They would either have to build more arenas (get more tables), or find some other way to make the matches shorter, or a way to conduct more matches in a smaller amount of space. And I think I might have just thought of a possible way to do that. I'll be right back.
I am very curious what your proposed solution is, as this has been something of a thorn for the tournament scene since the beginning. I think the current solution is perfectly fine, but it's always good to hear new ideas and see if better options are out there.
I do worry though with your comparisons to how it would actually work in Etheria that you may be conflating an issue of needing to accommodate multiple mages with the problem of needing to accommodate the same mages multiple times. Building more arenas (getting more tables) and conducting more matches in a smaller space only serve to allow more mages to fight simultaneously, but we aren't having an issue accommodating the number of players simultaneously. Our issue is in allowing the same group of mages the ability to have multiple matches in a row, which thus far the only solution you or anyone else has proposed to do this is to make the matches shorter in time. I have trouble conceiving that another solution may exist.
Good point, the analogy kind of breaks down there.
What I was thinking was that there might be a way to make a shorter game that was faster, balanced, didn't require any cards to be banned, basically the same cards, very similar or the same strategies, but in a way that doesn't take so long. The different rules, stats and map features interact in different ways to make the game either more or less balanced and either shorter or longer. Pretty much everything in the game can be categorized by whether it increases, decreases or doesn't affect game length. For instance, a smaller arena makes the game shorter. Setup rounds make the game longer. Most terrains do both, but likely tend to increase game length more than they decrease it. Higher life makes game longer, shorter life makes game shorter.
So the question is how can one make tradeoffs between all these kinds of variables to decrease game length without decreasing balance?
I've started brainstorming how do accomplish this on this thread:
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=16037.0Basically what I'm looking at right now is 3x3 zones arena, a secret passageway (probably with the ends on opposite side zones rather than corners), 1 setup round, and probably a terrain or two from battlegrounds, potentially of the players' choice before the game. I'm hoping this will be faster while still preserving balance and strategic diversity.
