order to maintain the net 15 required after assuming daily losses after attack(s). If you're not a "daily" player, do the math
. Push sessions on an "every other day" basis would have a goal set at 60-80 cups.* The increment goal is subject to change (+/-) based on evaluation after initial 6-week run.
FARMING PHASE BEST PRACTICES
Keep in mind that your minimum trophy threshold (previous threshold + 100) must be met prior to the next push cycle. If you intentionally drop cups while farming, be mindful of your timeline. Climbing back after dropping too low can be both lengthy and costly. Be sure to factor in the pacing of your climb, and distribute your goal over several days if need be. Finding yourself on a marathon pre-push the day before deadline can prove quite costly if you are forced to use more resources than you have time to mine.
When farming, keep in mind that dropping your trophies too low can be counter productive. Although the odds of finding weaker bases are increased, the rewards "per-base" will likely prove less lucrative. One reason is due to the game mechanics. Loot rewards are handicapped (lower %) on attacks against lesser Townhalls than your own. Also, since upgrades to smaller bases are generally less expensive, less stockpiling is required and available stashes are not nearly as plentiful as often found at higher levels. And of course, pre TownHall 8 bases have smaller storage capacities period.
So, dropping cups during a seasonal push/farm program is a delicate balancing act -- think twice before you race off to bronze. Consider your attack style (snipe vs full) and frequency of play to discern appropriate farming practices that yield best overall results for you. Spending more time searching for the right base may prove less time consuming (and less expensive) then dropping, raiding, and re-climbing.
A QUICK NOTE ON UPGRADES:
Early on its makes good sense to upgrade two or even four like units simultaneously because they complete at the same time which allows for efficient repurposing of your builders. As your base grows and upgrades take days rather than hours, the above rational is no longer a wise one. The extended downtimes sustained while upgrading multiple like utilities can have sever consequences offensively and even more so defensibly. Keeping your builders busy as much as possible is COC 101 - but never upgrade more than one "like" unit simultaneously. Imagine trying to trophy push and discourage full base attacks when you've got all 4 air defense's out of commission!
TIMING: CYCLES, PHASES, & DURATIONS
Using a seasonal farm/push cycle should serve as a good starting point. Its a convenient way to keep track of where you are because Supercell manages it for you.
We may find however that either farming is inhibited by the need to prematurely conclude collection to pace re-climb; or that pushing is in turn difficult because post farm upgrades handicap attack effectiveness. That said, rebalancing of the phase lengths and/or ratios may need visiting either immediately or over time as upgrades will inevitably become increasingly hungry for time in the future.
Regarding duration: While the push/farm cycle could easily become a permanent fixture within a clans regiment, I'm personally in favor of establishing "push/farm" durations with definitive start and end date(s). If for no other reason - to define a measure for assessment. Furthermore, taking a few days to consider the teams progress, allows for refinement system variables if needed. Depending on how demanding the push/farm program proves to be, there may be a benefit in a "Push Holiday" of one or more days or even seasons. Establishing an "endpoint" (even if only a day before the next session) defines a clear breakpoint where players can opt-out of an upcoming session. Knowing there's a finish line will keep players focused on reaching it, and hopefully prevent "fade-out" due to a seemingly monotonous never ending cycle.
JUSTiSO will commit to a 6-week duration for our first run. Within this run, we will stick to ALL variables initially decided. At the end of the run we will take a 1 season holiday to assess, discuss, and vote on whether the group finds benefit in continuing the push/farm Program of if changes are needed to make it more or less demanding.
It the majority votes to continue the Program, I envision durations will increase with each progression and will eventually manifest as quarterly process once near optimal levels.
PLAYER BURNOUT
Player burnout is an important factor to consider. Our top priority as always, should be to "keep it fun". We all play for slightly different reasons and admitingly, I'm perhaps a tad more obsessive with war than most
.. While losing less interested and/or dedicated folks is inevitable along the way, I'd like to be mindful of pushing the limits of the great group we have right now. If this idea of a "Push Program" sounds or becomes more stress than fun, please PM me immediately. I do not have intentions to suspend or run this in place of war, so I want to ensure the additional requirements are in fact reasonable to at least attempt for a 3 week trial. If not, I will do my best to create a solution to satisfy all parties.TO BE CLEAR: Reluctance to participate will in no way shape or form reflect negatively upon anyone but you MUST inform me via PM if you object. Simply ignoring the efforts as we move forward will not be an acceptable response. Objections will be kept confidential unless it is otherwise requested or cleared. Also note that not everyone always sees messages in the chat so don't let that be your only means of response on these topics.
If we all like this plan, I hope to move it forward within a week or two after I assess everyone's trophy record and calculate a reasonable "pre-push" timeframe. In the meantime, please reply here or PM me directly with any comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Thanks to all for your help! I'm super excited to move forward on this venture together! Big thanks to Mr. Evo for lighting the fire!! Just imagine how good we will all look in RED
!Love always,
--Zooks
RE: Trophy Pushing? - Dee-rek - 08-17-2014
Any way you could make up some farming bases for us to look at?
RE: Trophy Pushing? - _SilentScreams_ - 08-17-2014
Great plan zooks! Ill be ready for the Pushing whenever the set date is! Im Hyped! Dont forget to store up on loot! If you're pushing you dont want your elixer to run out!
RE: Trophy Pushing? - Zooks - 08-18-2014
Thanks for the suggestion Dee! I'll see what we can do about getting our "Base Layouts" section updated to include some additional base types. If anyone would like to contribute designs of there own or otherwise have base designs or screenshots they would like to share, please contact me so I can grant you the proper posting privileges.
In addition, today is the beginning of a new COC season and so marks a good starting point for our official pre-push. Based on initial assessments, I anticipate out pre-push will be one season long (2 weeks). Our goal is to have each player reach their personal trophy record by the end of this pre-push phase. If we reach this goal, we will officially start a 6 week push/farm trial on Sept 1, 2013.
We will be posting a team "Push Roster" sometime this week. The roster will track each players trophy record and weekly trophy levels. This roster will be instrumental in keeping players motivated, paced and on track as a team. If we find we are reaching pre-push levels sooner than anticipated, we may consider a official start ahead of schedule. Lets see how it goes.
Just a reminder, Id like to keep this fun so I'm attempting to keep goals modest for the time being. If you feel under duress at anytime, please speak up with a public response or PM me directly -- otherwise, I'll assume everyone is comfortable with the current pace.
PLEASE NOTE: Although the roster will track ALL JUSTiSO members, only those within our main channel (JUSTiSO) will be considered part of the teams official push initiatives and be held accountable for meeting the programs goals. Members reaching Lv50/1400 trophies are automatically promoted/admitted to the JUSTiSO Main channel and will be included in the effort. Members qualifying but NOT interested in participating should contact me via PM so that we may consider an alternative default channel placement for you (i.e. RiSiNG, LOBBY, HELL, Etc.).
Special thanks to all new members for your effort and support! If you have a special skill or resource you would like to offer to assist the team, please contact me at anytime.
S'all for now folks! Clash on! And have fun!
--Zooks
RE: Trophy Pushing? - Zooks - 08-24-2014
After additional thought and discussions with various members, I have decided to relax the nature of our push incentive. We have again found that a ladder based clan system is not one easily managed. And while it is still not clear what structure we will ultimately continue to pursue, I feel its best that we make the trophy push a "per player" decision rather than a "per channel" requirement.
We will move forward as planed with a Trial Trophy push on Sept 1st and I will still track our progress on an individual and team basis. But again, it WILL NOT be a requirement of JUSTiSO or any other channel. I appreciate the enthusiasm of some players to want to "climb to the top", but the truth of the matter is, I personally have no plans to make any substantial investments in gems at the moment and so I don't see myself breaking into the top ten anytime soon
.That said, I DO however think team growth is important. Setting individual and team goals and then working together to reach them is but one way to do that. Touting higher level players not only raises the team status but it also makes it far easier to recruit higher level players when we have holes in the roster to fill. At the same time, I've long been partial to the pursuit high level players. Great bases aren't what's important to me, great people are. We are far better off helping grow newer players that are active, open to instruction and good at communicating. We can be successful with all shapes and sizes and so we shall continue to welcome them. A "Holier than thou" attitude amongst teammates is never healthy and I don't think a ladder based clan system is one that promotes equality. Again, I'll let the team vote on it, but I think history has shown us that far less drama rises from an open structure.
That's all for now. More on the fun stuff later so lets get war wrapped for now. Thanks to all for your loyalty and useful input. Looking forward to everyone contributing as we open talks regarding next steps
.Peace, Love & Hair grease...
-Zooks